*** This post was updated on 6 May with details of the registration link to public sections of the walk ***
Marie McInerney writes:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allies from across Australia are invited to join an historic Yoorrook Walk for Truth in Victoria in May and June to mark the end of the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s landmark truth-telling work over the past four years.
Yoorrook Commissioner Travis Lovett, a Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man and deputy chair of the Commission, is leading the 25-day, 370-kilometre walk from Portland, on Gunditjmara country in south-western Victoria, to State Parliament in Naarm/Melbourne from 25 May to 18 June.
Lovett is encouraging supporters to “come with us, come listen, learn and engage in truth telling” – not just to understand the ongoing impacts of colonisation over the past two centuries but to be proud of the history and ongoing contributions of one of the oldest continuous living cultures in the world.
“We are asking people to open their minds and open their hearts to the full story,” he told Croakey at a recent training session for the walk in Melbourne.
Supporters can register to join the public legs of the walk here.
Unlike other states and territories where the Uluru Statement from the Heart’s calls for Voice, Treaty and Truth have stalled or been wound back in the wake of the devastating defeat of the Voice referendum, Victoria has continued the work of truth-telling through the Commission. The First Peoples Assembly of Victoria is also currently negotiating treaties with the Victorian Government.
The Commission will formally wind up its work in June, producing a final report and an official public record.
Lovett says it has been a privilege to be part of Yoorrook’s work, being able to call representatives of the state, including Premier Jacinta Allan and then Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, to not only give evidence but respond to the Commission’s questions.
Equally as important has been having Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people come forward and share their lived experiences and truths with the Commission about the impacts of colonisation and to make recommendations about what they want to see for the future, he said.
Where colonisation began
The Walk for Truth will begin at Portland, the birthplace of Victoria’s colonisation where the first permanent European settlement in Victoria was established from 1834 by Edward Henty.
Henty’s descendant Suzannah Henty gave moving evidence to Yoorrook Justice Commission in 2024, condemning the atrocities committed on the land her family once owned and calling for decolonisation and the destruction of Henty monuments and renaming of streets.
She said benefactors of colonialism, “those who have accumulated intergenerational wealth on the basis of land theft and genocide, need to engage in truth-telling about their affluence” and to engage in good faith with local Indigenous communities to discuss reparation.
Lovett will lead the first leg of the walk from Portland to Convincing Ground, the site of Victoria’s first recorded massacre, where nearly a whole clan of Gunditjmara people were killed by whalers.
Over the following weeks, it will journey through Warrnambool, Colac, Geelong and Footscray, finishing at Parliament House on Wednesday, 18 June. Walkers will visit sites of cultural and historical significance for First Peoples, including Framlingham Aboriginal Mission, where legendary singer Archie Roach was born and the World Heritage listed Tae Rak (Lake Condah) and surrounding wetlands.
Yoorrook Chair Professor Eleanor Bourke has also invited all Victorians to join the Walk for Truth, “whether it be by walking out on Country, following online or sharing social media posts”.
“We can’t change what happened in the past, but we can understand it better and come together to help create a better future for everyone. I hope you will join us,” she said.
Watch this interview with Commissioner Travis Lovett
See Croakey’s archive of articles on the cultural determinants of health
