Yellakka Yellakarri Student Leadership Program

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:14): Naa marni. I acknowledge this parliament meets on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people. From 15 to 18 May, around 70 students from 13 schools came together from across Greater Adelaide for the Yellakka Yellarkarri student leadership program run by Catholic Education South Australia. This program, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, is hosted at Tauondi Aboriginal College in Port Adelaide. This was the seventh YY, with students gathering and celebrating their Indigenous culture and sharing stories and experiences, since 2011.

Instead of the usual week, this year was an intense four days filled with extreme highs and lows. During their time together, the students listened to amazing and spirited speeches by elders, attended legal workshops, participated in traditional Aboriginal cookouts, sang songs, learned basic Kaurna language and also gathered for a welcoming and a closing ceremony.

I was privileged to be part of the closing ceremony at the invitation of our friend Auntie Katrina Power, who is with us today along with Melissa Clarke from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement. It was there that I had the joy of meeting Sara Pacella, who has been my shadow this week in parliament and who is also here today with her mother, Elizabeth. Sara has inspired me and the words in this grievance today.

The students came together to draft a statement, workshopped by the ALRM and inspired by the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its aftermath. The statement gathered students' thoughts and was to represent them as Aboriginal children. It reads:

We, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders of tomorrow have come together, on Kaurna land. We want to be recognised. We want to be heard, and we say:

We are saddened and outraged by the legacy that has been left by invasion. Our culture, our language, our land and families have been stolen and destroyed by colonisation. We are astounded to learn that after the truth of 'terra nullius', the Australian government has done nothing to redress the 200+ years of lies and deceit on which this 'Australian country' has been built. Until a treaty is entered with our Aboriginal Nations, non-Aboriginal Australia are visitors and invaders on this land, and living on our country unlawfully. We know this now. Yet despite the wars, the massacres, the segregation, the protection and the assimilation of our people, we have survived, our culture has survived and we are proud to be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. We will determine our future.

We know what keeps us strong. It is our culture, our identity, our belonging, our family, our community, and our country. We seek to be taught our culture, to practice our culture and in the future grow healthy, happy and safe children immersed in culture. We have come from a long line of warriors; 65,000 years of knowledge and spirituality. We are the oldest living culture in the world. We need to, and we are, in unity maintaining and strengthening our living culture for future generations. Other societies have much to learn and sharing our culture is our gift.

The strength that is bestowed upon us by our ancestors will see us succeed and become educators, midwives, professional athletes, business owners, lawyers, doctors, engineers, photographers, role models, actors and politicians.

We ask that non-Aboriginal Australia respect us. Respect our land. Respect our culture, learn the truth and tell the truth. We ask for nothing more than what is right and fair. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders together with non-Aboriginal Australia can then truly come together to strengthen our pride as a nation, and walk together in unity. As future leaders we will create a better life for our families and communities and nothing will stop us. This is who we are, and more.

Powerful words, powerful history shaping powerful futures. YY helped the students to reflect on how important it is to feel safe and to open up and share their struggles, and the students learned that by sharing their struggles with each other they gain more confidence to share this with other non-Indigenous people. This in turn helps to clarify their identity in this nation.

There was some contention amongst the students and the schools about the wording of the statement that was drafted; not everyone agreed with it. It is a bit like in this community on nearly every issue you can imagine, and I know it is how I felt the first time I saw an invasion role play at my son's school in 1988. However, there were definitely some common themes.

There was recognition of the belief that Australia was not terra nullius, or uninhabited, when the English settlers arrived. There were First Nation peoples. The stolen generation recollects the legacy of trauma, widespread abuse, displacement, removal of children and loss that continue to affect Indigenous communities, families and individuals today. Much culture and many languages have been lost; losing language when history and culture is handed down orally is devastating. This important part of Australia's history is not really being taught enough in Australian schools.

YY was an amazing program that challenged and captivated the students involved. It has opened up the possibility for a lot of debate and the opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Aboriginal. This can only be a good thing.

Today, we heard that the Victorian parliament is introducing a bill to progress negotiations on a treaty. South Australia has similar aspirations, and commissioner Roger Thomas, who began his work under then minister Kyam Maher, is preparing a report for Premier Marshall, who we are grateful has stayed to hear this grievance today. Let us hope that the treaty and recognition will be part of our history very soon.