WEBVTT - Part 2: The truth has been told 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:05.960 This is the second episode in a two part series. 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:09.080 If you haven't yet, go back and listen to part one. 0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:12.600 It's called The Road to Europe. In this episode, we 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:15.480 find out what happened when the Europe Justice Commission started 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.639 taking evidence and what should happen now that the truth 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:27.520 has been told. Daniel, you've been documenting the Europe Justice Commission. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.200 Tell me more about who else we heard from. 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:33.199 Aw heard from people like Uncle Jim Berg, who has 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.000 been a seminal figure in the original community here. He 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:38.800 was the person that established the Curity Heritage Trust As 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:39.880 an example. 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:43.479 However, that is often wondered about my dad and his family. 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:48.159 None I ever known or soon I was total. He 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:51.199 was taken away from his mum and became part of 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:52.720 the Stolen generation. 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:58.080 People like Jill Galligher. She is someone that has come 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:01.560 from a very traumatized background and was able to articulate 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:03.120 her story beautifully. 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:09.600 These social determinants are the invisible shackles that constrain us 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:15.720 as Aboriginal people, impacting on our lives far more than 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:19.520 genetics or individual choices. 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:24.680 Ever, could we heard from other people like Aliam of Thorpe, 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:28.200 who is Senatorlia Thorpe's mother presented before the Commission. 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:31.720 You got a name because that your Aboriginal name was 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:32.759 run away. 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.320 You didn't know it, so I don't know. 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:40.440 I've still lost. She was an absolute stalwart and helping 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.679 to establish the community controlled sector down here in Victoria, 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.800 the retauring Aboriginal Legal Service and the return Abriaginal Health Service, 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:53.680 and hearing all these stories from all these elders before 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.720 they're gone is something that we just can't sort of 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:01.320 underestimate the power of that because having it down on 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:05.520 the official record as part of the true history of 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:09.280 this place from the people that experienced them themselves is 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.960 something that and I'm assuming a lot of other people 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.000 involved in the process will never take for granted. 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:20.160 So we've got these collective stories of abuse, particularly from 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.840 members of the Stolen Generation, as they are giving their evidence. 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:26.840 What do you think became clear about the way that 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:31.040 various systems in this country have the role that they've played. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.639 That's a very good question, because what became clear is 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:39.799 that not only were systems initially designed at the exclusion 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:45.680 of Aboriginal people. What became clear as Aboriginal people became 0:02:45.880 --> 0:02:49.079 more and more of a problem for the system and 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:55.080 for politicians and everyone else in between. Those systems actually 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:59.280 started to adapt to breed the Aboriginal community out into 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:03.440 the white community. So in the late nineteenth century, there 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.280 was this thing called, and it's a terrible term, called 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:11.160 the half Caste Act, which initially just prevented half casts 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:16.200 and quarter casts, all these terrible eugenic terms members of 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.480 the Aboriginal community from dealing with the full blooded members 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.000 of their community. So the idea was that you would 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:27.000 leave the full bloods on missions to die, and you 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.079 would keep the half casts and quarter casts and everyone 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:32.760 else in between away from them, so there couldn't be 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:37.360 any more sort of procreational or strengthening of Aboriginal blood 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.920 by Aboriginal people getting together. And the idea is that 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:45.200 eventually the half cast would fade away into the general 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.440 population over time, so we will just have a bunch 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:52.160 of people that wouldn't identify as being Aboriginal, but they 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:56.080 would tan up very well during summer. And Victoria is 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:59.640 full of those stories. Now, that is a specific act 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:05.040 that was specifically designed to do that. That is cultural genocide. 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:09.680 Every Aboriginal person lived under the purview of the Half 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.320 cast Act, and then informed the way things like the 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.960 criminal justice system and the child protection system, the health 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:21.039 system dealt with First peoples. These things were very, very real, 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:24.760 and these things were highlighted at a very granular level 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:28.000 throughout the workings of Europe and the. 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:32.320 Victorian Premier Sinator Alan. She became Australia's first sitting state 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.320 leader to testify to an Indigenous Ledge Truth Commission. Tell 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.240 me about her appearance, the questions that she faced. 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:41.880 Premier, the evidence that you were about to give, do 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:46.000 you undertake to provide truthful evidence to the europ Justice Commission? 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.120 I certainly do well. 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:50.560 It was quite extraordinary because it's the first time that 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:53.880 someone with that much authority has been called before Aboriginal 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:57.520 people to provide testimony, and it's the first time that 0:04:57.640 --> 0:05:01.600 Aboriginal people have been in the powerful One of the 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.400 extraordinary things from that day was that the premiers acknowledged 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:11.240 ignorance on some of the massacres and killings that had 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.000 happened in her part of the world. On jud j 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.960 our own country in Bendico, I have. 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:20.359 Learned much that I did not know in terms of 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:25.800 the true history of the dispossession, what the settlers, the 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:30.279 colonizers did when they came to Victoria. I did not 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.240 know of the massacres. I'm ashamed to say I did not. 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.599 I have learned about the size and scale of the 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:40.840 murders and the massacres. 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:45.200 She also said that she didn't learn about any of 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:47.159 this in school. She wouldn't have had a clue who 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:53.000 the traditional owners were. That moment really highlighted why we 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:57.320 needed a truth telling commission and why Europe was so important. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.080 The europe commiss I actually heard from two hundred and 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:06.760 twenty nine witnesses, eliciting sixteen government apologies from various ministers 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:11.000 and chiefs of various departments. One of the most notable 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.440 apologies was from the Victorian Police Commissioner. 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:20.400 The result of systemic racism, racist attitudes and discriminatory actions 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:29.640 of police have gone undetected, unchecked, unpunished or without appropriate sanctions, 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:34.880 and of course significant harm across generations of Aboriginal families. 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:38.919 It was something that wasn't called for, but it was 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:43.320 also something that really left the police force open to 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:48.640 criticism every time from thereon it acted in a way 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:53.000 that was seen as being prejudicial against Aboriginal people. 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.120 After the break, the truth has been told so what 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:06.720 comes next, Daniel. The final report from the Europe Commission 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:09.160 has now been handed to the government. Can you talk 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.040 me through what the Commission wants the government to do 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.360 with its findings, What the recommendations are. 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.600 They cover a whole bunch of different areas, things like 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.480 strengthening the treaty process to make sure that the lessons 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.840 of Europe are better than those processes, and obvious one 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:28.520 is a set of recommendations that go to the idea 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:33.640 of strengthening cultural competence and responsiveness. That's where the story 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:37.040 of Europe and the history and the reports that it 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.000 on earthed will hopefully find their way not only into 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.080 the curriculum, but also into some of these potential cultural 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.160 competence frameworks that may be established as a result of that. 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:51.960 Linking so much of what we do here in Victoria 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:56.040 back to human rights and basic human rights, including aboriginal 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.520 cultural rights. There are a set of recommendations that go 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:03.600 to that and ongoing truth telling as we move forward. 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:07.040 That's something that the First People's Assembly of Victoria has 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:09.640 been calling for and there's something that the eurok Justice 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:13.240 Commission has been very cognizant of as it's been moving forward. 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.520 Oversight of the trial protection system's early prevention and intervention 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:21.760 when it comes to child removal. When original children are 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.840 removed from home, if they go to a non Aboriginal setting, 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:28.680 that they have an opportunity to reunify with their Aboriginal 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:30.680 heritage and with their Aboriginal culture. 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.079 And you've spoken about the personal stories the Commission heard 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.600 and about the systemic failures of governments. So how did 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:41.880 you address the issue of reparations. 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.719 We know because it was presented before the Commission that 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:47.800 there was two hundred and eighty seven billion dollars worth 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.599 of gold extracted in Victoria since eighteen fifty one, and 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.080 of that money, none of it has been seen by 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.240 Indigenous people. There has been eighty three billion dollars in 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:02.439 revenue generated from water rivers and the damming of those rivers, 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.839 one point eight billion generated from friestry and grazing licenses 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:11.400 in the last thirteen years alone. So what the government 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:13.800 decides to do with that is yet to be seen. 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.400 Let's just hope that it isn't another case of another 0:09:17.679 --> 0:09:22.200 rural commission that has provided a lot of thorough and 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:26.440 meaningful recommendations that aren't acted upon by the government. Receives 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.200 them all the successive governments that still haven't acted on them. 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.400 And of course I'm thinking of the Rural Commission that 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.080 through Aboriginal dests and custody as a prime example of that. 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.360 Yeah, the issue of trust is so key here. As 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.960 you say, there have been so many reports, inquiries and 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.880 yet nothing changes. So what sense do you get of 0:09:44.920 --> 0:09:49.200 the willingness of those in power to take accountability, to 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:53.880 make meaningful change, to accept and adopt what the Commission 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:55.280 is telling them. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.360 I think we're in a unique situation because we have 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.520 a Victorian government. There's been in power for a long 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.360 time now, but it is a government that took the 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:08.040 advice of Aboriginal people to instigate the treaty process, took 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.520 the advice of the First People's Assembly of Victoria to 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.839 instigate the truth telling process in Europe. You would think 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:18.720 they would be more open to receiving the recommendations from 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.959 the Commission than potentially any other government in the history 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.960 of Australia. They're certainly making the right noises, they have 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.600 been supportive of the Commission. But the one great thing 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:34.320 that we have to our advantage at this point that 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.280 has never happened anywhere else in this country is that 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.400 we have the First People's Assembly of Victoria there as 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.760 a separate, powerful entity that will be able to hold 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.200 government to account in real time. So many of the 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:51.920 recommendations and reports that have befallen here in Victoria and 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.760 around the country have fallen by the wayside because there 0:10:54.760 --> 0:11:00.160 hasn't been any sort of apparatus for governments and departments 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.760 systems to be how to account in real time. And 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.080 here in Victoria we have that through the First People's 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:10.920 Assembly of Victoria. One of the things I'm always mindful of, 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.600 and I'm not sure how much other people have been 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:17.480 thinking about it, but post the disastrous result of the 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:23.520 voice and the political capital that many in our political 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.880 class have been trying to obtain from that defeat, it's 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:31.520 unlikely in my view that we'll ever see anything like 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.240 this in this country again. Something that has given the 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:40.880 powers that Uruk has had the Prime Minister post the 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:44.080 defeat of the referendum, has seemingly walked away from any 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:47.839 notion of a truth telling process. We've seen truth telling 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:52.400 processes kiboshed in Queensland. We're in a much more thwart 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:57.400 political environment now that makes what's happened at Uruk and 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.400 the people that presented to Yuruk and the work the 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:04.559 commissioners have done even more powerful because it is unlikely 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.000 that we'll ever see anything like this in this country. Again. 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.520 Well, Daniel, thank you so much for your time. 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:12.440 Always good space you Ruby. 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:24.040 Also in the news today, Victorian health authorities have recommended 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.040 twelve hundred children linked to a childcare worker charged with 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:31.760 sexual abuse get tested for infectious diseases. Victorian Premier descent 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:34.960 To Allen has called the case shocking and distressing, after 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.439 the twenty six year old man was charged with seventy 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.120 child abuse offences while working at twenty different childcare centers 0:12:41.120 --> 0:12:45.079 between twenty seventeen and twenty twenty five. Police say the 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.760 alleged victims will all aged between five months and two 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:53.160 years of age, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnyahoo is 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.680 set to meet with US President Donald Trump next week 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.920 in Washington of amounting pressure to broker a new ceasefire 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.480 agreement in Gaza. The news comes as Israel ramps up 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.880 its bombing of Gaza with air strikes killing sixty Palestinians, 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:09.199 including twenty two women, children and a journalist. Hiding in 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.439 a cafe. Over the weekend, the US President took to 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.280 social media to call on Yahoo to quote make the 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:19.160 deal in Gaza. I'm Ruby Jones is seven am. Thanks 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:28.400 for listening.