Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the eve of the anniversary of the apology to the stolen generation I want to take this opportunity to say something about the Indigenous people, the Wathaurong people, of the Geelong electorate, in which I live. In the early days of settlement the Wathaurong became one of the most notable tribes to the European settlers through the extraordinary story of William Buckley, an Englishman, who, at the age of 19, was sentenced to transportation to Australia for stealing cloth. He was part of the, ultimately, aborted attempt to establish a colony in 1802-03 around Port Phillip Bay.

Within months of his arrival he and his fellow prisoners attempted an escape from the camp. After a few days in the wilderness, they discovered that survival was not going to be as easy as they thought. William Buckley’s fellow escapees attempted to go back to the camp and were never heard of again. Both they and William Buckley were given up for dead by the camp which of course is the beginning of the phrase ‘you’ve got Buckley’s chance’. In fact William Buckley did not die. He was at death’s door when he was taken in by the local Aboriginal tribe, the Wathaurong people. He was cared for; they shared their food with him and over the next 30 years he lived with them, he became a husband, a father and, ultimately, an elder of that community. He emerged from the bush in 1835 in fact to try to prevent a conflict between those from John Batman’s camp and the Wathaurong people. He was dressed in kangaroo skins, carrying Aboriginal weapons and he had forgotten how to speak English but ultimately regained that ability. He was given a pardon, became an interpreter for the colony at the time, and ended up marrying again and moving down to Tasmania where he died at the age of 75.

In the history of Australia both Indigenous and non-Indigenous surely William Buckley’s life must be one of the most extraordinary lives ever lived on this continent. It is an extraordinary story; they ought to make a movie about it. I tell it now because what ought to be celebrated from it is that it is truly one of the great first acts of reconciliation on the part of the Wathaurong people to take in this man. It gave so much promise of a future that could have been very different to what ultimately transpired.

The Wathaurong people now live in Geelong and are very active through the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative with its CEO, Trevor Edwards. It is an organisation which is at the forefront of self-determination. Since its formation 30 years ago, it has always been driven by the belief that services for Aboriginal people must be provided by Aboriginal people. It is a highly successful community facility now staffed by 35 people providing health care, child care, drug and alcohol services, juvenile services and many others. Its medical and dental clinic is a great example of a service responding to community needs. It has two doctors at the moment and they are hoping to take on a third. Wathaurong also invests in local jobs. One of its most successful and remarkable start-ups has been Wathaurong Glass, which is a mix of industry and artistry. It started as a Work for the Dole project and now employs five full-time staff. They create everything from household items to pool fencing to highly visual design pieces for the corporate sector. Nelson Mandela was presented with a piece of their work during his visit here in the year 2000, and many of the giant football club trophies are now made by Wathaurong Glass. Wathaurong’s CEO Trevor Edwards says that the cooperative’s success demonstrates how crucial it is for Indigenous people to have their own services. Housing provision is a big part of their work. Unfortunately, the need for Indigenous housing in Geelong greatly outstrips the supply.

These days Geelong is also home to a wider group of Indigenous people than just the Wathaurong. Indeed the Geelong region within Victoria has the largest Indigenous population outside of Melbourne, encompassing 4,500 people. Many of those have a very sad story typical of the survivors of the stolen generation, because for much of the 20th century Geelong had six orphanages, the highest number of orphanages outside of any capital city, which means that there are a large number of people living in Geelong who grew up in orphanages. Of course it was to these orphanages that many of the stolen generation went and in these orphanages that many of the stolen generation grew up. So these days a lot of the stolen generation now live in Geelong and form part of the Wathaurong’s broader family. So on the anniversary of the apology to the stolen generation it is a great honour for me not only to pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land in which my electorate is based but also to celebrate the wonderful contribution that they make to Geelong life.