Sheena Watt an Indigenous woman and MP for the Northern Metro hosted an uplifting event at the Philhellene Restaurant last night in support of a Voice to Parliament. The audience enjoyed our welcoming Greek hospitality, enjoyed music by a local Greek band and feasted on delicious nistismo food in honor of Greek Orthodox Holy Week.
Speaking to a jam packed audience, which included the the Member for Wills, Peter Khalil, along with many other community leaders, Sheena told the story of her family’s past with remarkable grace, reason and clarity. Her first hand account of living with the legacy of our shameful colonial practices left no one in doubt of why a positive referendum outcome is essential.
Our nation must heal in order to move forwards.
Sheena is part of the stolen generation. Sheena’s mother was taken away when she was a small child, simply because the Government of the day deemed her too white to remain with her family.
The trauma, hardship and disadvantage that flows from the removal of children continues for generations. The damage inflicted on family, culture, and language cannot be anything other than massively destructive. This intergenerational trauma does not go away and cannot be ignored. It must be healed or we risk being a divided nation at a cost to us all.
We are a poorer nation because of the assumptions that our knowledge and way of life are best for the traditional owners of this land. Sheena referred to the poor land management practices that have resulted in bushfires and devastation, while ignoring Indigenous knowledge and practices that could have contributed to better outcomes and perhaps avoided the costly environmental and human impacts.
“Aboriginal people want to be heard in a way that means they are truly listened to, in a way that can’t be taken away and that values our unique and special place in this nation”, stated Sheena.
She spoke to us from her heart and in doing so held our hearts gently in her hands, whilst offering a simple and powerful way to move forward, together and as a nation.
For too long the policies and practices have been harmful to our First Nations people and at the same time perversely, enormously expensive.
All that is being asked for in this referendum is for their silenced voices to be heard on matters which affect them.
Together we can help heal the trauma and give back dignity and respect to our First Nations people. In return we are being offered the gift of their culture and knowledge. As a proud Greek, I see this as an opportunity to advance our democracy, a once in a lifetime chance to change history and to leave a positive legacy for our future generations.
To that I say YES!
Helen Politis is a local community activist
