No trust while it's unequal
FOR Gooreng Gooreng man and long-time Gladstone resident Cedric Williams Reconciliation Week doesn't mean a great deal.
Mr Williams explains the problem lies in the name.
"The word 'reconciliation' suggests we want to go back to a time when things were good," he said.
"There is no such time when things were good or equal between indigenous people and everyone else."
Mr Williams suggests that "conciliation week" would be a more fitting name.
While Reconciliation Week is about building strong and trusting relationships between both groups, Mr Williams said it was not possible to move towards a trusting relationship while a level of inequality still existed.
Mr Williams said the most prominent example of inequality was the Northern Territory Intervention, including the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act.
"The inequalities run much deeper than housing, health, education and employment," he said.
"It goes right down to our rights to believe in our own spiritual culture and to have those beliefs recognised as legitimate, like other religions."
In regards to Reconciliation Week, Mr Williams said it was a positive thing for people to want to come to a shared understanding but he felt there was still a long way to go.
"Reconciliation shouldn't be just about making things even, it's got to go a lot further than that," he said.
Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week celebrates and builds on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians.
The dates of National Reconciliation Week are very significant.
May 27 marks the anniversary of the 1967 referendum when Australians voted to remove discriminatory clauses in the Australian Constitution. June 3 marks the historic Mabo decision in which the High Court recognised native title.
National Sorry Day takes place the day before National Reconciliation Week to remember and honour the Stolen Generations.
