and the media's view... 50,000 march for Aboriginal reconciliation in Adelaide Source: AAP | Published: Monday June 12, 4:36 PM Tens of thousands of people marched in Adelaide today in a mass display of support for Aboriginal reconciliation. On a perfect, cloudless day, many wore red, black and yellow and carried banners and Aboriginal flags as they marched over the King William Street bridge, crossing the River Torrens to Elder Park in the city. Police estimated 50,000 people took part in the event, organised by Australians for Reconciliation. South Australian Committee for Reconciliation co-chair Shirley Peisley, who was made an AM (Member in the Order of Australia) in today's Queen's Birthday honours list for service to the indigenous community, said the crowd was bigger than expected. 'This is a great, great day to see so many people come out to walk for reconciliation,' Mrs Peisley said. 'You have surpassed our expectations ... thank you very much for being here with us and showing how you feel about the things that need to be changed in this state and in this country to make this state a better place for all of us.' The march was originally scheduled to coincide with the massive reconciliation walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, attended by 250,000 people in May. But storms forced the Adelaide event to be postponed. Representing the SA government, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Dorothy Kotz was jeered as she addressed the gathering. 'Bitterness and anger and frustration have all come out of past injustices,' Ms Kotz said. 'This is now the time to move forward and make sure that in friendship, and united, we all move towards positive measures for the journey of healing and therefore to true reconciliation in this state of South Australia and across our nation.' SA Opposition Leader Mike Rann received a rousing reception as he criticised the federal government for failing to apologise for past injustices against Aborigines. 'It's not a saying sorry about personal responsibility, it's about us as community leaders who have inherited those positions and institutions and must, and should, say sorry,' Mr Rann said. Reverend Ken Sumner, of the Uniting Church, told the gathering today's walk was also about native title. 'This walk is just not about reconciliation; reconciliation involves many things and part of that is native title,' he said. 'Without our land, we will die, and that's something that you really and truly need to understand. 'There's a little group of us that gathers together on the first Friday of each month and we walk around Government House with our candles. 'We are disappointed in the way that this government is dealing with reconciliation, the way that it's dealing with native title. 'And so we gather up here on the corner and we walk because we're disappointed. 'But we need you, we need you to be with us. As you've walked today ... you've shown this country and the leaders of this country what you want - you want reconciliation and it's a beautiful thing.' -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
