How to spend a national day that makes you feel uncomfortable? As one of the 6,286,894 people who voted ‘Yes’ to the Voice referendum, and who was bitterly disappointed with the result, I wanted to show my ongoing support. But how to do it on a day which is contested and argued over, year after year?
I decided to go into the Melbourne rally. This is the first time I have been to this rally, which has been held for about the last ten years, on the steps of Parliament House (although the first Day of Mourning was staged in Sydney in 1938). A sartorial question: would it be right to wear my ‘Yes’ t-shirt? Or is that just a reminder of past failure? I decided not to, although I had it rolled up in my bag, and as it turned out there were very few ‘Yes’ t-shirts on display, so it stayed in the bag. Perhaps it’s time for a new t-shirt.
We arrived at about 10.10 a.m. and it had just started. There were many, many speeches- of which I thought Gary Foley’s was the best- and after more than an hour there was no sign that the march was about to move off. Standing for an hour is hard on 69 and 75 year old legs, and so we decided to leave.
There were a lot of people there, especially a lot of young people which is encouraging. So often I go to protests and it’s full of white-haired people like myself. And I don’t think that I’ve ever seen such an array of tattoos.
The march had many attendees and flags from the regular Palestinian march. Had I been an organizer, I would have felt that the rally had been hijacked somewhat by Palestinian speeches that took up too much time. Yes, I know the links between settler colonialism in Australia and Palestine. Yes, I know that most of the people there would support both causes, as I do. But I felt that the Palestinian speeches, at such length, on a day and at a function organized by the indigenous community, did not show respect. But that’s not my call to make, I guess.
So how then to mark Survival Day? I decided to listen to the testimony from the Yoorrook Justice Commission. I’ve been meaning to do this for ages, and today seemed the perfect opportunity. You can find the testimony on YouTube as well as on the Commission website. It’s long, and it is a courtcase but the testimony is informative and informed with both indigenous and non-indigenous witnesses. I was particularly interested in the Land, sky and waters hearings in March 2024. As a LaTrobe graduate, I opted first for the panel on 26th March featuring Associate Professor Katherine Ellinghaus, Emeritus Professor Richard Broome (my PhD supervisor) and Professor Julie Andrews from La Trobe and Dr Bill Pascoe from the University of Melbourne. On 27th March there’s Professor Marcia Langton, Jim Berg, Professor Henry Reynolds and Uncle Robbie Thorpe (Djuran Bunjilinee) and on 28th March, Aunty Jill Gallagher, Aunty Vicki Couzens and Suzannah Henty.
There’s hours of watching, listening and learning ahead of me, and for me that’s the best way I can think of marking the day.
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 
The last march I went on was a Palm Sunday when the kids were teenagers, so 30 years ago. Good on you for going today, I have no excuse for staying home.
Thank you for attending, thinking of you as my representative, among many who you probably represent. Yes, it is hard of older people, but you made the effort.