This nation needs a Treaty. We can’t change the past, but we can build a better future and that starts with bringing people together.
Senator Lidia Thorpe, Michael Anderson, Michael Mansell, Dorinda Cox & Celeste Liddle yarn about truth telling and Treaty.
Recorded in August 2021. This video has been Auslan interpreted.
A Treaty is a truce, an agreement between sovereign bodies that acknowledges and repairs past and present injustices.
Treaty can be the means to tell the story of who we want to be as a country, creating a national identity that celebrates what unites us and protects the rights of First Nation’s people, our lands, waters, climate and addresses growing economic inequality.
We cannot change the past, but we can build a better future and that starts with bringing people together.
Find out more about our plans for Truth & Treaty »
Panellists:
Dorinda Cox
Dorinda Cox is a Yamatji Noongar woman, a mum to two daughters, an anti-domestic violence campaigner and former police officer. She has over 20 years’ experience working in government and non-government sectors at the local, state and national levels. Dorinda was the first First Nations woman from WA to enter the Senate.
Michael Mansell
Michael Mansell is a lawyer, activist and the author of Treaty and Statehood: Aboriginal self-determination.
He successfully campaigned for the repatriation of Aboriginal ancestral remains from Britain, Europe and the United States, recognition of Native Title, cultural fishing, hunting and land rights, as well as compensation for the Stolen Generations. Michael was previously the Legal Director of the Aboriginal Legal Service and is now Chairperson of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania.
Celeste Liddle
Celeste Liddle is an Arrernte woman, unionist, feminist and writer.
Having first risen to prominence via her personal blog, Rantings of an Aboriginal Feminist, Celeste has written opinion and commentary for many media publications and anthologies. Celeste is running in the next election for the seat of Cooper which has one of the highest proportions of First Nations peoples in Victoria.
Michael Anderson
Michael Anderson (Nyoongar Ghurradjong Murri Ghillar) is an Aboriginal rights activist, leader of the Euahlayi tribe of 3,000 people living in north-western New South Wales, and Native Title claimant to their traditional lands on their behalf.
Michael was a leader in the Australian Black Power movement and was appointed as the first Aboriginal ambassador to white Australia after establishing the Aboriginal Tent Embassy with three others outside the Australian parliament house building.