Cherbourg teacher responds to ABS data

Cherbourg teacher and Barambah Justice Group worker Bevan Costello was not surprised by the recent ABS data.

CLOSING THE GAP: Cherbourg teacher Bevan Costello with his students.

CHERBOURG teacher and Barambah Justice Group worker Bevan Costello was not surprised by recent ABS data revealing his home town was the most disadvantaged area in Australia.

He hopes it will initiate change.

"It wasn't a shock to me. It's got most of the Indigenous communities in the top 10,” Mr Costello said.

"I'm a Cherbourg boy. Born and bred in Cherbourg. I've seen a lot and not a lot has changed here.

"We're not moving forwards with health, education or employment. We're not closing the gap.”

Mr Costello said he could see the Federal Government was trying to close the gap, without much success.

"I'm a teacher and I can tell you we've got a long way to go in terms of education,” Mr Costello said.

"The first step in addressing this is to work on recognising what is wrong. Then we need reconciliation to happen.

"People need to come to terms with the fact that we were the first ones here.”

Mr Costello said the education system needed to incorporate accurate curricula, teaching Australian students about the invasion.

Mr Costello now wants Australians to question who is suffering from this.

"We need to make people aware of this, of what happened, and of how our community is living now because of this. It's not our fault,” he said.

Mr Costello wants Australians to visit Indigenous communities.

"A lot of people have never even been to an Indigenous community. That's how you learn and how you see what's been done to us,” he said.

"If we can get people talking about this and understanding what happened to us then we're getting closer.”

Mr Costello said Cherbourg leaders were working towards making their home a better and safer place.

"We are trying to do our part,” Mr Costello said.

"But we can't move forward until we've dealt with what happened.”