We have been contacted by Kew High School to spread the word about considering being a host family to students from overseas.

Hi Leanne here.

As the Voice referundum approaches there are a lot of references to the beautifully crafted Uluru Statement from the Heart which is the formal document that calls for a First Nations Voice to be recognised in our Constitution. Have you read it? If not you can just keep reading below! If you have, it’s worth reading again I reckon.

Or you can listen and watch the YouTube video of Professor Megan Davis reading it here, which is perhaps even more powerful.

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ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

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If you are interested in finding out more about the history behind the Statement and process for how it came into being you can click here.

This term at ACC we are delighted to have our friends from Alphington CWA helping us out with the catering for our morning teas /sort of early light lunches that are on at 11.30am each Friday during school term, outside under the pergola in the front garden.

Our gardeners, shedders and crafters come together each week after an active/creative morning, to share a cuppa and a some delicious food and a chat.

The first week of our new arrangement went swimmingly, everyone LOVED the food that was provided … AND we’re all quite excited to see what turns up next week … thanks Alphington CWA (Silvana and Miranda in particular this week).

If you are a local who enjoys gardening or crafting or making or chatting … please join us on a Friday morning from 10am for our community morning. You can come along regularly, or pop in more randomly. There’s a great bunch of lovely welcoming people here, and a super-friendly outdoor program you can join in led by Clare.

And if you are interested in joining the Alphington CWA they meet just around the corner at the Darebin Parklands Rangers Offices, in the Gleeson Room on the first Monday of the month at 7.30pm.

Join in the celebrations!

We are very fortunate to have Phil volunteer his time weekly to help anyone in our community who needs assistance with their devices … phones, tablets, laptops and lately even printers! He’s a master of all things computery ….

Phil is generally here on Tuesday afternoon from 2-4pm, but in Term 2 the times will change for 6 weeks - to Wednesdays from 10am-12pm. This will start from Wednesday 26 April (our first day back) and run through to Wednesday 7 June.

So … if you need help with your device (you are having trouble setting up your new phone, your tablet is doing strange things, you’re email isn’t working across your devices, you need some tips of how to use Word or Excel etc.) you are more than welcome to come along and he’ll do his best to help you. To book in just call Kalimna in our office on 9499 7227 (she is here Tuesday and Thursday).