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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Milo Boyd

Indigenous news anchor says Britain should apologise for colonialism

An Indigenous Australian newsreader has called for an apology from Britain for its colonisation of First Nations people, following the death of the Queen.

Studio 10 presenter Narelda Jacobs said the Royal Family was a "symbol of colonisation" and that Aboriginal people should not be criticised for refusing to mourn.

She questioned what the modern British monarchy had done to make up for the wrongs of their ancestors.

"There was a great wrong that was done," she said live on TV.

"Australia was settled without the consent of First Nations people that were here."

Narelda acknowledged that the monarchy is "above politics", but said the Queen could have done more to acknowledge the royal family's role in the empire.

"While the world has united in grief over the Queen's passing, colonised people have also united over their trauma,' she said.

"Because we know that in British museums are stolen artefacts. Stolen gems, diamonds. There are human remains that are sitting in British museums, even now. And there has been no acknowledgement of that, or apology for that."

For the newsreader the matter has some personal weight, given that her late father Cedric Jacobs was an Indigenous man, survivor of the Stolen Generations and reverend of the Uniting Church in Australia.

He met the Queen four times and was the recipient of an Order of the British Empire.

During one meeting with Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the 1980s, Cedric was in the process of drafting a treaty between Indigenous Australians and the Commonwealth.

The treaty was not brought up during the meeting, leading Narelda to question why not despite the Queen being aware of the "trauma from colonisation".

The news anchor said the royal family could have done more to recognise the "intergenerational trauma" felt by Aboriginal people as a result of British colonialism.

The Queen during one of her 16 visits to Australia in 1970 (Getty Images)

This included the forcible removal of tens of thousands of children from their families from the late 1800s to 1969 - in what is known today as the Stolen Generations.

The Queen had a long personal history with Australia, visiting the country 16 times during her 70 year reign.

Her first visit as head of state came in 1954 as part of her tour of the empire alongside husband Philip.

In their 58-day tour - the first Elizabeth had made since her coronation- the royal couple visited 57 towns and cities, including every capital city except Darwin.

Soldiers fire a 96 gun salute to honour the life of Britain Queen Elizabeth II at dusk in front of Parliament House in Canberra (AFP via Getty Images)

They were greeted upon arrival in Sydney harbour by a crowd of 1 million people, which was more than half the city's population at the time.

Fast forward 48 years and the Queen made what was arguably an equally as significant return trip to the country, this time taking in a cultural show at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park in Cairns.

Three years earlier the Australian population had given a vote of confidence, of sorts, in the monarchy.

A slim majority of 55% of voters said they would not support appointing an Australian head of state instead of the Queen in a referendum.

Australia's leader laid wreaths in memory of the Queen on Saturday (Tracey Nearmy)

In 2011, as the Queen made what would be her last visit to Australia, actor Hugh Jackman said: “Even the republicans, the ones in Australia who want to see Australia move on, still have great respect and love for the Queen. I’ve never heard anyone say different.”

Over the weekend Governor-General David Hurley, the British monarch’s representative in Australia, proclaimed King Charles as head of state at Parliament House in Canberra.

The proclamation was marked by a 21-gun salute.

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