TWO Aboriginal community workers say a "great weight" has been lifted off the shoulders of their people after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said "sorry" to the stolen generations last Wednesday.
Wurrundjeri elder Vicki Nicholson-Brown and Kaurna elder Helga Lehtinen, who work with the Aboriginal community in the cities of Casey and Greater Dandenong, said Rudd's apology was an "emotional" moment.
"I was just trying to think about how I felt when I heard the prime minister and Opposition leader reciting elders' words and it's just historic and it's very, very emotional," Ms Nicholson-Brown said.
"To Casey and Greater Dandenong, this is huge. We have a big number of Aboriginal families in the south-east."
Narre Warren resident Ms Lehtinen, who is a member of Casey's access and equity committee and an elder on the Children's Koori Court, says she would never forget the day.
"I was very happy to see all the faces at the Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-Operative and it wasn't just Aborigines, but the non-indigenous community coming from all over Dandenong to embrace our people.
"I was speechless. My voice was quivering to know that a prime minister has finally come out with sorry to those who needed to hear that word.
"It's a big weight taken from them and sorry means a lot to all who have been in the stolen generation.
Between 1910 and 1970, up to 100,000 Aboriginal children were taken from their families forcibly or under duress.
After years of resistance by his previous counterparts, Mr Rudd made history last Wednesday by removing "a stain on the nation's soul".
"We need a new beginning," he told Parliament.
"Mr Speaker, I move that today we honour the indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
"We reflect on their past mistreatment, we reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our national history.
"The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page."
Indigenous Casey councillor Paul Richardson says he fought back tears as he listened to the apology from Mr Rudd.
He had taken part in Casey Council's Aboriginal flag-raising ceremony last Wednesday.
Ms Nicholson-Brown, who works at Cranbourne Botanical Gardens and lives in Seaford,says she is disgusted by talk of Aborigines making a grab for cash.
"The question now is, where do we go from here? What happens next?
"A lot of talk around is that we're all after money, but people should think hard before they make comment to even their own fellow neighbour.
"Don't open your mouth unless you know what you're talking about.
"No amount of money can replace what's happened to our race - you can't put a figure on it."
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