NAIDOC 2008 Poster

“The government has said SORRY – so let’s Advance Australia and be Fair.

The kangaroo and emu are the two unique Indigenous animals that are on the Australian coat of arms and, some say, were chosen because they move forward and find it difficult to go backwards. Their positions have been switched, left and right, to represent the switch in the Governments attitude.

They are surrounded by the stars of the Southern Cross which, like Aboriginal people, have been here since the beginning of time. There must be a change in attitudes of black and white and all the colours in between. Black people must stop waiting for governments and white people to fix their problems – they must start fixing the problems that they can. Governments must not look at Indigenous problems and say “This is going to cost too much to fix” or “The problem is too big”.

Now is the best time because we are in a time of great prosperity which is ripped from the land that rightly belongs to Aboriginal people.

For the background we have used the colours of the land, the sorry is in blue representing water and a healing point. The Southern Cross is in the colours of the sunset, the time when it first comes out. The lines connecting the Southern Cross represent the spirits of our ancestors that are looking down on us and keeping an eye on us. The lines are black for our ancestors and the orange is power and knowledge that they have and have given.

Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders’ future, like this poster, can be built on the Rudd Government’s SORRY. Advance Australia, both Fair and Dark.” - Duwun Lee and Laniyuk Lee