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THE HONOURABLE LINDA BURNEY

NATIONAL CONGRESS OF AUSTRALIA'S FIRST PEOPLES

June 8, 2011

Ballamb Ambul Durug balang malang mindamarra -bulung.

I recognise the Traditional owners: The Wann-gal and Durug people.

When we Acknowledge Country, we remind ourselves of the importance of truth telling, the imperative of restitution and the place we stand.

There is a wonderful feeling in the room tonight.

Acknowledgements

• Norma Ingram and Chika Madden - for their welcome this morning.
• Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue - one of the most respected people in Australia.
• Co-Chairs Josephone Bourne and Sam Jeffries and the current Board
• Co-Chairs elect Jody Broun and Les Malezer and the Directors elect
• Old friends - Dr Jackie Huggins and Dr Tom Calma
• Congratulations to the newly elected - Dr Christopher Bourke MLA ACT Parliament
• Senator Nigel Scullion - whom I've met only recently
• Elders and Senior people like Brian Butler
• Fellow travellers one and all.

INTRODUCTION

I am Linda Burney.

I am a Wiradjuri Woman from South Western NSW.  An area   bound by the Lachlan, Macquarie and Murrumbidgee rivers.

I am from Murrumbidya - Wiradjuri.

I have just turned 54. Like many of you I have known great sadness. Through my husband's death 5 years ago, I learnt that such sadness can destroy or help you to grow as a person. I chose the latter. 

I am also the local Member for Canterbury. Let me tell you about Canterbury.  It is a wonderful, vibrant, dynamic and one of the most diverse places in this nation. There are many layers in Canterbury, the foundations for building Australia. There is so much in Canterbury we could teach about respect for differences.

There are forty two thousand voters.  I love them.  They trust you. They believe in you. Your responsibility is to carry their aspirations into the place where laws are made. 

That trust and responsibility must always be your weather vane on how you conduct yourself and what decisions you make.

I am the first Aboriginal person elected to the NSW Parliament... that was in 2003 ... so I am a veteran now....

I am the Deputy Leader of the NSW Labor Party - I pinch myself everyday. How did I get here?  My underlying philosophy is defined by a fierce belief in social justice, equity, decency and truth telling. These values define me, my passion and vision for the craft I am involved with.

I'm a mother of two adult children, an activist.

And someone who is incredibly proud to be in this room with you all tonight.

When I look around this room I am full of admiration.... and feel great respect for each and every one of you....  It is overwhelming.  You are all on the brink of something powerful and important in the narrative of First Peoples in Australia. It is you that will make this Congress work or fail.

You have already made a contribution to the building of the National Congress for Australia's First Peoples.

And I am humbled to have been asked to speak tonight. Thank you to the organisers for giving me the opportunity to do so.

I feel like I'm standing among giants... not just because I am only five foot high, 152 cms has nothing to do with it, but because the enormity achieved by the people in this room is immeasurable. Lives dedicated to social justice, your community, often at very real costs.  Those costs are generally born quietly.

Leadership is not a sole activity. It draws on and develops from others, it enables others to act.  

Tonight I am proud to be here as an Aboriginal woman, as NSW's first Aboriginal Parliamentarian, the Labor Party's first Aboriginal Deputy Leader and as an Aboriginal woman that held the position of ALP National President.

My Aboriginality, it is who I am, it grounds me.

But it is not all of me.  Aboriginality in mainstream politics is very important but it is not what gets you over the line.  I want to share with you some insights into what it means to be a representative and leader. I hope that what I say applies to all your situations, mainstream and Aboriginal political spheres.

Along with a few helpful suggestions.

I want to give you the chance to know something of who I am and part of my story...

So that I can share the lessons I have learnt in my life... some of them the hard way...

But all of them have got me to where I am today.

For me, being a representative in my community of Canterbury is a joy. There is a gravity to representing others... that requires huge amounts of hard work. You must never forget the privilege of it.

But it is wonderfully rewarding. Stepping into political life is a massive decision and can be precarious. If you think it is about you - Don't - you are the wrong person. It involves deadly serious decisions, can be tedious at times and involves hard work. Political life can be tough.  The rough and tumble you hear about is real.

I would be lying if I said the job I have now doesn't come with trade-offs.

Those trade-offs are often family, personal privacy, privacy of your family... are sacrificed...

The life of the politician is not well understood. The 24 hour news cycle is relentless. But it is not just about what happens on the six o'clock news or floor of parliament. I was a Minister where your word is final.  It is a very powerful place to be.  A power that must be tempered by reminding yourself of the lives your decisions will affect. 

Being a local member is an extraordinary experience.

You are brought into the minutiae of people's lives.

You are visited by strangers who open their lives to you and ask for your help.

I had an elderly Greek couple come to see me.

Their child... now an adult... has profound disabilities and they were terrified by what will happen to their son when they die... or simply so frail that they can no longer care for him.

Pensioners, with no family, and no community support, come to you to help keep a roof over their head.

Young mothers visit you to see if you can find them work... help them access education... or provide a reference.

New migrants to Australia, ask for your support, so that they can be reunited with their family members. Most fleeing situations that are intolerable and who have suffered.

Some of them have only one other person in the world who knows their story... and that person is trapped in a refugee camp, thousands of miles away.

I made an insensitive and silly mistake not long ago.  It was an International Women's day event at Canterbury Council.  There were two women in the audience from Sudan.  In my speech I mentioned how rape has become a weapon of war.  I saw their faces and realised it was part of their experience or their families'.

These people... and their stories have taught me that leadership is so often about compassion. About listening and as Harper Lee taught us in 'How to kill a Mocking Bird', the capacity to stand in the shoes of others.

Compassion for those who seek help.

Respect and compassion for those you do not agree with. Manners cost nothing. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

Compassion for those you do not understand.

As an Aboriginal child born out of wedlock to a white mother and a black father in the 50s... and then growing up in a small country town... I have learnt to find compassion in the face of shocking discrimination.

I was told last year when I returned home to attend the 120 year School anniversary.  I was told by a man, "that my birth was the lowest of the low, the lowest this town has ever seen."

Even as an accomplished... mature... intelligent women... this comment blew me over.  

As a teenager... I would have responded to this comment in one of two ways.

I'd have walked away... mortified... ashamed... and beaten

Or I'd have fired up and in the middle of a crowded street... and taken him on.

But I have learned the third option... I smiled politely... showed enormous grace...and moved away.  I must admit, I did think "what a fool" with a few expletives thrown in.  On this occasion, compassion did fail me ...but grace did not.

When experiences like this find me... I think of the people who have walked through my electorate office door in Canterbury and realise... the only response in those situations is grace and compassion.

These are a couple of my experiences...

But they are not everyone's.

And I don't prescribe to the view that Leaders, good representatives, must be 'one out.'

On their own.

A lone ranger in the wilderness is not effective and cannot enable others, and I refer to my earlier comments about enabling others.

This Congress is, in itself, the very embodiment of what great leaders do.

They build networks... foster relationships and bring others along for the ride.

I know, understand and can show compassion for my constituents... because I have surrounded myself with people who together make me stronger, smarter and better at what I do.

Through the kindness and openness of others I can better understand what my community wants.

I have developed strong relationships with the local Lebanese, Korean, Greek and Chinese communities in Canterbury.

• So many people have volunteered in my office, during the election campaigns...
• And through simple acts, that have become part of the team that represents Canterbury... of which I am one person.
• They believe in you and what you represent.

My ability to feel sympathy and compassion for the people who come to my door... is better informed because I know that I don't have all the answers in my own head.

Some of my best friends and my closest confidents... are people from within my electorate who came to me expecting to meet just another politician.

That is something I don't think I will ever be.

Let's face it - I have always been different.

Like so many people in this room, my start in life was... somewhat different.

I was not like other kids at school.

I looked different... I felt different and I was told in no uncertain terms... that I was different.

I think for me, that experience forced me to back myself early.

I had to have the courage of my convictions... I had to stand my ground... because nobody else was going to do it for me.

That difference is something I wear today as a badge of honour.

Because strong leaders, good elected representatives, have the courage of their convictions.

They are brave enough to be themselves.

They have the courage to say always what is right, regardless of what is popular.

Mahatma Gandhi was right when he said:

We need to be the change we wish to see in the world.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

That is quite a standard to set one's self. 

I don't know about all of you... but the change I wish to see in the world is big... it is generous...

It see's entrenched Aboriginal disadvantage become a thing of the past.

It see's our children and our children's children afforded the opportunities to do whatever it is they want.

It is change I am willing to work for.

But it is this next generation that will embody that change.

This organisation... this gathering of like minded champions in the community... needs to foster that something in the next generation... that sets leaders apart from the rest of the pack.

To grow young people with deliberateness, to even be law makers.   

That moral fibre, that internal compass that keeps all of us... if not on the same track... at least walking in the same direction.

And I say walking because... every day... something changes.

I have just been through my very own career transformation... from Minister to humble MP.

From Government.... to Opposition.

From being a boss... to just another person complaining about the Government. However, the fire and excitement of rebuilding our party is motivating.

The challenge of leadership never ends.

It never gets easy... and it never stops.

John F Kennedy once said that:

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

~John F. Kennedy

And I think that is a great principle.

Because it acknowledges that people like us must meet like this... we must come together and discuss and deconstruct the battle of the day...

Because every day, the fight changes.

Finally, look after yourself... your health.... and try to find balance.

Take time for you... just 15 minutes a day is all you need...My 15 minutes is at 5:30 every day with a cup of tea and my own thoughts.  I sometimes talk to people who are no longer with us ... I often ask their counsel.

And always be yourself.  Own your space.

You can get inspiration from others.... Helpful hints...

But be yourself.

Know where the line is that you will never cross.

Remember you have gotten to this place because people have allowed you to rest on their shoulders.

Our shoulders must always be available for those coming through.

And we must be loyal to one another.

Where you have a choice...

Always choose loyalty.

Unity.

Alice Walker, an African American novelist and poet said:

No person is your friend who demands you silence or denies your right to grow.

~Alice Walker

When I talk about loyalty I do not mean submission.

To be loyal to your community is to be loyal to yourself.

And that is what is most important.