City to host The Heart forum

THE CITY of Greater Geelong will host a free public forum next week where local Indigenous and Reconciliation leaders discuss the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The city will present “The Heart – A Shared Journey” supported by the city’s Kilangitj Aboriginal Advisory Committee and will feature Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, First Nations community elders and representatives from Reconciliation Victoria.

Leaders part of the day include:

• Uncle Charles Pakana, a third-generation journalist and an Aboriginal man of Tasmanian descent
• Corrina Eccles, Wadawurrung Traditional Owner and Custodian of Language and Knowledge
• Nicole Findlay, chief executive officer of Reconciliation Victoria, and
• Julie Saylor Briggs, Torres Strait Islander and City of Greater Geelong senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy officer.

The statement was developed in 2017 and calls for constitutional change and structural reform in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ realtionship with Australia.

It calls for enshrining a First Nations voice in the Australian Constitution, and was a catalyst for the Voice to Parliament referendum that will be decided later this year.

Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said the day would involve talking about the region’s shared journey towards reconciliation.

“It will be a chance to share stories and discuss the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and how we can all walk together into the future,” he said.

The City of Greater Geelong formally expressed its support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart via a letter to then-prime minister Scott Morrsion in 2021.

The event will be at the city’s Wurriki Nyal office building from 1-4pm on Tuesday (May 30) – coinciding with National Reconciliation Week.

Tickets sold out to the event this week.