MULTICULTURAL NEWS AUSTRALIA
COMMUNITY NEWS
FEB 2024 - Vol 1, Issue 1
More Australians are actively re-evaluating what our national day stands for and how we can create a better country – one that all Australians, including First Nations people, are proud to celebrate Brisbane, Jan 25 (MCCQ Newsdesk) Press Release Reconciliation Australia
The National Reconciliation Week 2024 theme, Now More Than Ever is a reminder to us all that, no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will – and must – continue. Since 1788 Australian history is one of unending struggle by First Nations peoples for recognition of rights. The fulfillment of this long struggle for First Nations rights and a common
understanding of our shared history is essential in the creation of a National Day for all Australians. Justice, and national pride is dependent on truth. Now more than ever, truth-telling is critical to Australia being able to celebrate this nation together. National unity cannot be built on selective versions of history that exclude or silence the voices and experiences of First Nations peoples. Truth-telling, as called for in the Uluru Statement from the
Heart, ensures that Australians can understand an Australian history that reflects all our perspectives and experiences of it. Every year we see what a more united and reconciled nation might look like as growing numbers of Australians attend Survival Day marches, concerts, and festivals, on 26 January. This unity built on an acceptance of a shared history aligns with the most recent Australian Reconciliation Barometer (ARB), which shows a growing awareness of the impact colonisation has had
on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
86% of the general community and 89% of First Nations people support Australians learning more about past historical issues which have affected First Nations peoples. More Australians now understand the need to broaden understanding of history from different perspectives and consider how we mark these occasions; 82% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and 70% people in the general community support the creation of shared
Australian icons that celebrate national unity and identity, including a National Day of Significance that celebrates First Nations histories and cultures.’ This increasing reassessment of 26 January and our national day of celebration is a cause for optimism, a sign of growing maturity in Australia’s attitudes to justice and recognition of First Nations peoples.
We urge Australians to have respectful conversations about finding a way through the current debate and creating a better and more just country; one that we can all celebrate.
To know more about reconciliation Australia please visit their website https://www. reconciliation.org.au/
Reconciliation Australia acknowledges Senator Patrick Dodson’s decades of hard work and intellectual rigour committed to the reconciliation movement and the struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights. Brisbane, Jan 26 (MCCQ Newsdesk) Press Release Reconciliation Australia
A Yawuru man from Broome, Patrick Dodson’s informal title – the Father of Reconciliation – is well deserved after his successful leadership of the movement over many decades. In this role he demonstrated great passion and determination. In many ways Senator Dodson’s life mirrors the advances the First Nations rights movement has championed over the decades. His early days were marked
by poverty, disempowerment, and racism; like so many other Aboriginal kids he spent time hiding from police and welfare officials trying to steal him away from his family. From these hard times he ascended to great heights in Australian public life, but always in roles which advanced the rights and interests of his people. He first came into the national spotlight as a Commissioner with the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which recommended the urgent need for a formal
process of reconciliation between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. He went on to become the inaugural Chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR), the predecessor to Reconciliation Australia, which was established in response to that recommendation. His wisdom and patience in that role is fondly remembered by all who worked with him. More recently, as a Senator for Western Australia, he was appointed the Special
Envoy for Reconciliation and Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in the Albanese Government.
Patrick Dodson has been a giant in Australia public life for decades, truly deserving of the title, Father of Reconciliation. His contribution to reconciliation and the struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights is legendary.
his outstanding contribution. We suspect Australia will continue to benefit from his counsel as he heads into retirement. To know more about reconciliation Australia please visit their website https://www. reconciliation.org.au/
Reconciliation Australia’s Board and staff wish Senator Dodson all the very best of luck as he leaves the Parliament and thank him for
Protests and Rallies organised in Brisbane by the Aboriginal Community regarding the Invasion Day and change of Date for the National Day of Australia
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