Alfred and Clinton are unlikely friends. Their friendship can teach migrant communities about reconciliation

Reconciliation Week is a time for non-Indigenous people to listen and learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities and cultures. Source: Getty / Jenny Evans

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Alfred is an Indonesian migrant, and Clinton is an Aboriginal man from Western Australia. Their friendship changed the way Alfred understood his identity as a migrant Australian.

In 2017, Wajuk, Balardung, Kija and Yulparitja man Clinton Pryor was walking across Australia in protest of the closure of and poverty within Aboriginal communities.

The 27-year-old walked the 6,000km from Perth to Canberra in a year. During the journey, he received a Facebook message from a video journalist, Alfred Pek.

"He wanted to share it more into the the migrant community by documenting it. But he also wanted to learn himself," Clinton told SBS Examines.

"It's that way as human beings, like you’ll notice something or someone doing something, but you don't know how to approach them yet and to actually take that first step. And that's what he did."

Alfred immigrated to Australia from Indonesia in his teenage years. He said Clinton's walk was a "watershed" moment for him.

"I didn’t know that as an immigrant, you are also a benefactor of the dispossession of Australia’s land. When I became Australia, that was not taught in the context of what it means to be Australian. I didn’t truly understand the extent of what the challenges were until I started working with Clinton Pryor, and that was a watershed moment for me," he said.

Their friendship was forged in the spirit of reconciliation, a movement that began with the first Reconciliation Week in 1996.

“The heart of reconciliation is actually allyship," said Shankar Kasynathan, adjunt senior research fellow at the National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth and Justice.

"We become a part of this Australian story, which brings with it responsibility . . . it’s about how we build relationships going forward.”

A Tamil man who fled civil war in Sri Lanka, Shankar works with multicultural communities on their reconciliation journeys.

"Many migrant and refugee communities understand dispossession. We understand forced displacement, we understand cultural erasure," he said.

"But we don't always make that link between our stories and our histories of our diaspora, and the stories of now our First Nations people. I think once that connection is made, it becomes a powerful foundation for ongoing mutual support and allyship that I think is at the core of genuine friendships.”

This episode of SBS Examines marks National Reconciliation Week, and explores the role of migrant communities in Australia's reconciliation journey.

Transcript

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SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways across Australia.

Olivia

From SBS Examines, I'm Olivia Di Iorio. SBS Examines is here to dispel misinformation and disinformation impacting social cohesion. It's Reconciliation Week, a time for non-indigenous people to listen and learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities and cultures. In this episode, we look at the importance of multicultural communities engaging in reconciliation.

Alfred Pek

I came to Australia and I quickly learned about the plight of the Indigenous people.

Olivia

Alfred Pek immigrated from Indonesia to Australia when he was a teenager.

Alfred Pek

In 2017, I was a 23 year old. I was a freelance journalist and I was looking to expand sort of my horizons. Especially deepening the knowledge of the indigenous plights in stories in the country.

Olivia

In Perth, Western Australia at the time, protests were occurring on Heirisson Island. Otherwise known as its Nyoongar name, Matagarup. Previous protests on the island objected to the WA government’s $1.3 billion native title offer to the Nyoongar people, the closure of remote Aboriginal communities and traditional land rights. But this time, protestors were against the claims the state government was supporting international refugees before helping WA’s homeless.

Alfred Pek

I didn’t know that as an immigrant you are also a benefactor of the dispossession of Australia’s land. When I became Australia, that was not taught in the context of what it means to be Australian. I didn’t truly understand the extent of what the challenges were until I started working with Clinton Pryor, and that was a watershed moment for me.

Olivia

One of the Matagarup protestors, Clinton Prior, was 27 years old at the time.

Clinton Prior

After a whole year, the West Australian police, they wanted us to move on and got us to stop the protesting. I just didn’t want to give up the fight. And that’s when I said to myself, you know what, I’m going to walk from Perth to Canberra and I’m going to continue fighting and protesting.

Olivia

Alfred wanted to help share Clinton's story, so he reached out to him.

Clinton Prior

He wanted to share it more into the the migrant community by documenting it. But he also wanted to learn himself. It's that way as human beings, like you’ll notice something or someone doing something, but you don't know how to approach them yet and to actually take that first step. And that's what he did. He took that first step to message me, and I said, let's meet up.

Olivia

A friendship began to develop as Alfred documented Clinton's journey. 6000 kilometres and one year later, Clinton arrived in Canberra alongside Alfred.

Alfred Pek

I was helping the documentation side of it and to witness that to be part of that, that was beautiful.

Olivia

In the following days, Clinton had meetings with politicians and fellow activists. However, he left Canberra disheartened.

Clinton Prior

But truthfully, the walk inspired millions and millions of people around the country and around the world. It takes someone just to stand up for what they believe and then follow their heart, and people can see that.

Olivia

Clinton says it's important to support reconciliation.

Clinton Prior

It’s about bringing Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders and Australian people together and to build a bridge where it’s a way for all of us to move forward as a multicultural country.

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Reconciliation in Australia can be traced back to 1938, where the first Day of Mourning protest occurred on January 26th. It was in 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia's first National Reconciliation Week. Yorta Yorta man, Ian Hamm says the process looks different across Australia.

Ian Hamm

Reconciliation has moved from being, if you like, an issue just kind of sat by itself to now having to juggle with and being seen in the context of a whole bunch of other things going on.

Olivia

After engaging with multicultural communities following Australia's Voice to Parliament referendum, Ian found there were two perspectives.

Ian Hamm

Some migrant communities who are very much supportive of the propositions of the referendum because they'd come from places where they had been a minority that had been oppressed, and while they weren't completely au fait with the detail of the Australian story as it relates to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, they fundamentally understood what this was about and saw how can these people as a minority, particularly those who'd been here for so long prior to colonisation, how can they be treated this way? Equally though, there were migrant communities who'd come from different backgrounds, perhaps where they weren't subject to oppression, weren't minorities, but had come to Australia seeking an uplift in their economic and social positioning, which is a fair enough thing, who perhaps didn't appreciate it. And I recall there were times when people said, I came here with nothing, which really wasn't nothing and I've got to where I am, why can't Aboriginal people do it?

Olivia

He says to move forward in reconciliation you have to understand the complexities of migrant communities.

Ian Hamm

You really have to contextualise and understand who you're talking to if you want them to hear. You've got to understand where they're from as much as you want them to understand where you're from.

Shankar Kasynathan

The heart of reconciliation is actually allyship. We've become a part of this Australian story which brings with responsibility about how we build relationships going forward.

spk_1

Shankar Kasynathan is an adjunct senior research fellow at the National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth and Justice. As a Tamil man, he fled the civil war in Sri Lanka to Australia. Like Alfred, Shankar believes it's crucial for multicultural communities to engage in reconciliation.

Shankar Kasynathan

Many migrant refugee communities understand dispossession. We understand forced displacement. We understand cultural erasure. But we don't always make that link between our stories and our histories of our diaspora and the stories of now our First Nations people. So I think once that connection is made, it becomes a powerful foundation for ongoing mutual support and allyship that I think is at the core of genuine friendships.

Olivia

This episode was produced by Rachel Knowles, Nicola McCaskill, and Olivia Di Iorio. To find out more, visit SBS.com.au/SBSexamines.

END OF TRANSCRIPT