Kevin Cook Lecture
Linda Burney speech notes
Date: Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Time: 10am
Venue: Victoria Park, Broadway
Welcome to country
Good morning everyone.
I would first like to acknowledge the Gadigal people, the Traditional Custodians of this Land... and I pay my respects to the Elders both past and present of the Eora Nation and extend that respect to my Aboriginal brothers and sisters present.
When we acknowledge country we are reminded of many things.
We remember our past. This land is home to one of the oldest surviving continuous cultures in the world.
We also remember that Aboriginal Australia is diverse. The continent is made up of many countries, each with its own language and culture. Naming the nation we are visiting tells us where we are in this world.
Importantly, it is just good manners to acknowledge your hosts. As a Wirajuri woman, I am a visitor in this place today, but we are all on somebody else's traditional land.
Aboriginal people have been welcoming each other to country for many thousands of years.
Isn't it extraordinary to think that a custom so ancient has survived for so long?
Recognise past activists
Today is Survival Day, a day that marks the British invasion of our land.
For us, it is a day of mourning - the day we lost our rights and our country.
But where we stand today, we should recognise what we have achieved...
We have survived... in spite of everything.
... In spite of the White Australia Policy, which excluded Aboriginal people from citizenship,
... In spite of a hundred years of attempts by State and Federal Governments to "deal" with Aboriginal people, by
...Segregation to the outskirts of towns and cities,
...By removal of rights to education, wages, and work
... By "Assimilating" Aboriginal people to make our culture disappear, and even
... Removing Aboriginal children-what we call the "Stolen Generation"
That we have survived in the face of all this hatred and prejudice, we need to thank our ancestors, our past activists. Those fearless men and women who fought long and hard to give our people even just basic human rights.
I know that I have these women and men, including non-Aboriginal fellow travellers, to thank for the opportunities that have come my way.
About me
Just a bit about myself - I am a proud woman of the Wiradjuri nation.
Our land spreads across the heart of this State like a fan. It sweeps across the catchments of the Lachlan, Macquarie and the Murrumbidgee Rivers. In Wiradjuri, these three rivers are called Galari, Wambuul and Marrambidya.
I am of the Marrambidya Wiradjuri.
I was born in a small town called Whitton near Leeton, NSW. My mother was of Scottish descent, my father Aboriginal.
In 1957 it was a disgrace to have a child out of wedlock...
...to have a child with an Aboriginal man was scandalous.
I was raised by my mother's Aunt and Uncle, Nina and Billy Laing, a drover and a station hand, a brother and sister, both unmarried.
They instilled in me great values and saved me from a life in institutions.
I had a typical country kid's childhood - riding horses, cooling off on hot days with a swim in the irrigation ditches, building forts in the rice stubble after the harvest.
Of course, being Aboriginal in a conservative country town had its challenges.
I'll never forget sitting in class in my first year in high school listening to the teacher describe Aboriginal people.
They were savages, she explained...with no culture and no technology...the closest thing to Stone Age man in existence.
I remember that at that moment, I wished I could turn into a piece of paper and quietly slip through a crack in the floor. I felt shame and embarrassment.
As an Aboriginal child, looking into the mirror of our country was difficult and alienating. Your reflection was at best distorted and at worst non-existent.
At the age of 27 I met my father.
What a day that was.
I learned I had 10 brothers and sisters and discovered that during all those years of growing up and wondering, my father lived only 40 minutes away.
Such was the power of racial segregation and denial in those dark days.
I tell you my story so that you may know my place in the larger Aboriginal narrative.
What I went through, I know that many of you would have experienced.
We could easily let the tragedies in our lives overcome us but like those fearless men and women I spoke of earlier, we can let our sorrows strengthen us.
Activism can take many forms and can be at many levels.
You can make change through organisations, politics, the law or through harnessing people power.
Let me tell you about some of the Aboriginal activists who have inspired me and helped me through tough times.
Kevin Cook
One of them was Kevin Cook, a member of the Wandandian nation.
Kevin was a General Secretary of Tranby Aboriginal College and the first elected Chairperson of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.
In the 70s, he used the skills he honed in the trade union movement to fight for the first ever Land Rights Act in NSW.
Kevin said this Act was his life's greatest achievement and that it was the loyalty and support of the Aboriginal people that kept him fighting on during those tough years.
Kevin is also a big believer in the power of education. He said, and I quote:
"Without education, we are doomed to fail and without land rights, Aboriginal people don't have dignity."
Unfortunately, Kevin could not be with us today but he asked me to pass on this message to you.
"Aboriginal leaders must lead the way in the fight for Aboriginal rights. They must lead with the people, not in front of them."
Chicka Dixon
Another activist who has inspired me is Uncle Chicka Dixon.
Chicka's vision centred on our right to self-determination, our inherent rights as Aboriginal people and our rights as human beings sharing this planet.
He was instrumental in the Aboriginal medical and legal services in Redfern.
He campaigned for a YES vote in the Referendum and he was active at the Tent Embassy in the 70s.
As foundation member of the Aboriginal Arts Board, he pressed for reforms in funding for indigenous artists.
Chicka's strength lay in his belief in the importance of the truth - of finding it, telling it, and dealing with it. He didn't care about power, only issues, and how to solve them. He was always striving for his vision, never for himself.
Being born Aboriginal in many ways pre-determines your life. He said, "When you are born black, you are born with a cause....black justice."
Chicka was a true warrior for our people.
Charlie Perkins
There was also Charlie Perkins.
Charlie was born in Alice Springs; his mother was Arrente and his father Kalkadoon.
After a career as a soccer player, Charlie went to Sydney Uni... At the time, he was one of only two Aboriginal students.
At that time, Australia was two countries.
Most people had houses with power and running water, plenty to eat, access to education and jobs. The state helped if they fell on hard times and people felt they lived in the land of mateship and the fair go.
At the same time, and in many of the same streets, were Australians whose grandparents had lived through genocide.
.... whose parents were seen as a lesser breed, destined to die out.
... whose children were taken to save them from the curse of being raised Aboriginal.
In 1965 Aboriginal people were still banned from swimming in many public pools, and entering pubs and RSLs. They were even restricted to Aborigines-only sections in cinemas.
Inspired by the civil rights movement of blacks in the United States, Charlie and a group of Sydney University students decided to get a bus and travel to small towns in rural NSW. This became known as the "freedom rides".
They made many stops in country towns. In Walgett, they protested about Aboriginal people (some ex-service men) not being allowed into the RSL, and in Moree they took Aboriginal children into the previously white-only swimming pool.
The world's media was watching. It led to a new awareness of the power of public protest amongst Aboriginal people.
People like Charlie have inspired me to fight for social justice.
Evelyn Crawford
Then there was Evelyn Crawford.
Evelyn inspired me to become a teacher. And I'm sure she inspired countless other Aboriginal youngsters to pursue an education and to teach others.
Through her, I came to understand the power of education to transform lives.
Evelyn had a very long illustrious career in the education sector.
In her younger years and without any formal qualifications, Evelyn worked all over far west NSW and southern Queensland as a nursery maid, house maid, in shearing sheds and as a rodeo rider and drover.
After her husband's death, she volunteered at Brewarrina Central School, where the principal and staff recognised her unique teaching skills and offered her a job as an Aboriginal teachers aide.
But first she had to undertake training at the University of Sydney - her first ever experience of formal education.
Evelyn spent eight years as an Aboriginal teachers aide before becoming the Aboriginal Home Liaison Officer.
She was the first Aboriginal person appointed as the TAFE Aboriginal Regional Co-ordinator for the western region of NSW.
She served on many educational committees at local, regional, State and national levels, and created many educational opportunities for her people.
She was a founding member of:
- the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group,
- the Proclaimed Place in Brewarrina, Ngemba Housing,
- Orana Haven Rehabilitation Centre and
- Brewarrina Community Centre Committee,
- and was instrumental in the establishment of the Brewarrina Aboriginal Preschool.
Evelyn was a board member of the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Education Corporation and the Brewarrina Cultural Tourism Aboriginal Corporation.
She also took part in the recording of Aboriginal sites with the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Evelyn once said, "the past may be gone but it sure makes good looking at."
Larissa Behrendt
A woman who is inspiring young Aboriginal people today is Larissa Behrendt, a Eualeyai and Kamillaroi woman.
Larissa will today be recognised as the NSW Australian of the Year.
What has driven her to achieve is the day her father, Paul found his mother's removal certificate, listing the NSW sheep station she'd been taken from by the government.
Larissa said that finding his family completely changed him, from insecure and grumpy to confident and giving.
This is the power of knowing who you are and where you come from.
This momentous event drove Larissa to become a lawyer so she could change the world for the better.
She worked in Legal Aid before winning a scholarship to complete a doctorate in law at Harvard University where she focused on Aboriginal ideas of sovereignty.
After a stint at the United Nations, she came home to Australia and was appointed a professor of Law and Indigenous Studies at the University of Technology.
She is the author of several books on indigenous legal issues as well as two novels.
Her first novel, Home, was inspired by the treatment of the stolen generations.
Her second book, Legacy, is a fictionalised account of her relationship with her father.
Progress on Aboriginal rights
Kevin Cook, Chicka Dixon, Charles Perkins, Evelyn Crawford and Larissa Behrendt are just a few examples of the many men and women who have advanced the cause of justice and equality for Aboriginal people.
We have certainly come along way.
In 1992, we won recognition of what we'd always known-that we were entitled to claim ownership of our own land.
The High Court decided that the British doctrine of Terra Nullius, which defined Australia in 1788 as an un-owned "land belonging to no-one" was false, and created the legal concept of Native Title.
In 1996, in the Wik decision, the High Court ruled further-that land rights could coexist, and that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people could share ownership of the same country.
In 2008, the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a huge step in the direction of reconciliation-making an apology to the Stolen Generations.
It was with great personal pleasure that on 1 September last year, I took part in changing the NSW Constitution Act 1902. The Constitution now enshrines the fact that Aboriginal people are the first people in our State and recognises the contribution Aboriginal people continue to make in NSW.
This important symbol is a landmark in reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in this state.
In consultation with the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, the Keneally Government has made comprehensive amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 to build sustainable Aboriginal Land Councils and strengthen the Land Rights system.
All these events are positive steps towards Aboriginal people achieving social justice and true equality.
But more needs to be done.
We can not say that Aboriginal people have achieved justice and equality when our jails are mostly filled with Aboriginal people,
... When Aboriginal people are three times more likely to be homeless than non-Aboriginal Australians,
... When Aboriginal children make up one third of all children who can not live safely with their own families,
... And when Aboriginal people simply die younger.
So today, I hope you are inspired by our Aboriginal activists of the past to continue the good fight.
As Martin Luther King said,
"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom."
Most of our activists will never be household names. They are people, often women, that steadfastly hold our communities together and nurture our children - sometimes at great expense to themselves.
They are conservationists, who keep our culture going and can come from all walks of life. They can be our artists or sports people.
These activists carry us on their shoulders. Luckily, Kevin Cook had very broad shoulders.
AustraliaDay date change
This question always comes up - should we change the date of Australia Day to make it more inclusive of Aboriginal people?
In my opinion, I believe the date of Australia Day should be changed.
For Aboriginal people, this day is not a day of celebrating who we are as a nation, it marks the day we lost our rights and our land.
Since the Bicentennial, there has been growing mainstream recognition of what the day means for Aboriginal people.
I believe a day like Anzac Day is much more unifying and inclusive of all Australians.
I think there should be an opportunity for all Australians to debate this issue.
And I recognise that it will be a very tough challenge for Australians to come to a consensus on a new date for Australia Day.
Where our collective focus needs to be is on the forthcoming debate on Constitutional Recognition of First Peoples in the Australian Constitution.
It will be an important discussion about where Aboriginal people fit in this nation.
I encourage every single one of you to be active participants in that discussion.
In my opinion, Aboriginal people should be recognised appropriately and properly in the constitution.