5/6 Mainstream 

-Art work from the 2025 Yarning Conference

Yarning Conference:  - Esther’s Speech

Yoorrook Walk For Truth 

My name is Esther and I go to Thornbury Primary School. I would like to start by acknowledging the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nation and pay my respect to their elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded. This is, was, and always be Aboriginal land. This is also what I am going to talk to you about today.

 

The Yoorrook Walk for Truth took three weeks. All the way from Gunditjmara country to Wurundjeri Country. It carried stories from Aboriginal people. About the injustices they have experienced because of colonisation and racism. It also carried stories about belonging and thriving. It took a long time to gather all these stories to prepare for Treaty.

 

I went on the last two days of the Walk for Truth, on the 17th and 18th of June. The first day I walked from Footscray Park into the city to Camp Sovereignty with my mum and our friends, and hundreds of other people. I didn’t have to go to school because we decided this was more important.

 

The walk was 10 kms! It took all day. But that’s nothing compared to the 500km Commissioner Travis Lovett had walked. We walked across Wurundjeri country. Along rivers and creeks including the Maribyrnong River, Moonee Ponds creek, and the Birrarung. We went through parks and along streets. We walked under bridges and over bridges. We stopped at different places to learn why they are important to Aboriginal people. And listened to stories like about Uncle William Cooper and Uncle Simon Wonga. I felt sad hearing some of the stories because some were unfair and horrible. But these stories are the truth of this country.

 

At the end we sat on the grass at Camp Sovereignty and listened to Travis Lovett speak. As his words drifted through the air, we watched the sun set through the smoke of the fire. 

 

The next day I went back with my school to do the final part of the Walk for Truth - from Camp Sovereignty to Parliament House. There were so many people, but we were all there together. While we walked towards Parliament House, over three-thousand voices chanted together, "Walk for truth, now for Treaty”.

 

You knew, listening to the talks outside Parliament House that it was a historic day. I felt really glad to be there supporting the journey from truth-telling to treaty, but I know there is still so much more to do and learn. As Reuben Berg, co-chair of the First People’s Assembly said to us, “Today marks the end of the Walk for Truth, but it also marks a new beginning for Truth-telling in Victoria.” 

 

Treaty is a new beginning. Noon godgin. Thanks for listening