Actor Simon Baker on Indigenous massacres: owning history isn t easy
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Simon Baker is remembering his time at the Garma Festival in a remote corner of Arnhem Land, an annual celebration of traditional cultures that is chock-full of music, dance, storytelling and some great barbecues. It is also a forum for some heavyweight discussions.
He was there in 2017, just two months after a meeting of Indigenous community leaders at Uluru had ended with the Uluru Statement of the Heart calling for – among other kinds of recognition – a change to the constitution that would enshrine a distinct place for Indigenous voices in the Australian Parliament. Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was there. So was Bill Shorten, then leader of the opposition.