The momentum for reconciliation gained from last year’s Apology to the Stolen Generations has received added impetus with th announcement of Professor Mick Dodson, the Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia as Australian of the year for 2009. In a statement released to the press, the Australia Day Committee made the following comments about Mick Dodson:

- Advertisement -

Fifty eight year old Dodson is a Yawuru man from the Broome area of Western Australia who now lives and works in Canberra. He is widely recognised as a proud, courageous and humble Aboriginal leader who has spent his adult life trying to explain to people why and how they can help his people. He has pursued justice and reconciliation through a process of education, awareness and inclusive dialogue with all Australians.

Mick Dodson will, however be best remembered for his tireless work with the late Sir Ronald Wilson in undertaking the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, which is more commonly known as the Bringing Them Home Report. If you would like more information about this important report you can view the report and other documents at www.hreoc.gov.au/social_justice/bth_report/index.html

Those of us at Q4R and in the broader reconciliation movement believe and support Mick Dodson’s vision. We also honour his past work for reconciliation and justice for the Stolen Generations. We believe that there is still a great deal to be done if we, as a nation, truly wish to heal our nation’s past, restoring what we can and responding with compassion to that which can never heal. The Stolen Generations Alliance, for example, have decided that the best way to continue the journey started with the Apology last year was by welcoming this new era with Apology Anniversary Breakfasts – in cities and communities, across the country. They have been supported in this initiative by Reconciliation Australia.

Q4R also supports this initiative and encourages members of the Queer community to take the initiative and encourage your own employer organisations and community groups to also join us and start the new day with a healthy breakfast and begin the conversation on how we can take the next steps together. As most of you will hopefully know, Q4R has a theme which guides our actions and that is ‘Finding Common Ground’. That theme was adopted because we felt that the Queer community and the Aboriginal community both faced discrimination and we felt that it was a way of working together and moving forward. So let’s work from that common ground and lead the way in promoting these breakfasts and in talking the ‘next steps to healing truth and justice’.

There are resources available to assist you to plan and host an Apology Anniversary breakfast
To request these resources or find out more about the Stolen Generations Alliance please go to: www.sgalliance.org.au or to Reconciliation Australia, which also has resources available at: www.reconciliation.org.au. You could also ring Jim Morrison (0408 917 133) or Alan Carter (0428 250 155) from the Q4R mob.