Living very close to The Block at Redfern and knowing that WRN meetings generally happen just across the road from our place, at the Redfern Community Centre I thought it would be a natural move to join WRN. I’ve had involvement with the Aboriginal people from 2002, our house being a kind of drop-in place for them, often for a cuppa, a meal, a yarn or some kind of help or a combination of these. The parishioners of St Vincent’s Church to which I belong has also had a very significant association with Aboriginal people since the time of Fr Ted Kennedy. I had also belonged to the Aboriginal Justice Support Group which was the last remaining arm of the former Action for World Development until it had to wind up.
At the moment I am fully committed to the hope raised by the Uluru Statement from the Heart for a Voice to Parliament protected within the Australian Constitution; my hope and belief is that if this were to happen many issues affecting Aboriginal people could be more adequately addressed and there would be a security that a legislated voice cannot provide. At the moment as I see it the biggest obstacle seems to be the reluctance of the current government to support such a Voice, but the support of the general public gives me hope.