HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-26 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

SORRY DAY

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:25): As I begin today, I acknowledge that we are gathered on Kaurna land. Today is Sorry Day, so let us recap on what I think is the 13th anniversary of the Bringing Them Home report on the stolen generations. In 1998, close to one million Australians said 'sorry' to the stolen generations by signing the Sorry Day books and taking part in events on Sorry Day; and in May 1999, the Journey of Healing set out from Uluru and moved to each state and territory. We have had symbolic bridge crossings in every capital city and, more recently, the Prime Minister made a national apology in Parliament House, Canberra on 13 February 2008.

In my speech to this house in 1999, I said saying sorry is an understanding that there are both material and spiritual issues involved in reconciliation and perhaps one of the most important things we can do is to address the matters of the spirit. This is done in many ways, and the symbolic ways, such as the large gatherings we have witnessed here in Adelaide at the bridge crossing and the National Apology Day, are a big and special part of paying symbolic homage to those messages. However, like many people I speak with, I think there seems to be little to show for our manifestations of goodwill and desire for change.

This week I began to think about how I would express my feelings about Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week. Reconciliation Week is, of course, framed by two significant dates in Australia's history: 27 May is the anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which more than 90 per cent of Australians supported the removal of clauses from the national constitution that discriminated against Aboriginal people, and 3 June marks the High Court's decision in the Mabo case.

While I was driving to attend the Blue and Gold Society breakfast for the Girl Guides, I began to think about this speech. The breakfast was attended by patron Mrs Liz Scarce, Mr Martin Lindsall, mayor of the City of Playford, and my colleague in the other place and fellow Aboriginal lands committee member, the Hon. Terry Stephens. The guest speaker soon helped me to get things in perspective. She has an impressive CV that is far too long to read today. She was born and raised in Alice Springs and is an Arrernte Aboriginal women from Central Australia. Leanne Liddle spoke passionately about how change can occur. She has been an Aboriginal parks and wildlife coordinator with the Department for Environment and Heritage for 10 years and is currently the project manager of Kuka Kanyini in Watarru in the APY lands. She has a legal and science background; however, her greatest asset is the information she has learnt and valued from living with the desert people, her grandparents (who are no longer with her) and her parents.

The Kuka Kanyini project, when loosely translated into English from Pitjantjatjara, means 'looking after game animals', but it is much more than that. The project was piloted in the small Aboriginal community called Watarru (Mount Lindsay is the English equivalent) and has been in operation for just over five years and accomplishes more than just an environmental benefit, because it also recognises and supports social and cultural elements.

Watarru is about 10 hours' drive south-west from Asp. It lies within the APY Lands, which is freehold land that has access restricted by invitation of the traditional owners and by permit only. The language spoken is Pitjantjatjara or Yankunytjatjara and, for most, English is a second or third language. Watarru is approximately 130 kilometres from the Western Australian border and 250 kilometres north of the South Australia-Northern Territory border. The community fluctuates between 50 and 100 people. Many of them are older women. The community is remote and has limited services. It has one small shop, one school, 12 students (yet three teachers), a health clinic (serviced 1.5 days a week), and the main income is welfare based. The road south of Watarru goes nowhere but to sacred sites.

The Kuka Kanyini project was founded on the results of a biological survey conducted by DEH 10 years ago. The Aboriginal people from this area (commonly known as Anangu) were not particularly interested in the 'new species' that were identified because, unlike the scientists, they already knew the species that were there and those that were missing; and the ones that were identified were a real bonus.

More importantly, during Leanne's talk about what was going on in the project, she spoke about the role of women in looking after the community. A lot of effort has been achieved by the women of the community. They are the drivers that restore the balance on many fronts within this and many other remote Aboriginal communities, for it is the women who manage the key activities that manipulate the landscape that has resulted in so many important, threatened and vulnerable species living in the area—and all with limited intervention by western science.

In the little time that is left, I want to ask members here to reflect on how they can use their positions of influence for change in the spirit of this year's reconciliation theme, which is 'Let's see it through'. In Florey, I have a reconciliation task force working on projects and, along with the City of Tea Tree Gully which is unveiling its latest project of ground art in Civic Park. This is one of the ways that the community can come together and work to see change happen here in the city. It is the remote Aboriginal communities that I am looking forward to visiting in my role on the new committee.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT