International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:45): On 9 August, we celebrate International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Our Australian Aboriginal population, the New Zealand Māori, the Inuit people of Canada and Greenland, the Kikuyu of East Africa—and the list goes on—are worth more than one special day per year, but just as we dedicate International Women's Day for half the world's population, this is not about any form of tokenism. It is about taking time to reflect on the values they have and the obstacles they often meet. International days are designed to give us an opportunity to think, wonder and learn about the subject being commemorated. They are not a fix-all; they are a stop, think and appreciate opportunity.

In the case of the world's indigenous people, there is more than can be learned in a lifetime, so it is really a matter of showing solidarity and empathy for the lives of others, opening our eyes to a world of peoples and cultures we may not even know, educating ourselves a little and, in our case, in our generally comfortable South Australia lives, having appreciation and even empathy when it is appropriate.

Perhaps the best way for the world's population to celebrate this day is to look around us and see what we can all learn from and about our own Indigenous people. When we go to many sporting events or openings, we hear the Welcome to Country, which in itself shows how far we have come in the past few years. While New Zealand has long recognised the culture of the Māori people with their time-honoured welcome to country that involves the haka, Australians, like many countries, was slow on the uptake.

The good news is that we are now beginning to recognise and respect our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It does me proud to watch a smoking ceremony before a major event, and these Welcome to Country acknowledgements show, as I have said before, how far we have come since the middle of the 20^th century, but of course we still have a long way to go.

On 9 August, I urge all of us to take the time to learn something we do not already know about our Indigenous people. With more than 500 language-based groups across the continent, there is plenty to learn for the inquisitive mind. Within South Australia alone, we have the Kaurna peoples of the Adelaide Plains, the Peramangk people of the Adelaide Hills and beyond, the Ngadjuri of the Mid North, and the Wirangu and Yatala people of the West Coast of this state.

By naming these groups, I am only scratching the surface of the original Australians in this state alone. The West Coast of South Australia itself has six different cultural groups. We are not expected to know or be aware of them all. Most Indigenous Australians could not come close to naming all the peoples in Australia. This day is about understanding and inclusion. That is achieved through education and a willingness to learn and to open our minds to the rich cultures that are found in our state and in other states, territories and lands.

The greatest respect we can show our Indigenous Australians and Indigenous peoples around the world is through not being ignorant. We should at least try to educate ourselves about the rich cultures of our Indigenous peoples. Of course, we also must acknowledge and spend time, money and resources on trying to lift the Indigenous peoples around the world, in particular in our case of Australia.

It is just not acceptable that our Indigenous people have a life expectancy way below that of most South Australians. We spend a lot of money, and we have done so in the past, but we still have not tackled or conquered the issue of many of the health problems we have amongst our Indigenous people. The crime rates are unacceptable, the incarceration rates are highly unacceptable, and I think there is a lot more we can do to acknowledge the contribution of our Indigenous populations. It is just unacceptable that we live in a country so rich in resources but cannot seem to find solutions to many of the problems that were inflicted upon our Indigenous people.

With those few words, I urge all to think a little bit about our Indigenous peoples around the world, and maybe the solutions to problems, on 9 August, which is International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.