Michael Kennedy holds the most senior position in a town of mostly Aboriginal residents. He insisted he has not met Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton, or Mark Leibler & they certainly did not speak on behalf of him and/or the community.
Transcript:
Micheal Kennedy: Micheal Kennedy
Josephine Cashman: What do you like about Wilcannia Micheal?
Micheal Kennedy: It is where all my people are from Barkandji people
The one thing we love most here is the river
Josephine Cashman: It is full at the moment isn't it?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah it is good real good
Josephine Cashman: How many children do you have?
Micheal Kennedy: Four
Josephine Cashman: What are their ages?
Micheal Kennedy: The oldest ones eighteen the youngest one is two
Josephine Cashman: Have you heard of the Uluru Statement?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah I've heard of it
Josephine Cashman: Has anyone asked you what your view on it is?
Micheal Kennedy: Nah no we've had no consultations around it
Josephine Cashman: Do you know a person called Noel Pearson?
Micheal Kennedy: I've heard of him
Josephine Cashman: Marcia Langton?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah a little bit about them
Josephine Cashman: Megan Davis?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah same
Josephine Cashman: Mark Leibler?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah
Josephine Cashman: Do any of these people speak to you?
Micheal Kennedy: I'd like to think that I speak for myself for my people where I live here in Wilcannia
Josephine Cashman: They're saying that the majority of aboriginal people want the Uluru Statement
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah I think that's entirely true
Josephine Cashman: Why can't aboriginal people own their own homes?
Micheal Kennedy: Individually yeah not individually
Josephine Cashman: Do you think that would make a difference to peoples lives if they could have their own home?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah a lot of them it would yeah
Josephine Cashman: What do you think needs to happen in aboriginal affairs?
Micheal Kennedy: People that actually make decisions need to come and sit at the table with us and be heard straight from us as on the ground people that live here every day
You know people outside of the community and probably even people that haven't even been to the community makes decisions on a lot of the stuff in the community
A lot of people say, well, Aboriginal people should take responsibility and all this but if you've got no decision making do you think it affects people like psychologicallyGot to wait for someone else to repair your home you don't own your home you got someone else who comes in that tells you what to doDo you think that's part of the problem?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah well it you know it takes away the sense of leadership ownership
You know I grew up around a lot of Aboriginal politics through me grandmother and grandfather and my aunties and uncles going back a far while there was a lot of decisions they made that used to be directly impacted on the community
And now a lot of that decision making it has to go through you know different organisations or different levels of people and before a decision can be handed down to the community and that decision used to be made with on the ground people
I used to work on properties for a lot of years like contract mustering and fencing and stuff like that
Josephine Cashman: Do you enjoy it?
Micheal Kennedy: Yeah, I used to love it and that's why I did it I didn't do it because of the money and that it was just a lifestyle so peaceful at times like you know go to work and it's peaceful at work and you go after work or when you get up early in the mornings it's just so peaceful being out bush on country
Since my involvement with the Land Council and you know being in the chair role and that it was always my vision to get to that stage eventually where we do have control over our lives basically
You know the decision making outcomes what we want to do being told who or how to run our own affairs
Josephine Cashman: Yeah
Micheal Kennedy: Alot of the people around here they went off the land and back into town and that's when a lot of the not so much that generation but as generations went on it slowly drifted out of our people that work mentality and not having a job you know because station hands was a very very big part of the job industry around them
Like every family around here was working on the land you know there's not one family here that their grandmother or grandfather didn't work on the land
Everyone around in this community their family worked out on the land and that's how I have it installed in me because through nan and pop
With Weinteriga and you know my old great grandfather before that they used to work out there like Uncle Les he was a full time fencer at (Weinteriga) wasn't he? And we had Aunty Glad up there
Then as time went on and things started changing and they couldn't afford to take him on or didn't want to pay them
They come back into town and as generation went on it slowly take it out of them it impacted us a lot because there was a lot less employment
I know me being the man I love to go work for my family that's how I've always been
I felt I needed to be the one that always you know put the bread on the table and that's just my pride
You know like I hate it if I can't provide my family with a meal or you know keep the lights on in the house I feel like that's my responsibility that's my job
The Uluru voice: without aboriginal consultations