Is Victoria serious about reconciliation?
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| Wednesday, June
17, 2009 |
The Democrats have added their voice
to the campaign to save Reconciliation
Victoria.
Victorian Democrats are urging members, supporters and the public to write, phone and email the Premier
calling for his personal intervention.
Reconciliation
Victoria will be forced to close its office at the end of June
unless the Victorian Government reverses its decision to discontinue
funding.
The funding has amounted to just $200,000 per year and the
Government's decision flys in the face of its public commitment to
'closing the gap' in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage
and
health outcomes. "If we don't close the gap in
our relationships we will never close the gap in health outcomes,"
said Reconciliation
Victoria Co-Chair Vicki Clark.
Reconciliation Victoria
works to promote an inclusive Australia, which encourages and educates
non-Indigenous Australians to value the rich and vibrant living
cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The government's decision sets Victoria apart as
the most
regressive state on the east coast: New South Wales and Queensland have
announced funding boosts to their peak reconciliation bodies.
Reconciliation Victoria
rejected a government offer of temporary
funding. "This offer is unacceptable,"
said Ms. Clark. "To use money allocated for
Aboriginal services to do the work of reconciliation will undermine the
relationships Reconciliation Victoria has with the Victorian Aboriginal
community. This is an offer made with the full understanding that we
can do nothing but refuse it".
"The funding offered is also
conditional on Reconciliation Victoria 'merging' with Stolen
Generations Victoria over two years, because according to the
Minister
of Aboriginal Affairs, Richard Wynne, the organisations "do very
similar work".
Ms. Clarke stressed that nothing could be further
from the truth. "Stolen Generations Victoria
aims to support Aboriginal people, while Reconciliation Victoria aims
to inform, educate and activate non-Aboriginal people about our history
over the last 200 years, the impact of this history on Aboriginal
people and how we can move towards a better future for all Australians".
What you can do
Write, phone and email
Premier Brumby
Premier, John Brumby
Level 1, 1 Treasury Pl, Melbourne 3002
03 9651 5000
Fax: 03 9651 5054
Send copies to:
Deputy Premier and Attorney General, Rob
Hulls
Level 3, 1 Treasury Pl, East Melbourne, 3002
03 9651 1222
Fax: 03 9651 1188:
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Richard Wynne
Level 22, 50 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, 3000
03 9096 7722
Fax: 03 9096 9225
Minister for Community Development, Peter
Batchelor
Level 20, 1 Spring Street, Melbourne, 3000
03 9658 4660
Fax: 03 9658 4631
Contact your local MP
Find your local member of parliament here:
Write a Letter to the
Editor
Write to your local newspaper.
Contact Talk-back radio
3AW (693) with Neil Mitchell 8.30am - 12noon
03 9690 0693
774 ABC with Jon Faine 8.30am – 12noon
1300 222 774
Background Information
More information
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Letter to copy and
paste.
To avoid copying unwanted
code, paste first into a text editor such as Notepad, then into your
email message.
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The Hon. John
Brumby
Premier of Victoria
Level 1, 1 Treasury Place
Melbourne VIC 3002
Dear Premier Brumby,
I am dismayed to learn that the funding status of our only state-wide
reconciliation organisation, Reconciliation Victoria, remains unclear.
On 14 May, Reconciliation Victoria were informed that funding was to
cease on 30 June, 2009. Yet only four days later the Minister for
Aboriginal Affairs told the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee
that funding for the next two years would be provided through the
Department of Aboriginal Affairs, but reduced and eventually "merged"
with Stolen Generations Victoria.
This 'solution' is unacceptable. Neither
Reconciliation Victoria nor Stolen Generations Victoria were consulted
about this proposed 'merger' and funding should not be diverted from
monies set aside for services and programs to the Aboriginal community.
To take money from the Aboriginal Affairs
budget would imply that Reconciliation is "blackfella business," for
Aboriginal people only. Reconciliation concerns all Victorians, and
must be funded outside the Aboriginal Affairs area. Money should not be
siphoned away from Aboriginal programs and services, such as Stolen
Generations Victoria, which desperately need government support.
Support for Reconciliation as a matter for the whole of State
Government has long been Victorian ALP policy. In a 2000 statement, the
Bracks Government wrote that it viewed: "reconciliation as an ongoing
responsibility of Government that needs leadership and support to
ensure that the process of reconciliation and its key themes of
respect, understanding and addressing the past are embraced by the
whole Victorian community"
And on 19 August, last year you signed a Statement of Intent to "Close
the Gap" between Indigenous and non-Indigenous life expectancy. You
committed to "working collectively to systematically address the social
determinants that impact on achieving health equality for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people".
These social determinants include racism,
stereotyping and cultural misunderstanding, factors which
Reconciliation Victoria is uniquely positioned to address.
What has changed to make your Government now desire to close the doors
on the State's peak reconciliation body? Successive Federal and State
Government reports have called for state-based reconciliation groups,
and the imperative for greater understanding between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous Australians is greater than ever.
For the past eight years, Reconciliation Victoria's staff, council and
countless volunteers have worked tirelessly for reconciliation in this
state. Through organising events, as well as its referral service,
school visits, education conferences, public awareness campaigns and
its acknowledged role as a key player in negotiations between key
stakeholders, Reconciliation Victoria plays an integral role in
bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians together.
I strongly urge you to intervene to return Reconciliation Victoria's
funding to its previous three-year period. Also, the funding level must
be consistent with the volume and variety of work Reconciliation
Victoria undertakes.
Your personal intervention to ensure
funding through the Department of Premier and Cabinet would send the
clear message that you and your government are sincere about
reconciliation in Victoria.
Yours sincerely,
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