Defiant Hope – Aboriginal Sunday 2025

First of all I would like to thank Amanda very much for giving me this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you this morning, on a topic which is close to my heart.  Today we are joining with an organisation called Common Grace and churches across Australia to mark Aboriginal Sunday, the Sunday before January 26.  We are responding to a request made in 1939 by an Aboriginal Christian leader named William Cooper, a Yorta Yorta man.  He asked Christians of all denominations to go deeper on the journey of listening, learning, and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their ongoing struggle for reconciliation and justice. 

So our first question is: are Aboriginal people still struggling for reconciliation and justice? Do they still need, or want us to be listening, learning, and supporting them? Well, I think most of us would know that there does exist still a huge gap in the health statistics, living conditions and educational opportunities between indigenous people, and the average non-indigenous Aussie.  There is also evidence of considerable trans-generational pain in many communities, sometimes known as inherited trauma, which can lead to repetitive patterns of destructive behaviour, and is perhaps a reason for another problem, their over-representation in our prison systems.  We know too that the result of the referendum last year left many of the current leaders depressed and despairing.  I think it would be true to say that there is still an unhealed wound at the heart of our nation, and that we are still on a journey towards a meaningful reconciliation with our First Nations people. 

So I believe the answer to our first question is yes.
The second question is: how did all this come about? I would like to begin with a brief summary of the historical facts as we now understand them, and suggest that we approach this story with compassion rather than blame.  And I mean compassion for the early settlers as well as for the Aboriginal people.  It seems to me that sadly, a tragedy was inevitable from the moment the new arrivals began to build on land which they assumed was theirs for the taking.  They believed it belonged to the British Government from the time Captain Cook planted his flag, and the British Government had given it to them because it was terra nullius: ie.‘nobody else owned it or cared about it’. 

Unfortunately, none of those early settlers, convicts, soldiers or government officials, could have had any comprehension of the strong spiritual bond the ‘natives’ had with their ‘country’, or any understanding of the way this connection undergirded their whole way of life, their identity and spirituality, their kinship systems and their culture.  Consequently they had no idea either of the devastating social disintegration which would occur following the loss of that land.  How could they? Their main task was to build a permanent settlement, plant crops and dig in for the future.
And sadly again, as they took control of more and more land, there was no talk of negotiation, a treaty or meaningful recompense.  Why would you do that when you ‘knew’ that black people in general were essentially inferior, and the ones here were particularly primitive (virtually sub-human, because they didn’t feel pain like white people) and in any case they were destined to die out. 

In my opinion there is no point in blaming or condemning our ancestors who were behaving according to their own social conditioning.  But we do need to recognise that as a result of all that followed, there is unfinished business in our country, because the black people did not die out.  They were in fact a very spiritual people, with a deeply innate and indomitable spirit which enabled a few of them to survive, despite the initial spasmodic attacks to clear them off their traditional countries, then the intentional massacres which are now being called Frontier Wars. 

Despite also the forcible removal of children from their families between 1910 and the 1970s.  The report from the 1997 National Inquiry into this program, concluded that it was actually an act of genocide contrary to the UN Convention on Genocide, which was ratified by Australia in 1949.  Genocide? Yes, because without any kind of court order the majority of these children were completely separated from their communities, taught that indigenous culture was of no value, and forbidden to use their language.  Many of them endured harsh living conditions and experienced multiple institutional and/or foster placements.  Others were told they were unwanted by their parents or that their parents were dead, which was not true. 
Is it any wonder then, that in 1938 activist William Cooper, greatly influenced by a missionary named Daniel Matthews who did not believe that Aborigines were inferior, declared a Day of Mourning and asked the Christian churches to support him ‘lift his people up’.  In 1938 he also organised a petition directly to King George 5, seeking representation for Aborigines in parliament, the right to vote, and land rights.  In this he was way ahead of his time, virtually asking for a Voice. 

Another of his basic contentions was that Aboriginal people should have some control over their own affairs.  Unfortunately the C’wealth Government formally refused to forward that petition to the King and basically ignored all his appeals for democratic change.  William Cooper was very discouraged but throughout his life maintained a defiant hope which he never gave up. 
We can rejoice that by the grace of God there is a happy ending to his story, as his tireless work over many years was recognised in June 2018, when the Australian Electoral Commission announced that the electorate of Batman in central Melbourne would be re-named Cooper.  John Batman had been one of the founders of Melbourne, but it is now known that before he arrived in Melbourne he had taken part in several massacres of Aboriginal people in Tasmania. 

Before moving on to the third question, I would just like to say that I have been trying very hard this morning to present facts without any particular political slant.  If I have crossed over that line and you have an issue with anything I have said, please feel free to chat over morning tea. 

But now to our third question: What could we do if we did want to stand alongside our Aboriginal neighbours and support their quest for justice today? We cannot return the land or in our own strength heal the spiritual wounding caused by its loss.  But you will find some ideas on your bookmarks and I will suggest a few more. 
First, I think it always helps to be as fully informed as possible about anything we regard as important, in this case the facts of our history, painful though they may be.  Another word for that process is truth-telling. 

Second, we could support Indigenous Australians in their struggle for justice and constitutional reform by asking what it is they actually want, and then listening with respect.

Third, we can learn about and cooperate with like-minded groups, for example Common Grace, ANTaR (Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation), Nungalinya College or Reconciliation Australia.  We could support Reconciliation Week in May and NAIDOC Week in July

Fourth, on the political level, we can lobby governments of every colour and stripe to continue the process of public apology to victims of gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law.  There are many examples of other countries in the world apologising for morally questionable actions of previous governments.  We can also ask for the recommendations of government reports to be implemented.

Fifth, we need to remember that the ugly face of racism contributed to many Aboriginal deaths and to the massacres which are now being being investigated by a team from Newcastle University and referred to as ‘frontier wars’.  We can call out racism wherever we encounter it, whichever ethnic minority is being targeted. 
Sixth, there may be those who might want to make some kind of financial restitution (to pay the rent so to speak).  Donations may be made to any number of Aboriginal organisations, churches or schools, or to programs which encourage and empower their members.  One Anglican parish in Melbourne pays a weekly rent to the Wurundjeri Land Council for the land its church occupies.  Another regularly supports a Wurundjeri elder, Uncle Norman Terrick, who is training in the area of domestic violence. 

And of course we can pray, for ourselves for God’s guidance as we perhaps begin to think more seriously about these issues, and for our indigenous neighbours generally.  With defiant hope in our hearts we can turn a corner and work towards a makarrata, a true reconciliation.  After all reconciliation is at the heart of the Christian gospel.  It is an essential part of being a Christian.  Most basic is being reconciled with God, and a natural and necessary consequence of this is seeking reconciliation with others. 
In a just, equitable and reconciled Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will have the same life chances and choices as non-Indigenous children, and the length and quality of a person’s life will not be determined by their racial background.  There will be no discrimination based on racism or ethnic origin.  We believe that all human beings are made in the image of God; red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight. 

And so to close on a positive note, let us put our trust and hope in God and embrace the opportunity we have today, to seek peace and justice, and to love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves.   Amen.