Page 3743 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 November 2022
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These are truths that those of us in positions of power and influence must take into our hearts, and we must commit ourselves to doing everything we can to turn this around.
I believe some of the key reforms we are doing here in the ACT, including in areas such as restorative justice, raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility and work occurring in the out of home care and child protection systems, are all ways in which we are trying to respond to these unacceptable truths. While we have much work to be done, we will continue this work.
There are other truths being told that we need to open our hearts to. Noel Pearson’s contribution to the Boyer Lectures series is essential listening for all Australians. I was deeply distressed to hear some of his words, which Minister Stephen-Smith highlighted in this debate. He said:
We are a much unloved people … We are not popular and we are not personally known to many Australians. Few have met us and a small minority count us as friends.
I reflect on how lucky I am to have been able to foster strong relationships with incredible Ngunnawal and First Nations elders, leaders and knowledge holders, who have been my patient teachers, have generously shared their knowledge and language and have been generous in their offer of friendship. I thank you for this friendship and commit myself to ongoing, meaningful relationships and working with you in partnership. The words of Noel Pearson are another invitation for us to continue to develop and foster friendships.
The progress of the voice is vital and it must be complemented by the work of truth-telling, Makarrata and treaty. We need to make sure that these concepts are real, both locally and nationally. Supporting the call for a voice does not remove our responsibilities to act locally or nationally on other elements of the Statement from the Heart or some of the stark realities of truth-telling. It does not mean that we stop the symbolism or stop the progress within our local context. We must create mechanisms for truth-telling. We need to recognise that truth-telling requires the rest of Australia to listen with hearts and minds to the experience and the consequences of dispossession, racism and colonialism.
We know this is challenging, and it must include First Nations people in its design and progress. I commit myself to working with Minister Stephen-Smith in the work she is leading on how we progress these processes locally. We must engage in the idea of treaty and Makarrata, and recognise that many of the benefits that we share are the unearned benefits of white privilege. Developing a new way forward does not mean that we are giving up things; instead, it will provide us with the opportunity to heal, recover and develop a new and positive future for all of us.
From terra nullius to the noble savage, from protection to assimilation, we have made so many mistakes in our relationship with the sovereign owners of this land that we call home. Coming in at the end point of 60,000 years of history, and of care for this country, we have so much to learn from First Nations people about how we look after
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