Page 1086 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 April 1994
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Kevin Gilbert, in his book Because a White Man'll Never Do It, noted:
Very few whites, even at university level, know very much about the black experience in this country. They don't realise that racism is a daily experience for most blacks, in shops, in jobs, in the street.
While there has been some progress, most notably the High Court's 1992 decision in the Mabo case in which the court rejected the traditional doctrine that Australia was terra nullius at the time of European settlement, there is still much to do. Advances have been made since the 1970s; yet a point made by the then Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Gordon Bryant, in a speech in March 1973 is unfortunately in some respects as valid today as it was then. He said:
The situation of the Aboriginal people of Australia is a national disgrace. There is no other way to describe it.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody said that the most important contributing factors in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody is their unequal position in our society - socially, economically and culturally. The royal commission also expressed concerns relating to racism and prejudice in the Australian community as further factors inhibiting the progress of indigenous peoples.
Madam Speaker, the challenge facing the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation is one of changing ingrained community attitudes - on the one hand racism, and on the other alienation. As the council says in the March edition of its publication Walking Together:
The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was set up to bring about a change in attitudes among many Australians in the wider community and to bring all Australians, regardless of the colour of their skin, together. It is a long-term project which has not been helped by recent community division generated by the Mabo debate.
Nevertheless it is important that all Australians of good faith continue to seek solutions to these often apparently intractable problems in spite of any setbacks. Not to do so will be to fail not only our generation but also our grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The need for constructive reconciliation is clear, and I certainly support the concept.
The third part of the motion calls on the Assembly to adopt, as a vision shared by the Assembly, the vision of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, which is:
A united Australia which respects this land of ours; values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage; and provides justice and equity for all.
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