Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I never had the honour of meeting Archie Roach—musician, storyteller and a voice for Indigenous people. However, Archie Roach grew up and spent a significant part of his young life in Casey, and today I want to pay tribute to Archie, and share more of his story in Casey.

Archie Roach was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2020 after 30 years on the Australian music scene. He had a profound impact on our country that goes well beyond the power of his music. As a member of the stolen generations, Roach put his deeply personal stories to music, and became an advocate for Indigenous Australians—giving a voice to others who had experienced the same pain of being removed from family and country.

The Gunditjmara-Bundjalung senior elder was born in Mooroopna, near Shepparton in Victoria, but was removed from his family when he was three. He experienced several years of unstable foster conditions until being settled with his foster parents, Alex and Dulcie Cox, a family of Scottish immigrants living in Mount Evelyn and later in Mooroolbark in my electorate of Casey. His foster sister, Mary Cox, would sing church hymns and taught Archie guitar and piano Archie's love of music was inspired by Alex's collection of Scottish music. Archie once said about his foster father:

He was a big influence on me—a good influence. I'll love him to the day I die.

In an interview with our local paper, the Star Mail, last May in the lead-up to the tour for his memoir, Tell Me Why, Roach spoke of his early years growing up in Casey. He spent holidays in his foster family's shack in the gum forests of Mount Evelyn, a beautiful and inspiring place. He later lived in Mooroolbark and attended Lilydale High School, a place of which he had fond memories. He said that he had great friends at Lilydale High, friends he really cared about. I like to think about him finding joy in the same place I spent many happy times in childhood. The environment is beautiful, as are the people.

In 1970, while in class at Lilydale High, Roach received a letter from his sister, Myrtle, informing him that his biological mother, Nellie, had died. It was this letter that sent him on a journey to find the truth about his origins and life as an Aboriginal man, leading to some of his most poignant and well-known songs, such as 'Took the Children Away'. Archie Roach will be remembered for his unwavering desire to share the stories of Aboriginal people, his iconic voice, and his musical capabilities. Roach was meant to perform in Healesville this weekend. His music will live on in the many communities he made better, including ours in Casey. I would like to share, as everyone has, my condolences to his family and friends—in particular his sons, Amos and Eban.

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