WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.300 I'd like to first thank the Kaurna people for their welcome to their country. 2 00:00:07.800 --> 00:00:08.520 Wayata Telfer. 3 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:25.440 Thank you, Wayata Telfer, Carl Telfer and Jarvis Harrison. 4 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:39.760 And thank you for being here at the Adelaide Town Hall for what my distinguished colleague, Professor Paul Davies, tells me is scientifically proven to be one of the most important events in human history since, in fact, since the Big Bang. 5 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:50.800 The second coming of the Festival of Ideas, which significantly has the same initials as that official oxymoron, Freedom of Information. 6 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:55.420 Which, in contrast to the powers that be... 7 00:00:55.440 --> 00:00:56.840 ...we will provide. 8 00:00:57.660 --> 00:01:09.540 Forget the anti-climax of the 1988 bicentennial, the centenary federation robbed of its republic, and the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics. 9 00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:13.720 Because here in Adelaide, we have an Olympics of the intellect. 10 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.640 A hop, skip and jump for neurons and synapses. 11 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:24.400 We are here to prove that tossing ideas around is more fun than tossing javelins. 12 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:27.480 Or those ancient Greek frisbees called the discus. 13 00:01:28.320 --> 00:01:35.880 Tonight, reconciliation, which in Australia, thanks to its enemies, is now spelt with a capital W. 14 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:46.280 We will sift through the wreckage of reconciliation and get it back on its feet by walking in the footsteps of some marvellous people. 15 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:52.320 The format will be a major address by Sir Ronald Wilson. 16 00:01:52.580 --> 00:01:54.380 This will be followed by comments. 17 00:01:54.380 --> 00:01:56.000 Comments from a very distinguished panel. 18 00:01:57.100 --> 00:02:03.100 And we will then break for mass rallies or coffee or whatever takes your fancy. 19 00:02:03.540 --> 00:02:07.640 We will then resume for questions from the audience and discussion. 20 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:15.080 I should point out that the proceedings are being recorded and will go out on Monday night's Late Night Live, a little wireless program. 21 00:02:15.220 --> 00:02:16.980 It is my privilege to present. 22 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.400 If you saw today's paper, you'll have read the glad tidings... 23 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:24.360 ...that the world's best known leader, Sir Ronald Wilson, was born. 24 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:47.300 Mr Watson preached to camera 25 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:49.980 will undoubtedly be purchased by the Parliamentary Library. 26 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:53.980 That it won't be torn out, 27 00:02:54.640 --> 00:02:57.000 along with so many other pages in our history. 28 00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:59.420 The pages in our history that, of course, 29 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:02.640 bringing them home was meant to restore to us. 30 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:08.760 I have never known an uglier moment in our public life 31 00:03:08.760 --> 00:03:11.020 than in the run-up to the publication 32 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.380 of this absolutely essential document. 33 00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:15.960 First of all, let me remind you 34 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:18.780 that it was an enormous effort 35 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:20.760 with very little in the way of support. 36 00:03:21.760 --> 00:03:23.560 The budget for the whole procedure 37 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:26.020 was $1.25 million or thereabouts, 38 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:30.800 whereas deaths in custody, that study, was $30 million. 39 00:03:31.220 --> 00:03:33.760 It was an immensely difficult effort 40 00:03:33.760 --> 00:03:36.200 and made all the harder 41 00:03:36.200 --> 00:03:41.140 by the profound reluctance of Canberra to release it. 42 00:03:41.660 --> 00:03:43.380 They dawdled, they delayed, 43 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:45.760 and then tried to bring it out at a time 44 00:03:45.760 --> 00:03:45.940 where... 45 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:48.660 when public attention would be distracted from it. 46 00:03:49.480 --> 00:03:52.260 At the same time, there was a campaign of denigration 47 00:03:52.260 --> 00:03:55.240 verging on vilification towards this gentleman, 48 00:03:55.380 --> 00:03:58.520 which I found almost as shameful 49 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:01.720 as the story the report was documenting. 50 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:04.280 But it went on to become, 51 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.060 despite the ongoing attacks upon it, 52 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:10.080 and they have never ceased for a moment, 53 00:04:10.160 --> 00:04:12.780 it went on to become, I suggest to you, 54 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:15.940 the most important and influential document 55 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:19.140 that we've had in public discussion 56 00:04:19.140 --> 00:04:21.040 in many, many decades, 57 00:04:21.400 --> 00:04:23.840 and rightly, rightly so. 58 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:26.180 Ronald Wilson. 59 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:27.820 He's a lawyer. 60 00:04:28.400 --> 00:04:30.480 He spent most of his professional career 61 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:32.280 in government service in Western Australia. 62 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.020 He was a Queen's Counsel in 63, 63 00:04:35.780 --> 00:04:38.520 solicitor general of Western Australia in 69, 64 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.140 and a Justice of the High Court of Australia in 1979. 65 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:44.240 Now, I don't know what's going on at the High Court, 66 00:04:44.320 --> 00:04:45.940 but it's producing some really remarkable results. 67 00:04:46.580 --> 00:04:47.260 And I think it's certainly worth noting 68 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:06.120 ! 69 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:11.820 I'm not sure I'm going to say it again, 70 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:14.760 but I'll say it again. 71 00:05:14.760 --> 00:05:16.780 He was the then Aboriginal Social Justice Commissioner, 72 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:17.900 Mick Dodson, 73 00:05:18.760 --> 00:05:21.100 in the leadership of the National Inquiry 74 00:05:21.760 --> 00:05:23.960 into the forced removal of Aboriginal children 75 00:05:24.520 --> 00:05:27.160 from their families and their communities. 76 00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:28.580 Ladies and gentlemen, 77 00:05:29.520 --> 00:05:31.200 it is a great pleasure and honour 78 00:05:31.200 --> 00:05:34.420 to introduce Sir Ronald Wilson. 79 00:05:58.340 --> 00:05:59.020 . 80 00:06:00.960 --> 00:06:03.220 Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. 81 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:08.060 First, may I pay my respects to the Kaurna nation 82 00:06:08.760 --> 00:06:12.180 and thank them for their welcome to country. 83 00:06:12.460 --> 00:06:14.740 I honour them for their service to the country, 84 00:06:14.760 --> 00:06:17.740 their care of this land on which we meet tonight 85 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:20.600 over many thousands of years. 86 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:22.720 . 87 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:30.260 Reconciliation is the key word in the topic 88 00:06:30.260 --> 00:06:32.700 that has been given to me tonight. 89 00:06:34.900 --> 00:06:39.620 Reconciliation in paralysis with a question mark. 90 00:06:40.280 --> 00:06:44.480 I asked for the question mark to be added to the title. 91 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:44.740 . 92 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:46.280 To give me more scope. 93 00:06:47.700 --> 00:06:47.740 . 94 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:53.980 Another way of putting the subject is to ask another question. 95 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:58.680 Is the process of reconciliation in Australia in limbo? 96 00:06:58.920 --> 00:06:59.760 . 97 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:04.740 I want to begin by going back to the events 98 00:07:05.340 --> 00:07:08.100 that gave birth to this word reconciliation. 99 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.720 It is sometimes the subject of confusion, 100 00:07:12.860 --> 00:07:14.420 and I recall well, 101 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:16.420 when it was first introduced, 102 00:07:16.520 --> 00:07:20.980 that many Indigenous Australians had difficulty with the word. 103 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:25.020 Because, as the dictionary puts it, 104 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:30.740 reconciliation is to re-establish a relationship. 105 00:07:31.440 --> 00:07:34.040 And Indigenous people found that difficult 106 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:37.240 because they could never point to a relationship 107 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:39.700 that had existed at any time, 108 00:07:39.780 --> 00:07:42.500 which was now to be re-established. 109 00:07:42.500 --> 00:07:47.840 But there was an enormous imperative 110 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:51.420 behind the introduction of this word. 111 00:07:51.520 --> 00:07:56.660 Because it came out of the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody. 112 00:07:56.840 --> 00:08:00.720 For four years, the commissioners travelled the country 113 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:06.160 listening to evidence and seeking to explain the reasons 114 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:12.340 why 99 Aboriginal people had taken their own lives, 115 00:08:12.340 --> 00:08:17.400 had died whilst in police custody or in prison. 116 00:08:18.340 --> 00:08:20.920 Those 99 had taken their lives, 117 00:08:21.100 --> 00:08:23.620 and I say taken their lives 118 00:08:23.620 --> 00:08:26.500 because the inquiry did not establish 119 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:31.740 that there was any foul play in the loss of life. 120 00:08:31.920 --> 00:08:36.960 But those 99 lives were lost during the decade of the 80s. 121 00:08:37.300 --> 00:08:41.960 And that report came out in 1990, 122 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:46.380 in 1991, in May of that year. 123 00:08:46.540 --> 00:08:50.420 And it was an extraordinary report. 124 00:08:50.640 --> 00:08:51.980 Five volumes of it. 125 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:56.220 And it constituted the most intense and detailed survey 126 00:08:56.220 --> 00:08:59.640 of social relationships in this country 127 00:08:59.640 --> 00:09:01.200 that had ever been undertaken. 128 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:06.100 Relationships between the original inhabitants of Australia, 129 00:09:06.380 --> 00:09:07.900 the Indigenous peoples, 130 00:09:08.200 --> 00:09:11.700 and the newcomers, the European settlers, 131 00:09:11.700 --> 00:09:13.160 and those who followed them. 132 00:09:13.460 --> 00:09:19.440 And there were 339 recommendations from that inquiry. 133 00:09:19.900 --> 00:09:33.240 And the 339th recommendation went something like this. 134 00:09:33.380 --> 00:09:38.380 If ever the discord, injustice in Australia 135 00:09:38.380 --> 00:09:40.400 is to be overcome, 136 00:09:40.640 --> 00:09:41.680 it is to be overcome. 137 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:45.900 All people in government and community leaderships 138 00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:49.760 must commit themselves to a process of reconciliation 139 00:09:51.700 --> 00:09:55.440 between the Indigenous peoples and the later comers. 140 00:09:56.780 --> 00:10:00.320 That was the 339th recommendation. 141 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.280 And to the credit of the National Parliament, 142 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:05.100 within four months, 143 00:10:05.280 --> 00:10:08.940 the Governor-General had signed the act 144 00:10:08.940 --> 00:10:11.680 to establish the Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 145 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:13.180 Reconciliation. 146 00:10:14.700 --> 00:10:17.660 That was an enormously prompt response, 147 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:22.320 reflecting the force of that inquiry report, 148 00:10:22.660 --> 00:10:27.340 the dreadful situation that was shown to have existed 149 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:28.740 since European settlement, 150 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:32.520 in the way in which Aboriginal peoples were treated. 151 00:10:32.760 --> 00:10:34.940 The injustice, the disadvantage, 152 00:10:35.300 --> 00:10:39.340 the inferiority that was forced upon them, 153 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:42.140 in the eyes of the newcomers, 154 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:46.740 led the inquiry to stress the importance 155 00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:49.080 to a future nation, 156 00:10:49.240 --> 00:10:51.560 with any self-respect whatever, 157 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:54.520 to tackle this question of reconciliation. 158 00:10:55.280 --> 00:10:57.600 And the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation 159 00:10:57.600 --> 00:10:59.320 was given the task. 160 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:02.260 It was hoped that by the year 2001, 161 00:11:03.040 --> 00:11:06.580 the centenary year that we are now in, 162 00:11:06.680 --> 00:11:09.320 that the process would have ended, 163 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:11.000 and that it would have achieved sufficient momentum 164 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:14.220 to allow the Council to go out of existence. 165 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:16.840 And so it lapsed it, 166 00:11:16.900 --> 00:11:19.340 or it expired, whatever the word is, 167 00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:22.220 on the 31st of December last year. 168 00:11:22.680 --> 00:11:26.320 It was a very interesting Council. 169 00:11:26.520 --> 00:11:29.680 25 members, 14 of them indigenous, 170 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:31.880 12 of them Aboriginal, 171 00:11:32.300 --> 00:11:34.560 2 of them Torres Strait Islanders, 172 00:11:34.640 --> 00:11:38.860 and the rest of us, 11 of us white fellows, 173 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:40.660 making up the 25. 174 00:11:41.380 --> 00:11:43.660 It was a strange mix, 175 00:11:43.780 --> 00:11:46.460 and yet in a sense it was very representative 176 00:11:46.460 --> 00:11:48.740 of the Australian community, 177 00:11:49.060 --> 00:11:51.260 with all the difficulties that history 178 00:11:51.260 --> 00:11:53.140 had foisted on that community. 179 00:11:53.680 --> 00:11:57.320 We spent the first weekend doing nothing else 180 00:11:57.320 --> 00:11:59.980 but going around the 25 of us, 181 00:12:00.040 --> 00:12:03.600 each of us saying simply in our own words 182 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:05.900 why we were there, 183 00:12:06.040 --> 00:12:08.840 and what we hoped would come. 184 00:12:08.860 --> 00:12:09.980 And this became what we came out of 185 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:11.200 the next nine years. 186 00:12:11.820 --> 00:12:14.160 And out of that exchange, 187 00:12:14.700 --> 00:12:17.660 which was a getting-to-know-you exchange, 188 00:12:17.900 --> 00:12:19.380 but it was far deeper than that. 189 00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:23.060 It was an exposure of the thought processes 190 00:12:23.060 --> 00:12:26.240 and the commitment and the longing 191 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.920 of those people to make a difference. 192 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:34.820 And the end result before we went home 193 00:12:34.820 --> 00:12:36.720 we formulated a vision. 194 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.960 the vision of a united Australia 195 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.480 which values this land of ours 196 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:46.540 and respects the heritage 197 00:12:46.540 --> 00:12:48.800 or the other way about 198 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:50.380 respects this land of ours 199 00:12:50.380 --> 00:12:54.440 and values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage 200 00:12:54.440 --> 00:13:00.040 and which provides justice and equity for all. 201 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.320 We added a goal to that vision 202 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:06.860 and the goal was that we might enable all Australians 203 00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:08.660 to acknowledge that vision 204 00:13:08.660 --> 00:13:11.500 by the Centenary of Federation. 205 00:13:13.640 --> 00:13:16.720 And when you reflect on the remarkable events 206 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:18.680 of last year 207 00:13:18.680 --> 00:13:21.540 leading up to the Centenary 208 00:13:21.540 --> 00:13:24.280 it was an extraordinary year. 209 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:28.920 Just a year ago we were in Sydney with Corroboree 2000 210 00:13:29.420 --> 00:13:33.240 with all the political leaders in Australia 211 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:34.500 on the platform 212 00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:37.560 a rare sight in this country 213 00:13:37.560 --> 00:13:38.620 in its history 214 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:41.760 and receiving the documents of reconciliation 215 00:13:41.760 --> 00:13:44.700 that the Council had prepared 216 00:13:44.700 --> 00:13:46.300 as a challenge 217 00:13:46.300 --> 00:13:48.560 not only to the political leaders 218 00:13:48.560 --> 00:13:51.020 but to those who they represented 219 00:13:51.020 --> 00:13:54.500 to take reconciliation seriously 220 00:13:55.020 --> 00:13:57.440 and bring about that vision 221 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:00.520 that I've spoken of. 222 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:03.300 And that was... 223 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:04.580 Corroboree 2000. 224 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.620 The day afterwards 225 00:14:06.620 --> 00:14:09.340 after that ceremony in the Opera House 226 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:14.300 something like 250,000 to 300,000 Australians 227 00:14:14.300 --> 00:14:16.080 walked across the bridge 228 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:17.240 together 229 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:19.740 Indigenous and non-Indigenous 230 00:14:19.740 --> 00:14:23.060 and it was followed by similar walks 231 00:14:23.060 --> 00:14:25.240 in all the major capital cities. 232 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:27.500 It was followed by the Olympics 233 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:30.500 which had an extraordinary 234 00:14:30.500 --> 00:14:31.720 and perhaps unexpected 235 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:33.300 emphasis on the importance of 236 00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:33.520 reconciliation 237 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:36.660 with an opening ceremony 238 00:14:36.660 --> 00:14:40.440 that won the approval of all Australians 239 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:43.640 to be reminded of their heritage 240 00:14:43.640 --> 00:14:46.660 and the potential richness of it 241 00:14:46.660 --> 00:14:49.920 and which took Australia's image 242 00:14:49.920 --> 00:14:51.300 around the world. 243 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:55.260 And that was a miracle year. 244 00:14:56.180 --> 00:14:57.400 But what then? 245 00:14:58.280 --> 00:15:00.320 Was it just a good feeling? 246 00:15:01.140 --> 00:15:02.400 Was it just... 247 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:04.800 an attitudinal change 248 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:07.620 demonstrating that many Australians 249 00:15:07.620 --> 00:15:11.320 were sympathetic to the goal of reconciliation 250 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.460 to the challenge of reconciliation? 251 00:15:16.280 --> 00:15:17.680 In any event 252 00:15:17.680 --> 00:15:20.140 is attitudinal change enough? 253 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:22.900 It may leave us with a good feeling 254 00:15:22.900 --> 00:15:26.060 but if it does not issue in a commitment 255 00:15:26.060 --> 00:15:29.100 to bring about tangible outcomes 256 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:31.820 a commitment to a course of action 257 00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:33.300 it will have been a good feeling. 258 00:15:33.300 --> 00:15:33.900 It will evaporate. 259 00:15:35.220 --> 00:15:37.220 But this is the first question 260 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:39.860 I want to leave with the panel 261 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:41.400 the distinguished panel 262 00:15:41.400 --> 00:15:43.680 that's going to have the opportunity 263 00:15:43.680 --> 00:15:45.860 to comment on my address. 264 00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:47.820 I have a basic anxiety 265 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:52.800 as to how far Indigenous Australians 266 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:58.320 have really been able to enter into 267 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:00.420 the spirit of reconciliation. 268 00:16:01.540 --> 00:16:03.280 I want to ask you, 269 00:16:03.280 --> 00:16:07.820 I want to ask about the extent of Indigenous participation. 270 00:16:09.640 --> 00:16:12.980 Notwithstanding the extraordinary quality of leadership 271 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:16.700 that we have in the Indigenous peoples. 272 00:16:16.800 --> 00:16:19.720 Names like Patrick, who I had the privilege, 273 00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:22.540 Patrick Dodson, of serving as his deputy 274 00:16:22.540 --> 00:16:24.720 for the first three years of the Council. 275 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:28.000 And there's no Australian that I admire more 276 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:29.560 than Patrick Dodson. 277 00:16:29.940 --> 00:16:33.200 And strangely enough when the inquiry into the 278 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:36.560 forced removal of Aboriginal children came along 279 00:16:36.560 --> 00:16:40.320 who was I working in, harnessed with 280 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:44.820 in such a close relationship as his kid brother Mick Dodson. 281 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:47.420 It's one of the privileges of my life 282 00:16:47.420 --> 00:16:50.120 to have had in this last decade 283 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.540 the opportunity of working with two great Australians. 284 00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:55.640 But they are not alone. 285 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.140 Evelyn Scott has just retired from the chairpersonship 286 00:17:00.140 --> 00:17:03.180 of the Council for Aboriginal Recognition. 287 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:03.720 And she's been a great advocate for reconciliation. 288 00:17:03.880 --> 00:17:07.400 There's Lowitja O'Donoghue, one of the patrons, 289 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.920 together with Malcolm Fraser, of the journey of healing. 290 00:17:11.620 --> 00:17:16.260 Rising out of the report into the forced removal inquiry 291 00:17:16.260 --> 00:17:18.500 called Bringing Them Home. 292 00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:21.520 There's people like Jackie Huggins, 293 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:24.900 whom it's our privilege to have with us on the platform tonight. 294 00:17:25.340 --> 00:17:28.480 People like Marjorie Thorpe, Victoria, 295 00:17:28.580 --> 00:17:32.540 Jeff Clark, the president of ATSIC, 296 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:33.720 and many others. 297 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:39.920 We've been fortunate as an Australian community 298 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:42.560 to have the indigenous leadership 299 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:45.340 of those that I've mentioned and many others. 300 00:17:47.860 --> 00:17:51.460 Getting back to the question, where are the tangible outcomes? 301 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:53.940 There's evidence of a limited commitment 302 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:56.880 where the people's movement for reconciliation 303 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:01.600 has resulted in the formation of local reconciliation groups 304 00:18:01.600 --> 00:18:03.180 now numbering in their hearts 305 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:04.700 and hearts of hundreds throughout the nation. 306 00:18:05.820 --> 00:18:07.720 But shouldn't there be thousands 307 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.800 when they are located or intended and hope to be located 308 00:18:12.800 --> 00:18:16.540 in communities large and small throughout this country? 309 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.540 Shouldn't there be thousands of such groups 310 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:21.840 around a country of this size? 311 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:25.620 And there's also, looking at the positives, 312 00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:29.980 the people's movement for reconciliation, 313 00:18:29.980 --> 00:18:32.660 I've mentioned the journey of healing. 314 00:18:32.940 --> 00:18:37.220 It was wonderful to see the warm community response 315 00:18:37.220 --> 00:18:41.040 that bringing them home engendered in the Australian nation. 316 00:18:41.900 --> 00:18:46.960 They were able to resonate with the stories 317 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:48.860 of these stolen generations, 318 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:52.420 told in the report in the actual words 319 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:57.140 with which these people came forward and told the inquiry, 320 00:18:57.500 --> 00:18:59.900 of what it was like to be wrenched, 321 00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:01.560 from their families as children. 322 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:05.940 Two-thirds of those taken were under five years of age. 323 00:19:07.320 --> 00:19:10.600 It was a life-changing experience for me 324 00:19:10.600 --> 00:19:13.060 to sit across the table, 325 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:16.360 and many of the stories were so distressing 326 00:19:16.360 --> 00:19:18.240 that we heard them in private, 327 00:19:18.320 --> 00:19:21.440 to sit across the table in a small room 328 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:25.340 with a storyteller sitting opposite me. 329 00:19:25.600 --> 00:19:27.520 The tape would be turned on, 330 00:19:27.580 --> 00:19:29.580 the door would be closed, and I would wait. 331 00:19:29.900 --> 00:19:30.660 I would wait for the story, 332 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:32.660 but nothing would come. 333 00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:35.020 And I would look at the face 334 00:19:35.020 --> 00:19:38.480 of the person sitting opposite me, 335 00:19:38.600 --> 00:19:41.060 and I would see the muscles in the face 336 00:19:41.900 --> 00:19:43.420 straining to hold back the tears. 337 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:47.560 But it wasn't until the tears were streaming down the face 338 00:19:47.560 --> 00:19:49.960 that the words would come. 339 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:53.820 And there was no doubt, no questioning, 340 00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:57.540 that those words were being wrenched out of the heart 341 00:19:57.540 --> 00:19:59.360 of the storyteller. 342 00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:03.940 Words that revealed what it was like 343 00:20:03.940 --> 00:20:06.340 to have suffered as they had suffered. 344 00:20:06.600 --> 00:20:07.720 And you know what? 345 00:20:07.760 --> 00:20:11.820 I couldn't bear to sit there listening to those stories 346 00:20:11.820 --> 00:20:13.560 without opening my heart, 347 00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:17.960 and without feeling the same urge to restrain the tears, 348 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:22.300 and without finding growing within me 349 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:25.100 over the process of the inquiry 350 00:20:25.100 --> 00:20:26.580 of a precious trust 351 00:20:26.580 --> 00:20:29.000 to help all Australians, 352 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:31.920 capture that experience 353 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:36.780 of the stories of the stolen generations. 354 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:43.460 We tried to produce in bringing them home 355 00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:46.660 a true reflection of the inquiry. 356 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:51.140 And it's been wonderful to know 357 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:54.380 how many Australians have listened to those stories 358 00:20:54.380 --> 00:20:57.400 and have responded to it. 359 00:20:58.060 --> 00:20:58.980 Unfortunately, 360 00:20:58.980 --> 00:21:02.240 the question is whether, again, 361 00:21:02.340 --> 00:21:06.260 the response of people to a journey of healing 362 00:21:06.260 --> 00:21:11.660 is enough to produce the tangible outcome of healing. 363 00:21:13.100 --> 00:21:15.980 There are Sorry Day committees established nationally 364 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:18.960 in Canberra and in every state, 365 00:21:19.120 --> 00:21:21.980 and it's wonderful to listen to the telephone hookups, 366 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:25.280 the teleconferences every year 367 00:21:25.280 --> 00:21:28.960 as these committees from around Australia plan their events, 368 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:31.380 and activities for Sorry Day, 369 00:21:31.540 --> 00:21:33.560 to remember the day, 370 00:21:33.700 --> 00:21:34.880 the first Sorry Day, 371 00:21:35.080 --> 00:21:38.540 when the report was tabled in the Parliament, 372 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.340 or the first anniversary of that tabling, 373 00:21:41.380 --> 00:21:43.860 the 26th of May, 1998. 374 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.620 The tabling took place in 1997. 375 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:49.740 But as I say, 376 00:21:49.840 --> 00:21:50.580 in any event, 377 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:53.180 is community response enough? 378 00:21:53.900 --> 00:21:57.520 The Council for Reconciliation's final report 379 00:21:57.520 --> 00:22:00.340 centred on a recommendation 380 00:22:00.340 --> 00:22:03.780 that there be national legislation passed, 381 00:22:04.080 --> 00:22:07.200 and it included a draft statute. 382 00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:10.660 The statute was to do several things. 383 00:22:10.800 --> 00:22:15.000 It was to recognise the unique position 384 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.700 of Indigenous Australians. 385 00:22:18.080 --> 00:22:20.720 It was to set out a process 386 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:24.200 whereby the reconciliation objective 387 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:26.540 could be achieved. 388 00:22:26.540 --> 00:22:30.640 With a series of national reconciliation conventions 389 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:32.400 and other steps. 390 00:22:32.840 --> 00:22:35.920 There was nothing earth-shattering about it. 391 00:22:35.980 --> 00:22:38.700 It was important to register 392 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:41.860 the recognition of Indigenous Australians 393 00:22:41.860 --> 00:22:44.300 as unique Australians, 394 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.320 being the first Australians. 395 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:50.780 But then the process was just a vehicle 396 00:22:50.780 --> 00:22:53.660 for furthering the objective. 397 00:22:54.540 --> 00:22:56.140 But what's happened? 398 00:22:56.140 --> 00:22:57.840 What happened to that legislation? 399 00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:01.540 It was, as it happens, 400 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:03.420 introduced into the Parliament, 401 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:05.800