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Perth Now
a day ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
'Walk for Truth' draws curtain on nation-first inquiry
A weary Aboriginal leader is not ready to put his feet up for good after walking halfway across the state to shine a light on its dark colonial past. A crowd of thousands greeted Travis Lovett outside Victorian parliament on Wednesday as he finished his 508km walk from Portland, where colonisation began in the state in 1834. More than 12,000 people joined him along the 25-day Walk for Truth, which represented the end of the long-running Yoorrook Justice Commission. With both feet freed of his shoes, the Yoorrook commissioner and deputy chair became emotional when talking about the toll the journey has taken. "The body has been sore," he told reporters. "I've had my moments where my feet have been sitting in the same shoes for nine hours straight, but that is nothing compared to what our people have been through. "We don't ask for sympathy but we ask people to open their minds and open their hearts to the full lived experience of our people here." Yoorrook is Australia's first first formal, Indigenous-led truth-telling process. It was established in 2021 to create a public record of Indigenous experiences since colonisation and its ongoing impacts on Aboriginal people. The inquiry has held dozens of public hearings, gathering the testimony of Stolen Generations survivors, elders, historians, experts and non-Indigenous advocates. Mr Lovett said it had ended the silence and laid the foundation for tangible change. "It's not about blame, it's about the truth," he told the crowd while foreshadowing future walks through other parts of the state. "Our old people didn't fight for sorrow, they fought so that we might live well." An interim report by Yoorrook called for wholesale changes to Victoria's criminal justice and child protection systems, but the state government only fully committed to implement six of 43 recommendations. Its final report is expected to be handed to the governor in coming days. Chair Eleanor Bourke has flagged it will contain more than 100 recommendations, including some that can be actioned immediately and others as part of a statewide treaty. Premier Jacinta Allan, who was presented with a message stick carried the full length of the walk, said the official public record would be critical to treaty talks. "You can't have treaty without truth - they go together," she said. Treaty negotiations between the state government and First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria kicked off in late 2024. Details have been vague on exactly what is on the table but an update on Wednesday confirmed parties discussed Yoorrook's public record becoming a possible resource for teachers. Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg suggested a statewide agreement could be reached later in 2025, ahead of Victorians heading to the polls in November 2026. "First people's decisions should be made by first people's - that's what we're working towards here in Victoria," he said. The Victorian Liberal opposition withdrew its support for a statewide treaty in 2024 following the failed national voice to federal parliament referendum. If and when an agreement is struck, legislation must pass both houses of state parliament for the treaty to be ticked off.
25-04-2025
- Politics
Australian prime minister condemns anti-Indigenous rights protests during war dead commemorations
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned anti-Indigenous rights protesters who disrupted two Anzac Day dawn services on Friday as hundreds of thousands gathered across the nation to commemorate their war dead. 'The disruption of Anzac Day is beyond contempt and the people responsible must face the full force of the law,' Albanese told reporters. 'This was an act of low cowardice on a day when we honor courage and sacrifice,' he added. The protests come during a heightened political atmosphere ahead of general elections on May 3 in which Indigenous rights are a campaign issue. April 25, 1915 was the day when the newly-formed Australia and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the beaches of Gallipoli, in northwest Turkey, in an ill-fated campaign that was the soldiers' first combat of World War I. It is considered Australia's most unifying national holiday and a sacred day when political point-scoring and protest are generally avoided. A group of hecklers including self-described Nazi Jacob Hersant booed and jeered during a dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne where 50,000 gathered. In Perth, a lone man yelled briefly during a dawn service at Kings Park before the 25,000 people who surrounded him persuaded him to stay silent, a police statement said. The man left soon after. The disruptions were triggered in both cities by the so-called Welcome to Country ceremony, which is held at the outset of many Australian public events in which Indigenous leaders welcome visitors to their traditional land. The Melbourne-based First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, an Indigenous advocacy group, said in a statement it 'strongly condemns the racist attack during the Welcome to Country' in Melbourne. Albanese said the disruptions in both Melbourne and Perth were a 'disgrace.' 'There is no place in Australia for what occurred,' Albanese said. In Melbourne, the interruptions continued after the Welcome to Country at any mention by speakers of Indigenous soldiers or traditional owners of Australia. Hecklers yelled 'this is our country' and 'we don't have to be welcomed,' echoing a slogan of the minor party Trumpet of Patriots. The party's extensive advertising is funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer and party officials say they are inspired by U.S. President Donald Trump's policies. The hecklers were drowned out by the applause of others who urged the speakers to continue. Lawmakers in the opposition conservative Liberal Party have complained that Welcome to Country ceremonies have become too prevalent and cost the center-left Labor Party government 452,953 Australian dollars ($289,602) over two years. But opposition leader Peter Dutton on Friday defended the place of such Indigenous ceremonies on Anzac Day. 'Welcome to Country is an important part of official ceremonies and it should be respected. I don't agree with the booing and I don't agree, in our democracy, that people can't accept the views of others,' Dutton told reporters. 'We have a proud Indigenous heritage in this country and we should be proud to celebrate it as part of today.' Police were seen escorting Hersant away from the Melbourne service. Hersant is a leader of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network and last year became the first person in Australia to be sentenced to prison for performing an outlawed Nazi salute. He remains free on bail because his appeal against a one-month prison sentence has yet to be heard. 'They want to humiliate us over and over again,' Hersant told reporters before police led him away, referring to Indigenous leaders. . Hersant's lawyer did not immediately respond to the AP's request for comment on Friday. Victoria Police confirmed a 26-year-old Melbourne man had been directed to leave the service. They did not confirm the suspect's identity in accordance with its usual policy. The suspect had been interviewed over an allegation of offensive behavior and would be issued a summons to appear in court, a police statement said. Video showed at least one other protester repeating a white supremacist slogan being dragged away from the service by a member of the public. Western Australia Police Force said the Perth service disruption remained under investigation. 'The Anzac Day service is a solemn commemoration and any disorderly behavior at such commemorations will not be tolerated by police,' a police statement said.
