NAIDOC Week calls each of us to Get Up, Stand Up, Show UP

Some times we have to be forced out of our comfort zones to understand another’s perspecitve. What do you think?

IN 1967, then Prime Minister Harold Holt told the Australian public a vote against changes to the Constitution would be a “victory for prejudice”.

More than 50 years on the Australian public may just be repeating history as it again considers changes to the ­national law.

Many say there is momentum for change, however NAIDOC Week, in its 47th year, reminds us that Australia has a history of discrimination, particularly for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

This week asks each of us to Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up: it is a powerful call to action.

One long overdue, it is an amazing opportunity for unity.

A chance for many of us to accept our own limitations and get a little bit uncomfortable.

For many white settlement created a society of comfort, one built on British governance and English.

Therefore, it is with great pride the NT News makes a statement, in Larrakia language, with permission of Elders on the land we publish, and mostly distribute, that causes people to be uncomfortable.

Today’s front page aims to disrupt, and it may cause people to complain about how it is not fair some people cannot read it.

But while some might experience a moment of perplexity, today’s front page positions those of us whose language has dominated this country, in the same position many First Nations people face every moment of every day.

When your language is lost in government and institutions that make many decisions for you, inequality can be the result.

Today we published data that shows life expectancy, education, health, housing and justice statistics for Aboriginal Territorians are getting worse.

Not better. The gap is widening.

When you consider the loss of language at the core of these ideas it becomes momentarily easier to empathise with.

When your health system is built on English, First Nations people can lose access to vital health information.

When your courts are judged in English, First Nations people can be at a disadvantage.

For Aboriginal people, an oral culture, English, and the colonialisation of government, can threaten 60,000 years of history and culture.

It can most certainly be displacement.

It is our hope that today’s front page can be an act of healing. That it disorients our audiences, even if only for a moment, so this week we can as one Territory community find a way forward.

A way to Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up together.