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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-11-11 Daily Xml
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NAIDOC Week

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:58): My question is to the Premier in his responsibilities in Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation. Can you provide the house with information about the 2020 NAIDOC SA Award winners, particularly Lifetime Achievement winner, Professor Peter Buckskin?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:58): I thank the member for Florey for her question on NAIDOC Week this year. As I have previously informed the house, NAIDOC stands for the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee, and it can trace its origins back to the 1920s. For many years now, NAIDOC Week has actually occurred in July but for very obvious reasons associated with the restrictions around the coronavirus this year, it was transferred through to November. This year it is being held this week starting on 8 November and finishing on15November and it is really a wonderful week of celebration of the history, culture, language and achievements of Aboriginal Australians.

The member is quite right. On Monday this week, the Adelaide City Council hosted and held the annual NAIDOC SA Awards. This is an important recognition for a large number of people from the Aboriginal community in different categories. Categories can vary from gender—males and females—and elders, right through to sports men and women and people who provide great leadership at schools, and then each year the award culminates in what is known as the Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, it was presented to Professor Peter Buckskin.

Professor Peter Buckskin would be known to many people in this chamber. He is an outstanding South Australian, a proud Narungga man from Yorke Peninsula. He started off his career as a schoolteacher, but he has made an extraordinary progression ever since. He has served as a ministerial adviser, he served as a superintendent within our school systems, and he has worked in the state system and the federal system. In fact, in 2001 he was presented with the Public Service Medal for the contribution that he has made. Education has been a great love and a great passion of his, and of course now we know that he is employed as the Dean of Aboriginal Engagement and Strategic Projects at the University of South Australia.

I first came to know Professor Buckskin in his role as one of the co-chairs of Reconciliation SA. I was very proud to serve on that committee for eight years between 2010, when I was first elected to the parliament, right through until 2018, when I was kicked off the committee. The reason I was kicked off was that apparently the minister responsible for Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation cannot be on the board of Reconciliation SA, so it was with great reluctance that I relinquished my role on the Reconciliation SA board. He has had several co-chairs during that period: originally, the Hon. Robyn Layton and, most recently, the Commissioner for Children and Young People in South Australia, Helen Connolly.

Reconciliation SA does an excellent job. They are promoting reconciliation in SA, and this is exactly and precisely Peter Buckskin's great contribution. He is one to listen, he is one to educate people, he is one to bring people together, and I think that he is a very, very worthy winner of the 2020 NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award.

Can I also update the house that usually during NAIDOC Week we present a series of Premier's awards for contribution across various spheres. This year, we will not be presenting it during NAIDOC Week; it will be delayed until December. In particular, this year we will be honouring those people who have protected their communities during this coronavirus, and it was felt that this time was one when the maximum number of people could come down, many of them from very remote parts of our state.

We have much to celebrate within our Aboriginal communities right across this state. NAIDOC Week is a great opportunity to do this, and I hope that everybody gets the opportunity to attend one or more events.

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