May 26, 2017 – a day that will become one of the important, defining moments in Australia’s history.
On that day, at the red heart of Australia, the delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Convention gathered at the base of Uluru and put their signatures to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The statement was then presented to the people of Australia.
It was both a story and an invitation to unity.
A story of a coming together of First Nations delegates from across the nation.
But also, a story of this country that we now know as Australia.
It began ...
We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:
In 439 words, the statement captured the vast history of our continent.
The more than 60,000 years of continuous presence on these lands.
Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs.
This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.
It spoke eloquently of the deep, spiritual relationship between those many nations across the continent and Country – a relationship many non-Indigenous people still struggle to comprehend fully.
A relationship based on reciprocity – care for Country and Country’s care for her people.
This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors.
This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty.
It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.
How could it be otherwise?
That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?
This spiritual connection cannot be washed away, or removed because another country has taken possession of the land.
The western notion of sovereignty – of ownership – is so very different.
And yet there is the offer to Australia.
For our nation to become united.
In recognising the rightful place of First Nations peoples, we all can celebrate the uniqueness of the history of this place – a history that incorporates the oldest continuing culture on this planet.
With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.
Such a powerful and incredibly generous offer.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart helps us understand the devastating impacts of colonisation, the heart-wrenching statistics of incarceration, the on-going reverberation of this on the young people.
Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet.
We are not an innately criminal people.
Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates.
This cannot be because we have no love for them.
And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers.
They should be our hope for the future.
And the chilling cry of not being heard.
These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem.
This is the torment of our powerlessness.
It is now time for us to listen.
To listen with our hearts.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is showing us a path we could take together. Voice, Treaty, Truth.
We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country.
When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish.
They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.
The importance of a simple, yet powerful change to our constitution to consult First Nations people on issues that affect them.
We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.
This just reflects what we all know – how much better it is when we are involved in decisions that affect us.
Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle.
It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.
We can no longer turn our faces from the harsh realities and consequences of the treatment of First Nations people.
This too, is part of the history of this continent.
Acknowledging and understanding this story is an indicator of the maturity of us as a nation.
We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.
In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard.
We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country.
So, now is the time for us to take action.
To take up the generous gift, offered to the nation with love.
We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.
An invitation to the Australian people to walk together, to look to the future to make this country a better place for the next generations.
A choice between improving the lives of First Nations people by a simple act – asking the parliament to listen – or continuing on the same path, with the same outcomes.
A choice between acknowledging and understanding the impact of colonisation or continuing with the Great Silence that has held us back from facing the realities of the past.
So now, with National Reconciliation Week starting on May 27, it is appropriate to reflect on the Uluru Statement from the Heart and this year’s theme of “Be a Voice for Generations”.
In 2023, we are asked to keep up the momentum for change by being a Voice for Generations.
To be a voice for the tireless work of generations past.
To remind us all that the calls for a voice go back many generations – for more than 100 years.
To recognise and acknowledge the tireless work of those who have gone before and how they paved the way for today’s generations.
To be a voice for the benefit of generations future.
To consider the type of nation we can be.
To act for a more just, equitable and reconciled country, for all of us now and those who will follow us in the future.
Together we have a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a voice for generations.
To be part of history, to shape how our country will move forward in the future.
So, consider how your simple YES, can make such a difference, and vote from your heart.
What can you do now?
Take the time to read or listen to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Look at the original document, at the signatures of delegates and the beautiful Anangu creation stories artwork surrounding the statement.
https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/view-the-statement/
The statement is available in 60 languages for Australia's culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
To listen or download a copy in these languages, go to https://ulurustatement.org/education/translations/
Find out more about the Voice to Parliament Referendum – make sure the information is accurate.
Go to www.anu.edu.au/about/strategic-planning/indigenous-voice-to-parliament
Read Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien’s book, The Voice to Parliament.