16 March, 2010
Premier Backs Aboriginal Ceremonies
16 March 2010
The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council has welcomed today's statement from Premier Kristina Keneally that Aboriginal traditional owners will continue to be acknowledged at official state functions in NSW.
Premier Keneally said she considered the acknowledgment of traditional owners at such ceremonies to be an appropriate way of recognising Aboriginal people.
The Premier said she considered such acknowledgments to be "absolutely respectful and something that I think most Australians now acknowledge as an appropriate measure, an appropriate step to take in our civic discourse."
She went on to say she was more "inclined to take advice from Aboriginal people, from elders, from our Indigenous people than I am from Tony Abbott on this subject.
I believe all Aboriginal people, and many of their fellow citizens in New South Wales, will welcome such a positive and forthright statement from the Premier on this issue.
I would hope Mr. Abbott takes time over the next few days to consider his position on this issue although I, like many people, wonder why he would bother to raise it in an interview with a Canberra based journalist if not to merely to give voice to political dinosaurs such as Wilson Tuckey.
Bev Manton
Chairperson
NSWALC