Legislative Assembly

9031 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Wednesday 11 October 2000 ______ Mr Speaker (The Hon. John Henry Murray) took the chair at 10.00 a.m. Mr Speaker offered the Prayer. SYDNEY 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES Debate resumed from 10 October. Mr KNIGHT (Campbelltown—Minister for the Olympics) [10.00 a.m.]: Like the overwhelming majority of members of this House and indeed the community in general, I wholeheartedly endorse the sentiments of the motion. In my case, I had the enormous privilege of being able to lead the Sydney 2000 team. That also meant that I have been fortunate enough to have a number of opportunities in other places to express sentiments similar to those in the motion before the House, such as being able to speak at the closing ceremony and being able to talk to a number of people and groups mentioned in the motion. I was also able to do press conferences on the last day at the main press centre, with international media as well as domestic media, and similarly at the Sydney media centre on the Sunday of the closing ceremony. I was lucky enough to be able to talk to volunteers at the parade and a number of other venues, to go out with President Samaranch quite early in the piece to the Tennis Centre to thank a large group of volunteers there, and to speak to volunteers in the common domain at various venues and thank them personally. I was also able to go to receptions for the Australian team and congratulate the athletes. So I will not take the time of the House today to repeat all of the things that I have been fortunate enough to have opportunities to say at other forums. Today I want to focus on two things. The first is the issue of reconciliation, involving indigenous people of Australia. The second is the last part of the motion, which looks forward to the future. The Olympic Games helped carry forward the long-overdue reconciliation process between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. It is important that we do not overstate the significance of the part played by the Games in that process. The Games, of course, did not cause the reconciliation process, but I am pleased that the Games were able to play a small part in facilitating and advancing the cause of reconciliation. It is important to stress again that we were not central. So, for example, when John Coates and I chose Catherine Freeman to be the final torchbearer and to light the cauldron in the stadium, that helped in the reconciliation process. But what helped was not John's and my choice. What helped was the outstanding individual, the outstanding Australian that Catherine Freeman is. And what helped is the way in which the community responded and embraced her. I have done a lot of things in the course of the Games that have attracted criticism, but there was almost no criticism over the choice of Catherine Freeman to be the last torchbearer. And that says volumes not for the decision but about Catherine Freeman, about reconciliation and about how the Australian community as a whole views her and views that process. There was a similar outpouring of national pride and delight when Catherine Freeman won the 400 metres event on the track. I was sitting next to Lyle Munro, who is an activist in the Metropolitan Lands Council. Lyle Munro was in fact the Metropolitan Lands Council's co-ordinator of protests for the Olympic Games period. Lyle turned to me, with tears in his eyes, and said, "In less than 50 seconds that girl has done more to advance the cause of Aboriginal people than I have done in a lifetime of activism and protest." I am not sure that Lyle should downplay his own contribution so readily, but I understand the sentiment of his statement. He did not mean just that Catherine Freeman had achieved a magnificent sporting victory; he also meant that the whole crowd there in the stadium, no matter what colour people were, rose as one, as Australians proud of this wonderful, wonderful Australian woman, this wonderful, wonderful Australian athlete. Lyle was right in the sense that the advance that she had made for recognition of the Aboriginal people by the broader community was very, very significant. I know that when I first suggested that Nova Peris-Kneebone be the first torchbearer and that the torch start at Uluru—a suggestion supported at the board approximately three years ago—it was, at the time, a little 9032 LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 11 October 2000 controversial. But by the time the torch landed at Uluru it was hard to find anyone in Australia who did not believe it was the right place for it to land. It was hard to find anyone who had another suggestion as to where it should be. What was terrific was that with the traditional owners at Uluru, who had initially been sceptical—it was much easier to convince the SOCOG board to go to Uluru than it was to convince the traditional owners to subject Uluru to that level of invasiveness from the media from around the world and others—we negotiated that through. Lowitja O’Donoghue was a great help in that process because that is her country; she comes from that part of central Australia. The way in which the traditional owners embraced the Games and the torch relay, and the way in which the country embraced the torch relay beginning there and Nova being the first torchbearer were incredibly important. We saw similar things at happenings at the Indigenous Cultural Pavilion which Jenny Munro and others, particularly associated with the Metropolitan Lands Council, conducted in The Boulevard at Olympic Park at Homebush Bay. We saw great spontaneous interest from the huge queues of people, both domestic and international, with very high sales of Aboriginal art work and a lot of interest in the Aboriginal history and the messages that were on display. I should not depart from that subject without mentioning that of course there were some tensions within different parts of the indigenous community. We should not be surprised about that. We should not be shocked by that. We should not be surprised or find that strange. After all, the non-indigenous community in Australia— for want of a better word, white Australians, to put it crudely—are not homogenous. There are differences of view. There are differences on both sides of this Chamber. There are more differences in the upper House. And there are even more differences out there in the community. We should not expect that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be politically homogenous. I was also delighted at the ways in which the welcomes at venues were received. David Richmond came to me, when we began to open the facilities that the Olympic Co-ordination Authority and the private sector had conducted, with a proposal that each of those openings begin with a welcome on behalf of representatives of the Aboriginal people from that community who had a link with traditional ownership. I was very happy to do that. But I have to say I thought there was a likelihood that that would come under criticism for being, for want of a better phrase, too politically correct. In fact, the reverse happened. As we would go out to venues, like the softball site at Aquilina Reserve at Doonside, where two sisters were involved in giving the welcome, the reaction was of spontaneous applause and endorsement from a mixture of sporting people and working-class people from the surrounding area. That was terrific. It was genuine. It was warm. We saw that at every venue. We saw it again at the stadium, where Rod Townen from the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council and other representatives of land councils in Sydney, before the opening ceremony formally commenced, led a traditional welcome to the country. Of course, we saw important parts of the Aboriginal culture and Torres Strait Islander culture showcased in the opening ceremony itself. During the period of the Games we saw some parts of the less favourable aspects of relations between the broader Australian community and the indigenous people displayed to the world, but we also saw Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and people positively on display. We also, just as importantly, saw Australians as a whole embracing that part of our nation with great pride and great admiration. That was a delight to witness. I am very proud to have been able to play some small part in helping to facilitate that process, rather than cause it. Talking of pride and admiration brings me to the last part of the motion, which states: That this House: . (2) recognises that New South Wales in particular, and Australia in general, has a tremendous opportunity to build upon the increased international reputation for Australia and Australians and is united in pursuing this potential legacy for the benefit of all citizens of New South Wales. There is the important issue of how we now build on the pride in Australia, the pride that Australians feel and the admiration that the rest of the world feels for Australia. Notwithstanding what people might say about Athens, it is extremely unlikely that we will see the Games here again, certainly in the near future. The Games are over, the athletes have gone and we will not in the next few years see the Olympic Games beach volleyball or the 100 metres men's or women's track, swimming or anything else.

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