Council
4 July, 2024
Moyne adopts Indigenous engagement plan
A NEW document to help guide Moyne Shire council’s engagement with local Indigenous people has been endorsed despite pushback from one councillor.
Mayor Cr Ian Smith said the Aboriginal Engagement and Partnership Plan was largely an internal-facing document to help provide guidance to council teams and increase awareness and recognition of Indigenous culture in everyday operations.
The plan outlines a series of internal actions aimed at fostering robust relationships with First Nations people by listening and learning to create a greater awareness of shared history and its ongoing impact.
“It is very much about integrating Indigenous culture and recognition into the work our teams do every day,” Cr Smith said.
“It might include updating signage policies and guidelines to incorporate Aboriginal language and imagery where appropriate, increased Indigenous story time at our libraries or development of tourism materials with an Indigenous focus.
“The plan will help our teams recognise the 65,000 years of Indigenous culture in Australia, which predates all of us, and share it with the community through council’s daily operations.
“It will help our teams think about how they can make our work more inclusive and aware of Aboriginal culture.”
The report before council noted there were 18 submissions received, with seven positive, seven negative and four mixed.
Among the submitters opposing, there appeared to be some confusion the plan was in some way related to the defeated 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum.
One respondent claimed Indigenous blood was “so dilated that it is very to say (sic) that one race should be treated differently to another”.
Another said if councillors “encourage such a corrupt plan, which is divisive and racist” they should be voted out.
Supportive submitters said the plan was “well overdue” and “a positive step towards recognition and reconciliation with our First Nation citizens and communities”.
The motion was moved by Cr Jordan Lockett, who said he believed the plan was “the most important policy” in his two terms as a councillor.
“The Greeks called it parrhesia, speaking truth to power, and that’s why we need to listen – we are listening, and there’s a long way to go in terms of our learning,” he said.
“It’s a real privilege to learn about culture.”
The motion was seconded by Cr Karen Foster, who said the plan was a positive but overdue step.
“It is a small step, a beginning and a tentative beginning, but it’s a positive guide for us which is largely internal so we can better understand how we can engage with First Nations people, how we can enrich the relationships we do have and build new relationships, how we can build our understanding and respect for Aboriginal people and for Aboriginal culture that I know embarrassingly little about,” she said.
Cr Doukas spoke against the motion, calling it “very discriminative”.
“This puts a particular group in the community, one could even say of a particular race, above the rest of the shire,” he said.
“If you read through the plan, it just talks about the Aboriginal reconciliation plan but doesn’t talk about the shire in general.”
Cr Doukas said people in the shire had raised with him their children in early years education “being asked to say sorry for things they know nothing about”.
“If that’s truth telling, it’s not the truth,” he said.
“That shouldn’t be indoctrinated in to our children – if you’re going to be fair and equitable to people, we should stick to the truth and not push a certain agenda.
“This plan takes one particular group and puts them over and above everybody else.”
The plan was adopted in a 6-1 vote.