Over 350 historians sign open letter and accept invitation of Uluru Statement
The Uluru Statement From The Heart painting was on display at the Sydney Opera House recently. (Image credit: Ben Fry / The Uluru Dialogue)
THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY TWO historians from all over Australia have added their signatures to an open letter which celebrates the potentially history-changing moment bought by a yes vote at the upcoming referendum.
The open letter recognises the injustices done to First Nations people in the past and acknowledges the role of historians in how they have been recorded.
It says: “We also believe that history is made every day by everyday people joining together to contest past wrongs and trying to put things right.
“We each believe that success at the referendum will be a powerful statement of reconciliation and unity that will resound throughout this land and beyond.
“We each call on our fellow Australians to be on the right side of history.”
Cobble Cobble woman and Uluru Dialogue Co-Chair Professor Megan Davis welcomed the letter.
“On 14 October we have an incredible opportunity to reflect on our past and look to a better future where non-Indigenous Australians walk forward alongside First Nations people,” Prof. Davis said.
“This is a real chance to make history – to change the nation’s founding document to recognise the original inhabitants of our great country and to improve the lives of First Nations peoples though a Voice.
“It’s amazing to have the support of so many historians around the country and I welcome their voice in the campaign.”
Professor Clare Wright OAM, Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University, said historians around Australia recognise the unique opportunity the referendum offers to be part of history.
“Historians know when a moment is significant enough to change the country for the better,” Professor Wright said.
“And we believe this referendum is one such moment.
“Our call is to all Australians to inform themselves about the simple but powerful invitation of the Uluru Statement and accept it with open arms come referendum day.
“History is calling. Historians will answer and we encourage all Australians to do likewise.”
THE HISTORIANS’ OPEN LETTER
We are historians who have researched, written and taught about Australian history, many of us, for decades.
We each support the principle of the Uluru Statement from the Heart: Voice, Treaty, Truth.
We each support the proposal to amend the Commonwealth Constitution to recognise First Australians and enshrine a Voice enabling representations to be made to the Parliament and the executive government. We will each be voting ‘yes’ at the year’s referendum.
We each accept the generous invitation of Australia’s First Nations peoples to walk together in a movement for a better future.
We each understand the importance of truth-telling about Australia’s colonial past in order to work together towards a more just future.
We each know that truth-telling requires rigour, integrity and courage.
We each acknowledge the role that historians themselves have played in the colonial project; the maxim that ‘history is written by the victors’ contains its own truth.
We also believe that history is made every day by everyday people joining together to contest past wrongs and trying to put things right.
We believe that the Australian nation stands on a precipice, looking towards a clear horizon, a new dawn, when this continent’s First Nations will for the first time have a voice in making representations to parliament about the policies and laws which impact the lives of their communities.
We hold that the Constitution Alterations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 amendment would align with our democratic heritage and strengthen our current democracy by giving Indigenous Australians a meaningful say in their own futures.
We know from our own empirical studies, and the evidence-based research of our peers and colleagues, that Australia’s Indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of the colonisation and dispossession of their lands, as well as the exploitation of their labour and resources in a way that has prevented them from achieving full and equal participation in our society.
We each believe those injustices warrant Constitutional recognition and enshrinement of a Voice.
We each believe that success of the referendum will be a powerful statement of reconciliation and unity that will resound throughout this land and beyond.
We each call on our fellow Australians to be on the right side of history.
We all trust that History is Calling.
SIGNATORIES TO THE HISTORIANS' OPEN LETTER
Professor Anna Clark
Miss Mable Thornton
Ms Alicia Cerreto
Professor Matthew Fitzpatrick
Dr Stephen Gapps
Dr Catherine Dewhirst
Professor Koen Stapelbroek
Associate Professor Adele Wessell
Dr Claire Brennan
Ms Janine Evans
Mr Peter FitzSimons
Professor Peter Stanley
Professor Michelle Arrow
Professor Julianne Schultz
Professor Diane Bell
Professor Janet McCalman
Professor Andrea Gaynor
Professor Prue Vines
Professor Jenny Hocking
Professor Kate Darian-Smith
Mr Troy Bramston
Professor Philip Dwyer
Mrs Emily Cheung
Professor Rachel Ankeny
Professor John Maynard
Professor Grace Karskens
Professor Peter McPhee
Professor Lynette Russell
Professor Bruce Kercher
Professor Chris Wallace
Associate Professor Elizabeth Tynan
Dr Dave Phoenix
Associate Professor Cheryl Taylor
Ms Helen Penrose
Dr Yves Rees
Dr Billy Griffiths
Dr Wayne Bradshaw
Professor Kate Fullagar
Professor David Christian
Dr Ana Stevenson
Dr Imogen Wegman
Dr Kate Bagnall
Miss Tianna Killoran
Professor Susan Lawrence
Professor James Walter
Professor David Walker
Professor Dianne Hall
Professor Judith Brett
Dr Elizabeth Farrelly
Associate Professor Gillian Dooley
Dr David Stephens
Dr Mike Jones
Professor Richard Broome
Professor Bridget Griffen-Foley
Ms Sarah Rood
Professor Frank Bongiorno
Dr Trish Luker
Mr Phillip Jaworski
Dr Georgine Clarsen
Ms Fiona Poulton
Professor Mark McKenna
Professor David Lowe
Professor Clare Wright
Associate Professor Gwenda Tavan
Professor Victoria Haskins
Mr Rick Kane
Professor Peter Botsman
Dr Romain Fathi
Professor Lisa Featherstone
Dr Benjamin Jones
Dr Rowan Cahill
Dr Caitlin Mahar
Dr Alice Garner
Dr Mark Staniforth
Professor Ann McGrath
Mrs Amanda DeLacy
Dr Elicia Taylor
Dr Cara Cross
Mr Leon White
Professor Lisa Ford
Dr Michael Williams
Associate Professor Alison Holland
Dr Hannah Robert
Professor Andrea Witcomb
Dr Andonis Piperoglou
Professor Katie Holmes
Dr Chelsea Barnett
Dr Christine Vickers
Professor Catharine Coleborne
Dr Graham Willett
Mr Bruce Adams
Ms Susan Hutchinson
Dr Catherine Bishop
Associate Professor Martin Crotty
Mr Stewart Mitchell
Dr Sylvia Martin
Dr Tony Smith
Mr Barry Sykes
Dr Jude Conway
AssociateProfessor Julie McIntyre
Dr Alison Broinowski
notitle Bob James
Dr Lisa Milner
Associate Professor Sharon Crozier-DeRosa
Dr Robert Kenny
Dr Robert Kenny
Professor David Munns
Dr Naomi ParryDuncan
Dr Jen Roberts
Associate Professor Liz Conor
Dr Daniel Fleming
Dr Cecilia Leong-Salobir
Dr Jasmina Brankovich
Associate Professor Amanda Laugesen
Professor Melanie Oppenheimer
Miss Lisa Keane Elliott
Mrs Fiona Verity
Professor Julia Martinez
Professor Lyndall Ryan
Dr Evan Smith
Associate Professor Kristyn Harman
Professor Katharine Massam
RevdDr John Smith
Dr Karen George
Dr Mark Cross
Professor Glen O’Brien
Professor Penny Edmonds
Dr Suzanne Spunner
Rev Carolyn Francis
Dr Alexandra Roginski
Dr Bronwyn Shepherd
Dr Amanda Harris
Dr Olivia Hamilton
Visual Historian-Photographer Juno Gemes
Professor Kate Auty
Dr Laura Rademaker
Dr Yorick Smaal
Professor Mark Lunney
Dr Skye Krichauff
Professor Emerita Ann Curthoys
Dr Lee Butterworth
Dr Margo Beasley
Ms Sonia Jennings
Mr David Evans
Professor Graham Seal
Ms Donna Fearne
Professor Rodney Tiffen
Dr Di Kelly
Miss Tereza DeGuara
Dr Deborah Jordan
Ms Lucy Bracey
Professor Lucy Taksa
Dr Elaine Brown
Dr Deborah Lee-Talbot
Dr Katti Williams
Dr Julie Kimber
Dr Helen Bennett
Dr Jonathan Richards
Associate Professor Rebe Taylor
Associate Professor Ray Kerkhove
Associate Professor Ruth Morgan
Professor David Christian
Dr Neville Buch
Mr Christopher Dawson
Dr Charlie Ward
Dr Karen Burns
Ms. Ellen Spalding
Professor Thalia Anthony
Ms Judy Hughes
Dr Caroline Jordan
Dr Kyle Harvey
Mr Paul Gilby
Professor Mary Spongberg
Mr Phil Craig
Dr Samantha Wells
Mr Steve Flora
Professor Ray Laurence
Dr Margaret Cook
Ms Carolyn Woolman
Associate Professor Tiffany Shellam
Dr David Harris
Associate Professor Matthew Bailey
Dr Amy Clarke
Professor Katie Holmes
Dr Alecia Simmonds
Dr Nadia Rhook
Associate Professor Steven Farram
Associate Professor Timothy Jones
Dr Sophie Couchman
Dr Robyn Smith
Mr Michael Rizzo
Dr Nicolette Snowden
Ms Clare Reynolds
Dr Bernard Keo
Dr Johanna Kijas
ProftheHon Barry Jones
Dr Emily Millane
Professor Nicholas Brown
Dr Cathy Brigden
Dr Gareth Knapman
Professor Andrekos Varnava
Dr Tanja Luckins
Mr Michael Evans
Emeritus Professor David Carment
Miss Amanda Wells
Dr Jon Piccini
Associate Professor Gabrielle Wolf
Dr James Dunk
Miss Emma Carson
Dr Valerie Djenidi
Professor Stefan Petrow
Mrs MMary Sheehan
Mrs Alvine Mulligan
Associate Professor Avril Alba
Dr Mia MartinHobbs
Dr Karen Pack
Mrs Werona Armstrong
Dr Lauren Samuelsson
Dr Jeannine Baker
Dr Jayne Persian
Dr Anne Beggs-Sunter
Dr Yoko Harada
Professor Marilyn Lake
Dr Eureka Henrich
Dr Themistocles Kritikakos
Dr Erica Cervini
Dr Ebony Nilsson
Professor Emerita Susan Magarey
Professor Peter Monteath
Professor Raelene Frances
Dr John Doyle
Dr Jacqui Newling
Professor Lyndall Ryan
Dr Jennifer McLaren
Miss Shannon Ross
Dr Benjamin Mountford
Dr Anna Kent
Professor Alistair Thomson
Dr Terry Kass
Mr Gordon Grimwade
Ms Jill Barnard
Dr Helen Davies
Ms Narissa Phelps
Dr Marguerita Stephens
Professor Ann Genovese
Dr Kate Gahan
Professor Anne O'Brien
Dr Brad Underhill
Professor Jenny Gregory
Dr John Luttrell
Ms Jacinta Walsh
Dr Christine Choo
Mr Nikolas Orr
Dr Michael Kilmister
Associate Professor Alison Downham Moore
Professor Zoë Laidlaw
Associate Professor Clare Corbould
Dr Karen McCluskey
Dr Sybil Nolan
Dr Anne Coote
Dr Peter Prince
Dr Rohan Howitt
Dr Barbara Minchinton
Dr Robyn Arrowsmith
Dr Ellen Warne
Dr Simon Fleming
Mrs Heatheranne Bullen
Mrs Teagan Arnold
Professor Marian Quartly
Notitle Claudia Craig
Ms Jennifer Rose
Dr Rosemary Kerr
Ms Sally Smith
Associate Professor Nell Musgrove
Dr Ian Hoskins
Associate Professor Nancy Cushing
Dr Fiona Gatt
Dr Karen Downing
Dr Meg Foster
Dr Kylie Andrews
Dr Bridget Brooklyn
Professor Michael Mcdonnell
Ms Christine Childs
Dr Naomi ParryDuncan
Dr Judith Buckrich
Dr Lorinda Cramer
Ms Monica Cronin
Dr Brett Holman
Miss Sarah Muncey
Dr Helen Davies
Dr Rachel Buchanan
Dr Rosemary Francis
Dr Carmel Black
Dr Gabriella Haynes
Dr Karen Twigg
Dr Alexis Bergantz
Miss Phoebe Wilkens
Professor Timothy Minchin
Dr Gary Presland
Ms Jenny Coates
Dr Laura Dawes
Mr Leon Lyell
Ms Gabriel Maddock
Mr Philip Craig
Dr Martina Muller
Ms Laraine Nelson
Ms(OAM) Deborah Beck
Dr Christine deMatos
Dr Scott McKinnon
Ms Alison Wishart
Mrs Suzanne Mitchell
Ms Virginia Macleod
Dr Bronwyn Hanna
Dr Paul Irish
Dr Deirdre O'Connell
Professor Heather Goodall
Ms Therese Sweeney
Dr Rachel Franks
Professor Paul Ashton
Ms Katrina Kittel
Dr Nicola Pullan
Professor Angela Woollacott
Mrs Pauline Curby
Ms Roslyn Burge
Ms Minna Muhlen
Mrs Anne McEncroe
Professor Tanya Evans
Dr Janis Wilton
Dr Judith Godden
Dr Nick Skilton
Ms Robyn Christie
Professor Tom Murray
Dr Simon Sleight
Dr Mark Dapin
Dr Susan-Mary Withycombe
Dr Nicole Davis
Dr Nikki Henningham
Ms Katherine Sheedy
Professor Bruce Scates
Dr Mark Dunn
Dr Lisa Murray
Dr Carla PascoeLeahy
Dr Caroline Evans
Ms Alannah Croom
Ms Lesley Alves
Ms Emma Russell
Ms Jill Cassidy
Ms Karin Le
Miss Jane Amos
Dr Elizabeth Grey
Professor Robert Pascoe
