Ms JODIE HARRISON (Charlestown)— The artistic heritage of Australia extends back tens of thousands of years. Art has always been important to Australia's First Nations people, with a rich, diverse and constantly-evolving tradition which stretches from the distant past to the present day.

The diversity of contemporary First Nations art is currently being showcased in two recent exhibitions at the Museum of Art and Culture, yapang, in Lake Macquarie, coinciding with Reconciliation Week.

One of the exhibits will feature works by the late Kunmanara Carroll, telling stories of Country. Ngaylu Nyanganyi Ngura Winki (I Can See All Those Places), showcases Carroll's final ceramic works and paintings recalling his ancestral Country. There will also be a separate exhibition titled 'One foot on the ground, one foot in the water', an exploration of the subject of mortality and the inseparable link between life and death.

MAC yapang is a fantastic local art gallery and a wonderful cultural resource for all the people of Lake Macquarie and beyond, and I am so glad that they continue to take the opportunity to recognise and uplift First Nations artists. My thanks to the staff at MAC yapang, and I encourage everyone to take a look!