TASMANIA is to hold a stolen generation style inquiry into the anguish caused by past adoption practices.

A parliamentary inquiry into allegations of forced adoptions since 1950 was announced by Health and Human Services Minister Judy Jackson yesterday.

The inquiry follows growing pressure from groups representing women who say their babies were stolen.

And it comes almost three years after The Sunday Tasmanian sparked a storm over its exclusive revelations about the scandal.

The Sunday Tasmanian disclosed that up to 50 babies had been stolen from their mothers, many of whom were told that their children had died.

One of the women behind the demands for an inquiry, Charmaine Price, said yesterday that her life had been ruined after church and welfare officials used coercion and fraud to send her twin babies to Melbourne for adoption in 1973.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Mrs Price made an impassioned plea for victims of Tasmania's past adoption practices to contribute to the inquiry.

"This is what we have been waiting for for a long time," she said."If you have got something to say, be counted now. Please speak out."

In 1973 Charmaine Price was 19 years old and a single mother-of-one when she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, at Hobart hospital.Mrs Price said she was not told of any assistance which might have been available.She was receiving a benefit of $57 a fortnight and some maintenance from her first daughter's father.While the twins stayed in hospital, she tried to get a job.

When the Mormon Church offered temporary foster care, she agreed and signed the papers."I was told I could go and see my children the next day," Mrs Price said."I rang up and was told that it was too late, that they'd already been taken to melbourne and placed for adoption."

A welfare officer told her: "Give up two or we'll take three." She was also told: "Just forget it.
Get on with your life.... you can have more (babies)."

It was 21 years before she saw her twins again.

Mrs Price, who is president of local support group Loose Ends, said she had pursued an inquiry to have the satisfaction of letting her children know that she did not rest until the wrong was righted.

While she later had two more children, she religiously wrote to her twins signing her letter "first Mummy". But when she finally met them, "they weren't mine".

Mrs Price said she had stayed with the adoptive parents. "They are lovely people, absolutely beautiful," she said. "You couldn't get two better friends. But part of me hates them because they could give me photos of my babies, but they couldn't give me peace."

Mrs price said other mothers suffered, too. She knew of one separated woman who was falsely told her baby daughter had died.

"I know it happened to Aborigines and I respect that," Mrs price said. "But what about us? It isn't just an Aboriginal issue."

Church and welfare officials had committed criminal acts and should be charged.

I was given a life sentence," Mrs Price says.

Mrs Jackson said laying charges was not what the inquiry was about. "It would be difficult to prove allegations about events which occurred many years ago," Mrs Jackson said.

I understand they want this inquiry to question what happened. When they see that publib acknowledgement then they will be able to put to rest a lot of their grief. "They want to have their grief aired and they want to make sure what has happened will never happen again."

Mrs Jackson said Joint Select Committee inquiires were not intended to be witch-hunts. "They are not about criminal proceedings," she said. "We are having the inquiry to find out whether there were questionable practices."