The Hon Quentin Bryce AD CVO
Thank you Of One Mind for giving us an opportunity to share the thoughts in our heads and the feelings in our hearts as the referendum approaches.
Image credit: Girls from Oz
For me personally, these discussions have evoked many precious memories of important and influential friendships that have enriched my life since my teaching days at the University of Queensland 40 years ago.
They are too many to mention all. But I remember in particular the wonderful Connie Bush, whom I met on the National Women’s Advisory Council (the first of its kind set up by Malcolm Fraser in 1978). I recall with love and affection the times spent in each others’ homes. Walking together on the beach at her place on Groote Eylandt, Connie told me about her experiences as one of the Stolen Generation. It was an afternoon that changed my life.
Working in Human Rights since that time introduced me to the art, beauty and magnificent landscapes of Central and Northern Australia, and to people and communities who have reached into deep emotions, to teach me about language, culture, ceremony, fishing –all the lovely things. So many women elders are very special friends – I treasure the bonds of Grandmotherhood and admire and respect their deep concerns for their little ones and their futures, and the fortitude, wisdom and perseverance they bring to making lives for their families, and in many cases, to advocacy and activism on their behalf.
Never for a moment do I underestimate the challenges, the discrimination, or the yearning for safety, security and a decent home which so many of these women speak of, and which bear witness to the levels of disadvantage that persist in modern Australia. Nor do I under underestimate the remarkable privilege it has been for me to share those conversations under the trees or on the sand at Lockhart River or by a water hole on Leopold Downs – I will always cherish those shared times and experiences, and their deep impact on my own life and thinking.
In my time as Governor General of Australia, I was immensely fortunate to meet and get to know Australians from all walks of life, and from all our amazing places. That experience developed in me a great belief in the decency of the Australian people, and great optimism about our future as a nation. I do believe that Australians, reading the invitation extended so generously in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk together with our First Nations people, will accept it wholeheartedly for what it is: a chance to address past failures, to have Parliament informed directly by Indigenous voices, and indeed, to make a better future for all Australians. There will never be a better time.