PUBLISHED SPEECH FOR OPENING RECONCILIATION WEEK IN QUEENSLAND 27 MAY 2014 The Hon. Dr Robyn Layton AO QC I wish to acknowledge the Turrbal, Jagera/Yuggera, Kabi Kabi and Jinibara Peoples as the Traditional Owners of the lands where Queensland University of Technology now stands, and recognise that these have always been places of teaching and learning. I pay my respect to their Elders - past, present and emerging and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the university community and generally throughout Australia. I also pay respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are present tonight, from other parts of Australia. It is an honour and a privilege for me to participate in the launch Reconciliation Week in Brisbane. Particularly when it is not my home state and particularly to share the launch with people for whom I have great admiration. Introduction This is a week which celebrates two significant milestones, the 1967 referendum and the Mabo decision. The theme of Reconciliation Week this year, Let s Walk the Talk, is aimed at achieving another significant milestone for reconciliation, being recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as First Nations in the Australian Constitution. Reconciliation Reconciliation is not just a word - it is a process, - it requires a change of culture and this requires positive action. Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution is a very important step in that process. Reconciliation Australia expresses reconciliation as being built on three pillars: understanding the past relationships,
2 understanding the effects of the past injustices, dispossession of land and respecting the cultures and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The foundation for those three pillars is having knowledge and information about our past up to the present time. Our history and past relationships When we think about the past in Australia, we need to go right back. Not just a couple of hundred years or so. Australian history didn t begin in 1788 at Botany Bay when the British flag was raised. It did not begin in 1901 when the Constitution of Australia was passed. Australia s history began more than 40,000 years ago, and more than 1500 generations ago, when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, lived on and governed all parts of Australia. They had more than 250 languages and about 600 dialects. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have shown enormous resilience. Our First Nations peoples are the oldest living culture in the world. Some of the rock art has been dated at 28,000 years ago, which is before the end of an ice age. At the time of colonisation there were approximately 1 Million Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Now instead of being 100% of the population of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples represent about 2.5% of the Australian population, approximately half 1 million people. Over, the period since colonisation, and for various reasons including ignorance as well as acts of deliberate aggression and oppression, the lives and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have changed. The lives of our First Nations people have been adversely affected by disease, which killed somewhere between 60 and 70%. There were deliberate massacres. Do you have any idea about the number of massacres of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples which occurred between 1790 and 1928. There were more than 52 major massacres some of them taking place over a 10 year period. Many of the massacres were ordered by men whom we now tout as national heroes such as Governor Arthur Philip and Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Not all of the massacres pre-date the 1901 Australian Constitution. For example in 1928 the Northern Territory s Conniston massacres cost 32 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives. Then between 1910-1970, there were assimilation policies. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were forced to live on missions and reserves. There was the stolen generation. Recent research estimates the number of children removed from their families in that period was about one in 10 or between 20,000 to 25,000 children. Think what a devastating effect this has had on a traditional culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples which was so different from the culture of other Australians.
3 Colonisation has changed thousands of years of rich culture, in a little over 200 years and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages have been reduced to about 150, most of which are endangered. Effects of past injustices and dispossession of land Is it so surprising that as a consequence of this relatively short and brutal history, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lower measures of quality of life in health, education and employment living in a dominant culture that is not their own? Is it so surprising that the gap in these quality of life indicators continues because of discrimination against them and racism on their own traditional land? Is it so surprising that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are overrepresented in the criminal Justice system? Respecting and recognising the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contribution Instead what I would say, is that it is amazing, that in spite of that history, we have so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have made and continue to make an outstanding and generous contributions not only for their own communities but for all Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples worked in the pastoral industry for meagre rations to help build the early Australian economy. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women have served in theatres of war for all Australians for 87 years before they were considered citizens and able to vote. This included the Boer war, Gallipoli, World War I, World War II. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders continue to make their mark nationally and internationally in sports, the arts and in leadership roles across all occupations and professions and trades. In 2014 there were 14 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander finalists in the Australian finalists for Australian of the Year Awards. Not bad for 2.5% of the population. These are the positive features that other Australians, such as myself, tend to overlook. All of these features are part of the history that other Australians need to know and acknowledge if we are to have true reconciliation. It is thinking about this history which motivates me to stand here today and talk about reconciliation and recognition. It is my way to walk the talk The Constitution and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People
4 So how do we express our recognition of the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and respect for the longevity of their culture in our Australian Constitution? Do you know how many references there are to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution? The answer is none. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are subsumed under the general reference to people of any race. There are references to Queen Victoria, the British Parliament, provisions on lighthouses, coinage, beacons and buoys, astronomical and meteorological observations, but not one reference to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples prior ownership and governance of Australia. Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander should be a matter of pride and not a matter of silence in our Constitution. As Adelaide University s law school Dean, Prof John William s has said, if the Constitution is the birth certificate of the nation, then the framers only mentioned half the family. Many Australians are unaware that we have a written Constitution let alone the fact that there is not one reference to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Many Australians are also unaware that there are provisions in our Constitution which allow discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They are also not aware that there is no section in our Constitution which prohibits discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. We have a Race Discrimination Act, but this is simple legislation which can be suspended in its effect or operation by an ordinary Act of Parliament. This has happened in recent times. In short we have a Constitution which is out of date and shameful in its treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But we have now have a chance to change that. An opportunity for change In the next couple of years in Australia, this generation will have a unique and exciting opportunity to amend the Constitution to recognise Australia s First Nations Peoples and to remove provisions in the Constitution which discriminate against them. Referendum Constitutional amendment requires a referendum of all voting Australians. It is well recognised that Australia has one of the most difficult constitutions in the world to amend. Some say this is an advantage. However it is a very hard task. It requires a double majority, that is, more than half of voting Australians as well as four out of the
5 six states to voted yes to specific wording. Only eight out of the 44 referenda conducted in Australia have been successful, the most successful was the 1967 referendum in which more than 90% of Australians voted yes. Why should we change? Here is what three well known Australians have to say about recognition. Patrick Dodson, sometimes called the Father of reconciliation says this: Recognition of the first peoples in the Constitution of the country starts to send a message that you are valued, you are important, that we want to respect you, and we want to deal with the things that have caused us division and discord in the past. The Prime Minister Tony Abbott says this: I m a big supporter of this. It should be a unifying moment for Australia. It should be a healing moment for Australia. And that s what I want to bring about. Senator Barnaby Joyce. A Senator for Queensland and Leader of the Nationals in the Senate. I think we have a duty to do the right thing. So I m encouraging you, as a person you know is pretty conservative, to move yourself to the position where we move this nation forward as one So what does a young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student in the Northern Territory think? [Show video one - link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdadvmt5eas ] How can we change? The heavy lifting to achieve a successful referendum must be done by other Australians. 2.5% of the population cannot do it alone. The 1967 referendum was successful because of people held meetings, went on journeys in buses, talked at public meetings and talked around kitchen tables about the unfairness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander not being able to be counted in the census or to be able to vote. That is what we need to do again. Unfairness in the Constitution is still the issue. It is not enough for each of us to have personal and private support for change. It requires active commitment and a level of passion and resolve. A good start is to sign up as a supporter on the Recognise website. In doing this you will be joining more than 185,000 people who have already signed up.
6 You can wear the R badge or the R T-shirt. This is a great conversation starter particularly if either your first name or surname begins with an R. You can share social media stories from the Recognise or Reconciliation Australia websites You can hold an event, even as simple as a morning tea or afternoon tea at a workplace a sports venue a community Hall: arrange an event in a mall, Church, or at service clubs: talk in schools or a place where people meet including people around the BBQ or kitchen table. Invite elders and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to talk at some of these functions. You can give out pamphlets and badges You can set yourself a goal of how many other people you can sign up, or link up with others to do the same. Reconciliation Queensland can provide a real focal point for initiating or facilitating discussions and action. Businesses and organisations can develop RAP plans and encourage other connected businesses to do the same. State Governments need to be proactive and involved. Some States need to step up efforts on this national issue. This is crucial in Queensland when approximately 30% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders live in this State In South Australia, Reconciliation SA receives some direct and also indirect financial support from the SA government for its work. In addition the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs has proactively taken the initiative of requesting all state government departments to have specific Reconciliation Action Plans which are to be regularly updated, monitored and reported against. Journey for Recognition One of the best ways that Queenslanders can advance reconciliation and walk the talk is by joining the Journey for Recognition. This journey began in Melbourne and has already travelled around half of Australia, sometimes on foot, bike, car and bus. I joined it on foot when it went to Adelaide and then I went by car to Port Augusta. The Journey then moved onto the Northern Territory to the Gama Festival. You too can join when it goes through Queensland So this is what you can you be part of! The journey will take place in segments commencing in Far North QLD in July- August, North and Central QLD in September, and the rest of QLD in November. Talking to people in places along the way. An amazing opportunity and an historical experience. There are a lot of voters who need to be in the know about the referendum. [Show video two - link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxfl8lqvp_g#t=12 ] We need to do this together - for all of us - not just for now - but for the future. I urge you to think of what you can do and start tomorrow.