Page 209 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 2019
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28 May 2018. The success of the events in the lead-up to and on the day was due in large part to the important work done by the ACT Reconciliation Day Council. As part of the council’s evaluation for Reconciliation Day 2018, it recommended that I make a statement to this place about the success of the inaugural event.
I am thrilled to see one member of the council in the chamber today. I recognise the commitment and hard work of all council members in helping to deliver last year’s event and their enthusiasm for an even bigger and better Reconciliation Day 2019. In particular, I acknowledge the council co-chairs, Dr Chris Bourke and Ms Genevieve Jacobs, who is here with us today, who did such a fantastic job of emceeing the Reconciliation in the Park event.
As members know, when the government tabled the Holidays (Reconciliation Day) Amendment Bill in August 2017 I stated that we need to write a better Australian story. This story needs to reach into more than 60,000 years of this country’s history and culture and to be honest about the impact of colonisation and past policies and practices.
Yesterday was the anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generations. In response to the apology, Dr Tom Calma, a member of the ACT Reconciliation Day Council, said:
Through one direct act, Parliament has acknowledged the existence and the impacts of past policies and practices of forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families. And by doing so, has paid respect to the Stolen Generations. For their suffering and their loss. For their resilience. And ultimately, for their dignity.
The apology was a significant event in acknowledging the wrongs of the past and an important marker in our reconciliation journey. The establishment of the ACT’s Reconciliation Day public holiday is a small part of that better national story, something all Canberrans can be proud of.
Reconciliation in the Park enabled our community to have a conversation about reconciliation, for people to continue their journey of understanding our shared history. Again I pay tribute to Dr Bourke’s foresight as the person who started the process of establishing Reconciliation Day, in understanding that the creation of a public holiday would give us both a reason and an opportunity to have a wider conversation about the true history of our region and nation.
The Reconciliation Day Council was established to ensure that the Reconciliation Day holiday was an inclusive and meaningful occasion and an opportunity to showcase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture to the broader community. On 28 May 2018 the council delivered just that. The Reconciliation Day Council provided the strategic overview and management of the event and acted as community ambassadors, leading the conversation about the importance of a reconciled Australia.
Council members were identified as prominent members of our community and selected for their leadership, far-reaching networks and ability to bring people
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