SHARED HISTORY

IPAY respects to Dolly and Roy Mundine and acknowledge their sacrifices and achievements. The experience of the Mundines is different to my own family, yet our difference represents the diversity that exists for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the country.

We support different football teams, have many religions, varied cultural protocols.

The thing that unites us is our connection, to country – land and sea – and maintaining the oldest living cultures in the world.

Love or hate Warren Mundine, his commentary position should be celebrated.

Black voices in mainstream media are a rarity.

Mr Mundine spoke of second class existence and his parents’ determination to own their own home.

My family were similarly determined and my sister achieved the great Australian home loan dream in 2003.

If the home is a castle, for the Mundine family to have owned a home prior to the 1967 referendum is a remarkable achievement.

Particularly when 2016 Census data reported Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households were less likely to own their own house outright or with a mortgage ( 38 per cent) than other households ( 66 per cent).

Mr Mundine’s article brought life to a lived experience, educating Australians of the trials and triumphs of our elders.

The first 216 words were powerful but then an agenda emerged.

Critical of the ABC, political Left and activists, Mr Mundine referred to a “collective mindset … that sees racism everywhere … also having its own set of racial slurs … to silence … those who step out of line.”

Where I come from, racial slurs were of least concern.

On Thursday Island, the determined folk and social disrupters were swiftly sent south to Barambah Mission ( Cherbourg), Hull River ( Mission Beach) or Palm Island.

This was the case for my great grandmother, and grandmothers.

To be free of the Aboriginal Protection Act, their sacrifices came at great cost resulting in untold trauma of being under the watchful eye of government.

Yet they paved the way for generations to come. Because of them, I can. Unlike my great grandmother, I was free to marry whom I chose.

Unlike many of our grandmothers, I continue to enjoy a rewarding career despite being married.

I make this point because so many forget the social advancements of society within our lifetime.

Advancements by activists for wages, Indigenous people, marriage equality.

In comfort and privilege is the risk of losing perspective of the real issues.

Mr Mundine is an Expert Advisor to the NSW Social Impact Investment group.

He has a right to be offended by those who call names, but not at the cost of taxpayers.

Mr Eddie Mabo, Dr Charlie Perkins, Senator Neville Bonner, Dr Evelyn Scott, Dr Mandawuy Yunupingu did not share the same opinions.

There is strength in diversity and we need leaders to get on with the job at hand.

Mr Mundine, you are in a unique position to effect lasting change. If you are critical of activists, perhaps you have grown too comfortable, sir.

In a Radio National interview ( August 13, 2017), Mr Mundine said 1982 was the year that made him.

He warmly recalled protesting land rights at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

He was once an activist in strident pursuit of Indigenous rights.

Once Were Warrior. Community leader Muriel Bin Dol is a Torres Strait Islander who has spent much of her life in Townsville. This was her response to an article by Warren Mundine published in Townsville Bulletin on Wednesday.