A diverse day for Australians in Mudgeeraba.
On Australia, our community in Division 9 will host (at least) FOUR public events. Throughout the day the Bonogin Valley Bulls are partnering with the Mudgeeraba Soccer Club for a day of fundraising and cricket fun. If backyard cricket is your thing, get your team together and join!
Later in the afternoon (about 3pm), the Mudgeeraba Lions Club will host an official citizenship ceremony, presided over by Karen Andrews MP, Federal Member for McPherson, where 53 locals will become new Australian citizens. This is always a wonderful event where I remember my Hungarian mother-in-law Eva Kalman (nee Kiss), who became an Australian citizen on this very day many decades ago, after escaping Europe and fall of Stalin as a young girl. I’ll be MCing this event and welcoming a few friends as they become Australians after living here for some time.
And before that ceremony, the Gold Coast Hinterland Heritage Museum will be hosting an Open Day from about 10am that includes a “Flag Raising”. While I’d probably describe myself as a Australian republican, generally regarding the monarchy as a bit of a circus these days (based on what I watch on the telly), I have a great deal of respect for the traditions of our local area and societal mechanisms that brought us to where we are today, able to choose to disagree and express our opinions freely while respecting one another and the community diversity that exists. I’ll be MCing this event, and doing my best to explore these contentious topics with people whom I like a lot, but probably disagree with on a few contemporary issues. The museum folk are actually wonderful community contributors and you should all come by to say hello on the day.
It’ll be a big day.
Most importantly for me, perhaps, the day will begin with a dawn ceremony.
For some time now, as the nation wrestles with reconciling its relationship with First Nations people and the related constitutional recognition, I’ve been cautiously contemplating a way to address an alleged incident from a moment of dark history in Mudgeeraba. For almost anyone who’s been here, Mudgeeraba is pretty well accepted as a place where families are common, a friendly smile greets you in the shops and cafes, and each neighbourhood helps those in need, through charitable giving or sharing what we have. It’s something I’m proud of, and many people who live here are too. We love our community.
It’s not pleasant but one meaning of “Mudgeeraba”, which is derived from an indigenous word, is “the place where lies were told”. Granted, the name is also said to mean “place of sticky soil”, “place of infant excrement”, or “place of crows”. We do indeed have quite a few crows, and the Mudgeeraba Creek, Wyangan Creek and Bonogin Creeks (and the related tributaries) all drain into the basins we know as Firth Park (or Black Necked Stork Park, up near the Mosaic Baptist Church and Mudgeeraba Showgrounds). With 9 primary schools in our division, it’s not unreasonable to think that baby poo is also appropriate. However, the name was established well before all those primary schools so we can probably disregard that one sensibly… while suggesting the meaning is related to the soggy soil makes some sense.
But the tragic and troubling proposed meaning continues to hold weight, even after many years. Our nation’s treatment of First Nations people has at times been tragic and it’s conceivable that our area was no different in its persecution of Aboriginal families. As much as I might want to deny plausibility, the possibility is very real and on further research, probably likely. Whether we like it, or believe it, or not, discussion of the incident has caused First Nations people great pain and heartache. In our community we respond to heartache with empathy.
So where to from here? Whatever we think about the alleged circumstance, how do we address the issue?
We can ignore it. We can go with the soggy soil concept for the name of Mudgeeraba, and overlook the pain of some in our community who will not feel heard. Based on our heart of compassion as a community I can’t accept that. I just don’t think that’s how we should respond to explicit pain and heartache.
Any wound needs to be inspected and understood before treatment and healing can begin. While it can help us to understand what caused the wound, that’s less important than wound management itself. We wouldn’t focus on the knife MORE than the wound if we hurt ourselves chopping vegies in the kitchen. Similarly, understanding the wound inflicted on First Nations people from our area involves talking to them and exploring their pain while ensuring they feel as comfortable as possible.
There are at least two parks in Division 9 that are named for First Nations leaders. The first is Warri Park, located on Swanton Drive, opposite Woodlands Park where Mudgeeraba Little Athletics meet. Warri was a matriarch of the First Nations community in the area as the time of settlement and colonisation. It is said she helped many indigenous and colonial families with childbirth and was known as a dear friend to all and trusted leader. The other park is Graham Dillon OAM Park, on the corner of Explorers Way and Hinkler Drive in Worongary. Uncle Graham Dillon was a respected leader in our city, advocating for indigenous rights and establishing and helping to lead some of the First Nations organisations we know in our city today.
Justine Dillon is a descendant of Graham Dillon OAM and a descendant of Warri. She is Kombumerri, the name of the Gold Coast’s indigenous people. Justine runs the Ngarang-Wal Gold Coast Aboriginal Association and they undertake significant environmental activities in our hinterland, including managing a large tract of land in Guanaba, but also undertaking projects throughout the south-west along with education programming at many of our schools and community institutions. Justine works closely with an award-winning artist known as Goompi. Goompi helps with school education, has a dance troupe that perform and teach, and his art is displayed on walls around the world, including the outside of the new buildings recently built on Robina Town Centre Drive, north of the library.
With Justine and Goompi, our Kombumerri Dawn Ceremony was devised, intended to acknowledge the hurt and pain of the past but also to be a symbol of moving forward to together positively.
Working with Justine and Goompi and their team has been excellent and they’ve always expressed a sense of respect for my family story and never really indicated a sense that they begrudge anyone the fun of a public holiday on Australia Day.
But it is a day of pain for them, as is the alleged story of Mudgeeraba; and this incident where lies were told. Together we’d like to alleviate that pain, stepping toward something better.
They recognised with me the need to work together to heal and I am so grateful for their contribution and effort. Together we agree that Mudgeeraba should be a place where the truth is told and empathy and compassion is expressed, and healing and forgiveness is available, in due time. I genuinely hope that our Kombumerri History and Healing Ceremony will help us move forward into a future filled with peace and a shared hope for an even better life for everyone.