Page 1087 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 April 1994
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
This is a well-crafted vision, Madam Speaker - one which has already allowed the council to make major progress towards its goals. This vision has provided the framework for the council's four major programs, which are: Firstly, a communication program to raise awareness of issues and to promote discussion about reconciliation through the media and other information activities; secondly, a consultation program to seek and record the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the wider community; thirdly, a cooperation program to bring together people to work on issues of common concern; and, finally, a community action program to support positive change in local communities and community organisations. The key words and phrases in this vision statement are "united Australia", "land", "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage" and "social justice and equity for all".
I have already spoken about the need for unity and alluded to the need for justice and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The importance of the land to our Aboriginal population is unquestioned. As the introduction to the explanatory memorandum to the Commonwealth's Native Title Bill 1993 says:
For Aboriginal people, dispossession of their land has been identified by both themselves and a number of authoritative government reports as central to the social, economic and physical problems experienced by them since colonisation.
In the words of the 1978 Australian of the Year, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, AM, a member of the council:
The land is my backbone ... I only stand straight, happy, proud and not ashamed about my colour because I still have land. I can paint, dance, create and sing as my ancestors did before me ... My land is my foundation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage is also crucial to the process of constructive reconciliation. In "Recognition: the Way Forward", published by the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, chairperson of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council, Kaye Mundine, is quoted as saying this:
Someone spoke about the past. You need to know where you are coming from. If you don't, you are going to run off doing things which is not going to resolve these problems. The other aspect is that Aboriginal historical experiences are a part of peoples' lives and you must listen to their pain which is a result of their past experience. You talk about reconciliation, but you also have to understand that the Aboriginal people have to work through their pain with you. You have to understand how the past is linked to the present. You also have to know what has to be forgiven, if you talk about asking for forgiveness. If you don't know what you are asking forgiveness for, what are you asking for?
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .