At present, there is very little collaboration between 'mainstream' and Indigenous organisations. Attempts to bring the two together have mostly been 'tokenistic' and it is hard to know how to improve on that. The benefits of finding ways to do it better include mutual education and the discovery of better overall ways of doing things. I would like to conclude by saying a few words about what reconciliation requires of each of us personally. Many of these thoughts come directly from that inspiring human being, the Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Dodson.
Reconciliation requires both time and heartfelt commitment.
It requires recognition and acknowledgment of the deep grief and loss experienced by Australia's Indigenous peoples. It requires an honest acceptance of the facts of our shared history. It requires outspoken and absolute rejection of the irrational, blind prejudice behind the ideas being promoted by the Pauline Hansens of our country. Reconciliation requires understanding that remembrance is something which is necessary and valuable to all peoples. Whether it be the holocaust or Anzac Day or the Indigenous struggle, we know that there is great value to us all in remembrance, in reflection, in recognising the facts and the lessons of history and in understanding what has contributed to the environment in which we now find ourselves.