speech by dr kelvin kong - their spirit still shinesGiven on May 27, 2007 at Old Parliament house. Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished guests, in particular, the honoured campaigners who worked so long and hard to achieve the referendum result. Goo-jee-ik-koo; Goo-jee-ik-koo It’s my absolute honour to be on the ancestral lands of the Ngamberi Ngunnawal (NE-GAM-BERI NAN-NA-WAL) people, represented by an amazing welcome by Matilda House. Thank you for the welcome and I wish to pay my respects to your mob, your elders and ancestors, the traditional caretakers of the land we are on. Equally as important, is to acknowledge the ancestors, elders of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from all over this beautiful country, who are celebrating this historic day. My name is Kelvin Kong and I am from Worimi country in Port Stephens. I am here because of the people here before you. It really does humble me to be amongst people I am so indebted to. Their spirit does still shine, it’s hard to express with enough passion the way their spirit shines. I think a good analogy is the way we feel about the ANZAC spirit. You see they felt a sense of duty to join up and make life better for those around them and for future generations. The mateship and the special bonds created would be like no other. Although there are specific war heroes, we don’t tend to single them out, we collectively acknowledge the service they provided for the benefit of our lifestyle, our living. Similarly, Australians all rallied behind the 1967 referendum. More than 90% of Australians voted YES. They were serving their country to make life better for those who were not treated equally. I am continually amazed at the life before the referendum: The movie theatres had a section roped off at the front for my mob – they’d have to wait until it went dark before entering the theatre, so no-one could see People knew there was a wrong and knew we had to rectify this, not just for Indigenous Australia, but for all of Australia. The referendum changed the course of my upbringing. My grandmother is the real star in our lives. She grew up in the funkiest of houses. Her house was made of bark. Bark walls, bark roof, a true open fireplace in the home! Bark on the roof, patched up to ensure warmth. No stain glassed windows, but cornflour Hessian bags for windows and doors. A true “humpy”, they lived near the mission. They weren’t allowed into town without a permission slip, and would always be harassed by the ganjah(police). In a way we were lucky, when my mum was a baby, she became unwell and required hospitalization, Nan of course came down to support her child, a fair distance from home. Whilst away, her mother (yet another statistic) passed away in her 30’s. Luckily for her, word came back not to go home, as the family was being fostered out “for their own good”. Nan was not to see any of her siblings for more than 30 years. We were lucky, because we kept our mob together. My Nan with their only child at the time, my mum, stayed away. So they could keep their “Gracie” and have a simple Aboriginal dream, a family. Unfortunately, in the back of their minds, they were always worried about being broken up. It meant Nan & Pop didn’t get the education or opportunities, they deserved, nor did they mind too much. So Nan and my grandfather brought up their family of 12. They moved up in the world, they went from a humpy made of bark, to corrugated tin house, now with 2 rooms. No flash 12 bedroom house, not even a small house, just plenty of old mattresses strewn across the floor and everyone head to toe. No floor, when it rained, they had to round up everything and stack it to keep things dry. It was cramped, no electricity, cold and overcrowded, but the family bond created was unimaginable. Whilst they were “surviving”, unbeknown to them, a groundswell of support was being created in improving the basic rights of our people. Campaigners of all Australian backgrounds were recognizing the importance of our future. When I told my Nan I was presenting today she had a big smile of happiness. When I asked her to come, a cheeky grin arose from ear to ear. “They don’t want me down there”, in her modest way, but I re-iterated I’m only presenting because of her actions. I am honoured to have her here today. Keeping our family together and letting us reach our potentials. Her smile grew, and I guess it is easy for me to get big headed with her reaction, but this was her expression of happiness for the family, for the struggle of all our people, Australia wide. Who would have thought this could have happened when my grandmother was my age. Her mother only survived a couple of years above my current age. These aren’t statistics, this is my family, my mob. She was so proud “cuttn” down on the dreaming plane to Canberra on Friday. I was and still am jealous I had to work, and couldn’t travel down with her. And like many of the elders with us today, this was her first flight ever. She wanted to be amongst you today, to thank all of you and soak the atmosphere of such a historic occasion. Being self absorbed in accolades is not what this is about, it is about the struggle for simple freedom, to be judged on your character and not by the colour of your skin. My grandfather was the working model, always reminding me to work hard, ignore the critics and be judged on your determination. Unfortunately he followed the Indigenous male survival curve, but a great legacy he left. With this determination, Mum achieved her nursing qualifications, after helping rear her siblings. Both my sisters are proud graduates from Sydney University, as the first Indigenous medical graduates. University has a way of moulding people, but it couldn’t take away their pride in our rich Aboriginal culture. I aspired to pursue a career in the health profession as well, mainly because of witnessing the hardships, social circumstances, and health care delivery, to Aboriginal people first hand. My family lived the health atrocities, we have experienced 4 premature deaths at tender ages, our community endured the same health statistics that has plagued Indigenous Australia all over this country. As I grew up I thought it was part of life, experiencing the health discrepancies. The barriers to health care access were and are enormous. Simple things, like an Indigenous male I cared for who kept returning without an investigation, wanting to be fixed. He had Ischaemic heart disease, one of the biggest killers of our men. He needed a stress test, a test for the heart, which requires you to run on a tread mill. He knew the importance of the test, we even swindled him an appointment into the busy clinic. Favours were drying up when he repeatedly did not show. His simple problem, he was too embarrassed to say he didn’t have a pair of running shoes. I have been fortunate enough to have been given the education, denied to so many, and proud to say I am a product of the public schooling system. This is because of the path created by not only the pioneers in front of me, but collectively by all Australians in voting YES. My first Aboriginal heroes were unlike many other Indigenous heroes, mine were Indigenous academics, two then medical students, now successful Indigenous doctors: Louis Peachey and Sandy Eades. I didn’t think Indigenous Australians could become professionals. They proved what I hadn’t dreamed of, going to university. And most importantly, I was supported and encouraged by many mentors around me. In true reconciliation spirit, both Medical and Non-medical, Indigenous & Non-Indigenous. Really what I had, was what every growing person needs - nurturing. What is even more exciting is that, like so many other deadly young Indigenous Australians, I am able to give back to all of Australia. Not just Aboriginal Australia, but Australians as a whole. Medicine is a brilliant and exciting profession. It mirrors a lot of what reconciliation embodies: A team of dedicated people, working together, in difficult circumstances to achieve a common goal. There was and still is a great injustice to our first Australians. But a lot has changed because of the efforts of many believers. Their spirit shines in many aspects of today’s world. A great illustration I’ll never forget was when my local primary school had a ceremony to raise the Aboriginal flag for NAIDOC week. It’s great to see our schools celebrate, but what charmed me, was my cousin (10yrs at the time) called me, bragging that she had the honour of raising the flag and for me to come and watch. Such a simple gesture, but such a powerful meaning. Nan would never seen this in her day. As a country and as a nation we have gained momentum for equality. I am grateful to all Australians who share this journey with us. I welcome those new to the journey, and encourage those who want to partake in moving Australia forward. To have the First Australians continue to experience the worse outcomes of any other group, equivalent to that of third world nations, is a travesty. I have tried to illustrate and capture a story without blame, without sorrow, but rather with a theme of knowledge and understanding. My Nan’s life is an amazing journey, my mum continued the inspiration and determination. It left my sisters and me the task of proving what they had been through was worth it. We can’t change the past. But we do need the leadership to take us forward. We now have the ability to write our history together and to move forward. Having a passion and championing for the rights of all Australians. I am you, we are Australians and together we have so much to offer. Let their spirits still shine in the freedom we have. MUR-ROOM-BOO AND EK-U-BA
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