THE 9 August is regarded as the International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations which for me reflects on an ancient world of tribal boundaries far removed from the post modern global village we now occupy.
As a primary school student in western Sydney during the 60s, I remember the naive academic introduction to the Australian Aborigines albeit brief and dominated by the exploits of European explorers however little did I know that the family up the street where I visited and socialised were Aboriginal but with fair skin as a legacy from their past colonial contact.
Last week I attended a Federal Court hearing in the town of Elliott where Justice Reeves presided over a Native Title application and the presentation of consent determination to the nominated claimant representatives was handed down and with that a concluding statement citing ‘Native Title always existed and the hearing represented formal recognition of that.’
As the MLA for Barkly I was moved by the occasion as my first in a Federal Court yet confident in the outcome where the Northern Territory Government, the Northern Land Council and the Indigenous claimants had all worked together to not only resolve an important matter from the past but to plot a way forward for the traditional Aboriginal people whose land we were standing on.
I was honoured to be invited to speak after the adjournment of the court and I drew upon both my childhood experiences and the thirty year journey in the Territory where the first Australians had provided my comprehensive education and knowledge of the dreaming and its intricate relationship with culture and country.
However after paying my respects to the elders I made mention of the under 20 years cohort of Aboriginal Australians witnessing the court proceedings from throughout the parkland challenging them to consider where they see themselves and their children in 30 years time!
What will Elliott be like and how will their traditional land support their vision, in other words as a politician I challenged Generation Y with the question of land use and how they will both protect and use their land assets in supporting their future and that of their children and grandchildren.
The new NT government growth towns policy is bigger and bolder than anything before it and in terms of Indigenous policy for closing the gap in disadvantage offers a way forward in real self determination where land use in terms of commercial income generation and wealth management can support improved health and education and consequently the quality and longevity of one’s life!
I shared the same dream for Indigenous youth in Borroloola the week before Elliott and talked about how the new generation of Indigenous leaders are now at the forefront of this policy development and how making country work for you should not be feared.
Indigenous peoples all over the world have embarked on the same journey and as a result community development has followed but only where government policy has reflected the nature of ‘policy to work with, not policy to do for!’