Georgia

The British invaded this Country that First Peoples had lived for tens (maybe even hundreds) of thousands of years. They dispossessed First Peoples of their land and tried to destroy their culture and community, through acts of murder and removing children from their families. Their racist belief structures then built the government and policies that are still in existence today.

Not in the slightest. I was brought up in catholic education and have no memory of learning anything in primary school. In secondary school, I vaguely remember learning about First Peoples but it was in the context of Captain Cook, with him being the “hero” of the story. Note that I left secondary school in 2004. I would like to hope there has been significant change since then.

Overhaul of education of “Australian History” and for the syllabus to be written by First Peoples. YJC is making huge headway in documenting their true history but government should be funding First Peoples to discover and document their own histories prior to, and since colonisation. Government also needs to publicly support First Peoples when they are making decisions that impact First Peoples. They tend to make a decision is support of First Peoples (eg. closing rock climbing sites or water recreation sites to enable the protection of cultural heritage) but then leave First Peoples to deal with the backlash and abuse from racists of the community.

We need to listen and believe First Peoples when they tell their stories. We need to get comfortable with hearing uncomfortable things, and we need to be ok with unlearning things that have been ingrained in us that are actually just untrue and racist. We need to look in the mirror and understand that change within ourselves is a good thing. We also need to talk about it with family and friends and educate ourselves better. And lastly, we need to understand that First Peoples aren’t going to “take our houses” like so many people wrongly believe.

We need to listen and believe First Peoples when they tell their stories. We need to get comfortable with hearing uncomfortable things, and we need to be ok with unlearning things that have been ingrained in us that are actually just untrue and racist. We need to look in the mirror and understand that change within ourselves is a good thing. We also need to talk about it with family and friends and educate ourselves better. And lastly, we need to understand that First Peoples aren’t going to “take our houses” like so many people wrongly believe.