They chatted about this year’s theme, ‘Now More Than Ever,’ and what that message, alongside other recent events such as the failed Voice to Parliament and Yoorrook Justice Commission, meant to the ongoing journey of reconciliation.
Here’s an excerpt of the discussion.
Nicola: We had the Voice to Parliament last year in October, which didn’t get through, but we did see about 6.4 million Australians vote Yes. Despite No being the majority vote, that is still a pretty big number. How do you guys perceive those numbers and the result of that Voice to Parliament, when it comes to an ongoing path for reconciliation in Australia?
Uncle Bobby: As an Aboriginal person, I had hoped that there would be, I suppose, a good pathway into this. But unfortunately, we only make up three per cent of the population, so when it came down to the voting, it was 97 per cent of non-Aboriginal people ... But I was very disappointed in the result. That has pushed us back a long way when we talk about how far advanced are we in terms of Aboriginal affairs in Australia, or more so in Victoria.
Deirdre: When you think about the theme, ‘Now More Than Ever’, we can’t allow things to continue as they are. There’s so much information about things that can be done. Aboriginal communities know what the issues are, and know what works. And one of the things about all of this is, now more than ever, we need to listen to those voices. Those voices have been telling us for a long time.
Nicola: We’ve got the Yoorrook Justice Commission, that’s happening at the moment and that’s bringing a lot of things to light about what’s happened to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout Australia. What are your thoughts on what’s happening there and kind of where that’s going to lead in regards to reconciliation in Australia?
Uncle Bobby: I think that having the power that Yoorrook has, is similar to having a government that once you’ve been called in to provide information, whether that be through DFFH (Department of Families, Fairness and Housing), Department of Justice, some of the statutory bodies like education and corrections and so forth like that, when they come before Yoorrook, they are compelled to tell the truth.
With Yoorrook, that gives me faith that we will get answers. As I said before, the 2023 referendum has been a throwback, when I look back at the people that have come off Cummeragunja in the 1938 walk-off, people like Doug Nicholls, the Jack Pattens, the Marge Tuckers etc. And for those people, they only had an education up to grade four and their real, I suppose, teacher or educator was Mr Shadrach James, who is from this area as well, too. So when they finished school or after dark, he would teach them or educate them in terms of some of the stuff that they’ve brought up today, like in terms of reconciliation.
And Sir Douglas Nicholls, he used to always use this phrase when he was talking to different people in government. He would say it’s like using the piano — you play the black notes, and you get a nice tune out of it, you play the white notes, and you get a nice tune, but when you play the black and white notes together, you get harmony. And that’s what’s part of reconciliation.
Deirdre: Yoorrook is really for all of us because my understanding is what they’re seeking to make really clear is the full history of this state because it’s to do with just Victoria. There is no ambiguity where in the past you could say there was the white history of Victoria. But there’s also the other part of the history and that’s the history from an Aboriginal lens and that was very different and there were things that are similar and things that were different but together you get the whole picture.
To listen to more of what Uncle Bobby and Deirdre had to say about reconciliation, listen to the full podcast here.
