Page 1505 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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word is extremely complicated and can include as many as 13 to 15 sources, many dating back to the earliest surveyor records.
The institute were a key contributor to the development of an acknowledgement to country for the Ngunnawal-speaking people in their language, as has been used by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, when speaking on closing the gap in recent times. Whilst this would appear be an easy matter, Michael shared that finding the right words, such as for the word “acknowledge” is not easy, as often there are not equivalent words.
The exciting opportunity of revitalising the languages for the local Canberran Aboriginal people goes beyond the welcome to the country, however. It includes the opportunity for books to be printed in that language, traditional stories to be re-published, and for our local school students, including non-Indigenous students, to learn the language and so to learn more about the First Peoples and the land in which we live.
The institute houses an impressive resource, one which is accessed by many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who come from across the country, but is a hidden treasure for the people of Canberra. One hopes that, by having the collection open to such display, visitors from across Australia and indeed globally could begin to really understand the rich heritage we have as a nation and which we share with our First Peoples.
International Workers Memorial Day
MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (5.54): On 28 April, just a couple of weeks ago, I was honoured to attend a solemn gathering on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. The 28th of April, as many of you know, is International Workers Memorial Day. It is a day to remember the dead, those who have died at work or succumbed to the illness of their work; and, most importantly, it is a day to remember that we need to fight like hell for the living.
Canberra is a beautiful, picturesque city. It is also a city in which too many do not return home safely from work. Canberra is the least safe place to work in Australia. Some of the recent stats from the 18th edition of Safe Work’s Comparative performance monitoring report make for sombre reading. Injury rates in the private sector are up by 25 per cent since 2011. Canberrans experience 12.3 serious injuries per 1,000 people, far above the 9.3 serious injuries per 1,000 Australia-wide. And ultimately, as a result, Canberrans get killed at work.
It was only a few months ago that Canberra faced the sad news of Riharna Thomson dying in the early hours of her workday at Thoroughbred Park. Late last year, Canberra woke to the devastating news that a construction worker had been killed as he worked through the night to build Canberra’s new hospital. In 2012, we faced the devastating news of Ben Catanzariti. He was crushed at work. He was building new homes. In 2011, Wayne Vickery was struck by a grader. He was building the suburbs that make up our city; more importantly, he was a husband and a father.
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