ExtractCOMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Official Committee Hansard HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON PETITIONS Reference: Petitions from Victoria THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2008 MELBOURNE BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thursday, 30 October 2008 REPS PET 37 BELLIZIA, Miss Alexandra, Member, Avila College Reconciliation Group PETRIE, Miss Caitlyn, Member, Avila College Reconciliation Group TITUS, Miss Hazel, Member, Avila College Reconciliation Group Apology to Indigenous Australians CHAIR—I now welcome students from Avila College, Mount Waverley. Although the committee does not require you to speak under oath, you should understand that this meeting is a formal proceeding of the parliament. Giving false or misleading evidence—do not be frightened by that little bit—is a serious matter and may be regarded as a contempt of parliament. Would oneExtract person like to make a short opening statement before we proceed to questions? Who is going to be the spokesperson? Miss Petrie—We would just like to start off by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people, who are the traditional custodians of this land. Members of the standing committee and Madam Chair: we are here before you today as young people who are, quite simply, passionate about giving Indigenous Australians a voice. Based on some personal experience and information that has been in the media regarding Indigenous health, life expectancy, education and housing, we have concluded that Aboriginal people do not have a voice and that this is impacting on their quality of life. This petition was a means by which we could humbly argue that reparation needs to be made; however, consultation with Indigenous Australians, the very people being affected by the actions, is pivotal. The fact that there is no mechanism in place by which the voice of Indigenous Australians can be heard concerns us at Avila College because we believe it implies a sense of superiority, a sense that we, the non-Indigenous community, know what is best for the Indigenous people. Our reconciliation group at Avila College, supported by all members of our school community who signed the petition, are deeply saddened when we hear of a teenage girl in a remote community dying of an entirely preventable heart attack, when we hear that Aboriginal people have a life expectancy 17 years less than our own, when we hear that Aboriginal students do not have the educational opportunities that we as students have. There is a cry from Indigenous Australia, a cry that demands and deserves to be heard, listened to and consulted with in the process of making right the wrongs that have been done to them since European settlement. It is our desire, in submitting this petition and standing before you today, to echo that cry and show our unwavering support for the most disadvantaged community in Australia, our first Australians, to be given a voice and so be empowered to bring about change in their communities. CHAIR—Thank you very much. Hazel or Alexandra, if do not want to add anything to that excellent opening statement, I will start off with a few questions before I hand over to other committee members. I was very interested to find that you have a reconciliation group at your college. I am just wondering if you could give us a little bit more detail as to its operation and how it was formed—a little bit of the background. I would also like to know how you gathered PETITIONS PET 38 REPS Thursday, 30 October 2008 all the signatures. I believe there are 479 signatures, and your petition was presented to the House of Representatives on 15 September. Tell us a little bit more about the group first. Miss Petrie—In 1997 a group of Avila students went to a forum at Siena College. They heard from, I think, Mick Dodson and were inspired to act towards justice. So they came back to Avila and thought, ‘We need to do something about problems and we want to start up a reconciliation group at Avila College.’ Ever since then we have been blessed enough to have some really supportive staff. I have been in the reconciliation group since year 7. Miss Titus—I recently joined the group. I joined Avila only at the beginning of this year, and it was a good way to meet people. Once I actually realised what was happening and the intention of the group I became really interested and became a permanent member of the group. In my previous school I had an experience of coming together in such a way to try to get a voice for the Aboriginal community, but I felt that Avila had a more efficient way of going about it. I think what Extractwe can do is really great. Miss Petrie—Basically, what we aim to do is to inform ourselves, because by no means are we experts regarding Indigenous issues, and educate our wider Avila community. CHAIR—That is wonderful. Miss Titus—Just referring to how we got the signatures, we had a casual day and advertised the petition in the bulletin so that the whole school knew about it. As part of that we had a cake stall. Every member of the reconciliation group baked some cookies or a cake and brought them along, and we held a small cake stall at lunchtime, with a gold coin donation. Along with that, we had some of our members standing with the petition. We told everyone what we were doing, our intentions and what we wanted to be done, and asked them if they agreed and would consent to signing it. A lot of people were really interested, and it was good to see such support. That is how we went about actually getting the signatures. CHAIR—I think you were saying that Pat Dodson crossed your path and that was the reason you became interested in forming the reconciliation group at the college. He has most probably touched your lives. Have you met anybody else within the Indigenous community, and have you gone out into the Indigenous community? Miss Petrie—We are very lucky. Our reconciliation group has a lot of special connections with members of the Indigenous community. In particular, since about 2005, we have had a tie with a remote Indigenous community about 80 kilometres from Alice Springs, Santa Teresa. We hope to keep it going. A group of year 10 students travel there and work for about a week within the school and the community. That is probably one of our key connections. They are a Catholic community, so we have very close ties with them. We also have had ties with Worawa College in Victoria and Joy Murphy Wandin, a Wurundjeri elder. We feel that our best resource is these members of the Indigenous community when they come in to talk to us. CHAIR—You were just stating that you have gone out into the Indigenous community, and I think you stated it was for a week. Can you tell us what happened over the five or seven days that you were there? PETITIONS Thursday, 30 October 2008 REPS PET 39 Miss Petrie—I think I am the only one of the three of us who has been. I went last year. The important thing is that it is about informing ourselves. There is only so much that a group of students can do when they are there for only a week, but we were lucky enough to be able to work with the kids in the classroom for a little bit. So I guess it gives the issue a more personal touch when you form friendships with some of the children, who are just beautiful. We also worked in the women’s health centre and were able sometimes to go round on the school bus in the morning as it collected the kids. CHAIR—You would have heard some wonderful stories, especially about their Dreamtime. Miss Petrie—It is a Catholic community run by a group of brothers. We were able to go out bush for a night with one of the brothers, so that was a great experience as well. CHAIR—That is lovely. Before I hand over to other members I want to go to your petition, where you said that Avila College draws ‘to the attention of the House our concern that IndigenousExtract Australians are not being given a voice’. How do you feel that Indigenous Australians should be given a voice? Miss Petrie—By no means are we offering a model, because we do not feel that we are in a position of expertise or can offer any new evidence, but suggesting some form of— CHAIR—You could be our future politicians, so please feel free to let us know. Miss Petrie—consultational body with which the government can converse so that the actions taken towards improving the quality of life for Indigenous Australians are in tune with the needs and wants of the community. Miss Titus—What we are trying to suggest is just a formal body that represents all structures of the Aboriginal community, with representation of women as well as the younger generation, because all Aboriginal communities are different. We think that maybe elders of different communities should come together so they would be more in tune with the needs and wants of their communities. CHAIR—What were your feelings when the group watched, as I am sure it would have, the televising of the Prime Minister’s apology to the Stolen Generation, which received bipartisan support? Miss Petrie—In the lead-up, prior to the petition, the whole school was gathering for a practice of our school mass, and we were able to show the school some highlights, because we thought it was very important, given our passion for reconciliation at Avila, if they had not seen it at home, to involve the whole community.