Political stunts from ‘relics’ slammed amid calls for Indigenous history recognition
The state’s history sector has released its wishlist for the next state government, with one outspoken chief fearing a “loss of fine-grained” First Nations knowledge without adequate funding.
As the state’s 200th year rapidly approaches, the History Council of SA says governments must provide a clear outline to “showcase South Australia’s past”, including the opening of the delayed Tarrkarri First Nations Cultural Centre.
History Council of SA president Matthew Fitzpatrick said Tarrkarri was “a keystone” to discussions about the state’s Indigenous history ahead of 2036’s bicentenary celebration.
“I think we’re beyond the stage now where we simply want to focus on the settler history, although that has interesting and important stories to share,” he said.
“We also want to make sure in our discussion of what it is to be in South Australia, 200 years after European settlement, that the Indigenous society culture is celebrated and integral, and at the heart of that is Tarrkarri.”
The $200m project at Lot Fourteen on North Terrace was halted for a review in October 2022, with the Premier saying the resulting report showed costs would have to blow out to between $400m and $600m.
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Premier Peter Malinauskas said at today’s press conference that he “would love to see” the Tarrkarri project happen.
“We’ve got a budget allocation that has been sitting there for some time since the Marshall Government,” Malinauskas said.
“We’ve made it clear that we want federal government contribution and private sector contribution to make that project happen.”
Fitzpatrick has also called for the next state government to commit to funding “community-led” truth-telling initiatives to acknowledge “difficult local histories in meaningful ways”, and says local history groups are struggling without support.
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“It’s important that the state government play a role in ensuring that South Australia and South Australian history, including its indigenous past, is well supported, because if the state government doesn’t do that then nobody else is going to step into that space.”
“Making sure that smaller museums and smaller local history groups are better supported, particularly in the regions, as well as making sure that some of those big, weighty cultural institutions like the State Library and South Australian Museum are adequately funded,” he said.
“Unless incentives and assistance are given, you’re going to lose things like local museums and local history groups and the fine-grained knowledge that comes with it.”
Fitzpatrick called One Nation candidate Cory Bernardi “an unwelcome relic from another age” following his controversial ‘Niina Marnii’ video at Adelaide University earlier this month.
“His shameful display was something that can only be condemned,” he said.
“I think most people are attempting to try and find out what it means to live on Kaurna land and that means engaging properly, sensibly, respectfully, earnestly with the indigenous communities of the region.”
The Liberal party was contacted for comment.
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