Australians of the year

by Pamela Nathan

Adam Goodes – Australia Day Council’s ‘Australian of the Year’.

Marcia Langton*, Warren Mundine, Noel Pearson, Andrew Forrest and Adam Goodes – put forward as joint ‘Australians of the Year’ by ‘The Australian’ newspaper for their roles as “champions of indigenous advancement”.

CASSE congratulates all of these truly amazing people.

For being committed to what is right.

For standing up against injustice.

For working tirelessly towards a new reality for indigenous Australians – a reality that includes the same standards of education, the same access to work, and the same levels of health and wellbeing that are enjoyed by the majority of non-indigenous Australians.

They have trailblazed a path that was never going to be easy and, no doubt, came at considerable personal cost. But that cost could never be as high as if they had turned a blind eye.

We, all Australians, have a responsibility to support these leaders in broadening the path they have fought so hard to carve into freeways of opportunity for all.

This is the freeway of true reconciliation.

*Click here to view Marcia Langton’s presentation at CASSE’S public forum. ‘Reconciliation Australia: Psychological Perspectives’.