So NAIDOC has come and gone for another year. What a year of fantastic celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture. NAIDOC (which originally meant National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration Observance Committee, and now is just ‘National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration’) has been revitalized this year with what seems to be a new focus.

The National NAIDOC committee has chosen ‘Advance Australia Fair’ as the theme for 2008, a theme which incorporates the whole Australian notion of a ‘fair go’ for all.

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Although NAIDOC was originally a vehicle to highlight the disadvantages Aboriginals faced, it should now be the avenue to focus on the changes that could occur within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities given this new focus of the entire nation and the notion of a fair go.

We can still be Black and advance in fairness and within the true Australia spirit of a ‘fair go’ hey? In understanding the history of NAIDOC and what our ancestors were striving for we must all be supportive of their endeavours. In order to do that we must also appreciate our history and hopefully don’t make the same mistakes that our ancestors have been involved in, both black and white. This to me is the real issue – let’s not make the same mistakes, let’s learn from our history and learn also how our history still affects us today.

Aboriginal Australia, and all Australians, have been buoyed by the recent ‘Apology to the Stolen Generation’ by Prime Minister Rudd on the 13th February. The entire nation now appears to have the good will and commitment to end the disastrous period of black and white relations that began with European settlement. With a bipartisan approach across government we can now begin to start ‘righting the wrongs’, to improve the quality of life for the First Australians.

The ‘Close the Gap’ campaign, an initiative of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organization (NACCHO) in collaboration with Oxfam International which will focus on the health and life expectancy, has now been extended to include education, employment and other areas of inequity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. So, after 51 years of NAIDOC, 41 years since the 1967 Referendum, 11 years since the ‘Bringing Them Home Report’ things are now going to get better. We can only hope that we will see some real funding commitments made by all levels of government to make this happen.

What was also most encouraging for me during this year’s NAIDOC was the visibility of our Queers for Reconciliation (or Q4R community) at the events, and the most pleasing was at Curtin University for Quentin Beresford’s discussion of his book about Noongar leader, the late Rob Riley. The outcome of this discussion has now led us to re-think, and to refocus the energies that have been so evident in the Perth queer community. Empowering our community with this energy would not only support the struggles the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face, but would also go a long way towards assisting in the process of inclusion of our Aboriginal and Islander GLBTI community.

Right from the outset, the Q4R mob have highlighted the reality that the black community and the queer community have much in common, particularly in relation to discrimination and that we should work together from that common ground. I hope that this call to ‘Advance Australia Fair’ also resonates with the broader queer community and perhaps that could be a theme that we could use as we work together. In future years, during NAIDOC, we in the queer community should focus on the advancement of and celebration of queer culture and how the queer community in Perth has embraced their Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters.

We all need to grab the situation by the throat and take advantage of the current commitment to a ‘fair go’. Let’s celebrate the Advance Australia Fair theme and look forward to a brighter future for our children and their children. I don’t think there has been a better time for us – so let’s do it!

If you would like to get involved with Q4R or be included on our e-mail list for future events please ring Jim Morrison on 0408 917 133 or Alan Carter on 0428 250 155.

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Jim Morrison