Ceremony

This Parliament House is for everyone. White, Aboriginal and any other colour. It belongs to the community. It does not just belong to those white men me and Milton always see talking on TV. People like my father and other old strong people weren’t scared to talk. They talked for their people, for their Country. They talked because they really wanted things to be better for their people. Not just words, but feelings, too.

I think I’m following in my father’s footsteps and my brother, Mervyn, too. We [are] not ashamed to talk, not scared of those people in that Parliament House in Kamberri/Canberra. They better listen because we really have something to say: really good, kind and strong for everyone and for Country.

— Marlene Rubuntja, 2021