Despite his initial hesitation in accepting an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), Paul Briggs knew that saying yes to it was the right decision to make.
“I was hesitant in accepting the award... Just because of all of the challenges leading into and then post-referendum. To not have First Nations peoples acknowledged in the Constitution, it was sort of a rejection of First Nations peoples,” he said.
“To say no and to walk away is not really the answer. I’ll still always negotiate and collaborate on how best to address the future of First Nations peoples in this country.”
Even with his own tumultuous relationship with January 26, he wanted to make sure that First Nations people stayed a part of the national conversation.
“If you walk away, who leads? Who do you collaborate with and how do you collaborate? How do you make changes if you’re not engaged in collaboration?” he said.
“I have a personal view that we should be, as First Nations people, at the heart of the spirit of Australian society. We should be at the centre of Australian identity and that we should be an active participant in the way this country operates.
“I don’t agree with the 26th of January as a day for Australia Day, but I do agree that there should be a day where we all celebrate... we just have to collaborate on what an appropriate day might be.
“I’m also quite proud of the Yorta Yorta people and quite proud of our history and very proud of the great leaders that have emerged from the Yorta Yorta people.”
Through his work with groups like the First Nations Foundation, the Victorian Indigenous Leadership Network, and the Aboriginal Treaty Working Group, helping centre First Nations voices has been crucial to his work.
“I was the first Aboriginal person in 50 years to go on to the Melbourne University council... I didn’t actually go to university myself, but I was there to guide the investment and the support of Indigenous academics in the university,” he said.
“I also kept heads of departments and deans of faculties informed about Indigenous culture and the need for cultural competency or within the framework of education and working for 15 years.”
His involvement with football, both the Rumbalara Football Netball Club and the Murray Football League, has also demonstrated his work paving a path towards greater reconciliation.
“The football club has been monumental in shifting social inclusion and our capacity to show reciprocity and hospitality. There’s not many opportunities for Aboriginal people to invite non-Aboriginal people into our spaces,” Mr Briggs said.
“We don’t have the business networks, we don’t have that sort of infrastructure. We live in towns that are not necessarily built by us or for us, but to have a piece of infrastructure that allows you to invite people in for a cup of tea, a beer, a coffee, a yarn, and to share food was great.”
Despite the hesitation and the disappointing National Voice to Parliament referendum loss, Mr Briggs wants to use this opportunity to continue to build pathways of opportunity for First Nations people.
“We shouldn’t be just talking about the fringe issues of poverty and crisis in Aboriginal communities. We’ve been maligned to that part of society for too many years, like many, many generations,” he said.
“My thing about staying in and accepting is to continue to be involved in looking for ways to build the architecture of Australian society.”