CONGRESS PEOPLES FORUM UPDATE

January 24 2012

Congress Peoples Forum: unity built our past, unity is our future

Speakers and audience members at the first day of the Congress Peoples Forum gave first hand recollections of the early days of the Tent Embassy, as well as different perspectives on the current state of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty and self-determination.

All stressed the need for working better and smarter together, including rejecting lateral violence and embracing unity as the basis of going forward.

Pat Eatock gave a first-hand account of the early days at the Embassy as well as reflecting on the Embassy in 2012.

Pat Eatock: “The embassy lives in front of old Parliament House but it has always lived on peoples’ minds, in our consciousness. Let’s make 2012 our Arab Spring; we have to claim our sovereignty.”

Les Malezer outlined the role of Congress, emphasising the importance of a national representative body in working towards self-determination.

Les Malezer: “We have to try and find a way to get national unity through a national representative structure. A national body is important to interface with government but any representative body must remain autonomous and out of the hands of government.”

Mick Gooda talked about responsibility around rights and the importance of informed consent.

Mick Gooda: “It’s important that we as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have good conversations around rights and responsibilities and discuss them in responsible ways. The answer is not attacking each other but having the safe space to talk. We’ve got to engage with everyone.”

Tomorrow, (Wednesday) Henry Reynolds, Barbara Shaw and Michael Anderson will continue the discussion.

Download the pdf of this update here.