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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-05-30 Daily Xml
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National Reconciliation Week

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:25): I rise to speak also about Reconciliation Week, an incredibly important week in our national calendar. Every year, Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May—the anniversary of the 1967 referendum to enable the government to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to recognise them in our national census—and 3 June, the date that commemorates the High Court of Australia's landmark Mabo decision in 1992, which legally recognised that Aboriginal people have a special relationship with land, a relationship that has existed for tens of thousands of years and still exists today. Of course, this decision paved the way for native title.

These were momentous steps along our nation's reconciliation journey and this year we mark 50 years since the referendum and 25 years since the Mabo decision. This week and every week, we must deeply recognise Aboriginal people, their ownership of country and acknowledge that their culture is the oldest continuing culture in human history. For us to achieve true reconciliation, we must all participate and take steps in our nation's reconciliation journey. Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all of us. When it does, when everyone makes decisions that have regard to the impact on Aboriginal people at the front of our minds and hearts, reconciliation will be achieved.

I am very happy to speak today about some of the ways local community members are working towards reconciliation. Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of working with our Southern Football League, together with the O'Sullivan Beach Lonsdale Football Club and the Christies Beach Football Club, to run a Reconciliation Round. This round saw both these clubs have local artists, Kelly Roe from Christies Beach Football Club and Doug Clinch Senior from O'Sullivan Beach Lonsdale Football Club, design guernseys for the round, with Junction Australia as a sponsor for a set of these.

Local elder Aunty Georgina Williams very generously welcomed us to Kaurna land, Isaac Hannam gave a beautiful digeridoo performance and Chris Coomer spoke with us about what reconciliation means to him. This day brought our football community together to have a conversation about how we can each reflect on past injustices and be sorry for them and take steps together towards reconciliation.

I was thrilled also yesterday to be part of the local Christies Beach Primary School Reconciliation Week assembly. It was heartening to see every child in that school expressing their thoughts and their intended actions to achieve reconciliation through art, storytelling and music. Thank you to each of those children and the staff and leaders at that school for so deeply exploring what they can and will do together to contribute to our reconciliation journey. These local community conversations and the commitments to actions that come from them are so important in considering our own roles in reconciliation, in ending racism and in securing equality, dignity and respect for all Aboriginal people into the future.

The theme for Reconciliation Week this year is 'Let's take the next steps'. It is not enough just to talk about reconciliation and justice. As a government and as a community, we must take active steps towards removing systemic discrimination. Twenty years ago, the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in the Australian parliament. For the first time, Bringing Them Home formally recognised the full extent of the suffering, pain and absolute devastation that forced removals brought upon Aboriginal children, families and communities over many decades across this nation.

We acknowledge that we must continue saying sorry as long as the suffering continues in any part of our community, in any family and in the heart and soul of any individual. In 2008, prime minister Rudd apologised to Australia's Indigenous people for the indignity and degradation inflicted on them and recognised the pain, suffering and hurt they have suffered. At that time, we were urged to look to the future and to set the goal of a truly equal partnership based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

We must each accept responsibility for working towards this aspiration and making it a reality. It is a journey of many steps and I am proud that our state government has taken some important next steps. In 2015, we launched our Stolen Generations Reparation Scheme to provide both individual and whole-of-community reparations to people and communities affected by forced removals. The individual payment scheme enables government to provide some redress for South Australian stolen generation people. It also provides Aboriginal people opportunities to tell their stories—an important, crucial part of the healing process for individuals and communities.

But it is important that we continue to acknowledge that nothing—nothing—can take away the pain and suffering of those who were removed from their families as children. Nothing can mend the family, community and cultural bonds that were destroyed, in some cases never to be repaired. In this Reconciliation Week, it is integral that we all accept the solemn responsibility for working together in the direction of healing.

In December 2016, we also proudly announced that we would begin treaty discussions with Aboriginal South Australians. Conversations with Aboriginal communities across South Australia that would inform the elements of a possible treaty model are now happening. I congratulate my friend, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Kyam Maher, in the other place on his work in this area and on his deep commitment to achieving treaty.

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