Gayle Kennedy: June Oscar AO is the CEO of Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre. Her portrait is called The Matriarch and junes says:
June Oscar: ‘I am the Grandmother of Hudson. It was not right that our little children were growing up in this environment who are living their lives with unique and complex needs as a result of alcohol exposure in utero. So in 2007 the women got together and made a strong and final decision that we would apply for alcohol restrictions in our community. We want our people to know that, this is their community, that this communities cares about them and that we are prepared to make the hard decisions and stand up.’
Dr Tom Calma AO: June Oscar, of Bunuba descent, was born in 1962 at Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia. She was sent to Perth for her secondary education at the John Forrest Senior High School. She left school at the age of 16. After returning to Fitzroy Crossing, June worked for the state community welfare and health departments. She later became a women’s resource officer with the Junjuwa community. She chaired the Marra Worra Worra resource agency until 1991, when she was appointed to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission for a 2-year term as a commissioner. June Oscar was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia, as recognition of her dedication to resolving complex problems, including Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), in her community. She lives in Fitzroy Crossing in the far north of West Austrlia, and is one of three grandmothers of young Hudson, who has FASD. June Oscar is the CEO of the Marninwarntikura Fitzroy Women's Resource Centre. It is a centre of inspiration that provides women and their families a place for positive change and leadership. The centre provides support for Fitzroy Women and their families by encouraging safety and wellbeing and fostering leadership and financial independence.
‘Self-evident truths are authentic, and we know them when we hear them. These truths are not necessarily abstract; instead, they relate directly to human experience. Sometimes, in fact all too often, these truths fall from our sight and give way to complex and technical policy jargon, parliamentary discussions and pieces of legislation that sit some distance from the living, breathing, proud, and sometimes fragile, peoples they will affect. In spite of this, truths are stubborn and are not easily deferred. The truth is persistent and we must return to the self-evident truths that exist, in our relationships and from our history, and we must learn from them and respond accordingly. Only by doing this will we achieve social justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and, in doing so, equality for all Australians. Remember, from self-respect comes dignity, from dignity comes hope, and from hope comes resilience.’
Gayle Kennedy: Thank you to Dr Tom Calma AO from the Kungarakan Iwaldja Tribal Group. Tom is the Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, Chair of the Commonwealth Government's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Advisory Group.