National Reconciliation Week 2022 kicks off today.
The theme and powerful catch cry this year is “Be Brave. Make Change.”
And boy, did we Australians show that we’re ready last Saturday!
NRW is held over the same dates each year to commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the 27th May 1967 referendum and the Mabo decision on 3rd June 1992. Today marks the day in 1967 when, in the nation’s most successful referendum, Australians voted overwhelmingly for fundamental policy changes and recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, not least of which the right to vote, previously denied our First Nations Australians.
What better way to celebrate the 1967 referendum today than to reflect on last Saturday’s Federal election result?
The 21st May 2022 will surely go down in history as another turning point for Australia, with a record number of Aboriginal MP’s being voted in, an Aboriginal woman set to become Minister for Indigenous Australians for the very first time, and the first full commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart being announced by a Prime Minister elect.
The 2022 election victory speech has made Aboriginal people central to government policy and brings hope for our role in Australian democracy.
