RECOMMIT TO RECONCILIATION IN 2010
Media Alert – 26 May 2010
This National Reconciliation Week marks the 10th anniversary of a significant reconciliation milestone—the historic Bridge Walks for Reconciliation—which saw almost a million Australians walk in support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is held every year between 27 May and 3 June and is framed by two significant dates in Australia’s history which best symbolise the hopes and aims for reconciliation. May 27 marks the anniversary of the 1967 referendum and 3 June marks the anniversary of the 1992 High Court judgment in the Mabo case.
This Friday, 28 May, Reconciliation Australia will launch a new public awareness campaign asking Australians to recommit to reconciliation and ‘help finish Oz’.
Comprising of television, radio, print and cinema adverstising, the campaign will feature well-known Australian faces, in a slightly different light, including Jack Thompson, Jonathon Thurston, Andrew Denton, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Sigrid Thornton, Adam Goodes, George Negus, Ernie Dingo, Shannon Noll, Neil Perry and Gyton Grantley.
A social networking site called ‘Unfinished Oz’ will also be central to the campaign—where people can register their support and place themselves on a map of Australia with a pixel of light.
The launch coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Bridge Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney Harbour Bridge.
On May 28, 2000, more than 300,000 people walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in support of Indigenous Australians and reconciliation. This was followed by walks in all other capital cities, towns and regional centres involving almost a million people.
The website for Unfinished Oz will go live on Friday 28 May. www.unfinishedoz.com.au
Media Contact: Kylie Thompson, 0418 633 277 or kylie.thompson@reconciliation.org.au
