Māpuna for Saturday 4 June 2022

Is Australia on a path towards a treaty with indigenous Australians?

The final day of the National Constitutional Convention at Uluru. Photo: Twitter: @ref_council

Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said recently "we will be advancing the need to have constitutional recognition of First Nations people, including a Voice to Parliament that is enshrined in that constitution." Those points were encapsulated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017 which also proposes the negotiation of a treaty. It was signed by 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates at a constitutional convention. One of those signatories was Thomas Mayor who spent 18 months taking the signed document around Australia. 

Craig Ritchie: Uluru Statement is a 'springboard' for indigenous Australians

Photo: Craig Ritchie

This week the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies hosted a summit in Queensland which was attended by a thousand delegates from across Australia including the new Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Linda Burney. The Institute's CEO Craig Ritchie says the Uluru statement is a 'springboard' for further change in Australia.   

Witi Ihimaera: 'the concept of time now has an indigenous alternative'

Photo:

With the first celebration of Matariki as a public holiday just weeks away one of Aotearoa's most prominent writers, Witi Ihimaera, has written a new children's book about Matariki, Te Kokorangi, The Astromancer. Ihimaera says 'for me what is happening this year is the concept of time for New Zealanders now has an indigenous alternative' with the Maori lunar calendar.