theotherAPT

Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson)

Wontok Conference 2012

 

Video permission provided courtesy of the interim national representative body Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) produced by Emelda Davis.

The Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) Limited (ASSI.PJ) interim national body acknowledges and believes in the unique ways that Australians of South Sea Islander heritage contribute to the broader Australian society. This contribution reflects our South Sea Islander heritage and will be recognised by all Australians because we are of: One Spirit; One Mind; One Voice -- commonly seeking prosperity based on respect. Last April 2012, a major conference was held in Bundaberg, Queensland to unite the descendants of these labourers, who came mainly from the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, but also from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and many other locations in the region. The Wantok 2012 conference in Bundaberg brought together the descendants of those who remained -- known today as Australian South Sea Islanders, or ASSI -- from around Australia, as well as a large delegation of customary leaders and descendants' families from Vanuatu led by MPs Ralph Regenvanu and Abel David. The conference featured a moving reconciliation ceremony, as chiefs from Vanuatu revealed the hidden history of past atrocities and sought to rebuild links across Oceania. 2012 celebrates the 1992 inquiry by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. The Wantok 2012 conference came on the twentieth anniversary of the inquiry's report, which recommended that South Sea Islanders be formally recognised as a distinct disadvantaged group and be given access to health and welfare schemes. Emelda Davis president, believes that it is important to build a national body to link ASSI communities across Australia. "As it is now, we're fragmented with individual voices and the governments aren't listening," she says. "We need a national body so governments will sit up and take notice because they're dealing with a nation. Queensland has been at the forefront but we'll still need a national voice that can give us action in all areas: in the national education curriculum, in health and well-being, in things that will give our youth opportunities." The Australian South Sea Islanders (Port Jackson) Limited (ASSI.PJ) interim national body acknowledges and believes in the unique ways that Australians of South Sea Islander heritage contribute to the broader Australian society. This contribution reflects our South Sea Islander heritage and will be recognised by all Australians because we are of: One Spirit; One Mind; One Voice -- commonly seeking prosperity based on respect. Last April 2012, a major conference was held in Bundaberg, Queensland to unite the descendants of these labourers, who came mainly from the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, but also from Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and many other locations in the region. The Wantok 2012 conference in Bundaberg brought together the descendants of those who remained -- known today as Australian South Sea Islanders, or ASSI -- from around Australia, as well as a large delegation of customary leaders and descendants' families from Vanuatu led by MPs Ralph Regenvanu and Abel David. The conference featured a moving reconciliation ceremony, as chiefs from Vanuatu revealed the hidden history of past atrocities and sought to rebuild links across Oceania. 2012 celebrates the 1992 inquiry by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. The Wantok 2012 conference came on the twentieth anniversary of the inquiry's report, which recommended that South Sea Islanders be formally recognised as a distinct disadvantaged group and be given access to health and welfare schemes. Emelda Davis president, believes that it is important to build a national body to link ASSI communities across Australia. "As it is now, we're fragmented with individual voices and the governments aren't listening," she says. "We need a national body so governments will sit up and take notice because they're dealing with a nation. Queensland has been at the forefront but we'll still need a national voice that can give us action in all areas: in the national education curriculum, in health and well-being, in things that will give our youth opportunities." (full article South Sea Islanders Unite in Australia, Inside Story, August 2012. http://inside.org.au/south-sea-islanders-unite-in-australia/
support our cause contact: assi.pj@gmail.com mobile: 0416300946 

 

Emelda Davis is a Producer, Events Manager, Mentor working in based in Sydney.