As a candidate for election to the Tablelands Regional Council in Division 8, which includes Kuranda and other places with large indigenous populations, I welcome today's apology to Aboriginal people from the Prime Minister on behalf of the nation.
Acknowledgement of past injustices is long overdue. Kevin Rudd's well-stated apology provides a basis for reconciliation between the first peoples of Australia and those, like myself, whose roots in this land are much less deep.
I call for a reconciliation process at local level this area - a special part of Australia where a high proportion of the community is Aboriginal.
The Prime Minister’s national statement referred to the longevity of Australian Aboriginal culture. It is almost certainly the most ancient continuous culture on earth.
That remarkable cultural continuity, in Far North Queensland, was shattered when invading colonists seized most of the land in the last few decades of the 19th century. Resistance was crushed by force. There were massacres within our own part of FNQ. That is documented historical fact.
These were shameful episodes in British and Australian history. Apart from the brutality and suffering, it was a disaster of cultural loss akin to the burning of huge libraries and the sacking of great cities. Vast stores of indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge, gained over many hundreds of generations, were obliterated in a few years. All humanity now bears that loss.
Within another generation, most of the Aboriginal people in this area were rounded up and forced to live in settlements such as Mona Mona, where they were forbidden to speak their own languages or practice their own culture.
A sincere apology is merited to the Aboriginal people of this area. The roots of current Aboriginal disadvantage lie in this tragic history. Our generation needs to find the wisdom to put this past behind us, acknowledging yet moving beyond it.
At local level, the community as a whole can put real substance into the reconciliation process. One important step would be offering active assistance to the Aboriginal community so it can rebuild Mona Mona as a prosperous, Aboriginal-owned, self-managed settlement.
A rebuilt and thriving Mona Mona is clearly the wish of our local Aboriginal community. I support this goal and pledge continuing support.
The national foundations are now in place for meaningful reconciliation in this area.
I hope we are wise enough to take advantage of this opportunity to create a better future together.
For more information, contact: Syd Walker Phone:07 4093 8384