Racism continues to rise following referendum

MORE than five months on from the failed Voice to Parliament referendum, local First Nations organisations and non-Indigenous allies are continuing to report increases in instances of racism across the region.

In a meeting with Victorian Minister for Treaty Natalie Hutchins last month in Geelong, members of the Western Victoria Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations Collective leadership expressed concerns about the ongoing ramifications for the First Nations community following the referendum, of which the “young ones cop the brunt”.

Ms Hutchins said: “The reality is it’s [the referendum] hurt community and people have a suffered a lot.”

“Racism in regional and rural Victoria has been real and horrible.”

As the state continues discussions around Treaty, concerns remain that this will further increase the burden on First Nations communities.

Co-chair of Reconciliation Victoria and international reconciliation expert, Professor Andrew Gunstone from Federation University, said he was aware there had been an upsurge in racism since October.

“I don’t think the referendum has led to people becoming more racist, but I think people that are racist, are feeling more comfortable now in saying things that they didn’t feel comfortable saying before.”

He said while the impacts could be felt in this region, the rise in racism was part of a “national trend”.

“I’ve got Aboriginal friends who took their kids out of school for a couple of days after the referendum result because their children were being racially vilified at school by other kids.

“Where are those kids learning it from? They’re obviously learning it from their community around them.

Professor Gunstone experienced this shifting community sentiment personally at an event on January 26 in Anglesea during which he was heckled for speaking about truth telling, resulting in him being removed from the stage.

“I’ve certainly been heckled before at events… but never to that level of vitriol,” Professor Gunstone said.

“I then had to walk through the crowd to leave the area and that’s where people were quite close to my face, yelling at me and at that point, I was quite unsure about what could happen.

“Clearly what happened to me wasn’t good, but… that happens to Indigenous people every day, often in far worse circumstances.”

He said a lack of understanding about what reconciliation and Treaty meant remained a barrier to improving the situation.

“When I went to school, I learnt nothing about Indigenous peoples and my kids, they’re going through school at the moment, and they learn a bit more but not a lot.

“When our education system fails us, it’s no wonder that people don’t know about the true history and when they find out, some will react very defensively.”

He said it was important for those engaging in the reconciliation space to “keep talking” and encouraged local groups to continue talking to “their communities, their friends, their families, their workmates”, and suggested it was one way to achieve “attitudinal change”.

Professor Gunstone will speak again in Anglesea later this month on the topic, ‘Where to now?’ at an event hosted by Surf Coast for Reconciliation.