Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In December last year I took part in the University of Newcastle's inaugural Wollotuka Yarning Circle. The Yarning Circle is an initiative of the Wollotuka Institute and is the flagship event for the organisation's new direction in community engagement and discussion, ensuring that local Aboriginal people and the wider community have a platform to take part in the national debate on Indigenous affairs. December's Yarning Circle focused on how constitutional recognition would impact the lives and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and I was joined in this discussion with the community and fellow panellists by award-winning journalist and advocate for Indigenous rights Jeff McMullen AM and Teela Reid, a talented lawyer and University of Newcastle and Wollotuka graduate.

For more than 30 years Wollotuka has been supporting Indigenous students through their studies and has helped the University of Newcastle become a leader in Indigenous education, with the highest number of Indigenous enrolments in Australia and more than 1,100 graduates from the institute to date. I congratulate Professor Bob Morgan, Conjoint Professor of the Wollotuka Institute, and his team for their ongoing success and advocacy for Indigenous Australians and thank them for the opportunity to take part in the Yarning Circle discussion. I also encourage all members in this place to take part in the yarn in their communities about constitutional recognition. Opportunities to change the Constitution come along rarely and it is time we put an end to the constitutional exclusion of Aboriginal people from the national polity.