Mr PETER BESSELING (Port Macquarie) [5.25 p.m.]: I proudly support the Constitution Amendment (Recognition of Aboriginal People) Bill 2010. In doing so, I recognise those people who worked to bring the legislation before Parliament and the fact that Parliament, on behalf of the people of New South Wales, acknowledges and honours Aboriginal people as the State's first people and nations. In order to understand where we are going, we need to understand where we have come from. The term "reconciliation" has always confused me a little. To me, reconciliation suggests that at some stage in the past there was conciliation. From my perspective, we have never truly been "conciled". To me, conciliation suggests that we clearly understand Aboriginal people and their culture, and respect them. I believe this is a first and very important step towards conciliation. I applaud the efforts of the Minister, in particular, and of every member the Parliament to move towards that conciliation. I also look forward to a future when our society works together, with all the cultural advantages that that provides—both from an Aboriginal heritage perspective and from the perspective of all the other cultures that mix together in the great big melting pot called Australia.

I would like to pay tribute to a couple of people in my electorate who have done a great deal of work in promoting Aboriginal culture for everyone to appreciate. I note that there are some photographs hanging in the Jubilee Room that have not been attributed to a source. A great deal of information suggests that the photographs are part of the Thomas Dick collection. This collection of images was a collaborative effort by photographer Thomas Dick and a group of Birpai Aboriginal people during the period 1910 to 1920. These staged photographs show the same Aboriginal families performing traditional activities in the local landscape of the Port Macquarie-Hastings area. The work of Thomas Dick is at the forefront of our understanding of Aboriginal way of life and history. Thomas Dick worked very closely with the Birpai people to promote that understanding. It is a much-awarded collection, and I hope to work with the Minister and the Speaker to identify the photographs in the Jubilee Room and ensure that the House recognises the efforts of Thomas Dick and the Birpai people.

Another person I would like to mention is Uncle Bill O'Brien from the Port Macquarie area. For a start, Uncle Bill O'Brien is a fantastic bloke—which is always a bonus. He also shares a great deal of knowledge with the broader community through his Yun Yi Barragay: Walk with Me tour and his bush tucker tour of the Sea Acres reserve. Through these tours Uncle Bill O'Brien is able to share his knowledge not only with tourists and the general community but also with schoolchildren. In that way the broader community can capture and share the information about Aboriginal traditions that he carries in his head. He also does other tremendous work in the community. He was awarded the 2008 Citizen of the Year for the Port Macquarie-Hastings area. His welcome to country is the best, bar none. I challenge the member for Macquarie Fields, who read a welcome to country from his area, and suggest that Uncle Bill's welcome to country is right up there—and perhaps even better. With the consent of Uncle Bill, I will read it into Hansard. It states:

On behalf of the Birpai people, the custodians of this land, I would like to pay respect to the elders both past and present and extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the many different cultures gathered here today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is William O'Brien.

I am a descendent of the Birpai nation and have lived most of my life in the Hastings, like many of my Uncles, Aunties, Brothers and Sisters before me. We hope our feelings for this land is that of our ancestors, and hope you can understand the importance of what this land means to the Birpai people.

Firstly we ask you to look and protect! The beauty of the sea, with its blues and green, and the life that is in it, as it continues to provide a nutritional diet to our people. Then gaze upon the golden sands and the jagged headlands and the life that is there, the abundance of shellfish is another treat for us all to enjoy. Put your hand to your brow and you will see a river or two. A river is like our veins, they bring life to the land and all the many creatures that surround it.

There within the borders of the Birpai Nation is the green and gold, the red and the black that's in our beautiful hinterland. It has an abundance of wildlife, nuts and berries and the shelter it provides us.

Then there's the sky with its ever changing mood. The blue and the grey, the thunder, whiteness of the lightning bolts. In the mornings there are reds, orange and yellow! Now and then it may be painted mauve or pink. And if for some reason you happen to miss it, don't worry too much as it's repeated for you just before dusk. There are the ever changing clouds, sometimes none at all. What about the rainbow, such a sacred beautiful thing.

Yes we are the custodians of this great and beautiful land, handed down from our forefathers, so we seek the help of our Brothers and Sisters to maintain the trust of our ancestors and care for our culture and the land.

Yet when we get too old to run, it is then we will pass on our culture and the land to a younger mob.

So to the young make us proud, grow strong and get the best education you can. Listen to the Elders and their words of wisdom. It is because of their wisdom and sacrifices you now have a choice, and we hope your choice will always be a wise one, as this will ensure the future of the Birpai Nation.

Jum-Mada-Gai Murrumbu—Come, you're welcome. Thank you.

William O'Brien

That contains a lot of information for the benefit of all cultures. I firmly support the bill.
 

[Full Transcript]