A Weekly zoom with the Uluru Statement from the Heart - July 2021
Zooming with the Uluru Statement from the Heart
Every Wednesday evening a small group of us gather for an hour, via zoom, to listen to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and share thoughts on it https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement What resonates with us? What captures our heart? What needs teasing out?
Very slowly, this regular discerning is working its magic as the Statement seeps down into my psyche and I have the headspace to appreciate its true significance, its historical value and its poetic nature.
The Uluru Statement is a substantial and a critically important document. Powerful and persuasive, it’s like listening to the forgotten heart of a nation tuning into its voice, patiently but urgently, calling for reform once again.
The Uluru Statement has three key messages: Voice, Treaty, Truth. First Nations people are asking for the establishment of a First Nations Voice to be protected in the constitution and for a process of agreement-making and truth-telling via a Makarrata Commission. Makarrata is a Yolngu word meaning ‘the coming together after a struggle’; this Commission would be established through a process of open nominations and review.
But there’s so much more in this richly layered statement. Notably, the Uluru Statement is an inclusive gift to everyone in our nation. ‘We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.’ A generous and heartfelt offer for us to have a say in their future, allowing us to use our power to change the constitution, to create an enduring platform that cannot be undone by Parliament.
It’s four years since the Uluru Statement was first declared in May 2017 (and promptly and ruthlessly rejected by Prime Minister Turnbull). The Uluru Statement is just one of many expert panel or government standing committee reports, over the last decade, which have requested constitutional recognition. This one was different because it involved so many diverse Aboriginal nations via intensive six-month dialogues in thirteen regions around Australia. One hundred invited participants were at each. The exercise was extensive and it was the first time such a substantial group, from different areas, came together [at Uluru] to say what they wanted. Not all Aboriginal people agreed with the key requests it must be stated. An impossible outcome but it tried to be inclusive.
Back to our weekly zoom gatherings which were initiated by Tracy deGeer, a founding member of the Women’s Reconciliation Network (WRN), an organisation established over 25 years ago. This bridge-building organisation is run by feisty and justice orientated women, diverse in backgrounds but all welcoming and inclusive through and through.
We begin by listening to the Uluru Statement being recited, often by many different Indigenous voices. With time to savour the Uluru wisdom, the Statement sounds profound, convincing and compelling. Something new always resonates as the conversation ebbs and flows. Indigenous mentors participate weaving memorable stories about their Country into the yarning. We hear their pain from past and present transgressions. One regular participant dials in from London. Amazing!
One week the words ‘time immemorial’ stood out as we listened to what the Statement says ‘…under our own laws and customs…. according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.’ In other words: Always was, Always will be. This timely and expressive catch cry was the 2020 NAIDOC theme, and I appreciate its richness whenever I hear an Acknowledgment to Country: ‘We gather on these lands where Elders and their forebears have been custodians for tens of thousands of years.’ As the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, (NAIDOC) website says, here is a chance for all Australians to embrace the true history of this country – a history that dates back thousands of generations.[1]
We continue to tease out ‘ancient sovereignty.’ It is not easy. The Statement says, in part, ‘With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia's nationhood.’ Strong and powerful words. Sovereignty has never been formally ceded either in 1788 or in the 1901 Australian Constitution. It was given recognition in the 1992 Mabo decision but not respected properly in the Native Title Legislation. It’s an outstanding matter, not fully acknowledged.
Again, to cite the Statement: ’This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land… This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.’ We need to go forward with the political informed by the spiritual. Only then can we become a fuller nation.
Sovereignty is complex given the many diverse nations within Australia, approximately 300 in total. Responsibilities to Country differ, depending on the community - salt-water, desert, river or urban community - yet all First Nations people have a connection to their Country. Slowly, I’m understanding that, vice versa, Country too needs renewal and connection from today’s custodians and from their forebears. Powerful stories pass from one generation, fundamental for continuing relationships.
It is heart-warming to see a growing national and inclusive awareness about the Uluru Statement. Corporations such as Woolworths, BHP and well-established law firms have endorsed the Uluru Statement as the just way forward. In a rousing speech, the Labour leader, the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, persuasively described how ‘we will work with First Nations people to legislate protections for traditional knowledge and cultural expressions. Underpinning it all is the Uluru Statement from the Heart, that powerful and eloquent invitation to us all to go further as a nation.’[2] NSW’s ex-Premier Gladys Berejiklian has described the Statement as ‘the centrepiece of reconciliation.’[3] (I’ve yet to discover where our new Premier stands on this issue.) All are requesting a constitutionally guaranteed Voice for First Nations peoples in Parliament, to be delivered via a referendum.After the Uluru Statement was rejected an interim committee (with watered down terms of reference) was set up: the Indigenous Voice Co-Design Process. The final Report will soon be announced. Worryingly, this advocates a legislative Voice rather than one enshrined in the constitution. I strongly believe that a Voice enshrined in the constitution gives more certainty, permanence and protection than a legislated one. If a voice were legislated, it could be removed or amended by Parliament. When this Co-Design report asked for submissions (early in 2021), nearly 90% asked the government to take the proposal for constitutional recognition to a referendum. If that’s not comprehensive support, what is?
It’s time now and the work has been done. This unfinished business has brought First Nations Australians together. Let’s hope we can walk humbly and compassionately together too and honour their invitation to move forward to a justice-based solution: a referendum. Let us apply First Nations’ patience, resilience and commitment. The Uluru Statement concludes: ‘In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard.’ I fervently hope that we are all truly listening. What a significant and inclusive response that would be.
I’m indebted to Tracy for initiating this yarning time. All are welcome on next week’s zoom.
More info on the Wednesday zoom link – see Women’s Reconciliation Network link https://wrnredfern.org.au/?page_id=993
[1] https://www.naidoc.org.au/news/2020-naidoc-week-theme-announced-always-was-always-will-be
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqcgfyysN9Y
[3] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/gladys-berejiklian-backs-the-voice-urges-embrace-of-indigenous-reconciliation-20210608-p57z7f.html
