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But before I deliver that message, I'd like to thank Katrina for her welcome on behalf of the Kaurna [PRONOUNCED GARNA] people. I'm proud to be talking on their land. I acknowledge the living culture of the Kaurna people, and the unique contribution they make to the life of the Adelaide region. I'm also very pleased to see such a strong presence of Aboriginal women here. It suggests to me that your committee is serious about airing reconciliation issues, and I hope everyone grabs the networking opportunity that this function presents. Get talking and get results! I believe Dorothy Kotz (the State Minister for Aboriginal Affairs) would like to have been here, but when she couldn't make it she made it possible for some female elders to be here instead, and I think that's a gesture of goodwill that should be recognised. International Women's Day is a day of mixed emotions for me. On one hand, you get this feeling of joy, just knowing that women all over the world are celebrating many achievements, many breakthroughs over the years. In the battle against sex stereotyping and the subtle - and not-so subtle - limitations placed on women in the power structures of most societies, it is a joy to be able to celebrate some victories. It's equally stimulating
to see that the women's agenda is still being pursued with enthusiasm
and energy, but I suppose that's where the mixed feelings start to come
in. When I reach that
point in my thinking about this day, things become even more complicated
as I look at my own identity as an Indigenous Australian woman. For "women" substitute "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people" and for "male" substitute "non-Indigenous Australians". If you look in a very broad way at recent history - say the last 200 years - it's easy enough to see similarities in the way the two sets of relationships have evolved. Exploitation and mistreatment has slowly, often grudgingly, given way to respect. In both cases the last thirty years or so have seen a rapid increase in the rate of attitudinal change. In both cases there are still the pockets of resistance that threaten to halt progress - and even to take us backwards. The similarities probably end there, but they are real similarities. In fact the long history of women fighting for justice is, I think, part of the explanation why women have played such a leading role in the movement for reconciliation. A fight for justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is a central element of the reconciliation process. This brings me
to the current state of play in the work of the Council for Aboriginal
Reconciliation, and Australia's progress on the path to genuine reconciliation. It was part of Council's Parliamentary mandate to investigate whether a national document or documents would advance the cause of reconciliation. If so, we were to make recommendations - to Parliament through the responsible Minister - on the form and content of such a document or documents. Council decided soon after the 1997 Reconciliation Convention that the people of Australia did want a document, and that it would benefit the nation. We then set about consulting, both before and after the release of our draft, with key stakeholders (including governments) service providers, Indigenous leaders and communities around the country. In fact few if any issues in Australia's history have been put to such a degree of community consultation. We've started work on the huge amount of feedback from our nationwide meetings on the draft last year. We're in the process, through a series of special meetings, of adjusting our Draft Document according to what we've heard. I believe that when we launch our final proposals for a Document for Reconciliation in May, they'll have the weight of informed public opinion behind them. We'll in effect be presenting Australia, and its political leadership at all levels, with an exciting opportunity to strengthen the spirit and unity of Australia at the centenary of our Federation as a nation. Some ten days ago, the headlines suggested that our national political leadership has decided to let this wonderful opportunity pass. I'd like to finish my remarks with a few words about the situation that's arisen. I think it's most
unfortunate that the reported remarks of the Prime Minister, and the
Minister Assisting him for Reconciliation, have created confusion about
the function of a Document for Reconciliation and its relationship to
the whole process of reconciliation. First, Parliament did not set such a deadline. The preamble to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act says it would be "most desirable" that a formal process of reconciliation could be achieved by the centenary. The Council was set up to oversee and promote that formal process, and as I've said, a document or documents of reconciliation was an option specifically brought to Council's attention. Neither the legislation
nor the Council has ever suggested that a national Document for Reconciliation
would mark the end of our journey towards reconciliation - far from
it. I want to make it clear, however, that by making that point, we are in no way downplaying the enormous significance that an agreed national document would have as part of Australia's centenary celebrations. Such a document can become a powerful beacon showing us the way forward, a major symbol of national commitment to the remaining tasks of reconciliation, and a proud statement of a mature national identity. Council will press on with its work on the document, and with Corroboree 2000, the major event to launch our proposals on May the 27th. Those proposals will then become the recommendations on form and content that Parliament envisaged back in 1991. Being recommendations of Council, the Minister is required to table them promptly in Parliament. Our work on the document will then be on the table of all Australians and their national parliamentary representatives. Council will not accept that Mr Howard's recent remarks constitute a final rejection of our work. Our mandate requires us to report to the Parliament. We will do so in good faith, and in the heartfelt hope that the response of our national Parliament will prove to be a gateway, not a stumbling block, on the path to reconciliation. Thank you.
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