Transcript for:
Launch of Institute for First Nations Women

Yaba Yama Garda yada bar Yu giloy Dinan malan gir biri Duren Bandy D na yala wi nayi n nambi w Daga nalu W Nal buo Gaga good evening everyone I'm Lissa Barren and with aie Matilda's blessing to speak my language on her country in my uai language I paid respects to the null all and N peoples whose lands We Gather on for this very special occasion I'm your MC this evening and it's my privilege to take you through events tonight so thank you all for joining us here in person and online for this historic and exciting event the launch of the first ever Institute for First Nations women and girls and the we Yani EU change agenda for First Nations change agenda for First Nations gender justice the first national framework to set out our first nation's women's goals and aspirations for change determined by us I'd like of course to acknowledge uh the woman of the hour or the two hours uh our Abri and Islander social justice commissioner June Oscar AO former prime minister The Honorable Julia Gillard AC The Honorable uh Linda Bernie and Anu President and Vice Chancellor Genevie B AO who we will be hearing from later this evening as well as the women who've traveled all the way from roburn Western Australia to provide us with an artistic sharing of puni ARA tonight I welcome and acknowledge all First Nations women including all CIS transgender women sister girls and non-binary MOB who have made the we Yani youung project what it is this work is grounded in your voices and the Wei euan Institute and change agenda for First Nations gender justice is for all of you lastly I welcome and acknowledge the many wonderful men and non-indigenous supporters and collaborators in the room and online who too have made tonight possible but to start our night I'd like to acknowledge and invite Dr Auntie Matilda house to the stage to welcome us to her country many of you will have had the opportunity to know aune Matilda because of her enormous work in the local community uh so um I thank you um aie Matilda for being here and if we can um extend a uh a welcome to her and invite her onto the [Applause] stage [Applause] some I'm always directing the traffic around here haven't changed but hey I want to say what a wonderful wonderful day to be here evening to be with so many firsts the first woman ever to be prime minister Julia Gillard the first woman to be a social justice our beautiful woman there and to all of those ladies who have been first first first she all are first in my book I'm also a first I was the first ever to do a welcome for the 42nd sitting of Parliament House was Kevin rud with his um sorry so there you go you can clap go on I'm wearing my beautiful possum tonight the possums never suffered e they all come from New Zealand but you know I love them and I still keeping the culture alive so all the young ones and the others boys and girls please keep culture alive because this is what it's all about tonight to share right through our communities our culture our well-being and I want to say to June Oscar the first the wonderful things that I've known and how she has bought things into my life and another lady a first ever to be at the B Center Dr Anne Martin where are you Anne give her a clap come on come on don't be too frightened to uh to bless our people who have been there and for Lissa to be here today watched her grow up running around but look what she is today so Lissa You're great and to all our aunties that are here tonight look at them you you drew a big crowd there Jun Oscar you did wonderful young women and women of all places who have come here for this tonight to cherish and to be here to be heard for the wonderful things that'll be up here tonight on this stage you know we we we walk a lot and we think that nobody notices how we travel my wonderful wonderful great great grandmother her name was Wong you know Wen Bean a lady that taught taught my grandmother and that goes back so long of how women have been and looking after camps I grew up on a little Aboriginal Mission would you believe it was called Hollywood not far from here dead opposite Cemetery loved it I knew all the priests NS that died I can say their names just like that but it was a sad time growing up on an Aboriginal reserves which I grew off on two so I was pretty lucky to have a wonderful mother aunties and grandparents grandmothers and aunties and my beautiful sisters that stood by me had my back I'll let you go now to enjoy this beautiful evening with you June look after everything for me because I might just go home I'm getting tired I never met so many jankies in my life today Fair income I never seen so many jankies they were going like that you know and I can't believe it and I watched every one of them grow up too so it's lovely to have families still around us enjoy this evening and welcome to the beautiful land of my ancestors a wonderful nry people I'm a really proud nry woman of to the wri nation wonderful in Jamara as we say as my boy Stan says in Jamara and Paul my other son have a great evening there lady I love you all thank you for giving me this [Applause] opportunity thank you so much Dr Auntie Matilda um and the way that you um have looked diverse as we've grown up so many of us in the community is really a testament to the sort of women's leadership that we're celebrating tonight we deeply appreciate your welcome to country and the generosity with which you share your wisdom and your land the Wei youung Institute and change agenda are the culmination of conversations advocacy research and work with thousands of First Nations women and stakeholders including governments not for profit and private organizations since 2017 these conversations told us that First Nations women and girls want to see a genuine mechanism for our representation that legitimizes our divers and affirms our identities The Institute which we are here to launch tonight is a direct result of these conversations and has evolved from a key recommendation of the we Yani yungan securing our rights securing our future report in 2020 tonight we celebrate our own Institute with a commitment to elevating our voices for National and Global reach and impact sitting alongside the instit Institute will be our change agenda visually represented here as a grandmother tree alive and nourishing and nourished by our knowledge systems cultural practices and protocols the change agenda is the measurement evaluation and learning framework that sets out the guiding Vision vision for gender justice and equality and the outcomes for achieving this Vision it is written as a black Print for Trans transformation and is grounded in our voice First Nations women girls and gender diverse mob from across the continent it also determines the focus and course of action for The Institute the change agenda will predominantly live as an online Dynamic document evolving as our needs and aspirations do but luckily there are physical copies available tonight and as I hope you have all seen around the for for you on the banners posters and stickers and cards there are QR codes the QR code is your gateway to accessing the change agenda so I encourage you all to get your phones out and scan those codes and grab the stickers and posters and plaster them around your homes workplaces and communities so that everyone can access it own it and be a part of this movement for change the Institute although working in partnership with our women and communities will have its physical home here on Nal and nambur Country at the Australian National University A fitting space to influence National decision making and Elevate our women's voices lastly before I hand over to our first speakers I'd like to thank all the launch and Institute Partners special thanks to a&u for supporting The Institute and in particular Professor Peter U vice president for First Nations and all his staff at the First Nations portfolio as well as Professor Michelle Ryan director of the global Institute for Women's leadership and her colleague Miss Natalie bar who have worked with the social justice team at the Australian Human Rights Commission to bring the Institute into being a big thank you to the National indigenous Australians agency who have been long-term Partners in this work thanks to the Paul Ramsey foundation for your contributions to the change agenda Oxfam Australia who have supported so many women to attend tonight BHP corporate for for their generous donation to The Institute and to big heart and Kara for gifting such an incredible performance to tonight's launch and lastly a big thank you to The Advisory Group who've overseen this stage of the work and given their wisdom and expertise to the development of the change agenda on behalf of theu I'd like to now welcome The Honorable Miss Julie Bishop Chancellor of the Australian National University who unfortunately could not join us in person person tonight but has kindly prepared a video uh to share with us and following her video message I invite Professor Genevie Bell Vice Chancellor and president of the Australian National University to share her opening remarks for this evening good evening I'm sorry I cannot join you this evening but I'm recording this ATU on the lands of the nry N War people and wherever you are please join me in paying respects to Elders past and present my thanks to a&u honory Professor Jun Oscar for opening this officious event with me this evening we're establishing this institute because First Nations women and girls have been underrepresented in decision-making spaces for far too long in the wake of the voice to Parliament referendum it is urgent that we listen to First nation's women and work with them to address inequalities and help design the path towards a better brighter and more inclusive future as the first and only University established by the federal government a&u has a mandate and a responsibility to influence policy on key issues supporting the development of national unity and identity addressing inequality and contributing to social cohesion has always been an important part of our mission the ween dangu Institute will play a vital role in achieving these goals not only is the Institute a dedicated ated space for First Nations women and girls and the gender diverse but it is also a continuation of the longest running First Nations women and girls project ever undertaken in Australia for more than 7 years thousands of women shared their voices of as part of the weu dangu project creating a remarkable movement of First Nations gender justice and equality The Institute will ensure that this movement continues to grow and gain momentum putting Australia at the Forefront of developing the level of First Nations Le research policy and practice needed to achieve First Nations gender equality The Institute will also work closely with indigenous and non-indigenous collaborators across the university including our seven academic colleges the First Nations portfolio the global Institute for Women's leadership the gender Institute and the center for Aboriginal economic policy and research SE Arch ouru Community is committed to listening and elevating the expertise of First Nations women women who have the lived experience knowledge and ideas to drive transformative agendas and create inclusive and sustainable systems that benefit us all the establishment of this institute is an important step in Australia's journey to being a just and Equitable Nation thank you to everyone who has made this institution possible and I wish you all the very best for tonight's [Applause] launch it's bad to miss your queue fortunately the chancellor is not here to chastise me I'm incredibly excited to join my voice in all of the voices that have welcomed you here tonight I want to acknowledge where we're meeting today on the lands of the N and NY people and pay my respects to Elders past and present of this place I want to acknowledge all the other First Nations people in this room and who are joining us remotely there's something extraordinary for me about being back in Australia after 30 years living overseas and getting to call the names of the places I am I realized in the 30 years I lived in America I didn't call the names of the Len Lenape or the mash and Tucket Pat or the alanin or the iroy or the asab or the Shashi banok or the Alan and I think of all the places where that silence is something quite extraordinary and what it means to be in a place where I get to say and acknowledge the names of the places we find ourselves is for me an extraordinary part of what it means to be here and what we're responsible for late last year before I became vice Chancellor one of the extraordinary students in the school I was directing was finishing her first part of a PhD which is when you stand in front of a community of Scholars and talk about what you're going to do and she acknowledged where she was and at the end she said I think we're in a moment of time when it's not enough to acknowledge anymore we need to commit we have to commit with our work and our intellect and our whole person to a world that is different than the place we find ourselves in and for her that was a commitment around social justice and equality and the Very issues this institute is dedicated to and I think she and I are incredibly pleased and proud that we get to have this moment together in this place the chancellor talked a little bit about the Australian National University and I want to add my own voice in thinking about why this is a good place for this to happen the Australian National University is young young for this country young for University in this place it was born in the immediate aftermath of World War II by a collection of men who believe the world should be different than the place they found themselves they thought that this University should do one thing and one thing only they believe that it more than any other place in Australia was responsible for generating knowledge with which to build and rebuild the world wisely nugget kums who would go on to be the chancellor of this University much later declared that he hoped this place would be the PowerHouse of social reconstruction and when I think about that phrase and I think about this institute I think there can't be a more perfect combination because if we are really going to construct and reconstruct Society we need to do that firmly aware of where we start firmly aware of who should be in the room and and firmly aware that the society we are building needs to be profoundly different than the one in which we currently find ourselves and so the PowerHouse of social reconstruction designed to create the knowledge with which to build wisely feels like the perfect place to be home for this institute and its whole agenda and I'm so very pleased that this gets to happen now I also know however that it's never enough to say those things you have to write them down so I'm glad there's a report because they're hard to get away from and then you have to record it in the history books and so we've had photographers all day long we've had lots of people talking uh and I did something really sneaky so when I became vice Chancellor in January I cleaned my office that wasn't the sneaky bit uh and in the cleaning many things were Unearthed and one of my lovely colleagues who I know is somewhere in the room today realized that I was interested in old things and he produced out of a draw this book which reads the Australian National University visitors book and I think when we first got it we thought we should probably put it in the archive along with all the other old things we had found but when I opened this book I discovered that it had been signed by the people who visited this University it had been signed by Crown princes and princesses by visiting presidents of foreign universities by dignitaries and by a collection of Australian Prime Ministers menies whitlam Malcolm Fraser Bob Hawk Hawk was the last person to sign it in March of 1984 40 years ago and then the book went into a cupboard and it came out this January and so I have committed myself to turning up like a stalker and asking people to sign my book a bit like being 12 again will you give me your autograph of course the virtue of being the vice Chancellor of the Australian National universities you can get some excellent autographs so in the last two months that has included the prime minister of Pala new guine the prime minister of Malaysia the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the President of peing University I was feeling pretty smug and then I thought about today and I looked back in this book and I realized that the only women that are in this book signed it as someone's wife the Crown Princess the wife of Sir zelman Cohen the wife of s nin and Stevens and I thought to myself it's 2024 I think I can do better than that and so I fronted June and Julia I will you sign my book and it makes me happy to know that 40 years from now someone will find this book and discover on a page in March 2024 that two women signed this book as their own human beings not wives to anyone emancipated and whole and that they signed with their names in their pen and there is something for me about that that feels right and appropriate and as I said to June well that feels right and appropriate it feels also kind of extraordinary to me that it's 2024 and I have the first woman of a First Nation to sign this book to be really clear it won't be the last so I want to say thank you to all of you for being here because I know what it takes to bring something into existence is never a single person it's always a collection of people and that whenever we do things Brave and hard and important we need friends and family and sisters and aunties and Granny's and all the people who hold us and care for us and feed us and occasionally nag us and remind us to call our kids and eat and get aie Matilda home all of those things matter and we never do these things alone and so I can't think of a more perfect way to launch this institute then with a room full of people who care about each other who care about June and who care about this topic so thank you so very much for being here and thank you for doing this with [Applause] us well thank you to Julie Bishop and to Vice Chancellor Professor Bell as mentioned earlier and many of you um here have been a part of the journey the wani youung project has been a colossal seven-year uh Endeavor it's started as a national consultation process with over 2,000 women and girls from across the continent resulting in the landmark wean ungani report and progressed to amplify the reports findings advocating for implementation through a first nation's gender justice systems change lens in May last year commissioner Oscar and the team hosted the first ever National Summit for First Nations women and girls held just down the road at the National Convention Center over 4 days the summit brought together 900 women and stakeholders to advocate for our rights and lives and endorse the next steps for the project the reason why we're all here now we'll share that short video um to reflect back on this incredible journey and then when that's finished I would like to invite The Honorable Linda Bernie Minister for indigenous Australians to the stage to share a few words thank [Applause] [Music] [Music] you I'm Jan Oscar I'm the abigal and social justice commissioner and I'm the first abigal woman to come to this role in 30 [Music] years as the first aigal one to be appointed to the role of the social justice commissioner I am acutely aware of the need to protect upold and realize the rights of our aish and to Owned peoples women are the ones that keep families together and so therefore it's critical that we support women in their roles as nurturers as providers and it is women that encourage and continue to mentor and give confidence so that young women grow to become confident women in their roles into the future I firmly believe that the strongest voice the voice that provides us with Solutions and the best possible pathway forward is the voice of lived experience that is why in 2017 the first thing I did as the social justice commissioner was to launch the we Yani project meaning women's voices in my language Baba thank you chair distinguished guests I am Australia's Aboriginal and toy red Islander social justice commissioner since February this year I've been traveling across Australia to hear directly from indigenous women and girls about their strengths challenges and aspirations for change this project is called we y which means women's voices in my vulnerable language wean is a women's project that is happening now I am so privileged and I'm very very grateful to have the opportunity to be the ambassador for this project I am very excited about being part of this project and I'm grateful to have been invited to be an ambassador because I have long felt that uh women coming together uh forming collaborations and networks is an unre recognized resource because when we do come together collectively we bring Vision compassion and logic I believe that the conversations that are planned for Aboriginal and tus State Islander women nationally will seat new strategic directions and actions that will impact on Australia for many years to come one of the important and key areas that we needed to also include in this engagement were the voices of women in the taist streets with education comes knowledge with knowledge comes power power to speak and be heard cuz sometimes we can speak but we're not being heard so it's good that you learn to do that maintain your culture know who you are in that maram structure your place there but at the same time show my daughters show my nieces that we're more than just our mothers uh we can do much more than that the women I meet are strong and resilient they tell me that they want to have a say in decisions that affect their lives but they also tell me that their voices are still not being heard about their ideas for Solutions one of the pillars of the candidacy of Australia for the Human Rights Council was to advance the human rights of indigenous peoples I encourage the Australian government to show leadership committing to the implementation of the UN Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples in Australia and supporting constitutional reform which delivers on the aspirations of our people for self-determination and freedom from discrimination my great hope for this project is that when all the voices that are shared around this nation are brought together and presented to government that they are finally heard so that we can actually have a future that doesn't NE look like what we've done the last couple of decades where the voices were ignored so welcome everyone to the launch of the landmark report we Yani women's voices securing our rights securing our future 2020 report I believe it is this report armed with the voices of our women and girls that has to be an Unstoppable Force we y set it out clearly we resolve issues of disconnection by reconnecting by seeing the world in its fullness again and not divided into fragmented parts so my message to First Nations women and girls everywhere and carried throughout this report is aim high be ambitious and know that your actions don't just matter they are pivotal in making the World of Tomorrow the world we want absolutely deserve and have a right to [Music] [Music] I'm excited to see all of these women who um will share in this space for the next week and to uh reconnect with so many of the women I met with during the consultations to bring everyone together and a shared space hear about the work that women are doing on the ground and the incredible initiatives and organizations that they're leading I'm just so excited to hear from all the women and to be in a shared space with one [Music] [Applause] [Music] another this is an incredible moment for the future it's the culmination of a lot of work uh obviously there's been years of of consultation leading up to the report this Summit is is the culmination of that um but really we see it as a as a springboard for for what's to come being able to explore and understand what our priorities are for us as First Nations women where do we fit how do we exercise our rights how do we exercise the things that are natural within us as really strong matriarchal black women that is what this work represents it represents strength one of my favorite quotes is this may we be people that plant seeds which grow trees in whose shade we may never sit under and when I think about this Summit and when I think about what these women are doing these Pioneers these travel aers they've been out this for a very long time and the seeds that they're planting and the trees that they're helping nurture to grow they're not just going to influence Our Generation but Seven Generations into the future and so when I think about the work that they're doing this is imperative work and this is Legacy work and it's generational changing work and so I'm really excited to see I guess the Legacy effects of what this is going to do for black women all over this nation and how it's going to continue to inspire and Empower Black Liberation our sovereignty as nation's women and how we're just Unstoppable we're going to keep flying forward [Music] [Applause] [Music] Australia doesn't have a national framework that responds to First Nations women and girls and this is our opportunity to make that happen and so I'm really looking forward to bringing all of our voices together developing this framework and setting up the First Nations gender justice Institute so it's critical that we have mechanisms in place such as the national framework for Action which uh The Institute will be guided by so the Institute will provide a mechanism for the continued presence of our voices on the things that matter we know that we need the women on the ground in all of those different communities in their different roles in their different sectors to be the people leading change the work and the continued conversation out of the summit will be one that we see show up in a whole range of different places and I think that the gender Institute is going to be well positioned to support that moving forward well I hope that this is a beginning point to the Future years of strengthening our presence strengthening the voices of our women and girls and creating strong leaders for um the continued advocacy and change makers that we really need to see um leading we're certainly ready and now we're putting all of this into [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] action tall Stage B N and amang in the language of my people the R I pay my respects to the n and nry people and honor their custodianship and care for country country I extend this to all First Nations women here tonight and thank you ay Matilda I wasn't here uh but I know that you did the welcome and I have seen you do welcomes many times and I not would be it would have been fantastic and thank you Lissa for the invitation um I'm sorry I'm very late everyone but um and Julia Gill would be amazed that we get to leave Parliament at 6:30 these days not like the old days as with Julia Bishop but uh but we could I couldn't leave till 6:30 but I am so pleased to be here on this special occasion for the launch of w dang I always I'll just say w from here on in June Institute for first day s gender justice and equality and hello to all the people that are watching um um that are what live stre streaming and thank you June for the invitation of inviting me to say a few words tonight I do acknowledge Julia Gillard whom I've known for many many years of the chair of the global Institute for Women's leadership and obviously um Julie Bishop who I think sent a video message earlier and vice Chancellor uh Professor jenemy Bell who the last time I saw was in uh one of the lounges at I think Melbourne Airport as you do uh but the uh the women's project the women's voices project is truly truly groundbreaking it has allowed the voices of more than 2,300 women um from First Nations background and girls to be heard now that is something to really contemplate because to be heard is also for be able it also gave the opportunity for women to speak their truth girls to speak that truth and if Australia needs anything the at the moment it's a bit of Truth [Applause] telling uh for many it was the first time they've been asked to share what was important to them and I think that's extraordinary particularly for many of you that have traveled around this country the report documents First Nations women's and women and girls self determin strengths challenges and aspirations it provides a blueprint or as Jun says a black Print uh uh to uh structural reform which is really what we're talking about tonight uh June and a group of women came to see me a couple of weeks ago um at Parliament House and not only is is this an Australian first but I think we heard that it was going to be a national International first as well so it's something that we can all be extraordinarily proud of um in in this country uh it will carry forth the voices of Aboriginal torist under women and girls as I said and Advance the understanding of our role needs and aspirations the project and the report tell us that First Nations women and girls are living within a system that per that perpetuates cycle cycles of discrimination and yet the solutions are sitting in our communities and that is something for all of us in to embrace we need to listen and we need to trust what communities are telling us the Institute will bring together first Nations researchers to Des design Sy iic change initiatives to improve life outcomes and deliver lasting change for abinal and taist Str Islander women I want to also say that we know that the statistics statistics are alarming but tonight as we saw in that video is not about Doom and Gloom it's about Hope and it's about the future and I think that we should all take a leaf out of that that book and see abigal Affairs are not always in the negative frame but actually in the positive frame because there is so much positivity um out there yes the referendum was devastating but you know what you get up you shake yourself off you look for the silver Lightnings and you move on and this is a great example of moving moving on tonight we look forward with optimism op optimism to the establishment of the Institute which will harness the aspirations and strengths of those Nations women these women our mothers grandmothers aunties sisters and children as we saw in the video are the backbone of our communities they are strong caring for our kids families and Country The Institute will continue to listen to and Champion the voices of first sttion women and ensure that our ways of knowing and doing doing from the foundations of solutions and init and initiatives that respond to the needs of First Nations women and girls and that my friends is the trick finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank June osar for her incredible work as the ab first Aboriginal woman in the ab original tourists and tourist stri Island Justice commissioner role I had the privilege of attending the summit that you all saw and it was just so inspiring to be around 900 First Nations women in May last year you could tell it was in CRA couldn't you there was all this beautiful light clothes and suddenly Jun was in had her hands in her Pockets I think um but it was just such a wonderful wonderful exercise during your term June you have been strong passionate and a passionate Advocate and you have taken so many women and girls along the journey with you I'm so pleased that the next next Aboriginal social justice commissioner is also going to be a woman her name is Katie kiss but she has big shoes to feel fil Jun thank you for all you've done and I am looking forward to continue working with you and The Institute now tonight um I'm not quite ready to speak about money but listen to my last sentence carefully and I look very much forward to being able to share some positive news in the near future thank [Applause] you [Applause] well thank you um the to The Honorable Linda Bernie and that incredibly cryptic message you gave us um but thank you also for your leadership and the grace with which you continue to advocate for our rights it's an always an honor to have you with us so I'm now joined on stage by The Incredible Dr Jun Oscar AO and the amazing The Honorable Julia Gillard AC so I feel like I really don't have to introduce you to this crowd but I'm going to anyway um Anie Jun Osa so inspiring has spent decades leading significant social change movements on the ground and advocating in the National and international arenas for the cultural rights health and well-being of First Nations women children and their families was lovely in that Montage to actually see that you do do that nationally on the Grassroots and internationally as well in 2017 as we've been celebrating tonight she became Australia's first woman to be the Aboriginal and Tate Islander social justice commissioner and uh making sure that that uh appointment was not tokenistic she set out to elevate First Nations women and girls voices as a collective for the first time since 1986 June will sit as the chair of the Institute continuing to pursue and Advance first nation's gender justice and equality in Australia and then the honorable Julia Gillard AC is the chair of the global Institute for Women's leadership at King College London and at the Australian National University um Julia has also um of course as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia being the first and only woman to serve in that role having a significant impact on Australia's economy and society and I think notably and importantly calling out misogyny and gender inequality in Parliament and I think what became an iconic moment for all women across Australia and of course remains a strong advocate for social justice and gender equality so June I'm going to start with you you're in the hot seat first um we've talked tonight about how you've led the um wani yungan uh women's voices project at the Human Rights Commission for over seven years at the end of your term as social justice commissioner you've established the wani UNG Institute and released the change agenda for First Nations gender justice to carry this work forward so I wonder if you could start by telling us about this vital work and why this launch is so important and I know we've talked a lot about launches tonight but I don't know that we've officially launched it so maybe you could do that too hey um well before I um launch into the speaking um I want to say you hear me speaking my language Bona I say to you good evening ladies and gentlemen Matilda house we are gathered here on your people's country the people of before the people of now and the people that are coming is your country thank you for having us thank you to all of you for coming for being a part of this evening um I have uh prepared a few words for uh the this question um Lissa thank you very much for making yourself available and for yourself and Michael driving all the way down here um and making time for us this evening you're both very busy people and looking after family and and those you love and um we thank you so much for for making time what an honor and a privilege it is to share this stage with yourself but with this amazing woman that I've looked up to for so many years and I just REM reminded her tonight I first met you with joh kerer when you were first nominated for your seat and um it was at Emily's List in Alis Springs um and Joon turned to me and said she's going to be our first prime minister and how right was she Julia thank you thank you from all of us for um the incredible sacrifices the um we of the responsibilities uh you've carried on behalf of all of us for being able to Champion for those of us where our voices do not get through to those spaces um I want to thank you for being here tonight to co- launch The Institute with me and um I want to thank every one of you in the audience um you're all here here at the official launch of the wani institute for First Nations gender justice and just wow okay we're launched we've launched it you're here um you know you have seen and heard already of so much of what we anani is about and and Lissa um thank you before those introductory comments on the change agenda and The Institute um but put simply we are here tonight we are doing this work because of the voices and the vibrant lives the resilience and the absolute determination of First Nations women and girls in all of our diversity and sitting here watching that video said to Julia seven years captured in about 10 minutes there um just uh almost brought tears to my eyes remembering all of those conversations with all of those women and girls everywhere we went and I'm just so privileged to be to have been in their company um so I want to also acknowledge the the learnings that I've received from sis and trans women um lesbian gay Quia um and those of you with unique and additional abilities thank you for teaching me and opening my eyes to your lived realities and what we can do and do better with uring your voices are in those spaces and influencing um the change that we so desperately need to [Applause] see so as the first woman to be the abish andus red Islander social justice commissioner and I thank um Minister Bernie for her support to me in this role and to um to counter what Matilda house was saying I'm not going to be the first and the last because we have the amazing Katie kiss coming into the role of the Abel and T Islander social justice commissioner and we celebrate Katie's appointment um but my commitment from the outset was to elevate the voices of our women and girls and ensure they would be heard loud and clear in Australia's Halls of power and decisionmaking Arenas I've always known that our women women's lives matter to to to the weaving together and functioning of healthy safe caring and engaged communities and societies seen through the U narrow frame of deficit which we so often are seen through as just statistics associated with victims of violence our worth is not truly seen and valued by broader Australian Society the we Yani project over seven years now has heard from thousands of our women and girls and the 2,300 were just the face-to-face engagement opportunities we received you know over 300 submissions from women's organization and Key Community controlled organizations with their um their stories and their aspirations um so um our engagement with all of these women and girls has given us a first nation's gender lens that explodes this narrow frame of the deficit we are surv survivors healers and nurturers teachers leaders carers business owners CEOs mothers and sisters and aunties and the list goes on what is more it is our lived expertise and knowledges that are the solutions we need to transform conditions of deficit which cause causes the crisis in our lives I have always said to women your stories tell a fundamental truth we do not need to be changed or fixed it is the Western system that dominates Our Lives which must shift to reflect and embody all of who we are embody all of Who We Are our incredible uniqueness and abilities and the world will be the better for It All Peoples all genders and the planet will benefit and that brings us here tonight women and girls raised through we that we needed our own space on the national landscape and a nationally coherent framework to affirm our strength Now The Institute and the change agenda are a direct result of this call to action to create mechanisms which elevates our voices to drive serious systemic change in our lives and H our time has come the change agenda and The Institute combined are about supporting the Innovative initiatives women deliver and want to create on the ground for generational health and well-being for our communities we have no choice we must do this they are also mechanisms designed to shift structures to inform policies and legislation so that surrounding structures are not detriment mental to our lives but are being enabling the change agenda defines the way forward on our terms and The Institute will be a place where our evidence from the ground can help to create effective policies and change systems to further enhance our self-determination so this launch tonight is so important because we are saying our women and our girls will never be invisible we have Inc incredible worth and we are Central to Australia's movement for gender justice and equality and no better Champion than the woman to my left working with us in ensuring that all of our voices as Australian women uh heard and respected so I'll leave it there but I also want to reiterate just finally my heartfelt thanks to so many of you in the audience tonight who have made this happen as the outgoing social justice commissioner I also just want to say a huge thank you to the Australian Human Rights Commission for supporting this work for supporting me for supporting my incredible and amazing team the social justice team and I acknowledge um the president Rosalyn Croucher who's here with us tonight thank you [Applause] Ros thank you so much June it's a great segue to a question for Julia um Australia's first female prime minister and now chair of the global Institute for women's leadership based on your experience and from your perspective why do why do we need First Nations voices centered in the gender equality movement and why is the First Nations gender justice Institute needed thank you very much Lissa for the question thank you for being here and it's just a delight uh for me to join June at the launch of this institute and what an event uh thank you to everybody who's made it possible uh I very much view myself being here as the support act to the lead um I'm I'm the band you know you get through before the main event uh is is there uh but it's just terrific to be here I also want to acknowledge uh Auntie Matilda even when I was prime minister I used to view myself as the support act to her welcome to countries which were all so attention grabbing uh lovely to see you Linda and thank you for being here and to uh geneveve and Julie Bishop the chancellor ofu it's just a delight to be on this campus which is home to the global Institute for Women's leadership your question Lissa I think is summed up um in the answer to it in one word and it's a word that June used when we saw the Montage before and the Word was intersectional I think one of the things when we look back on the history of the women's move movement that we can say and should say and should analyze and think about very deeply is that the women's movement has not always been inclusive of all women uh if we go back in the history of the struggle for things like voting rights those struggles here and in many places around the world were not inclusive of all women and we want to leave that past behind and to have a present day feminism and women's movement that understands intersectionality that Embraces all voices that knows that systems of racism and exclusion compound with gender inequality sexism and misogyny and those forms of exclusion in a way that means every change that gender equality requires is needed uh by all and for those on whom the burden of racism Falls and exclusion the impact of colonialism uh that unless we Center their experience at the heart of the women's movement then we will be missing so much of what is needed to propel us forward to propel each and all of us forward together and so I think it's just so appropriate that at this University uh both institutes uh the one we're proudly launching tonight and the global Institute for Women's leadership will be able to be at home here together to ensure that we're always taking that complete perspective I mean the uh old saying is uh not about us without us and for too many generations and for too long uh First Nations Australians and particularly women have been there required to tolerate the decision making of others when their voices haven't been heard and haven't been included and The Institute is there to help us change that for the future and that will make everything we want to do for gender equality more effective thank you June from all of your experience and your perspective what does First Nations gender justice and equality mean to you good question um it means everything it encompasses all of our human rights as set out in the UN Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and other connected Frameworks such as the convention on the elimination of discrimination against women seedor equality is fundamental we should have equal opportunities to be all of who we are in this world Justice is broader though it's about how we self-determine our lives and encompasses living a full and just life across every aspect of existence including work Education Health housing acade Academia everywhere it's also about our knowledge systems and our cultural practices for First Nations peoples it's how we have formed and sustained societies since time immemorial our knowledges and practices need to be recognized so we can create movements so we can create the structures so we can create the economies and institutions to heal from trauma to be empowered and regenerate our societal Frameworks this includes things like delivering our maternal Health practices the songs the practice the foods the protocols the naming all of these ancient knowledge systems that live within our women and families and communities and language groups and cultural groups that have sustained lineages from the creation of time to become the world's oldest continuous civilization on Earth has got to represent something yeah I got caught up in listening to you Auntie um Julia you've been such a prominent advocate for gender equality not just here in Australia but in spaces around the globe what are some of your Reflections on the Global Gender equality movement and specifically what's working and what should we be paying more attention to as we advance gender equality globally yeah thank thank you for that question and there is uh good news and I think it is important to uh share good news when things change when I look uh ac across certainly The Sweep of time of my life but even the sweep of time since I was in politics I think we can see here in Australia and in many other places around the world that things have substantially changed and in a better direction for women uh there's been much more focus on women's inclusion in the labor force much more focus on women's economic empowerment more Focus particularly here on systems of support for uh women uh who have caring responsibilities the uh announcements even this week about paid parental leave uh the additions to it are another step forward uh more focus on women's retirement incomes many businesses are very focused on trying to ensure that they have diversity uh gender diversity all forms of diversity uh throughout their business and are very careful about trying to make that difference great institutions of learning like this one also very much focus on diversity equity and inclusion so there are some green shoots around but you knew there was going to be a butt in this sentence and uh there is a but in this sentence but uh this is unfortunately a very easy age in which to Foster Division and partisanship and fear we saw that in the voice referendum campaign last year we see it in the cycle of contemporary politics around the world probably in its St form in the US but in many other places on our planet and it means finding the collective will and engagement that we need to propel communities and societies to another round of inclusive change is getting harder and harder and I think this does very much um impact the treatment of women who end up uh in the public discourse whether that's because they're in politics whether it's because they've served in a position like social justice commissioner uh women activists women from all walks of life who get thrust into the public gaze uh what we know uh from contemporary treatment uh is that uh traditional media is likely to be more careful on how they report things about those women than media was when I was prime minister here in this country but that social media is just a toxic sewer for women whose names are up there and the uh alienation that comes with that as women uh look down at social media feeds and not only see uh threats that are nasty words in the online world but they see a joining of the online world with the real world and many women in public life uh would be able to uh talk about seeing on social media things like uh death threats alongside a photo of their front door so people using social media to say we know who you are we know where you are and all of the analysis shows that for First Nations women for women of color uh that this toxicity is even greater and so I think that requires us to do a lot of deep thinking about social media regulation uh but also about Community norms and attitudes so that we can find new ways of campaigning and engagement that help help us find the collective will for the big change projects that still lie in front of us thank you there was some great green shoots and then you ruined it with a really really big caveat yes sorry about that butt well it's the reality isn't it and I just want to pick up on one element that you uh talked about um in what you just canvased there uh with Annie June we anung highlights just how central care is to the lives of First Nations women and how essential this care work is for the health and safety of our families and communities yet this often goes unrecognized and undervalued First Nations care work is a prominent Focus um area that you'll be continuing to take forward through the work of The Institute can you describe this a little bit more for us thank you um yes an important um point of conversation and acknowledgement of course we see it all of you see it our women are the backbone of our societies they are the ones nurturing continuously families and and constructing the Frameworks of care um you know when we talk about care we're not just talking about the um care giving to children or Elders or those with additional needs and abilities um in our communities but we open our doors to give counsel to give mediation to give reassurance to um you know run organizations and businesses um help sit with people in our community to believe in the solutions they they hold um there's never for indigenous women switching off at 4:30 it doesn't happen like that it just is a continuous cycle of caregiving we we provide all of this support and care and we do all this whilst we uh maintaining our extensive cultural obligations to ensure the continuation of vital knowledge systems as the first women of this continent who have inherited uh inherited knowledge systems from mothers and grandmothers and great grandmothers people that have gone before we carry the responsibility of that those knowledge systems on every aspect of life just think of that and and it's true for all women indigenous and non- Indigenous women that our care responsibilities are not just limited to um caring for ourselves and our immediate it is in the nature and the nurture um of women that we are always most times taking on on more so for us as First Nations women the knowledge is that we care and carry and transmit to the next Generations that they when they are ready to receive this those knowledges teaches us how to look after kin and Country to understand ceremony to understand uh protocols to teach the children all of those responsibilities not just to navigate This Modern reality we're teaching and imparting knowledge systems that are ancient the first part of the history of this continent women in the audience I know tonight carry that responsibility I see them in those places in the ceremony places preparing for the ceremonies you cannot set a foot wrong in those spaces you must stick to what the law has laid down you can't go and create or recreate those knowledges so it's a huge responsibilities to be Educators and carers of generations of people who will inherit all of those knowledges and you know we do that in such a way that we maintain the respect and the peace um throughout our communities for our Collective well-being our our knowledges and Indigenous women's knowledges are absolutely vital to care work but it's overlooked sadly by mainstream structures the definition of care work looks very different for someone sitting within a system within an institution that creates the rules of the game around what is deemed care work I have heard directly from women who are providing care when their daughters aren't there their daughters may be in prison they do not qualify for car as payments today this year this month I've heard that this has got to change and these women I talk about are women on age pensions and on sickness um you know illness pensions but they're providing this care work as indigenous women guarding knowledge systems transferring knowledge but they do not qualify for carers payments of these children there is something absolutely wrong with the systems that have been created for us to operate and survive within that system is so broken [Applause] so um can I just acknowledge um when it comes to this focus of work for the Institute this is a significant piece of research but it's already happening this institute is um collaborating with the center for indigenous policy research here at the a&u caper wonderful people are here tonight and with the University of Queensland This research is now available on the we Yani um website and look I'd just want to acknowledge and thank all of those researchers involved in bringing this important issue to light it's the first time research has seriously conceptualized our spectrum of care and Quantified the hours we are involved in care it goes far beyond the mainstream conception of care it shows that our women are doing a huge amount of unrecognized care work that goes beyond the hours of many non-indigenous women's hours spent on care work remember the clock doesn't stop at 4:30 for black women in this country they also uh estimated that the market value of this work in an annual salary and is between 81,000 $175 to 8,921 women are not receiving this and neither is it being invested into our societies this is the underinvestment and devaluing of our care work so This research and the future work of The Institute is absolutely vital in redefining care and providing the evidence to our policy makers on how we can better recognize and remunerate this work because we have a right to that we have a right to fix this so thank you thank you um Julia within Anie jun's really powerful words there she articulated the pivotal role First Nations women have in forming the social economic and ecological fabric needed to create the condition for lives well lived and the benefit that this has to society as a whole in your opinion from your perspective how does progressing and intersectional gender equality movement influence some of our biggest Global challenges like climate change and environmental justice once again thank you for the question and it raises such an important issue um all of the uh Global analysis whether it's from uh the UN whether it's from the uh panel on climate change the scientific panel uh that advises the uh climate change conferences the major cop uh conference of the parties that happens the last one just happened uh in November last year in the UAE all of this analysis shows that the uh people who are on the front lines of climate change tend to be women and girls and that is because they are the ones um most at risk um in extreme weather events they've got the least capacity to pick up and move uh because of the care of children the care of Elders uh they tend to be the ones doing the subsistence farming uh which is uh undermined when weather patterns change in a way that means that farming is not no longer viable they tend to be the ones that do the Gathering of water and as water becomes a more scarce resource then that impacts on them and their labor and research that uh the welcome trust which I chair a global charity headquartered in London which funds scientific research we are now funding uh scientific research at the intersection of climate and health and when we fund that research what we find is that um at the intersection of climate and health the impacts the health impacts are disproportionately on women so to take just one example of that uh for communities that are exposed um on a continuous basis to extreme heat and have got no ability to mitigate uh that extreme heat they don't have access to energy and air conditioning and climate control measures the way um we uh have in in you know buildings like this one um the impact of that extreme heat um means it is more likely that women will have low birth weight babies low birth weight babies are less viable more likely to die in infanthood um it is those women who will be most impacted by Rising salinity levels in the water because of the extreme heat which has got um implications For Kidney Health and the list goes on and so when you hear that analysis and you take back to that principle we discussed before of nothing about us without us how can we shape climate change Solutions unless we are listening to the voices of women um in these situations and circumstances whether they be uh Women First Nations women caring for country in Australia or whether they be women in other parts of the world who are on these climate change front lines uh and there is more of a recognition now uh that uh these voices need to be heard in the international climate negotiations but as you would see from the images that come across your TV screens when these big International meetings are held uh there are levels of power within those International meetings there are leaders meetings at the center of it uh and the photos of those leaders meetings show you um a room disproportionately full of men and so we have to um keep fighting to include all voices particularly women's voices in shaping what is um you know it's not dramatic to say um it's absolutely shaping the future of the planet we share thank you June one of the things I've always loved about your leadership is that you're always hopeful about the future and the possibilities of generational change nationally there' have been road blocks to progressing our rights um Julia Gillard and Linda Bernie both um mentioned the recent experience of the voice referendum as an example of of that but what do you think happens next how do we move towards the future First Nations women and girls aspire to an envisage yes what a blow that was um and I want to acknowledge everyone that that supported um the indigenous peoples in that um the voice was intended to be a national mechanism to enhance what was happening across diversity of the regions and in communities that was an opportunity those things it would have brought visibility to are still happening there is the incredible work that's continuing and movements taking shape everywhere so we haven't stopped we're reeling from yet a significant lost opportunity for us as a nation when I think about what's happening and you know like I've heard other indigenous people say and non-indigenous people say we pick ourselves up dust off and we keep going we are is one of those things and in many ways it sets out to do something similar to The Voice which is to elevate evidence from the ground to the National level to help inform structural conditions so I feel this is a time to to reather around the critical mechanisms that we have created to make the large scale generational changes we want to see I also think the voice referendum tells us that now more than ever we need Nationwide inclusive truthtellah and our entwined shared histories and the future that we want to construct together why are we scared of that because we would have had a mechanism that would have helped us to get there as a bigger Collective but I believe that women can lead the way to unite everyone from Every background and I'm not trying to say that you blocks are incapable you stand with us and you support us sometimes it's a job where you recognize who's the best person for it it's it's these principles that we bring to our interactions of inclusivity embracing one another the depth of exploration the consideration of other perspectives and a desire to create cohesiveness that we need for the truth-telling process and we're all dealing with all different levels of um deep truth telling in our own families we need to share from that place of strength and and healing in giving others the courage to do so as well so the more spaces we can create for dialogue for exploration and for collaboration the better that's what we need to create or co-create I should say a wise future for Australia that is in inclusive that is just and that is equal for all of us and the Institute is one of these spaces a vital space where First Nations women and our philosophies are at the heart of leading change and systemic shifts that can seriously contribute to Australian nation building they just some [Applause] thoughts Julia there have been some major commitments made in Australia to progressing gender equality particularly with the recent release of working for women the Australian government's strategy strategy to achieve gender equality how important are these commitments where do they take us and how do do we translate commitments into meaningful action and change the uh I I've been delighted uh to see the commitments that have been made and this real Focus from uh the government on uh gender equality on women's economic empowerment uh and I know that this is an agenda that is close to the heart of uh many of the leading uh figures of the current federal government uh including most notably the prime minister so I think we uh do have a government that understands that the levers that are in its hands um about um the the uh Universal platforms that go up to make our tax and transfer system uh that underpin our benefit system our child care system uh that this is a government that is uh big-hearted enough and smart enough uh to think about how to use those platforms for Change and to think about how to open space to then buttress and support and customize that change locally because uh in every Community uh one size won't fit every circumstance and clearly uh for uh indigenous women there will be a set of other measures that may be more appropriate for their lives so I am uh full of uh faith and optimism and enthusiasm about that it isn't easy but I think it is possible what worries me over the longest sweep uh the cycle of politics um and here I'm thinking not only uh of our own Nation but thinking very broadly right around the world uh we've seen uh the rise of Discord of popularism of um you know sort of so-called strong men uh leaders seeking to profit by dividing societies uh that division has been done in a number of ways um it is often based on race uh but we do know that some of the uh populist right-wing governments have also use gender uh very very clearly to mobilize their base I mean we see it happening in places like Hungary uh we will see it I think and we're certainly seeing it on Reproductive Rights in the US and we will see it manifest in U many more election Cycles over this year which is a huge year of Elections and in the years to come so it does concern me that you know gender equality measures could be right at the fighting edge of partisan ship uh not something that is uh supported by both political parties with maybe some variations about method and timing but right at the ugly edge of partisanship and I think that's something for us to watch out for here um and as we see election Cycles around the world and some of that manifest to learn from the best campaigning strategies to make sure that gender equality doesn't end up there in that really partisan ring um one of the things that we do at the global Institute for Women's leadership is uh an international polling survey which we release each year around International women's day it's a polling data set done by ipsos a big Global polling company in more than 20 countries and we've tracked over five years now uh Trends in gender equality and what you and attit Community attitudes to gender equality and what you can see in those Trends is uh hardening of community attitudes particularly and disappointingly amongst young men who are um unfortunately likely to say in answer to a question like uh has gender equality gone too far are men being asked to do so much that they're now being discriminated against not the majority of young men but a significant slice of young men are saying yes to those kind of questions so that's telling you that this very hyper partisan politics could find a receptive audience um amongst young people where we often assume that young people are just inherently more Progressive than the generations that have gone before so I think you know even as we the cycle of Elections and politics play out around the world we've got to be thinking now about how to best include uh men young men in particular in the gender equality conversation uh best uh harness different models of masculinity uh than the models of masculinity that are being sold online by toxic influencers uh and best get a resonance to what I very deeply believe uh which is that gender equality isn't a project for women uh gender equality actually would Herald a better world for everyone because everyone would have more options more choices about how they choose to navigate their lives if they were free of the stereotyping the the boxes the uh branded um names that we we put on um men and women and the assumptions we make about who they should be in the world and I don't think to date we've been good at that kind of inclusivity I think that's a challenge for us the sad news I have for everyone is that we're not only out of time we're over time so can you I've got plenty more questions if we could have stayed here on night but um can you please join me in thanking June Oscar and Julia Gillard for their leadership there work and for sharing with us tonight and thank you Lissa thank you Lissa The Good the good news is that we're closing tonight with a very special artistic sharing from pun calara pun calara is an intergenerational cultural transmission project developed in partnership with bigart and the women from n Nala hope I got there Nal Nal thank you Anie and uh yinji bandi um yinji bandi country it's a mediation on women's stories pun calara is an experience of beautiful visuals sound and spoken words and it celebrates ancient and contemporary stories of women's power where nurture care and guidance are formed in the collective so you can see why it is absolutely a wonderful and appropriate way to celebrate uh the end of uh this evening and this very special events so the performance will close this evening so this is the last you will hear from me Gaba ninda yalu uh it's been a pleasure to spend this historic evening with you all so please join me in welcoming punala to the stage thank [Applause] you oh sorry [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] for [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hi everyone how you all feeling tonight nah you m can do better than that this room full of aunties how you all feeling [Music] tonight woo my that's better my queens now I want to share a song with you it's called Red Dead [Music] Queens come on jump in help Queens we are strong and proud We Lift each other up when we're feeling down we're Ro models that's what we do looking out for country and our young ones too we run on swim in b sing to listen to mother we run on swim in b sing to listen to Mother red Queens that's who we are we teach you about our country and our aunties in the star this is our home we live together we never alar Queens forever [Applause] [Music] hi everyone I'm Nina Allen I'm nin B and that's who I am and I'm Hannah uh I'm n ATI Hannah Phillips and I'm too that's who I am and we flew all the way from that's Raven wa when you say hello in you say w w in our language we say w w thank you to the traditional lest for having us on your country and an J Oscar for inviting us tonight we would like to tell you about oursel and our project P well Robin is a small little town and family everywhere so you can't get away with nothing it's a good little place got a w the river Bush and I love going on Country seeing all the warm colors I wrote that song before for the women who inspire me every day I've been making music and going out cuz it connects me to my people us young girls made some films for the wa museum with our n taking photos dancing and Performing our kingship is waving like a basket it helped us to build our confidence to be here tonight and N oh wait we work hard get feedback from aunties and N they show us what it's like to be leaders every day yeah they soft but powerful Mark around blessing introduce you to them well you already know me I'm Nina I'm the boss of this show Melle Adams and I'm in Nina is my niece and I Hannah sto big sister I'm Shireen W I am and I am Nina's mom and Hannah is my niece Sam walk I'm also Nina's auntie and is my Bali now you got all that I would also like you to introduce you to our sister Kia who's from the East hello my name is Kia McGrady I'm a yug woman and these women here are my sisters this is Nana she was my daughter and I was her little Mom we are here tonight to acknowledge Nana our senior inandi Elder our song Woman our J Our inandi Queen s she passed on Christmas day she shared stories through b teaching her young girls now tonight we'd like to share some of that with you all in honor of our daughters our senior women and supporting AG goodies but we can only show you a little bit tonight because this is a woman's project we got to keep a little mysterious any he women so complicated nah we is keeping your M on your toes and Bimi are my balis my sister-in-laws this is a really important relationship in our kingship system this is balara this is a story for a woman this is our power welcome to Bala sister-in-law dreaming [Music] story so you always say they I want to come in your country to be with you and I really want to respect you and come to be in your in your arms I'm going back to the country I'm going back to the country and my my mother nature is calling me calling me back to the mo why am not a stranger I belong to this River you belong to me we belong to each other power there was that time before the sounds of the first bundled Heaven and Earth were very close bound together by a heartbeat and the world was [Music] soft they were learning times it is now it was [Music] then those sisters they fell from the sky to Earth the strains of that first song that beautiful callar sisters goddess together and emerg from the sea near to travel to follow that [Music] callar a man impatient and fast chasing watching behind trees ping dancing want those sisters for himself all of them for wives watered wonder what he would have done if he had caught them all would have had his handsful that he might have been the one running away some people say it's because the sisters were're too beautiful making that man crazy or maybe they were just minding their own business and do what sisters do over they traveled creating protecting as they were pursued making those places where Spirit babies come soft and warm sand hard and Rocky Earth Springs turn into pools pools turn into rivers men's places women's places Mur the essence of creation lying deep in the water the power with feet beating Yandy beating still the song sounds [Music] G two of the sisters Pali were chased Gast frightened fell P into the water at deep down they turn into anels up up from those Ms came a tree a tree up to the Moon there those buali joined the sky again and found their sisters to flee once more to follow that call looking down looking down backing behind leaving behind the sof Ripple of their breath across the Deep fertile pools the morning dew of their tears sealed on leaves and jummy the trail of their story in the [Music] sky and a breeze that breeze and on they follow the call and the song journeying together never apart strong and United but away from [Music] country it was here it was then Aur was made Birth by the ancestors bodies burned by love brought forth the threads that bind us our water places Animal Spirits plants and season [Music] seeds [Music] created there at the hour J as the power flow was Pali where Pali fell where the Rose where the tree grew up to GRE where our power speaks a place of Honey plants flowers trees seeds a place for Woman made by the Miami a baby making Place T Place safe place swim there sing deep in the B is life [Music] itself power power I Pap I Pap I [Applause] pap [Applause] for Fore for Fore for J G [Applause] Mar fore fore that there was a baby's prayer a blessing from our nners when a baby's born they get this blessing so what you Mo think about them stories before how's that g of chasing the sisters all over the place can't the ladies get any peace yeah nah he's right you fellas some up talk about dream time up there around roben we talk about when I word was soft that's s Bala was made by those sister-in-laws for generations to come our families lived there the river was Lifeline for everything got a picture of my mom with me in hero standing in that cold Sacred Water the land was so alive you can hear it if you listen andanas and Robin have a song about that who's ready to learn some [Music] language now in English is listen listen listen the country is talking to you from the center to my right in m to my left here we go you ready listen listen listen beautiful W country is talking up listen listen listen country is talking to you beautiful well done your mom now we're going to sing those prases you going to sing those phrases all right sorry Bali here we [Music] go lovely ready I can do better than [Music] that one more [Music] time beautiful beautiful CR needs to wake up we're going to try sing those phrases together who kill you with going to kill [Music] you Jing [Music] Together We [Music] Belong [Music] wh by [Music] stream that's good ready come on come [Music] on oh good what you Reon we do it one more time one more time one more time one more time ready one more time ready [Music] m [Music] Beautiful One More Time One More Time [Music] ready wow wow wow that reminds me of my grandmothers they looked after me when my mom passed my family traces right back to balara their father is buried there they were around my age when the government built the hiding Dam they had four sacred Choice places to choose between in the end the dam went over balara we have a word in our language W alive when those sisters left together they Trail their stories across the sky and sung them into the [Music] land the feet be Rhythm it beat through their bodies the Rhythm became song song became dance dance became ceremony ceremony became song country is about who we are who we can be law ceremony kinship Gall marriage birth all these stories W them are living s into the [Music] mother the May SW on but they left their listens there they said Stay Together safety and numbers share what you have don't be greedy don't be selfish all these lessons woven are living sung into the [Music] mother mother tells us with a Jammy and one plants scoll the name of a Al and the places where B is life itself the time to pick theang fire the PLS eat take what you need leave what you don't inard our ancestors the sisters are here they are in the mother and the mother is in us as Morning Becomes night and Seasons flourish plants burst clouds rush over fertile he power Papa moves and flows in the mother is our power and our power exists to Steward her she Whispers through our strong bones streams Rivers through our bellies and hips sings words of Joy from our mouths cries through our open eyes power is in the [Music] mother how powerful is that bual place gration herself lying deep in cool pools breath Breeze how powerful our right to be embraced to swim in her deep pool to dream in her cool shade to pick our healing yummy to ask for a spirit child how powerful then was that Harding land a great wall to hold the power a great wall sliced over country over buia how powerful the waters that chased her Pap flooded her Ro over her silenced her covered her haltered her her power rendered deep deep under the power can't go there now to bual the threat that binds us place a safe place swim there wash there sing there you're La everything's quiet now Cor [Music] for magora well she was fierce about that Hing Dam using that water all day and all night we used to sing out to her go stop wasting the power she'd say that's my d That's My Water we have a word in our language wonder rning it means still alive still living nothing ever dies it just transforms on this project we talk a lot about power can I share some of that with you tonight there are two kinds of power power that connects power that separates good power bad power I have known both kinds the closest inj word to power is gam someone who holds learning someone whom you respect I think about my mother I'm 12 years of age I can see her there in my mind she is sitting there at the Harding Dam during the fight to protect that place our lands had begun to hold new value for the white man mining towns were springing up everywhere needed more water to live our precious water suddenly everybody's business the fight for the ing them to stop the flooding of our sacred SES our women's sides buala there was no money at stake here then for our people this was before native title they were fighting for the power that they knew was there they were fighting to contain maintain and conserve mom she is sitting there with their Elders family 50 to 60 people pens papers Maps everywhere she is talking she is translating as a daughter of an original woman growing up in that way I saw the value of good power I watch my mother weaving threads by holding something big with others as woman we draw power from the past and our future on Country you can see it and you can feel it memories that are all around you the trees and footprint Pathways footprints that once were walked by your grandmothers and theirs before them that power is connectedness it's a feeling you just know it's there and you gravitate towards it all the time it makes you feel so small to understand true power is to know that it's not supposed to make you bigger nor louder and this is where we should understand that the white man's ways is to consume but we as indigenous people in this world and in our hearts we weren't created to consume things we were made to Steward something bigger than us for us to love it and for it to love us back when our lives become highly political the struggle to maintain yourself as a woman is really difficult because it's transactional and we will seek power in places where our power is not valid valed in systems and structures designed to separate us for my relationship with you now with what you can get out of me and what I can get out of you we break the flow our kinship our relationship are our power they are an instruction and a gift from the mother it is based on balance love and respect they are there to to hold us together the responsibility I have didn't just arrive with [Music] me it walked with my grandmothers and theirs before them I have a granddaughter now and the world needs to open up to her so I say to her you are you are a living breathing part of this country and then I draw on what My Own Strength is it's the thre weaving back to [Music] buala one we are still here there are women and sisters all across the country still holding their duties being held by the women in their communities and their sisters that's what gives me strength you know and at any given moment when I have negative thoughts I hear these voices going you know who you are I am in I'm in I am I'm in I'm in sorry about [Music] that who I [Music] [Music] am [Music] Mar [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] y [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music]