Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday I had the great fortune of attending Bare Island in our community to celebrate the first anniversary of the Black Markets. The Black Markets are an initiative of First Hand Solutions Aboriginal Corporation. They occur on the first Sunday in every month and raise money for Aboriginal community programs and youth at risk in our community. The setting for the Black Markets is the historic Bare Island. The markets include stalls, displays, cultural items and classes. Some of the classes include shell workshops, spear making, catch-and-cook programs, weaving for kids and history talks. The stall holders, many of whom are local Indigenous people, have a long connection with that very important land. The Timbery family, in particular, have been making and selling boomerangs in that area for over a hundred years and can date their family connection with that land back 7000 years. Other families include the Cann family and the famous snake man of La Perouse whose family are involved in some of the displays. Over the 12 months of the Black Markets, 18,000 people have visited the markets. Yesterday there was a smoking ceremony to mark the occasion. I congratulate Peter Cooley and Sarah Martin from First Hand Solutions for their wonderful work; the National Parks and Wildlife Service for making Bare Island available; and the wonderful volunteers who make the markets happen every month. Congratulations to the Black Markets.