Page 798 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 1 April 2008
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Don Bell was a Ngunnawal elder who grew up on the Hollywood Mission on the outskirts of Yass. His challenging early experiences helped shaped his lifelong passion for the advancement of Aboriginal issues. Mr Bell was determined that his family and others be accorded their rightful and respected place in our society. He became a strong advocate for the recognition of Aboriginal culture and language, in particular the culture and language of the Ngunnawal people. He worked hard to see that he and his family received the recognition they deserved as descendants of the traditional owners of the land that is now the Australian Capital Territory.
Don Bell and his family chose not to give up their right to pursue a native title claim over land in the ACT at the time when a number of other Ngunnawal family groups entered into a joint management arrangement for Namadgi national park. The Bell claim continues in the courts to this day.
My frequent meetings with both Don and Ruth Bell over the years left me with little doubt of the family’s passion for eliminating discrimination against Indigenous people. But what also came through in those meetings was Don Bell’s immense pride in the long history of his own people. Don Bell was a straight talker and his words carried the force of his sense of the deep injustices suffered by his family and other Indigenous Australians.
He also built connections with the non-Indigenous community and was deeply involved in many community-based activities and projects over the decades, including Landcare projects. His knowledge of the local region was considerable. He was the first to raise concerns about the possible loss of Aboriginal cultural sites in the wake of the 2003 bushfires.
However, it was his passion for securing lives of dignity and meaning for Indigenous people for which he will be most remembered. Don Bell transcribed the stories of the Aboriginal dreamtime that he had heard as a boy, sitting around a campfire, listening to the boomerang man. His books of stories include Mununja the Butterfly: a Ngunawal Aboriginal Story, Dyirri the Frog and The Swan. He was fond of retelling these stories to groups of Canberra schoolchildren.
Mr Bell was also involved in the delivery of training programs to new police recruits, helping them understand and appreciate local Aboriginal culture and heritage. I am sure I speak for all members of the Assembly, along with many in the wider Canberra community, when I offer Ruth and the extended Bell family my deepest sympathy and condolences at this time of sorrow. We have lost an enthusiastic and outspoken Indigenous leader.
I also take this opportunity to extend my condolences on the death of Professor Peter Cullen. It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Peter Cullen, and it is fitting that the Assembly reflect on his contribution to water management in Australia and the ACT.
Professor Cullen was renowned nationally and internationally for his work as a freshwater ecologist. He was a founding member of the Wentworth Group of
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