Deputy Principal

Reconciliation Assembly

This week I share my address to the College community:

I thank Marcus, Kyle and Kaleb for their Acknowledgment of Country and I also would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather, the Wangal Clan of the Darug people. I also acknowledge the Gammeraygal land, the land of our brothers from St Ignatius College, Riverview who are with us today as well.

In terms of an Acknowledgment of or Welcome to Country can I just say this - as I think some in the mainstream media like to misrepresent what it is all about. A Welcome to or Acknowledgement of Country is not about welcoming Australians to Australia. For our First Nations brothers and sisters it is about their connection to land which they and their ancestors have had for hundreds of thousands of years. It is not just about the land, it is their stories, their families’ stories that they welcome us to hear and share with them. That is what a Welcome to or an Acknowledgement of Country is about and for that we should be truly grateful. 

I would like to thank Mr Wallace, and Mr Taylor and the students from Riverview who danced today as well as our own student, Harvey, who danced with them. We stand in solidarity with our own First Nation’s students and their families whom we also welcome today. For those of you who do not know, I had a long association with Riverview as I worked there for 11 years before coming here and I have watched their First Nations program grow in spirit and love over the past 15 years. 

We are privileged that they have come here today to share their history and culture with us so proudly. I have been blessed to learn so much personally from Kaleb (Taylor) and Kyle (Wallace) over the years. I looked after Kyle as a boarder when he was in Year 9, a young man from country up at Woolgoolga near Coffs Harbour. And Kaleb has been the First Nations Coordinator at Riverview for over a decade.

Reconciliation is about learning from each other and moving forward together. I often think when I am just sitting in my backyard about Kaleb. Why you may ask? Because Kaleb taught me that there are many ways to reflect and be spiritual and I often listen to the quiet waiting for a sign. He taught me to listen to nature and be at one with the land. You see it is our First Nations peoples who have tendered to the land for hundreds of thousands of years. I remember texting Kaleb at the end of last term as I was sitting in my backyard and I saw a Black Cockatoo. I tried to get my camera out to take a photo, but it had flown away too quickly. It is not often you see a black cockatoo these days. My first thought when I saw it was its connection to Country and the cultural significance it holds for our First Nations people. Our First Nations people see the Black Cockatoo as a protector, something that ensured they were safe, that protected them. Ms Daley reminded me at the time, as I was about to get on a plane to Italy for the Italian tour, that it was a sign that I would be protected.

I appreciate Kyle sharing with us his story of his amazing Nana Margaret. A woman who epitomises resilience and fought hard for her family and she would be so proud of the young man Kyle is today. To hear that story which we must remember is not that long ago in our history makes us remember that we need to learn from our past so that it never happens again. 

Can you imagine not being treated as a human or having to send your kids out of the house to play so they were not taken away? Remember that our First Nations people were not counted in the census, were not allowed to vote, and our government in the years gone by tried to wipe them out by taking them away from their families. 

This week marked Sorry Day, and I will reference my brother Kaleb here. These are his words which he has allowed me to use as he says it better than I ever could.

“I understand there is some current conversations which ask things like ‘Why do we have to be sorry and I wasn’t there so I didn’t do anything” – this is totally not the point of the day – it is an opportunity for us to come together and spend some time with our First Nations communities as we remember events, policies and attitudes of the past and make sure that whatever we do in our lives that these policies, attitudes and events never, ever happen in this country ever again.” 

He says  “Sorry day is not a day to use the word sorry nor is it designed to make anyone feel a personal responsibility for the reasoning of having the day, it is a day where we spend time in ‘sorry business’ which is a term used by First Nations communities when someone passes away or something negative happens. It is a time for us to stand together with our First Nations communities in the spirit of healing as on that day we spend time to reflect on the negative events and policies in the past that took place in an attempt to essentially wipe out First Nations peoples, this is a day for us to represent our elders, whom some never got a chance to practice any aspects of their culture – that is why it is important for us to have this day – so that we can look at these events and ensure we commit to our Catholic mission in making sure no one is ever left behind ever again in this country and we all walk as one – especially, especially on the Gammeraygal country and here for us the Wangal Clan of the Darug people."

As you go into your Pastoral Care Lessons, remember it is about what we can learn and how we can walk together with our First Nations Brothers and Sisters to make sure the outcomes for all Australians are looked after. Now more than ever we must work together to ‘Bridge (the Gap from) Now to Next’.

Thank you.

Adrian Byrne

Deputy Principal