National Reconciliation Week

SHANNON KING | Digital Marketing & Communications Officer

To commemorate National Reconciliation Week (NRW) and the 30th anniversary of the landmark High Court Mabo decision, Senior School students attended a Reconciliation Week Assembly on Friday 3 June, which was live streamed to Junior High. Students and staff had the extraordinary privilege of hearing from Old Scholar (1982) and current St Peters parent Noel Pearson— lawyer, land rights activist, and Director of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership.

In his moving address, Mr Pearson fondly recalled his five years as a St Peters scholar and boarder, describing them as some of the best years of his life. He then spoke of the importance of community, of our multi-layered identities and of Australia having three stories: the story of our Indigenous foundations; the story of our British institutions; and the story of our multicultural migration.

“These, our own stories, are indeed staring us in the face. They are our reality. We only need open our eyes and ears, and hearts to them,” Mr Pearson said.

He spoke about the possibility of a referendum within the next three years that if successful, would enshrine First Nations voices in our Constitution, as another step towards reconciliation.

“If we rise to the opportunity that now presents, our three Australian stories will become one. And even as we maintain our diverse individual and group identities, we will be able to speak in the first-person plural. We. The Australian People.”

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to reflect, to learn, and to celebrate our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to consider how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW are the same each year—27 May to 3 June—marking two key milestones in the history of reconciliation in Australia, the first being the successful 1967 referendum in which over 90% of Australians voted to give the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and to recognise them in the Census. The second was the High Court Mabo decision which laid the groundwork for Native Title and paved the way for reconciliation.

This year's theme for NRW is 'Be Brave. Make Change'. It calls on all Australians, from individuals to organisations, and government, to Be Brave with our actions in our daily lives to address the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all.