National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) comes to its conclusion tomorrow after a week filled with celebrations and special events.

The theme for this year’s NRW was ‘Let’s Talk Recognition’.

On the eve of NRW Reconciliation Australia Chief Executive Leah Armstrong said that National Sorry Day, May 26, was significant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples because of their historic mistreatment over many years.

“On National Sorry Day we acknowledge that distressing things happened in the past and understand that members of the Stolen Generations still feel the effects today including ongoing continuing pain and sorrow,” Ms Armstrong said.

“But it’s also a day to admire the amazing resilience of those who suffered over the years. To quote that great Aboriginal Australian, Charlie Perkins, ‘We cannot live in the past, but the past is always with us’, and so it should be.”

The week began in Sydney on May 27 with a special memorial service in Hyde Park to honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and servicewomen.

The event was attended by NSW Governor Marie Bashir and NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and was opened with a traditional smoking ceremony as boys from Matraville Sports High School performed a welcome dance.

Lieutenant Beimop Tapim addressed the crowd gathered around the Anzac memorial. Lt. Tapim said that he owed the armed forces a debt and that he appreciated their stance as an equal opportunities employer.

The NRW is framed around two highly significant events in Australian history, the May 27 1967 referendum which saw 90 per cent of Australians vote to the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and the June 3 1992 Mabo decision which recognised the special relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the land.