The Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures is Australia's largest Indigenous cultural gathering, taking place over four days each August in northeast Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Following the failed voice to parliament referendum last year and some of the racism that was
00:06in parts of the campaigning and that emerged throughout the year, there's been a big conversation
00:10here at the 2024 Garma Festival about racism and about the future, particularly about ways
00:17to navigate some of the intractable issues affecting our country.
00:21The new Race Discrimination Commissioner is here.
00:25Commissioner Giri Sivaraman, thanks very much for your company.
00:28I wonder what your observations have been in the five months that you've been in this
00:32role about the way that we grapple with racism in Australia.
00:37It's really hard to grapple with racism sometimes in Australia because the person that calls
00:42out racism often gets attacked far more than the racism itself.
00:47But every time we have ruptures in our society, whether it be COVID, where we saw anti-Asian
00:51racism, the referendum, anti-First Nations racism, the conflict in Gaza, anti-Semitism
00:57or anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian racism, what that shows is whenever there are ruptures
01:01in our society, racism just seeps out.
01:05And that means that structurally we have problems that need to be rectified.
01:09And one of my key objectives is a national anti-racism framework, and I think what we
01:14see shows the importance of that framework.
01:18And just here at the Garma Festival yesterday, the Northern Territory Police Commissioner
01:21issued an extraordinary apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Territorians about
01:28where there has been mistreatment from police over the last 154 years.
01:34How did you receive that apology?
01:37How did you hear that?
01:39I was here and I was glad to be here, to hear it on these lands, and it was very powerful
01:46to hear.
01:47The way in which it was introduced and the mongrel that took place afterwards were powerful.
01:52And so I was grateful to hear it.
01:53But of course, words are words and they're powerful, but actions are what really make
01:58change.
01:59So it will now be the what next?
02:01What kind of systemic change will we see as a result of this apology?
02:08And that would clearly be the work around anti-racism, which we know that Leanne Little
02:13will be launching into that work, an anti-racism strategy for the police, as well as broader
02:18targets around employment.
02:21Did what you hear yesterday go far enough for the sort of change that you think is required?
02:26I think the mentioning of anti-racism or an anti-racist approach was really important.
02:35That's a significant step.
02:37What you have to do now is you have to take action that will also involve current serving
02:44officers.
02:45It can't just be about historical acts.
02:47There'll need to be an internal review of the force itself, an anti-racist review.
02:52But as a starting point, you have to build racial literacy within the force.
02:56You have to get members of the force to understand how race operates, how it affects their actions,
03:00how it affects the way in which they treat people.
03:03No race is inherently bad.
03:06So why is it that some races in First Nations, in particular, in the Territory, are so grossly
03:10over-represented in the justice system?
03:13That's as a result of structural racism.
03:15That's as a result of, effectively, processes that are built up during colonialism, then
03:20baked in during the white Australia policy, and now there's an attempt to change.
03:25But it has to be a really significant structural change if it's going to work.
03:29Commissioner, I've already heard mixed reaction from inside the police force, some who welcome
03:35it and say that this is a step in the right direction, others who are questioning it,
03:39and some who are quite dismissive, in fact.
03:41There's also been a lot of commentary on social media, some of it quite racist, aimed at those
03:49that have been leading this.
03:52Is this just what we see now, when these conversations, these apologies are issued?
03:58Sadly, we often see this torrent of vile racism, particularly on social media, where
04:04people aren't accountable for their actions.
04:08And there is a role to play for the social media giants in holding people accountable
04:12and taking better measures.
04:14But again, it's that same point that I mentioned earlier, that when you try and call out racism,
04:19you just get attacked, and you can get attacked from all angles for it.
04:23So it does take real courage to call it out, and in that sense, I commend the Commissioner
04:27for doing so.
04:29But then the courage will be in seeing it through, that despite the attacks, knowing
04:32that this is absolutely the right thing to do, to take an anti-racist approach, to take
04:36a systemic review of the force and its actions, and the way in which it impacts on negatively
04:41racialised communities, but particularly First Nations communities, as he mentioned yesterday.
04:46And just finally, Commissioner, and more broadly, we are having national conversations about
04:52truth-telling and treaty.
04:53Do you see those as having a role in the work that you're calling for and doing around
05:00anti-racism?
05:01Oh, absolutely, because calling out racism is calling out the truth of what is happening
05:07around us.
05:08And so the truth-telling is significantly important as a step.
05:13You have to acknowledge the racism that exists, and that is talking truth to power, talking
05:18about the racism that exists first and foremost.
05:21So you have to name the beast to slay it.
05:23If you just pretend it's not there and talk about diversity or social cohesion without
05:27first acknowledging racism, you'll never get to the cohesion.
05:30You have to grapple with and defeat the racism first.
05:34Race Discrimination Commissioner Gary Sirivaran, thank you so much for your company.