Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Standing here on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people as a representative of an electorate that is part of the land of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, I am glad that today marks the beginning of NAIDOC Week, and I pay my respects to the elders past and present of all First Nations people of Australia and the current and emerging First Nations leaders, especially in my community.

I love the power and the clarity of the theme of this year's NAIDOC Week, 'Always was, Always will be'. In the words of The Little Red Yellow Black Bookwhich I recommend to everyone—'NAIDOC Week is about every Australian celebrating the First Australians, the oldest surviving cultures in the world.' In my community, in Walyalup and Beeliar—or Fremantle and Cockburn—the week will feature a range of events, including a Noongar language singing workshop, the Noongar Olympics and author event featuring Stephen Kinnane, whose award-winning book Shadow Lines is the story of his maternal grandparents, Miriuwung woman Jessie Argyle and Englishman Edward Smith.

In addition to celebration, this week is an opportunity to focus on how much further we can go and how much further we should and we must go, walking together on the path of reconciliation and respect, the path to full and equal social and economic inclusion in the life of this country for First Nations people. That's why Labor continues to honour the process that occurred in 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its commitment to achieving voice, treaty and truth.