Following the huge Harbour Bridge march in Sydney on May 28 (see page 16-17), thousands more people have marched against government racism over the last week.
From Lismore, Ema Corro reports that 1500 people crossed three bridges in a march on June 3, organised by the Committee for Reconciliation. The event was one of several shows of support for Aboriginal rights in northern New South Wales and south-east Queensland.
Olympic torch bearer and Bunjalung elder Fay Smith led the march to Heritage Park, where elder Ron Heron welcomed everyone on behalf of elder Fletcher Roberts and spoke about the growth in sentiment for reconciliation that he had seen over recent years in Lismore.
Lismore mayor Bob Gates' call to "get politics out of reconciliation" received a mixed response from the crowd and was later contradicted by former mayor Ros Erwin, who responded, "Of course it is political".
Performers included local band Monkey and the Fish, and the Goobah Goobah dancers.
Smith told those gathered, "Today marks the day everything will begin to fall in place for us, everyone in Australia". Judith Light from the Committee for Reconciliation read a poem dedicated to Fay Smith and Agnes Roberts.
In Byron Bay, 1000 people took part in a long march that began at the beach and ended with a festival which included indigenous bands and dancers and traditional storytelling by Ron Heron. Marches also took place in Nimbin and other communities throughout Bunjalung country.
Bunjalung elder Agnes Roberts expressed the sentiment of the day when she told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, "Corroboree 2000 is where we're going to start and we won't stop. It's lovely to see so many Kooris and whites marching together."
Jim McIlroy reports that on June 3, 200 people walked through the Ipswich Mall as part of Corroboree 2000. The starting rally was addressed by Aboriginal elders and ATSIC representative Pat Thompson.
Indigenous participants described their family history of dispossession and removal from tribal lands to the Hopeville mission, south of Ipswich. For one participant, dispossession stretched over five generations of her family. "It didn't only affect 10%", she said.
From Canberra, James Vassilopoulos told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that nearly 1000 people participated in a walk for reconciliation in sleet and snow on May 28, marching from the centre of town across Commonwealth Bridge to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy at Old Parliament House.
Warmed by camp fires, many in the crowd said they were inspired to walk by the early morning TV pictures of people walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The mood was clearly political — people were talking with others they'd never met before about the need for John Howard to apologise for past and present injustices against Aboriginal people.
A Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly went to print on June 4, more than 50,000 were marching for reconciliation in Brisbane.
Graham Matthews reports that the crowd was very diverse, including many high school and church contingents, and was so huge that as the first marchers arrived at the march destination in King George Square, those at the end were still leaving the starting point in Kuripla Park.