Casey Council’s National Reconciliation Week event attracted hundreds of residents in the region to celebrate Aboriginal cultures and work towards stronger connections.
The free community event on Thursday 29 May included a smoking ceremony, a flag-raising ceremony, live music, and a variety of hands-on cultural activities.
Jaeden Williams, Yalukit Willam man of the Boonwurrung, addressed the public before the ceremony began. He spoke about the emotional journey of reconciliation, which often involves resistance, sadness, guilt, and shame, but these feelings, if processed with care, can lead to accountability, empathy, pride, connection, and love.
“Reconciliation is not just about policies and protocols. It’s about the right relationship,” he said.
“It’s about what we are willing to see, feel, and do with and for one another. And love, real love, is the highest form of respect we can offer.
“It’s important to remember this journey is not a checklist. It’s not linear. We don’t graduate from guilt and get to pride and stay there forever. You might feel empathy today, resistance tomorrow. You might circle back to shame then return to pride again and that’s okay.
“What matters is that we keep choosing to return to truth, to humility, to relationship, and to love.”
He said this year’s Reconciliation Week theme, Bridging Now to Next, was a call to action.
“We are the link between what was and what’s possible. We are the generation that can either pass on silence or pass on strength, and our children, the next generation, are watching how we respond,” he said.
“They’re learning from our courage or our avoidance. They’re inheriting our stories and our silence. So let’s make sure we pass on something worth carrying.
“The goal of this journey isn’t perfection, it’s connection. It’s truth. It’s pride grounded in respect. It’s love grounded in justice. It’s a shared sense of belonging, not through sameness but through deep respect for difference.
“Wherever you are on your journey, just starting, stuck in the comfort or deep in the work, know this, you are not alone. This is our shared path.”
City of Casey Mayor Councillor Stefan Koomen emphasised that Casey has the second-largest indigenous population of any council in Victoria.
“We felt it was important to acknowledge that and invite residents to come and celebrate that,” he said.
“Today is not just about a one-off event. It’s about building really strong relationships with our First Nations people.”
He said the Council is very proud to have the Aboriginal Gathering Place in Doveton.
“It’s a space where indigenous people can come and learn and share their culture. It’s also open to other members of the community. It’s a really nice space,” he said.
Mayor Koomen was also proud that the Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-operative Limited (DDACL), a key First Nations health and wellbeing organisation in the south east, would have new premises at the Monash Health Integrated Care Centre in Cranbourne. The news was announced two weeks ago after the State Budget was delivered.
Casey Aboriginal Gathering Place artist and elder, Uncle Douglas Smith, attended the event and said it was a good opportunity for everyone to get together here on one occasion to celebrate the same theme.
