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said the highlight was York Island. And
the people of York Island have always
remembered, they love that music and
they love the orchestra and for many of
the people there it was the first time they’d
actually heard it. So it was just great, I
wish more of those things would happen.
What have you experienced
in remote Australia that
has changed your world
view?
Probably the first one was being out
at Doomadgee and not really realising
that places like that existed. That was
when Bjelke-Petersen was still in power
in Queensland and the oppression was
amazing. I think the last discriminatory
laws had just been removed from the
Queensland Legislation. But the people
were so oppressed and there was a feeling
that there were a lot of white people there
who ran everything, this was in the early
80s. There was a strong sense amongst
many of the white people that Aboriginal
people couldn’t do things. They just
weren’t intelligent enough, or capable
enough and I was really shocked at that.
But also, I think over time, and maybe it
wasn’t just one instance, it was learning
from Aboriginal people and Torres Strait
Islander people that, I got brought up
in Cairns which was fairly racist. Then
realising that I carried some baggage
and it was being challenged and
taught by Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people that I really respected,
that made me reflect on myself.
And I try really hard not to recognise
when any racist thoughts come up.
But also, I’ve spent quite a lot of time
now at University teaching people and
one of my main areas I teach is about
racism and how it works in society.
I guess the ‘aha’ moment is, I’m not
sure exactly when it happened but, I
recognised how racist we were in Australia
towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people. And, I’ve worked against
that, trying to do something about
