Latest news with #YoorrookJusticeCommission
The Age
29-05-2025
- Climate
- The Age
Waiting for rain as an ancient world files past, hoping truth matters
Winter's first serious cold front came charging in with the clouds. Too cold now for seed to germinate. Those who have been around for a while will tell you the season is pretty well buggered. Australia is built on paradox. Down here in western Victoria, while we prayed for rain and exulted to the music of it when it fell, large parts of NSW, drowning, had been praying for it to stop. Survival in Australia has also been built on resilience. As anyone who has been paying attention knows, resilience is becoming more imperative as climate change brings more extreme and frequent droughts and floods. In the hours before the rain came clattering on my roof, ranks of the most resilient Australians of all marched past my house. Denied a formal voice by a recent political strategy of divide and conquer, they were using their feet, heading to Parliament House, 400 kilometres away, to deliver truths gathered in a great document that tells their stories for the first time in their own words: about what happened after Europeans came and put an end to the world their ancestors had known for tens of thousands of years. They call it a Walk for Truth. Loading It began in Portland, where Victoria's colonisation began when the Henty family sailed in and established a permanent – and illegal – settlement in 1834. It will end on June 18 at Melbourne's Parliament House because that's where legislators hold out the hope of negotiating the first black-white treaty in Australia's history. The walkers, the first of more than 4000 registered to take part in stretches of the trek, are of Aboriginal and European heritage. They want the same thing. Call it justice through truth-telling, for that is what the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which has gathered the stories for the parliamentarians to absorb, was established to achieve. The Indigenous walkers carried not only close-held stories of injustice – stolen land, stolen children, massacres and marginalisation – but the knowledge that they are survivors of a culture so old it beggars the mind to imagine it. Their ancestors' experience of climate change reduces ours to not much more than a breeze on a drizzly day. The forebears of those born in the far south-west of Victoria were here when the volcanoes were still blowing their tops. We know this because a stone axe was found in the 1940s at Bushfield, near Warrnambool, a metre beneath the ash layer deposited by the last explosion of Tower Hill. Recent technology has established Tower Hill, between Warrnambool and Port Fairy, erupted 36,800 years ago (give or take an error margin of 3800 years). Not far away, Budj Bim near Macarthur (formerly known as Mount Eccles) had an eruption age of 36,900 years (plus or minus 3100 years). Portrayals of its fiery explosion live on in creation stories handed down through more than a thousand generations of Gunditjmara people. Thus, the minimum period in which Aboriginal people have lived in Victoria's south-west is 33,000 years, their own ancestors having arrived in Australia's north maybe 30,000 years before that. In Europe and Asia around that time, Homo sapiens were putting an end to Neanderthals and in some cases assimilating with them. When I was celebrating a rain shower that might have eased a drought of a few months, I was struck by the knowledge that many of those walkers passing my house carried the genes of people who had lived through Australia's last ice age and mega-droughts that each lasted 20 years and more. The last ice age hit its freezing glaciated peak about 20,000 years ago, and petered out about 11,500 years ago. How do a people emerge from a world flowing with boiling lava into thousands of years of deep freeze, in which the sea was 120 metres below its current level and the coastal plains of Victoria extended to the continental shelf and, in places, clear to Tasmania? And then witness their lands shrinking, with the sea rushing in and claiming back those coastal plains? Finally, a mere blink ago, there came Europeans sailing across the horizon, leading to more destruction of Aboriginal lives and culture in a few decades than volcanoes and almost 12,000 years of frozen landscape had been able to achieve combined. The walkers for truth drifted by, heading to a beach called Convincing Ground, site of the first recorded massacre in Victoria, and on to a lake in Budj Bim's lava field called Tae Rak, where the ancients built elaborate fish traps and farmed eels at least 6700 years ago. That's about 1000 years before the Britons got around to building Stonehenge. I waved to the last of the walkers and returned to tap-tapping my rainwater tanks, hoping for a proper end to the latest dry. And new beginnings.
Sydney Morning Herald
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Sydney Morning Herald
Waiting for rain as an ancient world files past, hoping truth matters
Winter's first serious cold front came charging in with the clouds. Too cold now for seed to germinate. Those who have been around for a while will tell you the season is pretty well buggered. Australia is built on paradox. Down here in western Victoria, while we prayed for rain and exulted to the music of it when it fell, large parts of NSW, drowning, had been praying for it to stop. Survival in Australia has also been built on resilience. As anyone who has been paying attention knows, resilience is becoming more imperative as climate change brings more extreme and frequent droughts and floods. In the hours before the rain came clattering on my roof, ranks of the most resilient Australians of all marched past my house. Denied a formal voice by a recent political strategy of divide and conquer, they were using their feet, heading to Parliament House, 400 kilometres away, to deliver truths gathered in a great document that tells their stories for the first time in their own words: about what happened after Europeans came and put an end to the world their ancestors had known for tens of thousands of years. They call it a Walk for Truth. Loading It began in Portland, where Victoria's colonisation began when the Henty family sailed in and established a permanent – and illegal – settlement in 1834. It will end on June 18 at Melbourne's Parliament House because that's where legislators hold out the hope of negotiating the first black-white treaty in Australia's history. The walkers, the first of more than 4000 registered to take part in stretches of the trek, are of Aboriginal and European heritage. They want the same thing. Call it justice through truth-telling, for that is what the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which has gathered the stories for the parliamentarians to absorb, was established to achieve. The Indigenous walkers carried not only close-held stories of injustice – stolen land, stolen children, massacres and marginalisation – but the knowledge that they are survivors of a culture so old it beggars the mind to imagine it. Their ancestors' experience of climate change reduces ours to not much more than a breeze on a drizzly day. The forebears of those born in the far south-west of Victoria were here when the volcanoes were still blowing their tops. We know this because a stone axe was found in the 1940s at Bushfield, near Warrnambool, a metre beneath the ash layer deposited by the last explosion of Tower Hill. Recent technology has established Tower Hill, between Warrnambool and Port Fairy, erupted 36,800 years ago (give or take an error margin of 3800 years). Not far away, Budj Bim near Macarthur (formerly known as Mount Eccles) had an eruption age of 36,900 years (plus or minus 3100 years). Portrayals of its fiery explosion live on in creation stories handed down through more than a thousand generations of Gunditjmara people. Thus, the minimum period in which Aboriginal people have lived in Victoria's south-west is 33,000 years, their own ancestors having arrived in Australia's north maybe 30,000 years before that. In Europe and Asia around that time, Homo sapiens were putting an end to Neanderthals and in some cases assimilating with them. When I was celebrating a rain shower that might have eased a drought of a few months, I was struck by the knowledge that many of those walkers passing my house carried the genes of people who had lived through Australia's last ice age and mega-droughts that each lasted 20 years and more. The last ice age hit its freezing glaciated peak about 20,000 years ago, and petered out about 11,500 years ago. How do a people emerge from a world flowing with boiling lava into thousands of years of deep freeze, in which the sea was 120 metres below its current level and the coastal plains of Victoria extended to the continental shelf and, in places, clear to Tasmania? And then witness their lands shrinking, with the sea rushing in and claiming back those coastal plains? Finally, a mere blink ago, there came Europeans sailing across the horizon, leading to more destruction of Aboriginal lives and culture in a few decades than volcanoes and almost 12,000 years of frozen landscape had been able to achieve combined. The walkers for truth drifted by, heading to a beach called Convincing Ground, site of the first recorded massacre in Victoria, and on to a lake in Budj Bim's lava field called Tae Rak, where the ancients built elaborate fish traps and farmed eels at least 6700 years ago. That's about 1000 years before the Britons got around to building Stonehenge. I waved to the last of the walkers and returned to tap-tapping my rainwater tanks, hoping for a proper end to the latest dry. And new beginnings.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Push for school curriculum changes to improve First Nations history literacy
When Jegan Sivanesan's nieces began asking him about First Nation's history, he didn't know how to respond. "They would have NAIDOC week [at school], they'd have questions, not really being able to answer a lot of questions was confronting," he said. The first-generation immigrant from Sri Lanka grew up in the northern Victorian town of Mooroopna, but said his schooling barely scratched the surface of Australia's pre-colonial history. "What we did learn was about the First Fleet and a bit about the Stolen Generations but nothing that really went in depth, which was challenging," Mr Sivanesan said. Bombarded with questions from his son as well as his nieces, Mr Sivanesan decided to fill his gap in historical knowledge through further reading and attending the Yoorrook Justice Commission's public hearings. "It was an opportunity to talk about things that I've felt for a while, to be able to bring up that our education system needs to be really reformed so that our next generations can learn about these things," he said. Mr Sivanesan is not alone in his experience, with others raising the issue in submissions made to the Yoorrook Justice Commission. Yoorrook is the first Australian truth-telling process of its kind, led and designed by First Peoples, with the powers of a royal commission. The inquiry is piecing together Victoria's true history, by listening to the experiences of First Peoples through an inquiry focusing on injustices within health, education, country, criminal justice and child protection. Multiple witnesses have told Yoorrook that settlements were illegally established outside of the boundary set by the Crown, in areas across Victoria in the 1830s, including the Henty brothers' settlement of the area now known as Portland. It also heard from researchers involved in mapping the 49 known massacres in Victoria in which 1,045 Aboriginal people were killed. A report is due to be handed down in June and is expected to include recommendations to modify the school curriculum to include the inquiry's findings. Mr Sivenasan was one of dozens of Victorians who made a submission to the inquiry. As was Our Lady of Sion Sister Denise Cusack, who said she learnt almost nothing about First Nations history during her schooling, only becoming aware of it as an adult. "We would have known growing up that the Aboriginal people were here in this country but nowhere near the awareness of their sovereignty, what happened to them, what happened to the country," she said. "I realised much, much later on that there was a tangible grief in the country, that people carried, they weren't setting out to put all this on us. "But there's something in the country, I think, that carries that grief." Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was the first Australian leader of a state or territory government to appear before an Indigenous-led truth telling inquiry last month. Ms Allan said she was distressed and ashamed to learn of the brutality involved in massacres of Aboriginal people on Dja Dja Wurrung country, where she lives in Central Victoria. She said her government was committed to ensuring Yoorrook's findings on Victoria's full history was better taught at schools. "Growing up and living as I have all my life, in Central Victoria, on Dja Dja Wurrung country, I did not know about the massacres that occurred so close to home," Ms Allan said. "That was the area that was particularly concerning to me that I hadn't learnt of that, the depth and the extent of the brutality that went on as part of that. "What I see as the legacy of this part [Yoorrook] of the process is to be the writing of the fundamental truth of the history of our state, for that truth to be told in classrooms across the state." Yoorrook Chair Aunty Eleanor Bourke said in a speech at the Melbourne Press Club earlier this month that Yoorrook was expected to make more than 100 recommendations based on the evidence coming before the Commission. "These recommendations include significant reforms to broken systems, and a range of practical solutions to problems the government can implement now," she said. "Yoorrook also wants to see improvements to education, such as the way history and other subjects are taught in school. "This includes better teaching methods for First People's students and for all children to be educated as to the true history of the settlement of Victoria and its impacts on First Peoples." Professor Bourke said learning about the past from First Peoples' perspective would allow students to better understand how the past connects with the present. She said the history taught in schools was different to the history experienced by First Peoples and that the people behind the massacres and the removal of children from their families were remembered as founding fathers, pioneers and heroes. "They were cogs in the colonial machine, which was charging full steam ahead, leaving a wake of death and human devastation behind," Professor Bourke said. "Yoorrook's goal has never been to encourage shame or guilt. Instead, listen and learn, open your heart and your mind to our story. Last week, the Yoorrook Justice Commission began its Walk for Truth, inviting the public to join them throughout the journey from Portland on Gunditjmara country, where colonisation began, to Parliament House in Melbourne. The walk will mark the commission's report being handed down to Parliament. Victorian Year 10 student and Yorta Yorta Bundjalung Wiradjuri woman Gymea said throughout her 11 years of schooling, there were only two pages within a textbook that addressed Indigenous culture, condensing information about Captain Cook, protests, NAIDOC week and Australia Day into just a few classes. Gymea even approached her school's Vice Principal, who spoke with the Head of Humanities, who then contacted the publisher of the history textbook about the lack of First Nations history content. "I don't think that Aboriginal history is taught enough at school because there are so many other things to our history like we have different clans, different tribes, different languages … and people don't know that," she said. Gymea said she learnt about Aboriginal history through her family and many of her peers asked her directly about her culture. "There is more to what happened in our history, I feel like people are living too much in the past," she said. "They're living too much in the protesting of what happened to Indigenous people instead of embracing our culture more and putting it out there more." Deakin University NIKERI Institute lecturer and Dja Dja Wurrung man Aleryk Fricker said the Victorian school curriculum and the teaching of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history was inadequate. He said the commission's report would likely highlight the deficiencies present within curriculums across the country for decades. "It's often quite bitsy, it's inconsistent, and there's no real scope of sequence of engagement," Dr Fricker said. "One of the ways that we can address this is to support teachers to be able to deliver quality content better. "This involves professional learning and involves the provision of quality resources." For the curriculum to change Dr Fricker said recommendations would need to be passed through to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority which will liaise with the Department of Education before it's reviewed by the national curriculum body, the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. He said the challenge in modifying the curriculum was that the content could not be standardised as First Nations history differed across Victoria. Dr Fricker said reform was needed across early childhood, primary and secondary education. "We need to recognise that Indigenous content goes across every single discipline area. Literacy was not invented when the Europeans arrived, nor was mathematics, nor was science, nor was geography. "These are all discipline areas that have had Indigenous knowledge as a part of them for millennia and these need to be featured centrally in all of these different discipline areas."
The Advertiser
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Truth walks path through Indigenous culture and history
Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process. Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation. A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state. Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey. The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria. Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray. Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route. He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity. "Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said. "Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united." Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process. Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation. A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state. Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey. The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria. Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray. Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route. He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity. "Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said. "Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united." Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process. Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation. A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state. Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey. The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria. Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray. Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route. He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity. "Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said. "Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united." Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process. Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation. A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state. Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey. The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria. Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray. Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route. He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity. "Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said. "Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united."
West Australian
25-05-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Truth walks path through Indigenous culture and history
Indigenous leaders have set off on a 370-kilometre journey, joined by hundreds of supporters to raise awareness of Australia's first formal truth-telling process. Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man Travis Lovett begun a 25-day walk from Portland in Victoria's southwest to Melbourne, to highlight the Yoorrook Justice Commission's coming report on injustices against First Nations people since colonisation. A ceremonial event and smoking ceremony were held on Sunday a short distance from where Edward Henty landed in 1834, establishing the first permanent European settlement in the state. Lovett, who is deputy chair of the commission, described the journey as a "historic moment" for Victoria's truth-telling journey. The commission has been working for the past four years, detailing the official record of the impact of historical and ongoing injustices endured by First Peoples in Victoria. Thousands of people are expected to join sections of the walk over the coming month as it moves through cultural and historical sites across Victoria including Port Fairy, Warrnambool, Colac and Footscray. Mr Lovett, who has strong family ties to the region, is expected to be the only walker for the entire route. He hoped the walk would bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward in unity. "Since colonisation it has been an important way to advocate for change," Lovett said. "Today we begin another important and historic walk - to bring Victorians together to listen, learn and move forward united."
