Thousands of aboriginal Australians are expected to join a legal case that lawyers are bringing against the West Australian government. The case seeks payment for what it says are years of unpaid work. Historians have said that, at the time, the officials knew the work was a form of slavery.
有律师对西澳大利亚政府提起了诉讼，预计会有数万名土著人加入。该案要求政府赔偿他们所说的多年无偿工作。历史学家表示，当时，官员们知道这项工作是一种奴隶制。

The legal action says the unfair labor took place during the 19th and 20th centuries. It says indigenous children as young as four were taken from their families to work in mines, on farms and as servants in Australia. Many received little or no money, and some were paid only with bread and meat. Lawyers have said conditions were "akin to slavery."
这起法律诉讼称不公平劳动发生在19和20世纪。案件称小到4岁的土著儿童被从家人身边带走，到矿山、农场工作以及在澳大利亚当仆人。许多人只得到非常少报酬，甚至没有报酬，有的人只得到了面包和肉当作报酬。律师们表示，这种状况类似于奴隶制。

Until the 1970s, money earned by indigenous workers in Western Australia was paid to the state government, but rarely given to the worker.
西澳大利亚土著工人赚到的钱都付给了州政府，很少付给工人，直到20世纪70年代为止。

Lawyers have said as many as 10,000 workers and their descendants would be able to join the legal case. The lawyers brought the case in Australia's Federal Court.
律师们表示，上万名工人及其后代将能够加入这起诉讼。律师们将此案提交到了澳大利亚联邦法院。

Jan Saddler is a lawyer at Shine Lawyers, a legal company that is leading the court case. She said indigenous Western Australians were part of the case. Some are now more than 70 or 80 years old.
简·萨德勒是Shine Lawyers法律公司的一名律师，这家公司主导了这起案件。萨德勒表示，西澳大利亚土著人士是这起案件的一部分。其中一些人现在已经七八十岁了。

"...They are actually waiting to receive their wages from the 1940s and the 1950s and they still have not been paid, and this is what that claim is all about," she said.
萨德勒说：“他们实际上是等着领取上世纪四五十年代的工资，他们仍然没有拿到这笔报酬，这就是这起索赔案的全部内容。”

Australia's laws controlled everything in an indigenous person's life -- from what they could buy to whether they could get married. The law also permitted that their wages could be taken by the government. That situation lasted until the 1970s.
澳大利亚法律控制了土著人生活的方方面面，从他们可以购买的商品，到他们是否可以结婚。法律还允许政府可以拿走他们的工资。这种状况一直持续到上世纪70年代。

In February 2008, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Australia's indigenous peoples for the way they had been treated.
2008年2月，时任澳大利亚总理陆克文为土著人被对待的方式向他们道歉。

"To the Stolen Generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry," he said.
他说：“对于被偷走的一代，我有话要说：作为澳大利亚总理我要说声对不起。我代表澳大利亚政府说声对不起。我代表澳大利亚议会说声对不起。”

Stolen Generations is the name given to tens of thousands of Australian Aboriginal children who were taken from their families. They were sent to white Australians as workers or servants up until the 1970s.
被偷走的一代是指数万名被从家里带走的澳大利亚土著儿童。他们被送到澳大利亚白人家里当作工人或仆人，直到上世纪70年代为止。

The Western Australian state government has said it hopes for a settlement. The government would like mediators to negotiate with the indigenous people.
西澳大利亚政府已经表示希望达成和解。政府希望调解员与土著人民进行谈判。

Reparations plans have paid millions of dollars to indigenous workers in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. An earlier reparations plan in Western Australia limited payments to $1,400 and came with several conditions. Indigenous peoples' rights campaigners said it was too restricted and did not truly answer for the injustices of the past.
昆士兰州和新南威尔士州出台的赔偿方案已经向土著工人支付了数百万美元。西澳大利亚此前的一项赔偿方案将赔偿限制在1400美元，并附带了一些条件。土著人民权利运动家表示，这些限制太严格了，不能真正解决过去的不公正现象。

A federal parliamentary investigation in 2006 tried to establish how much money may have been stolen from aboriginal Australians over the many years. Lawmakers found that wage theft was so widespread that is was impossible to arrive at a final amount.
2006年，联邦议会进行了一项调查，试图确定多年来从澳大利亚土著那里偷走了多少钱。议员们发现，偷走工资的现象非常普遍，无法得出一个最终的数额。

I'm Susan Shand.
我是苏珊·尚德。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，禁止转载，违者必究！)

Thousands of aboriginal Australians are expected to join a legal case that lawyers are bringing against the West Australian government. The case seeks payment for what it says are years of unpaid work. Historians have said that, at the time, the officials knew the work was a form of slavery.

The legal action says the unfair labor took place during the 19th and 20th centuries. It says indigenous children as young as four were taken from their families to work in mines, on farms and as servants in Australia. Many received little or no money, and some were paid only with bread and meat. Lawyers have said conditions were "akin to slavery."

FILE - People carry Australian Aboriginal flags during a demonstration on Australia Day in Sydney, Jan. 26, 2019.

Until the 1970s, money earned by indigenous workers in Western Australia was paid to the state government, but rarely given to the worker.

Lawyers have said as many as 10,000 workers and their descendants would be able to join the legal case. The lawyers brought the case in Australia's Federal Court.

Jan Saddler is a lawyer at Shine Lawyers, a legal company that is leading the court case. She said indigenous Western Australians were part of the case. Some are now more than 70 or 80 years old.

"...They are actually waiting to receive their wages from the 1940s and the 1950s and they still have not been paid, and this is what that claim is all about," she said.

Australia's laws controlled everything in an indigenous person's life -- from what they could buy to whether they could get married. The law also permitted that their wages could be taken by the government. That situation lasted until the 1970s.

In February 2008, then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to Australia's indigenous peoples for the way they had been treated.

"To the Stolen Generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry," he said.

Stolen Generations is the name given to tens of thousands of Australian Aboriginal children who were taken from their families. They were sent to white Australians as workers or servants up until the 1970s.

The Western Australian state government has said it hopes for a settlement. The government would like mediators to negotiate with the indigenous people.

Reparations plans have paid millions of dollars to indigenous workers in the states of Queensland and New South Wales. An earlier reparations plan in Western Australia limited payments to $1,400 and came with several conditions. Indigenous peoples' rights campaigners said it was too restricted and did not truly answer for the injustices of the past.

A federal parliamentary investigation in 2006 tried to establish how much money may have been stolen from aboriginal Australians over the many years. Lawmakers found that wage theft was so widespread that is was impossible to arrive at a final amount.

I'm Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

Words in This Story

aboriginal –adj. of or relating to the native people of Australia, known as aborigines

akin –adj.similar or related to

descendant –n. someone who is related to a person or group of people who lived in the past

wages –n.money that is paid a worker based on the number of hours or other units that they have worked

mediator –n.someone who works with opposing sides in a dispute in order to reach an agreement

reparations –n. money that a country or group pays when it loses a war to pay for damage and loss; a payment to correct a mistake that someone or some group has caused

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