Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a real honour to be able to stand here today and make a very modest contribution. I want to acknowledge the words earlier of the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Minister for the Arts and the member for Melbourne and thank them for their heartfelt and insightful comments.

I wanted to have the opportunity to say thank you. I am so thrilled to have been able to live a life where someone like Uncle Jack Charles was able to be an influencer. That has different meanings for many today. He was truly one of the most remarkable storytellers this country has ever known. His story—which was so beautifully articulated by the member for Melbourne just now—of trauma and struggle and survival, and, importantly, his determination to ensure that the truth was known, was the most extraordinary and generous gift to all of us in this nation. The life that he led for so long was unimaginable. No child should experience the pain, trauma and abuse that he experienced as a child. And yet we know there are still shocking episodes in out-of-home care that continue to occur here in Australia, which should remind us all of our obligation to ensure it stops.

Uncle Jack had an amazing life journey full of courage and self-discovery that eventually led to an understanding of a whole other identity that he had been denied as a child. He was, without doubt, a very, very proud First Nations man. He spoke so openly about his addictions, his experiences with homelessness and crime, his convictions and his experiences with incarceration. He was always more than all of that adversity that he faced. He was profoundly shaped by his experiences and dedicated his life to his own truth. A few people have already commented that he felt he had been saved by the arts, and I totally understand what he meant. He wasn't a trained actor, but he graced our screens and our stage in a way that many actors who've spent most of their life at NIDA would have been envious of. He was such a strong advocate for Aboriginal people, establishing the first Indigenous theatre in Australia. What an extraordinary legacy. I just marvel in the generosity of this man. He was so giving of himself and he has left such a profound legacy for millions of Australians and those abroad to enjoy.

Uncle Jack channelled his own experiences through his career in the arts. He was our nation's most remarkable storyteller. He became a mentor to many and is fondly known as the grandfather of the Indigenous theatre. He defined an era of Aboriginal storytellers through his natural talent and passion for the theatre, and used his gift of storytelling to make change and blaze a trail for young Indigenous actors. He described himself as 'once a lost boy, now found'. That was his comment upon learning of his father's identity, just in the last year.

In 2009, uncle Jack was awarded the prestigious Tudawali Award, honouring his lifetime contribution to Indigenous media. He was the recipient of the Green Room Lifetime Achievement Award 2014, was named Victorian Senior Australian of the Year 2016, won the Ochre Award in 2019 and most recently was awarded NAIDOC Male Elder of the Year 2022. But no amount of awards or recognition could repay the generosity of Uncle Jack Charles. His deep voice and his cheeky and disarming humour are something that we are all left with as the most beautiful and remarkable gifts. He will live on in the hearts and the screens and the memories and the great recordings of his life journeys and the beautiful songs that he has sung over the years. And I couldn't agree more with the Minister for Indigenous Australians: if you haven't had an opportunity to watch both—we recently lost both Uncle Archie Roach and Uncle Jack Charles in such quick succession of each other, but their songs together are a gift for all of us to enjoy evermore.

A great man loved by many, an incredible sense of humour, cheekiness and graciousness, who will be admired for all time. Before his passing, Uncle Jack's family sent him off to country. There was a smoking ceremony at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and he will be honoured with a state funeral next month. May he, indeed, rest in power. He will be sorely missed by his community, by the entire Australian arts community, by everybody who was indeed touched by his life. He got to meet a lot of people living on those streets in Melbourne, of course, but he has impacted literally the lives of millions of Australians, many of whom he would never have met face-to-face. But that is his legacy, and for that I am, and Australia is, deeply indebted. Vale, Uncle Jack Charles.

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