Brisbane, 26 May 2024
Now More Than Ever is the theme of Reconciliation Week 2024.
A new paper published by Close the Gap Research and written by Joe Stella criticises the reconciliation process managed by Aboriginal leadership intent on Aboriginal nationalism—first nations, treaties, sovereignty, and self-determination.
‘Reconciliation is a process of building national unity. Aboriginal nationalism wrecks reconciliation.
‘How long can Reconciliation stagger on under the weight of its contradictor, Aboriginal nationalism?
‘During the Voice referendum campaign, Megan Davis, a leading ‘Yes’ campaigner, dismissed reconciliation as a ‘fad of the 1990s’, suggesting it was pressed into service to distract from Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s broken promise to negotiate a treaty with Aborigines.
Davis also revealed that ‘in the Uluru dialogues, our old people kept saying, unsolicited and organically, that reconciliation was the wrong process, that reconciliation was the wrong word.’
‘Reconciliation Australia’s Reconciliation Week theme, “Now More Than Ever”, reflects the organisation’s failure to consider the emphatic defeat of the Voice referendum last October.
‘Surely the defeat of what advocates called ‘an act of reconciliation’ demands an assessment of the continued viability of reconciliation.
‘The most significant act of reconciliation in Australian history remains the 1967 referendum.
Contact:
Gary Johns
Chair, Close the Gap Research
0438 290 852
Media Contacts:Name: Gary JohnsCompany: Close the Gap ResearchEmail: [email protected]Phone: 0438 290 852Share:FacebookPinLinkedInEmailTweet
