NOTE DATE AND VENUE CHANGE
Sunday 4 December 2022, 3 pm, Stanley Burbury Lecture Theatre, University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay, Hobart
The Royal Society of Tasmania invites you to a lecture by Tasmanian Aboriginal leader, Rodney Gibbins.
If you have already registered for in-person or online attendance, there is no need to register for the new date.
If you wish to attend in person and have not yet registered, please register via Eventbrite before 3 pm Saturday 3 December.
If you wish to view the lecture remotely via Zoom, and have not yet registered, please register in advance. You will receive an email from Zoom containing instructions for joining the webinar. Click here to register for Zoom.
Admission is free.
Abstract
For 60,000+ years the palawa people had sovereignty across this land lutruwita. All of this changed with the arrival of the white man. The invasion radically changed us in very short period of time, our culture was interrupted, our language and freedoms taken from us. This has resulted in continuing contemptuous views and actions by successive governments that have rendered us almost voiceless and powerless in our own country.
We began the fight back in the early 1970’s. We developed our own political movements and rallied as a people. Five years ago the Uluru statement was released. It was a forerunner for states to develop their own policies towards treaty and truth telling.
In this lecture, I will outline the responses of successive governments to Aboriginal issues and consider the needs and ambitions of the Aboriginal community in the development of a treaty and the truth telling process.
About Rodney Gibbins
Rodney Gibbins is a palawa man born in Launceston. As a child, he experienced constant physical and racial harassment. This was the experience as well, of most, if not all, of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and this harassment was a direct consequence of the subjugation by the broader white community towards the Aboriginal community. Rodney has been actively involved in Aboriginal politics since the early 1970s and served in both the state and Commonwealth governments as a Senior Aboriginal Program and Policy Officer for over 30 years. He is currently retired.
