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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-30 Daily Xml
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NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:15): Only with some people, sir. I acknowledge that we meet on the land of the Kaurna people and the parliament pays its respects to the traditional owners, past and present. This week is National Reconciliation Week, and 2012's catchcry is 'Let's talk recognition'. Beginning with National Sorry Day on 26 May, reconciliation week celebrates the rich culture and ages-old history of the First Australians. It is a time to think about how each of us could help turn around the disadvantage experienced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The week spans the 27 May and 3 June, two dates with specific and particular significance to our Indigenous people. On 27 May 1967, a federal government referendum changed the Australian Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as citizens with a 90 per cent yes vote. On 3 June 1992, a judgement was handed down by the High Court, known as the Mabo decision, where the Meriam people of the Torres Strait Islands became entitled to possess, occupy and use the lands of the Murray Islands, overturning the concept of terra nullius at the time of colonisation.

On behalf of the Premier I attended the Don Dunstan Foundation's Sixth Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration in her presence and that of the Governor and Mrs Scarce; Shirley Peisley; Don Dunstan's daughter, Bronwyn Dohnt, and her husband, Rodney; and a host of everybody you could think of who has anything to do with reconciliation in South Australia at Adelaide University's Bonython Hall. The packed auditorium heard from Michael Kirby who spoke at length about the importance of the Mabo decision and also the Wik decision in 1996 when the Wik people in Queensland pursued a Native Title decision. Justice Kirby reminded us of how these two decisions may probably not have happened as soon—and that is a moot point when you say 'soon'—or at all without the Koowarta decision in 1982 when in Queensland the purchase of land by Aboriginal people was blocked in contravention of the Racial Discrimination Act.

This year we are all challenged to get involved in reconciliation by looking and listening, eating some tucker, learning about the land and seeing through different eyes by giving our brains a workout and thinking about the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and how they live between two cultures. We can hug a granny or an elder or engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our community and praise them for their efforts and help them in their changes for the future.

We are also encouraged to start 'rapping' which refers to the Reconciliation Action Plans. RAPs are about turning good intentions into real actions. A RAP is a business plan that uses a holistic approach to create meaningful relationships and sustainable opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Since the launch of the RAP program, some 300 Australian corporations, governments and community organisations have joined the RAP community and display the trademark protected logo signifying that they meet the minimum elements of the program. Now 11 of Australia's top 20 businesses have RAPs.

Locally, Reconciliation SA hosted its annual breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel attended by the Premier, the Hon. Paul Caica, and again a host of Adelaide's reconciliation supporters with guest speaker, Tom Calma. The Hawke Centre tonight will host a panel discussion with involvement from the Hon. Dr Lynn Arnold (our former colleague) in his Anglicare role, and Reconciliation SA co-chairs Robyn Layton, whose work is well recognised, and Dr Peter Buckskin, an educator who is involved with the University of South Australia.

Last week on behalf of the minister, minister Caica, I helped launch the Kari Munaintya Tram Wrap in the presence of Rod Hook, who was emcee, and Ms Khatija Thomas, the Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement, and Mr Paul Herzich, the landscape architect who was the designer of the wrap. The wrap was initiated by the South Australian NAIDOC Committee and facilitated by the then Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure Reconciliation Committee.

For the third consecutive year the South Australian government has supported the tram wrap to raise awareness and promote Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week celebrations. It acknowledges that Aboriginal peoples in South Australia are descended from and identify with diverse cultures, customs, languages, families and songs. The ceremony celebrated Aboriginal culture and Aboriginal people's relationships with each other and the broader South Australian community.

The Kari Munaintya Tram Wrap is a powerful symbol of Aboriginal people's unique relationship to South Australia's environment, air, land and waters. It is also a symbol of place and belonging, linked to creation stories, travel, trade, ceremonies, family and places held sacred. The tram wrap design recognises and celebrates the diversity of cultures in South Australia by acknowledging all 39 major Aboriginal language groups, whose country is either fully or partially located within this state's borders.

In the spirit of reconciliation, the arrangement of concentric circles symbolises the diversity of the tram stop and meeting places along the Glenelg to Adelaide Entertainment Centre tramline. The first tram wrap was designed in 2010 and had an orange hue as the background to represent the vibrant ochre in the Mount Lofty Ranges. In 2011, a purple background was chosen to represent the Maslin Rainbow Sands from the southern area of the Kaurna country. This year, we are using green to signify the waters significant to the Kaurna people through their main dreaming of Tijibruke.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Hon. M.J. Wright): Thank you. My local member, the hardworking member for Morphett.

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