Noongar Elder Uncle Hedley Hayward gave the following speech to the Invasion Day protest in Boorloo.
• • •
Today is a Day of Mourning, where we remember the many who resisted, the many who suffered, under the heavy weight of invasion and ongoing settler colonialism.
This year marks 200 years since the invasion of Menang Country, in the South West of Noongar Boodja.
Two hundred years of strength. Two hundred years of survival. Two hundred years of truth waiting to be honoured.
I stand here as a Noongar Elder and I say this clearly: Our story did not end 200 years ago. Our story is not finished today. And to all those who think they can stonewall, hide and that we will forget, you are on notice: We will never forget.
Today we stand together, united, and we will not be silent.
Not when our people are dying in custody. Not when our children are being taken and locked away. Not when our Elders are denied support. Not when our families are pushed into homelessness.
For over 30 years, governments have ignored the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. We demand the full implementation of all the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
We demand independent investigations into deaths in custody, based on Red Cross and United Nations standards.
We demand healthcare: Medicare, Pharamceutical Benefits Scheme access, mental health and addiction therapy in every justice institution.
We demand that every justice worker carries a real duty of care.
End the lockdowns. Increase staffing. Meet international prison standards.
We demand housing justice. Shelter is a human right. End homelessness.
End three-strike evictions. Open safe places now, including unused facilities that sit empty while people and families sleep in cars and on the streets.
We need bail houses. We need halfway houses and more woman's refuges. We need support when people are released, not a pathway back to prison.
We demand the full implementation of the Help Way Earlier report into child justice. Close Unit 18. Build smaller, therapeutic centres on Country. A “Children’s Act” grounded in the rights of the child and a human rights act.
We demand independent oversight of police; culturally appropriate employment opportunities for the grassroots; support for our Elders; trauma-informed healing and mental health and addiction therapy Protection of Country.
This is not just about policy; this is about survival.
Every voice here matters. Every lived experience matters. Do not let anyone tell you your voice is too small.
When we come together, when we speak together, when we refuse to be silent together, this country has no choice but to listen.
United we can fight for real change.
Thank you for listening to me.
[Uncle Hedley Hayward, Noongar Elder and Co-Convenor of the Noongar Justice Network and a rally organiser.]