Lingiari: until the chains are removed

The annual Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lectures are given in honour of Vincent Lingiari, an Aboriginal activist of the Gurindji tribe who died in 1988, to pay homage to his inspirational leadership in what we now know as the Aboriginal land rights movement. This 4th memorial lecture is delivered by Patrick “Pat” Dodson, the well known former chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and one of the senior leaders of Aboriginal Australia. Pat has been a football player, a former Catholic priest, a Commissioner with the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and a negotiator for Aboriginal rights. He speaks about recognition for, and reconciliation with, the Australian indigenous peoples by non-indigenous peoples; recognition of Aboriginal rights to the land, not as tenants, but as owners and custodians of the land; the stolen generations and an apology with a meaning; self-determination and a right to justice, equality and a shared future with all Australians.