PERTH — Three women set off from Perth on July 11 to cross the Nullarbor on foot and deliver a message against racism to Canberra.

Jane Paterson (70), Kathryn Newmar (62) and Pam Morris (74) will be armed with petitions, to be completed by people they meet along the way, urging the federal government to implement “wise, respectful and compassionate policies” that curb “overt and covert racism”. These include a revision of education textbooks to include information about Aboriginal culture and the “true history of persecution, slaughter and enslavement of Indigenous people following the white invasion”.

Morris said their journey is not on behalf of Aboriginal people, but a representation of white people who recognise that “the roots of disparity between Aboriginal and white people [lie in] white supremacy attitudes that are still on display in Australia and reflected in recently announced policy frameworks of the federal government.”

Kerry Smith

From Green Left Weekly, July 19, 2006.
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