National Theme and Focus City for NAIDOC Week 2006
5 April 2006 - Sydney
Statement by National NAIDOC Week Chairperson, Aden Ridgeway
On behalf of the National NAIDOC Week Committee for 2006, I am pleased to announce the National Theme and National Focus City for NAIDOC Week 2006, which this year will be celebrated from 2 July to 9 July.
The theme for NAIDOC 2006 is Respect the Past - Believe in the Future. The national focus city hosting this year’s National NAIDOC Awards and Ball on 8 July will be Cairns.
The theme we have chosen projects all that is best about NAIDOC Week – respecting, remembering, and celebrating our history, traditions and achievements; and looking forward with optimism and confidence to the future which is in our hands to shape. Above all, believing in the future is a statement of faith in our young Indigenous people and our responsibility to harness their capacities and provide opportunities.
As Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders celebrate NAIDOC Week this year with members of the wider Australian community, we can all remember and respect the traditional and cultural heritage from countless generations of Indigenous people on this continent for over 50,000 years, as well as the past hurt and hardship of our experiences since British colonisation. NAIDOC Week will also be a time for Indigenous people to think about the future we want to shape for ourselves.
The interim National NAIDOC Committee which organised last year’s Awards and Ball in Adelaide handed me the NAIDOC Message Stick at that event, asking me to be the custodian to carry forward NAIDOC Week in 2006 and beyond. I was honoured to be asked to ensure the future of NAIDOC, which has a proud history going back over 40 years. The 2006 Committee is committed to ensure that NAIDOC is again a great success.
The National Awards and Ball will be held at the Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday 8 July. Tickets will be available soon. This is a great opportunity for the Indigenous communities of Cairns, North Queensland and the Torres Strait to take part in this prestigious national focus event – the first time Cairns has hosted it in over 20 years.
The Committee invites all Australians to participate in NAIDOC Week activities and to help recognise the achievements Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by nominating Indigenous people for NAIDOC awards. Nomination forms for the NAIDOC Awards and the annual poster competition will be available on the national website – www.naidoc.org.au – and other outlets soon.
I am pleased that the Australian Government continues to support NAIDOC Week through funding and other support for both national and community-based events. I would like to thank the new Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mr Mal Brough, for his support to help us ensure that NAIDOC Week remains the major celebration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s achievements, cultures and traditions.
For more information on NAIDOC visit: www.naidoc.org.au
or email: info@naidoc.org.au
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