SPEECH BY MADAME CHAIRPERSON BEV MANTON
WARAWARA GRADUATION DINNER 2009

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY

Wednesday 22nd April 2009

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Distinguished Guests, Young men and women of tomorrow, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Let me begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the lands we are on tonight - the Cadigal, Guringai, Dharruk peoples of the Eora Nation.

They are the People of the Sydney Basin upon whose land we gather on today.

It gives me great pleasure to be with you tonight at this special graduation dinner.

It is special because tonight you are preparing to enter another important chapter of your life.

For many years, you have been gaining skills that will assist you in your adult life.  

Part, a vital part, of your arsenal of skills is higher educational qualifications.

These skills will guide you and help you plan for your future.

However, as the Chairman of NSWALC and especially as a mother, I sometimes wonder what the future will hold for our people.

In particular are leaders of tomorrow.

As a parent, I have always believed that one of my responsibilities is to ensure that our children do not have to face some of the problems that my generation confronted.

But no matter how well we plan as parents, there always seems to be another hidden obstacle that our children will have to solve.

During the past few years I have often wondered about what kind of future we will leave for our young people.

I have thought about job security, modern technology, the environment, our education system and the rights of other people of other cultures, including Aboriginal Australians.

However, I never thought that my mind would be so heavily focused on race relations.

Rarely, if ever, has the issue of race relations been so prominent on the nation's political and community agenda.

Race relations confronts us all. 

In my opinion it will continue to do so.

As Aboriginal Australians you will confront it regularly.

There are many different visions for Australia's future - some of them are not visions of equality.

Some of these visions will not bring credit to Australia.

Tonight, I want to share with you my vision for Australia - one that I believe we can all share.

It is the vision and the spirit of reconciliation between all Australians.

I will come to this theme of reconciliation shortly. Before I do, I want to say a little more about the level of public attention given to the remarks of those whose vision is stuck in the l950's.

Their vision denies that the public face of Australia has already changed.

Unfortunately, there are many people who are still ignorant of the reality of multi-culturalism and the impact of different cultures on everyday Australian life.

And that includes Aboriginal culture and traditions - a culture that is perhaps the least understood and appreciated.

For me, as an Aboriginal person, one of the saddest lessons I have learnt is Australia has not done nearly enough to promote race relations across this great country of ours.

This is a tragedy.

Its cost is beyond calculation.

How much better off Australia would be if we had created a climate of greater tolerance and greater understanding - a society where all Australians wanted to learn from each other?

But there can be no learning if there is no acceptance or understanding of the differences between us.

I have tried to promote what I believe is a vision of a tolerant and caring society.

I do not believe that you can have a caring society if it is not a tolerant one.

I will continue to fight for the justice of this issue and for the kind of society that I want my children and grandchildren to grow up in.

I do not expect to lose.

I do not want our society to go down a racist road.

I have seen the effect that it has on people, particularly on people like us.

We have to stare these attitudes down and declare openly, often and directly that they are unacceptable.

We have to call loudly for tolerance, for honesty and for compassion.

Together we can set new values and new ways for how we shall live and work for the future of Australia.

But don't let me leave you with the impression that I have come here tonight as a prophet of doom.

The opposite is true.

What I am saying, however, is that the rate of progress has been far too slow.

That in itself has meant that so many of us have had to cope with hostilities that could have been broken down.

I hope that the process of reconciliation can be advanced - and advanced significantly.

At the heart of reconciliation lies the ability for all Australians to recognise each other as equals and to show a willingness to sit down together to talk through a common future for this country.

Of course that future must be based on equal opportunity and must be based on a shared vision of equality.

It would be fair to say that only in recent times has Australians begun to come to terms with the realities of its past history.

Only now are people beginning to understand and accept the rich and varied nature of our cultures and traditions.

An understanding of our history provides us with the basis for building a new nationhood for all Australians.

Social justice for all people is fundamental to the achievement of a diverse, independent and just Australia.

Australia is presently engaged in the effort of redefining itself, of setting new directions for the future.  

For us we already have the National Apology and now the commitment to recognize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.

Australians want to make a break with their past, a past that too often was blighted by the impact on the lives of many of us by racism, intolerance and injustice.

As I said earlier, and I want to restate it, I believe we are moving forward.

I travelled to Canberra to hear the Prime Minister's National Apology to the Stolen Generations at Parliament House.

It was an extraordinary day.

I mention the national apology for one reason. 

With one simple word, Prime Minister Rudd changed the mood of this country. 

Prime Minister Rudd's sincere and heartfelt apology on behalf of the Nation showed a genuine desire to move forward together towards the future. 

It also represented a clear statement of his desire as a nation to move forward as one people.

But now there is a need for action, for concrete outcomes not mere words.

All Governments must finally engage meaningfully with Aboriginal people if we are to ever achieve genuine "Closing the Gap" outcome.

We as Aboriginal Australians must also be ready to meet the challenges that will be presented.

Our chief challenge in the past, at present, and for the future, is to develop the necessary business skills and acumen to properly manage and develop our land.

We will need to be more professional and to possess the skills necessary to deal with the expectations that are being placed upon us by all levels of Government.

The land rights regime in NSW was a major step forward for our people. 

But when it was established a quarter of a century ago no thought was given to how Aboriginal people would get the necessary training and education and the necessary business skills and training to provide for orderly development and wealth generation.

The common and fundamental problem in our sector is a lack of appropriate business, political and governance skills.

Attracting skilled, motivated and culturally aware people to work is an ongoing problem for all Aboriginal organisations, particularly those with an economic development charter.

Our land council network currently requires a minimum of 618 office bearers and elected councilors and at least 200 staff to function.

Few Aboriginal communities can draw on a large pool of people with the managerial, business; financial or political skills required to properly managing and develop the resources that many of our land councils own.

Many are under increasing financial pressure to sell or develop their land in small, medium and large scale and/or joint partnership 0developments.

And it will surprise no-one to hear that white-shoed developers are often the first to set foot on black land----brandishing a fistful of dollars and a dud development agreement.

Our current land dealings regime will hopefully soon be tightened up by amendments to the Aboriginal land Rights Act.

But one of our greatest challenges is to ensure we bury the myth that land rights was a magic bullet which would solve all the socio-economic disadvantage of our people.

Land rights alone cannot-and was never going to-- solve the deep seated and complex disadvantage that Aboriginal people face.

Access to land remains but one of the key major interventions required from Government at the State and Commonwealth level if Aboriginal people's socioeconomic status is to be improved.

So much will depend on the benefits of Aboriginal Australians being a better educated Aboriginal Australia.

Much better educated.

We in NSWALC recognize this reality.

That is why NSWALC's Governing Council endorsed an Education Endowment Fund to provide scholarships for up to 200 Aboriginal students a year.

We have quarantined $30 million to provide seed funding for the Education Endowment Fund.

The Scholarships are open to all Aboriginal people in NSW for students from primary schooling upwards to colleges and universities, as well as technical and mature age students.

NSWALC has taken the view that we should invest in the education of our people.

The next generation of Aboriginal people, and successive generations, will be better educated and can take advantage of opportunities to create a more productive life path.

You are already a part of this solution.

I, too, fortunately, when relatively young realised that education could be empowering so I decided to get serious about it.

There were also a couple of people who demonstrated the value of education to me, and who gave me the strength and insight to edge into the political arena.

And I did get serious about education. 

I gained tertiary qualifications but the cost was considerable. 

It meant I had to leave home to stay in Sydney to complete the courses I had enrolled in.

To be away from my kids, was difficult to deal with.

Such was the cost of gaining that education. 

It had considerable consequences. 

To get a job as an Aboriginal Education Assistant in the local school I had to live in the town, it was very difficult for Aboriginal people to get rented accommodation so we lived in tents.

I would leave my husband and children in tents on the mission while I would travel by train back and forth to Sydney to obtain my education.

That too was hard to deal with.

But I did. 

I did it for myself.  

I did it for my family. 

And I did it for Aboriginal people. 

I did it to show we could do it, that we are capable like anyone else of completing tertiary education if just given the chance.

All of you here today value the benefit of education.  

And I am sure too you have had to make many sacrifices to gain your qualifications.

To be here tonight is a great privilege. 

I know the course you have completed has close ties to my organisation as many members of our Land Councils have undertaking the course - or are still studying.

By its very nature of funded block releases to enable people already with jobs to further their education makes it particularly appealing to Aboriginal people.

So, too, does the course content.

You may not yet totally appreciate it, but you have joined that band of Aboriginal Australians who will be regarded as role models.

Much will be expected of you.

You carry and weight and expectations of many.

And let me tell you from great personal experience it is not going to be an easy road.

But to complete it successful brings enormous rewards.

The biggest, of course, is to see a better tomorrow for all Aboriginal Australians.

You are the young men and women of tomorrow.

I have every confidence that you will not bend under the pressures and be success stories.

Take pride in that.

For yourselves.

For your people.

Being able to join you tonight is an inspiration in itself.

My heart goes out to you all as does my sincere best wishes for a successful and a fulfilling future life.

Thank you.