Acknowledgement of Country

 I pay my deep respect to Elders past, present and emerging. 

I have been fortunate to live in some of the most beautiful regions of our country. I can only appreciate now, the care, respect and protection provided to these regions by our First Nations people; and for this I am truly grateful.

I was born in Mildura, on the banks of the Murray river, in Victoria’s Riverina region. I was fortunate to have travelled back there recently. I acknowledge the First Peoples of the Millewa-Mallee, The Latji Latji and Ngintait as the traditional owners and custodians of that land. I was three when my family moved to Tamworth in mid-western New South Wales. I acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal groups of the Tamworth Regional Council area -the Kamilaroi/Gomeroi peoples of the Kamilaroi Nation.

When I was six we moved to the far west of New South Wales, to Cobar, part of the traditional territory of the Wongaibon people, within the Ngiyampaalanguage group associated with the arid plains and rocky hill country of the Central West area of New South Wales bordered by the Lachlan, Darling-Barwon and Bogan rivers. I played rugby league with my school mates and often travelled to Brewarrina (home of the Ngemba, Ualarai, Murrawarri and Wailwan Aboriginal people) and Bourke (on a bend in the Darling River and home to the Ngemba people). I can remember as a snowy haired young boy, playing in teams from all backgrounds, and playing against full indigenous teams with boys that were fast and skilled and athletic. 

My family then moved to Coffs Harbour on the north coast, home of the Gumbaynggirr people, who have occupied that land for thousands of years, forming one of the largest coastal Aboriginal Nations in New South Wales. 

As a teenager I then grew up in Sydney. I acknowledge traditional custodians of the eastern Sydney coastal area -the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples of the Eora nation.

I met my beautiful wife in the lands of the Kaurna people, in the area now known as Norwood, in Adelaide. The Kaurna lived around the four creeks which traverse the city, gathering for ceremony and cultural activities prior to European settlement in the 1830s.

I now find myself and my family welcomed to the lands of the Kabi Kabi on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. I acknowledge the Kabi Kabi people and the Jinibara people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I now live, work and learn.

Across these years and travels, I have never truly understood the cultural richness, the significance of these beautiful places or the First Nation people and custodians of these lands. I have loved and cherished each of these places.  I am honoured to offer my deepest respects to all of these First Nations people, their Elders, their ancestors, and their descendants. I feel a strong sense of connection and belonging to all of these lands in which I have lived. 

Brett Webster