Two weeks from today I’ll wake up with a new sense of the country I call home.
Will a majority of 97% of Australian’s vote YES to give 3% a Voice to parliament in recognition of their ancient connection to country?
I think they will.
I hope they will.
I believe they will.
But it’s going to be close. And that in itself is a bit heart breaking. It shouldn’t be close.
It should be an easy, and enthusiastic yes, as it was in 1967.
This week, I'm in Brisbane participating in the solemn Red Hat ritual known as NHO: New Hire Orientation. I will receive my Red Fedora. I'm excited.
It's also NAIDOC week. For those that don't know, NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islander Day Observance committee. It's grown to become a week long celebration of first people's stories, achievements and ongoing resistance in the face of a colonial, genocidal denial of their existence, and their rights.
The time has come
To say fairs fair...
Dear members of the committee,
Please listen to the Uluru statement from the heart. Please hear those words. Please accept them, please act to adopt them.
Enshrine a voice for Australia’s first nation peoples in the Australian constitution.
Create a commission for Makarrata.
Invest in uncovering and telling the truth of our history.
We will be a stronger, wiser nation when we truly acknowledge the frontier wars and not only a stolen generation but stolen land, and stolen hope.
