Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As we heard in the fantastic contributions of the members who spoke before me, next year will be the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook's landing at Botany Bay, in the electorate of my friend the member for Kingsford Smith. It was Captain Cook's first voyage of scientific investigation to the South Pacific, and his mission was to seek evidence of the prophesied Terra Australis, or South Land.

During his voyage, Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia and made several landings, most notably at Botany Bay on 29 April 1770. During these landings, a number of Aboriginal artefacts and cultural heritage materials were taken from First Australians and taken back to Great Britain, where they were archived in universities and displayed in museums. Many of these cultural heritage materials have since been moved and are now on display or housed in museums and colleges not just in the UK but around the world. The arrival of Captain Cook in 1770 marked the start of a process of removal of First Australian cultural heritage from Australia. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, AIATSIS, through its Return of Cultural Heritage project, has been working to return material held overseas to its original custodians and owners.

The repatriation of ancestral remains is of great significance to First Australians and many other indigenous peoples worldwide. Repatriation is an extraordinary achievement and has garnered a better relationship between First Australians, museums and universities. Its importance is enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Repatriation has revealed deep histories and stories, and it creates opportunities for understanding cross-cultural relations, reconciliation approaches and the work of First Australian organisations to achieve their aspirations.

Currently, over 32,000 sacred First Australian objects and ceremonial items held by British institutions have been identified by AIATSIS for return to communities. It's a lot! AIATSIS has identified more than 100,000 items in 220 institutions around the world, most of which were gathering dust in the basements of museums in the US, the UK and parts of Europe. We must recognise the historical, cultural and heritage significance of such items to First Australians and Australian history. Such cultural items, where possible, should be returned to the original custodians and owners.

In 2011, Ned David travelled 13,000 kilometres from his home in the Torres Strait to the Natural History Museum in London. He was on a mission to collect the bones of his ancestors that were collected as scientific specimens from the Torres Strait Islands by Europeans in the 19th century. Recently, sacred Indigenous artefacts have been returned to the Arrernte elders of central Australia after over 100 years in the United States. Arrernte elders spent years working for the return of these objects, which recently arrived in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory from the Manchester Museum in the UK and from the Illinois State Museum in the USA, amongst others.

These cultural materials play an important role in truth-telling about British settlement in Australia. This repatriation provides ongoing educational opportunities for all Australians about important First Australians history, culture and connection to country. I call on the federal government to expand work with First Australian people and communities, with AIATSIS and with foreign governments and authorities to establish an ongoing process for the return of relevant cultural and historical artefacts to the original custodians and owners.

I acknowledge the things that the federal government are doing, but additionally the federal government should identify educational opportunities from the return of these important First Australian cultural items to continue the understanding and recognition in our land. To quote my friend and fellow Territorian, Ted Egan, the return of these items must be done in a sensitive and research based approach that has at its heart mutual recognition and respect for our First Australians.

See this speech in context