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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-01 Daily Xml
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Reconciliation Breakfast

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Will the minister please update the chamber on the recent Reconciliation Breakfast?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for his question. I acknowledge that at the breakfast there were quite a number of members of this chamber and of the other chamber who were at that event. Last Friday morning, on the significant occasion of Sorry Day, I had the privilege of attending the annual South Australian Reconciliation Breakfast.

The breakfast marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week, which runs from the end of May to the start of June. As it is every year, the breakfast was a sold-out event and provided an opportunity for those in attendance to reflect on the importance of reconciliation while also commemorating National Sorry Day.

The breakfast commenced at 7am with guests being invited to their seats with the yidaki performance from Isaac Hannam. It was followed by a warm welcome from Kaurna representative Robert Taylor. I would like to particularly acknowledge Marcellus Enalanga, who was the MC for the day and did a fantastic job with a crowd of some 2,000 people at the Reconciliation Breakfast this year.

Breakfast attendees were provided with performances by many First Nations acts, including a powerful performance from the Strong in Culture, Strong in Voice youth choir, an acoustic duet from renowned artists Nancy Bates and Corey Theatre, who once again showed the strength of their musical talents, and Dusty Feet Mob, who danced to a language-translated version of the song We Are Australian.

One of the highlights, and possibly the highlight for me, was the inclusion of Professor Peter Buckskin as a lifetime patron of Reconciliation South Australia. It added another welcome layer of significance to this breakfast. Professor Peter Buckskin has been, for close on 20 years I think, one of the chairs of Reconciliation South Australia, and it was read out the number of other co-chairs that Professor Buckskin has served with, as well as the chief executives of Reconciliation Australia over the long time that Professor Buckskin has been chair.

Professor Buckskin has spent his working life predominantly in the area of education, particularly Indigenous education. He has a background as a schoolteacher and has spent years in the Australian public sector and also the South Australian public sector, being for some time the head of the Aboriginal affairs department in South Australia, as well as being a professor at the University of South Australia, and I congratulate him on his achievement as a lifetime patron of Reconciliation South Australia but also on the significant work he has undertaken for his Aboriginal community.

I note the very strong representation from Narrunga people who have contributed to education in South Australia, along with Professor Peter Buckskin, names like Professor Irabinna Rigney; Irabinna's mother, Alitya Rigney; Clinton Wanganeen, who worked in TAFE and pioneered lots of roles for Aboriginal people in the TAFE sector—a tremendous contribution. Replacing Peter Buckskin as co-chair of Reconciliation South Australia is Jeremy Johncock. It was very fitting to have Jeremy present Professor Buckskin as a lifetime patron. I wish Jeremy all the best in his new role and, as Jeremy stated in his speech, to take on the role straightaway, head on.

It was also a privilege to have Reconciliation Australia chief executive Karen Mundine provide a keynote speech. Karen spoke to her views on the importance of enabling voices in Aboriginal communities, particularly what we have done in South Australia, and the need to constitutionally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our federal constitution through a Voice. The theme for this year's National Reconciliation Week is 'Be a Voice for Generations' and, importantly, it echoed the sentiment of many of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in the room about the importance of Voice.

I would like to congratulate Reconciliation South Australia on again putting on another successful breakfast. I know that each year many people from this chamber and the other chamber join what is now this year almost 2,000, and I understand the biggest event of its type anywhere in Australia in Reconciliation Week.

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