COUNCIL
FINALISES RECONCILIATION
DOCUMENTS FOR CORROBOREE 2000
The Council for
Aboriginal Reconciliation, at its three-day meeting leading up to the
Corroboree 2000 event on 27-28 May, has finalised the documents which
it will launch at the event.
Chairperson Evelyn
Scott said that the Council had decided that the Saturday Corroboree
2000 event at the Sydney Opera House would be a representative gathering
of people from across the nation which would:
- celebrate the
achievements of reconciliation and the common ground of support for
reconciliation which unites the overwhelming majority of Australians;
but
- also openly acknowledge
that different sections of the community genuinely hold different
views about the priorities for reconciliation and how to achieve it.
"The Council
has always said that reconciliation must be based on truth," Ms
Scott said. "Therefore, our documents will reflect what this Council
believes are the broad principles of reconciliation and the necessary
actions to achieve it.
"For the very
same reason, we want the Saturday at the Sydney Opera House to be an
inclusive event at which a range of views on reconciliation can be acknowledged
and openly expressed on the day," she said.
"True to this
open acknowledgement of the current realities, we will invite a number
of people to present their vision of the path to reconciliation,"
she said.
Ms Scott said that
these speakers and other participants would be invited to place their
handprint on a canvas containing the Council’s vision statement to symbolise
their commitment to reconciliation. [See note below.]
The Sunday People’s
Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge would be an
opportunity for all Australians to demonstrate their support for reconciliation,
Ms Scott said. "All the indications are that there will be a massive
turnout for the walk and the free public concerts to follow at Darling
Harbour," she said.
Referring to recent
media reports about the respective roles of the Prime Minister and the
Governor-General, Ms Scott said that the Council had invited both of
them to play a key role on the day - one as the nation’s elected political
leader and the other as the representative of the Head of State.
"In keeping
with our role, we will work as appropriate with the Prime Minister’s
office and the Governor-General’s office to ensure an uplifting and
constructive event," she said.
Co-convenor of the
Documents Committee, Jackie Huggins, said that the Council will hold
a media conference sometime before Corroboree 2000 at which it will
publicly release its [final] documents. "This will enable Corroboree
2000 participants and the nation as a whole to consider and discuss
our documents leading up to the event," she said.
Ms Huggins said
that Council had decided on two documents:
- Corroboree
2000 … Towards Reconciliation, which includes the Australian
Declaration Towards Reconciliation, providing an aspirational
statement which the Council hopes all sections of the nation will
support; and
- A Roadmap
for Reconciliation, containing concise versions of four strategies
for practical actions to make reconciliation a reality.
Ms Huggins said
that the Council would continue to work on the longer versions of its
four strategies over the next few months, taking account of more than
150 detailed submissions which had been received in response to drafts
sent out earlier this year.
"The final
strategies and action proposals will form part of Council’s final document/s
and report to the Parliament and the nation late this year," Ms
Huggins said.
The Council also
heard a presentation from social researchers Irving Saulwick and Denis
Muller on the views of Indigenous people about reconciliation. This
is the final stage of Council’s social research, and the full report
on this stage will be publicly released in about a week.
CANBERRA 30
APRIL 2000
Note :
1 The Council’s
vision is: A united Australia which respects this land of ours; values
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage; and provides justice
and equity for all.
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