“It’s you young ones’ fight now”
23.04.2021
I have witnessed many people, from diverse walks of life, black and white, stand in front of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and gaze at it in silence after reading it for the first time.
1…2…3… the seconds tick on.
At most they will whisper, “wow”. But what creates this sense of amazement, of speechlessness? Is it the poetic but powerful words of the Statement itself? Is it the significant and stunning painting created by the Anangu women at Mutitjulu, right at the base of Uluru? Or is it something more than that? As a young First Nations woman, for me it is the absolute generosity of those First Nations delegates who gifted the Statement to Australians. Who took up the opportunity of the Regional Dialogues and National Constitutional Convention that followed. Who listened, questioned, understood, deliberated, conversed, wept, yelled, argued and, finally, with the humble resilience that defines our people, extended with kindness, an invitation to Australians to walk with First Nations on our journey for justice and for self-determination.
One could say, but why? We should fight, we should revolt - and we should resist. We need to assert our sovereignty and work towards Treaty as our ‘end game’. I hear this, and I understand where this position comes from. Why would we want to be ‘recognised’ in the founding document of a country that can’t even admit that their illegal occupation has caused nothing but demise for our people? I am angry too. However, I cannot sit by and wait for a revolution whilst my people are dying at unprecedented rates, at the hands of the criminal justice system, suicide and chronic health conditions. Or whilst trauma continues to haunt, and to be inflicted upon us. Or whilst the systems of colonisation continue to oppress us. These are systemic issues. These are issues which are a result of a system that was not created to benefit us. But it is a system that inevitably has the upper hand, and that ultimately has control over our lives. A Voice enshrined in the Constitution is the first step to changing this. It isn’t the end game by any means and is not the answer to all that First Nations’ aspire for. But it does make possible, what currently is not. It makes possible the opportunity to be heard and listened to on laws that affect us. It makes possible the realisation of a treaty process in which we have the political power to achieve significant outcomes for First Nations. I cannot sit by whilst an opportunity such as that created by those who gave us the Uluru Statement from the Heart, is ready for the taking.
Our old people have grasped what opportunities have been available to them. Us young ones have to learn from their actions. Without their dedication to the fight for justice and self-determination, their intellect and understanding of politics, law, power, negotiation and compromise, we would not have the lives we have today. But we have further to go. We are grateful, and we hear them when they tell us, “it’s you young ones’ fight now”. We are ready.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart and Young First Nations People
The Uluru Statement from the Heart talks about our past, our present and our future. It calls for three key reforms, only one which is constitutional. Voice. Treaty. Truth. In those three words, I feel strength, I feel hope and I feel excitement for what the future will hold.
At the Regional Dialogues, there were relatively few young people. I am not concerned by this: it is consistent with our laws and cultural authority, which sits with our Elders. If anything, this is a reflection that the process developed by the First Nations members of the Referendum Council reflected as closely as possible, cultural authority structures. The Uluru Statement from the Heart, which reflects the conversations had during the process and the consensus on the outcomes, gives us an insight into the minds and hearts of our old people and traditional owners. It is clear that we are at the front of their mind as they continue the struggle. The Statement talks four times about young people.
Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. Our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. When we have power over our
destiny our children will flourish and that our children will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country. The Statement calls for a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.
There were young delegates at the Regional Dialogues and the National Constitutional Convention. With the blessing of the larger group, they had a separate session, to talk specifically about their issues. They came back to the main group and reported back, so that the deliberations of the Convention would be informed by their views. What stood out was that Youth are ready for change. They want practical solutions. They are energised and confident in their ability to mobilise and fight for those solutions. They are saddened by the generations that had gone before, who had struggled for the same basic calls for justice and self-determination that the delegates at Uluru were still asking for. The delegates at the Convention had resolved on their first day of deliberations, that any decision they made must ‘not waste the opportunity of reform’. The Youth echoed this. They told their Elders that they didn’t want to one day themselves be Elders, sitting in a room, talking about the same injustices, looking for a way forward because the delegates at the Convention had missed an opportunity to make headway towards substantial change for our people.
Uluru Youth Dialogues
Since the issuing of the Uluru Statement, I have been privileged to work the Uluru Youth Dialogues, convened by the Uluru Dialogues, the group that continues to move forward the calls of the delegates in the Uluru Statement. Through the Youth Dialogues I have been able to work with and learn from other young First Nations peoples across this land who bring diversity and hope in their words and their actions. Their energy and passion is infectious. Their intellect is sharp, and their skills are diverse, yet refined. I have no doubt that they will change the discourse of Australia’s history forever. We want change now. We will not stand to see our old people continue to be dismissed or their intellect and answers to complex questions underestimated. Our people aren’t stupid.
In December 2019, I was in a room with 50 other First Nations young mob from around the country. It was the first time that I was slapped with the reality that our youth will be the ones responsible for carrying out the work that ensures the reforms called for by the Uluru Statement from the Heart are achieved in our lifetime. It was a confronting realisation, but looking around the room at those youth, I believed that we really do have the ability to make these reforms happen.
The Co-design process for an Indigenous Voice Interim Report: Where are the Youth Voices?
Knowing the intellect and commitment of our young people, I have been dismayed by how they have been treated in the Interim Report that has been issued by the government’s co-design process for an Indigenous Voice.
Unlike in the Regional Dialogues and at the National Constitutional Convention, young people are not represented by any members of the Senior Advisory Committee (the youngest being 32 at the time). With more than half (53%) of First Nations peoples aged under 25 and the median age of Indigenous Australia being 20.3 years in 2016, it is extremely important that First Nations young people are a part of the initial design process as well as being adequately consulted on any model that is designed. To date, young people have not had a seat at the table in deliberating over the Voice models as put forward by the co-design process.
With a nod to our position, the Interim Report does propose a permanent youth advisory group to advise the national Voice. The Report indicates that details of the youth advisory group will be presented in stage two of the co-design process. But, that is when the proposal is supposedly to be finalised. Thus, it gives very little direction for the youth themselves to comment on in relation to the youth or disability advisory groups in the first stage round of submissions.
Further, the idea of an ‘advisory group’ has been pre-determined by the Interim Report. Is this how First Nations youth actually see themselves interacting or participating in the Voice mechanism? What other proposals were considered and rejected on our behalf? While I’m sure young people appreciate
the acknowledgement that we as a group should be provided some guarantee to have our voices heard by the National Voice, the National Co-design Group has not specifically consulted with First Nations youth or created a platform to allow our voices to be heard in the co-design process.
Given the driving concern in the Uluru Statement to address the disadvantage that is felt acutely by First Nations Youth, and to seek reforms that created a better future for us, it is frustrating that we have been sidelined from the co-design process, and spoken for by government appointed officials.
We are ready
As a young First Nations person, I am overwhelmed by the love for our young people from those delegates to the Regional Dialogues, the Nation Constitutional Convention, and from our mob more broadly. Those mob engaged, in good faith despite all that had gone before, with the Regional Dialogue process and then delivered the clear call to action of Voice, Treaty and Truth in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. They did the work selflessly for the generations that will come after them. For me. For my son.
Our Elders are the binding that keeps us together and they are fighting for our futures. We will always be grateful for and guided by their work. It is now time for young people to step up and mobilise.
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Bridget Cama is a Wiradjuri Pasifika Fijian woman and Co-Chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue.
