THERE is only one thing that could prevent Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba man Jason Kelly from attending the third annual Mildura survival day event on January 26.
This year the First Peoples’ Assembly Member for the Northwest will be in Canberra for the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal tent embassy.
This site is a permanent protests’ occupation site first established in 1972, that continues the fight for Aboriginal Australians and their rights.
Mildura’s survival day will recreate this symbolic site.
Mr Kelly said both the event in Canberra and that in Mildura will allow him to stand in solidarity with “all our brothers and sisters of this continent”.
“A continent made up of over 250 different language groups and over 400 different nations,” he said.
Mr Kelly said it was great that, as a state, Victoria was leading the way with Treaty and truth-telling via the Yoo-rrook Truth and Justice Commission, itself chaired by Wergaia and Wamba Wamba elder Professor Eleanor Bourke, who grew up in this region.
“There are many things local councils in the Loddon Mallee can do now to be the leaders in reform for the rights of the first peoples of this region,” Mr Kelly said.
“Ensuring the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous peoples is embedded in local laws, close any gaps that exist between policy and practice with regard to the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework (VAAF).
“Or how about an easy one? Join the many other councils around Australia that refuse to celebrate Australia Day on this date – which has only been a national holiday since 1994.”
January 26 was officially declared a national day of mourning in 1938 in protest of the 150th anniversary of the British colonisation of Australia.
“We have protested this day ever since and we will continue to protest it until it is changed,” Mr Kelly said.
A large annual Invasion Day protest in Melbourne has been cancelled to protect the community during the height of the pandemic.
Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance are instead hosting an online Invasion Day Dawn Service with further information available at shorturl.at/ckGO3
