Rights and Reconciliation
'Light of Australia' address by Dr.Jill Tabart
NATSIEC ‘Hearts are Burning’ Forums (February – May 2005)

‘If you’re coming to help me, you are wasting your time. 
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.’

These enduring words of Aboriginal woman, Lilla Watson, have come to symbolise for me both the vital importance and the vibrant potential of what the reconciliation journey is about. And ‘Reconciliation’ is the aspect of the late Pope’s speech I’ve been asked to address.

I want to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land on which we gather tonight.  After 35 years in Tasmania on the land of the Panninher peoples, I now live in Gippsland in Victoria where I am discovering the country of the Gunai–Kurnai people.   And I’m honoured to be participating as the only non-indigenous member of this ‘Hearts are Burning’ Forum.

I was National President of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1994, when our church exchanged a solemn covenant between non-indigenous members and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, which is the Aboriginal arm of our church. Pastor Bill Hollingsworth (North Queensland) was national chairperson of Congress at the time, and his wise and firm leadership, along with that of the other national Congress Elders then and since, has helped our church to face some of the implications of that covenant; and to acknowledge the realities of what it means to embark on the painful and pot-holed pathway of the road to recovery for this nation.  Just a month or so back, a process for renewing that Covenant was begun, nationally and in the state Synods of the Uniting Church – recognition of the changing context in which Congress now exercises ministry a decade after that first covenant was adopted.

For we do continue to walk this reconciliation road together, First Australians and more recent arrivals - all of us who call Australia home.  Of course, we come from very different starting points; we need to discover very different learnings; we’re weighed down by very different burdens; and we endure very different degrees of costliness as a result of our commitment to reconciliation. 

For the track we take starts way back in the mists of the early history of this country.  It wends its way through the horrors and shame of the domination of the 18th century colonisers, and continues up to - and beyond - this day, through the consequences of dispossession and stolen generations, through the ravages of western diet and drugs and disease, through the inevitable outcomes of loss of identity, loss of land, and loss of self-respect.

‘Let me remind you that Christ died for us too,’ said Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue.  She was speaking at the Corroboree 2000 Ecumenical Service in St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. 
‘… Christ died for us too,’ said Lowitja, ‘a people with a culture, language, and land.  …It is the truth in the reconciliation process that is absent – we must accept the truth of our history.  It is the truth that will set us free.’ 

Dr O’Donoghue is one of the Patrons of the Decade to Overcome Violence here in Australia.  And she is right. It is the truth that will set us free. A delicate water-colour wash over scenes of the past, or protective goggles to shield our vision from all except that which we choose to see, are not just self-deception mechanisms. They’re that, of course – but they’re also insurmountable stumbling blocks to moving forward. Brutal realities must be acknowledged and named for what they have been, for what they are, and for what they’re likely to become, before healthy change towards fullness of life for all can occur.

When Pope John Paul II addressed that big crowd in Alice Springs in November 86, he too emphasised the urgency for honesty in moving forward.  Remember these words?

‘… What can be done to remedy the deeds of yesterday must not be put off till tomorrow.’ 

So - what progress toward Reconciliation has been made in these past 20 years?

Well, I can understand that for many of you, the heaviness in your hearts indicates very little seems to have been achieved. There have been some momentous events since 1986. But sadly, highly publicised episodes can result, paradoxically, in a negative spin-off: individuals may lapse in their personal motivation to keep moving forward, because it looks like action is being accomplished on a grander scale elsewhere – so what use is one little local contribution? 

But let’s list some of those high profile starting points – and I say ‘starting points’, because most are not yet fully implemented triumphs in our history! 

5 years after the Pope’s visit to Alice Springs, in:

• 1991: The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was established, with the vision:  ‘A united Australia which respects this land of ours, values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, and provides justice and equity for all’. 
• 1991: The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody presented its report and recommendations to the Federal Government.
• 1992: The High Court of Australia ruled in the Mabo case that native title exists over particular kinds of lands, and that Australia was never terra nullius or empty land.
• 1993: The Native Title Act was passed in Federal Parliament.
• 1994: The Indigenous Land Fund was established by the Federal Government for indigenous people to buy land, part of the government’s response to the Mabo decision. 
• 1997: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission released the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report into the separation of indigenous children from their parents. And later that same year:
• 1997: The Australian Reconciliation Convention took place, 30 years after the ’67 Referendum.
• 1998: Sorry Day remembrances were instituted, and have been observed around Australia each year on 26 May since. [This year to be changed in name and context to ‘National Day for Healing’.]
• 2000: More than one million Australians participated in bridge walks for reconciliation; and the same year:
• 2000: Reconciliation Australia was established as an independent, non-government foundation, to provide national leadership on reconciliation. 
• Oct 2003: The report of the Senate enquiry into National Progress on Reconciliation was released.

That’s just skimming the surface, of course, but there have been some long overdue, significant leaps forward in the reconciliation journey during the past 20 years. 
But … There have also been some momentous hiatuses, which inevitably shadow the way we can even notice - let alone celebrate - the positives.

One of them is the UN’s draft Statement on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – still a draft after 10 years, and most of its clauses still not acknowledged by our government.
There’s continuing evidence of significant and disproportionate social disadvantage to indigenous Australians. The report of the Senate inquiry into National Progress on Reconciliation, not quite 18 months ago, sadly reveals that the situation of indigenous peoples in this country is not only still bad, but deteriorating.  It makes clear that the Federal Government’s policy of ‘practical reconciliation’ is not working, and that the momentum for reconciliation is in danger of being lost through lack of national leadership.
Did you know that Australia remains the only colonised country in the world not to have made a treaty with its indigenous population?  Now - there’s a variety of opinions about what treaty might mean, but most within the reconciliation movement agree that some form of symbolic agreement between indigenous and non-indigenous Australia is needed to redress this glaring breach of the instructions given to (the then) Lieutenant James Cook when he invaded this land.
And there remains the inexplicable refusal by our Prime Minister and the Federal Government to formally apologise to those of the Stolen Generations - to offer a sincere apology, and to engage in the consequential actions of ensuring wrongs of the past can never recur and of providing concrete reparation measures.  The failure to do so stands as an ugly ink blot on the history of this country and in the hearts of those still suffering day by day.
What of action by the churches themselves?  What has been achieved for reconciliation since 1986?  Not nearly enough, is the short answer.
The Aboriginal and Islander Commission of the NCCA in 2001 reviewed the responses of member churches to the reconciliation process and to the recommendations of the ‘Bringing Them Home’ report.  The review did find much to give inspiration and hope, although it noted persisting areas where churches are urged to be more effective in supporting indigenous members and church partners. 
Time precludes me (time and some sense of embarrassment preclude me!) giving you a church-by-church list of specific actions enumerated by the review.  Some have done nothing.  A few have done much.  Most have made small attempts. They include such areas as apology where children were institutionalised by the church, help with tracing lost family connections, stolen generations (more accurate) history being taught now in some church schools, researching local indigenous history, commencing church meetings with acknowledgement of traditional land owners, liturgies translated into the local indigenous language in some churches, courses on indigenous issues and culture being included in theological training of clergy – and even in some places the return of land by churches.
There’s the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation every year.  And there have been local actions by churches here and there across the nation - we learned in Adelaide about the Adelaide Central Mission’s appalled reaction when it discovered the Mission had participated in the Stolen Generations history; how immediately they went to the communities affected to express their dismay and sorrow; and how since then, in a small attempt at recompense, every year a grant of $12 000 is made available for a project determined by the communities.
Yes, there has been some movement in the official response of the churches, individually and collectively through the NCCA, over the past 20 years; some signs of sap rising in the burnt and bruised tree, of roots pushing deeper into the healing soil.
But perhaps of more significance are the stories of the unsung heroes of the reconciliation movement; of those individuals who’ve taken action out of their own circumstances, and started to make a difference right where they are. 
My guess is that the reason you are here tonight is because many of you have been active in unrecorded ways over these past two decades (and probably longer), in breaking down barriers and building up trust. It would be good to hear some of your stories before the evening is out.
I could tell you about Avis Gale: one of the stolen generations herself from the age of one week, who after an anguished and turbulent 50 years of life, is now running a hostel in Adelaide for women released from prison – both indigenous and non-indigenous women in her care. 
‘I used to hate non-indigenous people,’ says Avis.  ‘I have learned to forgive, even if I can’t forget.’
I could tell you about Dick Estens: and the way his vision has been translated into action through the Moree Aboriginal Employment Strategy, an inspiring example of community-driven reconciliation which has transformed the community of Moree in northern NSW.
I could tell you about Peter Williams: who, after nearly 15 years working in Wilcannia in drug and alcohol counselling, counts himself blessed to have lived in that community.
I could tell you about Helen Carroll, a librarian in Brisbane who has started a ‘Reading for Reconciliation’ book club, to help broaden people’s awareness and correct some errors of understanding about the past.
There are thousands of people whose stories will never hit the headlines, but whose conviction and faithfulness are, I believe, turning the tide in Australia, little by little. 
One of them is my late friend and beloved mentor, Aboriginal Elder Aunty Ida West from Tasmania, whose passion for justice and reconciliation, expressed through her strong Christian faith, has been the inspiration for much of the healing between indigenous and non-indigenous Tasmanians over recent decades.

One tangible legacy she has left to motivate and encourage is the setting up of a Healing Garden at Wybalenna, on Flinders Island.  Having grown up on that isolated Bass Strait Island herself, Aunty Ida carried within her family memory, and within her own heart, the pain of the history of the virtual elimination of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.  Yet this Healing Garden is her testimony to the power of good over evil, of the strength of forgiveness over bitter resentment, of the healing capacity of love over angry retaliation.  Her words are engraved on a garden table there: ‘Where the bad was, we can always make it good.’

That simple but profound conviction coloured the way she lived, and those of us who owe much to her encouragement and guidance continue to be inspired with her passion for healing in the reconciliation journey.
And I’d like to tell you about Ailsa.  Ailsa is a member of a Uniting Church congregation in a little coastal town not far from where I live.  Ailsa has been longing to make a difference for reconciliation, but has always felt she’s in the wrong place to do anything significant, and that she doesn’t have any particular skills in any case.  But Ailsa found the names of some local Aboriginal people to contact, and gradually some trust between them started to build as ideas were shared. 
The outcome has been nothing less than a miracle of the grace of God.  Just a few weeks ago in the local campsite hall, Ailsa and her small group organised a weekend display of Aboriginal arts and crafts by local artists, offering a place for people to chat and have a cuppa while they wandered and watched. 
One Aboriginal girl who’s been struggling to find her place in life actually managed to sell her first two paintings at the exhibition, and she’s coming alive now with new hope for the future.  The whole place is abuzz with new relationships forged through working together for a common cause, and the local artists are asking if this can be a regular event to showcase their work and continue the friendships starting to develop.   

Certainly, much still needs to be done by all our governments, Federal, State and Local, to address the issues impeding reconciliation;
- and it’s time for urgent pressure on our politicians.
Certainly, much still needs to be done by all our churches to ensure justice is achieved and people are afforded the respect and the healing each individual is entitled to receive;
- and it’s time for urgent stocktaking by our churches. 
But … even more certainly, much still needs to be done by you and me, in our own local sphere of activity and influence, to start ripples of peace and healing, of forgiveness and reconciliation. 
It’s time for urgent re-commitment ourselves to ensure the process is unstoppable!

I conclude with the words of a prayer written many years ago in Poland (the homeland country of the late Pope John Paul II).  I’ve adapted it slightly for our purposes here this evening.  It touches on the core of what reconciliation means for the healing of this nation and its wounded people:

We are two hands: but belong to the same body.
We differ: we are right hand and left,
one stretched joyfully to heaven, rejoicing in victory,
one hanging sadly down incapable of grasping anything;

one hand full of strength and power,
clenched in the desire for freedom,
and the other tight with desperation;

one hand that can throttle and beat and wound
and one that bleeds –

We differ; but belong to the same body.

Help us, O Lord, we who are your hands,
that we may not be raised against each other,
or even raised as a shield to avoid seeing each other
but together show that we are one in prayer for your rule,
and that we stand and work united, hand in hand,
as we pray together for justice and peace, for healing and reconciliation:
O Lord, may your kingdom come!