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“The longest journey starts with one step” – how often have we heard this said? However, there have been many mis-steps along the journey to resolve the ongoing disadvantage confronting the descendants of the first settlement in Australia. Did you immediately think of convicts and early Sydney? Think 60,000 years of settlement; think 300 or so nations each with its own language; think of a living culture that respected and looked after the land; think racism and massacres and stolen children and deaths in custody and inequality on all measure of things. We are seeing a confluence of a number of strands of history. Black deaths in custody and the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Uluru statement from the Heart, a call for constitutional recognition and a Voice to Parliament – these should focus the attention of Rotarians as we were reminded in the last edition of Rotary Down Under, August 9th being International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Rotarians already support a number of Aboriginal programs – Purple House, End Trachoma, Health Scholarships and the like. I have accepted the role as District 9865 2020/21’s chair of Aboriginal Support programs. |
