NAIDOC WEEK

Ms JODIE HARRISON(Charlestown)This NAIDOC Week, I acknowledge the contributions First Nations people have always made to the Charlestown Electorate and our broader community. Charlestown encompasses land traditionally belonging to the Awabakal people, and I pay my respects to Aboriginal people of today and Elders past, present and future. For tens of thousands of years, the Awabakal people lived in the area we now know as Charlestown. I acknowledge the extraordinary sadness felt by Aboriginal people due to the disconnection from their land, language and culture. I would also like to acknowledge the work done by Awabakal and Bitahbah Local Land Councils, and by two local Aboriginal women in particular. Roselea Newburn is the facilitator at Milabah, Windale Public School's Schools as Community Centre, connecting the school with the broader Windale community and building and strengthening supportive learning environments. I thank Roselea for her immense longstanding commitment to the program, and to the Windale community. I would also like to acknowledge Maree Edwards, Aboriginal Community Development Officer at Lake Macquarie City Council. Maree is a committed and engaged member of our community, who sits on the Centre for Hope board. The Charlestown Electorate always was and always will be Awabakal land.

A Community Recognition Statement is an opportunity for an MP to give a short speech praising the work of an individual or group in the local community. If you have any ideas about people I can recognise with a Community Recognition Statement, please email and let me know!