Pat Dodson

How can Australia afford not to be reconciled?

Professor Patrick Dodson, Founding Director of the Indigenous Policy and Dialogue Research Unit at UNSW, asks this question in his Keynote address to the Indigenous Policy and Dialogue:New Relationships, New Possibilities, November 2010 at the University of New South Wales

On face value you would have to say yes, it does not have to be reconciled because at every opportunity to date, Australia has failed to pick up the challenge to do so. However the current environment holds new promise; Australia is now far more conscious of its position in a global environment- politically, socially, and environmentally. It also recognises that it has had an unequal relationship with the Indigenous peoples since the day on which their British ancestors colonised the country. Under its modern democratic polity, Australia has only slowly begun to look at its legacy and sought remedies that were to deal with mainstream inequality and sensitivities. Restorative justice for taking the lands and livelihoods away from a unique people has not been its main agenda. Will we again continue in this vein as the future unfolds, or will we look for new partnerships, new possibilities, new vision and a new philosophy to guide us to a more collaborative and co-existent future? Global dynamics are calling upon us as Australians to look for a new vision, not only for our survival, but for that of humankind and what it is we depend upon in the bioregions beyond our country.

?Read the keynote address given by Professor Patrick Dodson (PDF) (190 Kb).

Read more about the conference http://nipdc.arts.unsw.edu.au/keynote.html