Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman Sue-Anne Hunter is the deputy chair of the newly launched Yoorrook Justice Commission.
Over the coming months, the Commission will be considering the bloody history of white settlement in Victoria, and its traumatic legacy for First Nations peoples.
For Ms Hunter, being part of the truth-telling process continues a long-running family legacy.
“The only woman we descend from in Wurundjeri is Annie Barak,” she told NITV's The Point.
“Her brother is William Barak. He called for the first inquiry into (Victorian Aboriginal reserve) Coranderrk, where Aboriginal voices were first heard.
"And so to be able to carry on that legacy of my family is such an honour.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission was announced last year, following negotiations with the First People’s Assembly of Victoria, and the commissioners were appointed in May 2021.
Yoorrook Justice Commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter says being part of the inquiry is continuing a family legacy for her. Source: Yoo-rrook Justice Commission
It’s the first truth-telling commission of its kind.
The commissioners have begun regional consultations this week, travelling around Victoria to hear the stories of First Nations people.
Ms Hunter said she feels honoured to be part of “something so historic”.
“I’m in such a privileged position to hear so many stories, not only from our Elders, from our families, our youth, these stories of resilience, of survival, but also of atrocity and also some stories that have never been told or heard before,” she said.
“To be honoured with those stories is such a privilege.”
'Should have happened earlier'
Yoorrook has the same powers as a royal commission, which means it can compel government bodies to give evidence.
For Eleanor Bourke, a Wergaia Wamba Wamba woman and the chair of Yoorrook, this process has been a long time coming.
“If we didn’t ask for it, we wouldn’t have it,” she said.
“If the First People’s Assembly hadn’t recognised the need to have [the Commission] underpin treaty and ask the Victorian government for it, it wouldn’t have happened.
“It’s probably something that should have happened earlier when you think about it but that’s the way it's evolved and I think we’re probably better prepared for these things now.”
Professor Bourke is now eager to meet as many people as possible, and hear the stories that will inform the next steps in the truth-telling and treaty-making processes.
Marcus Stewart, Geraldine Atkinson and Eleanor Bourke at the launch of the Yoorrook Commission's first hearings. Source: NITV The Point
“These visits are overdue,” she said.
“We’re hungry for it as well, we need it for our own cultural sustenance really, to have that engagement in person.
“… the Commission is very important in Australia’s history. It’s a unique opportunity for Aboriginal people, First peoples to tell their story about what happened around so-called settlement in Australia.”
'It's going to be hard'
The commissioners said they’re expecting to hear stories of resilience and survival, but also difficult stories of oppression and brutality.
But Ms Hunter said all such stories were truths that need to be told.
“It’s exciting but it’s going to be hard,” she said.
“It’s going to be really hard to listen to some of those stories and to hold people in that space but it’s all part of the bigger narrative of Victoria and they need to be told.”
The commissioners said they hope their investigations will help to pave a path forward for Victoria and set an example for other states and territories who are beginning to engage in treaty-making processes.
The Yoorrook Commission was launched last week with a ceremony on Wurundjeri Country. Source: NITV The Point
“To know where you’re going you needed to know where you came from,” Professor Bourke said.
“I hope that we make a good case with the voices of Aboriginal people... to support things that will assist with treaty-making for our people in this state.
“I hope it will be something that other states can look at as well, because I know that other states already have treaty on the table as well and are watching us.”
An interim report from the commission is due in June.
Ms Hunter said she hopes their recommendations will “change the future” for First Nations people.
“So those next generations coming through will not have to deal with what we’ve had to,” she said.
“It’ll be easier for them to get an education, a job. There’ll be the respect, there’ll be the dignity and the pride that they so richly deserve in being Aboriginal.”
- The Point airs Tuesday 29 March at 7.30pm on NITV.
