As part of NAIDOC Week ‘For Our Elders’, the Yoorrook Truth & Justice Commission yesterday organised an Open Day of their new Collingwood premises.

Jack Aghion, Chair of the B’nai B’rith First Nations Reconciliation Project, and his wife Eleanor, were invited to attend and meet Uncle Kevin Coombs OAM, 82 year old ex Australian Basketball Paralympic Champion. Jack gladly accepted the invitation as it gave him a chance to inspect his son Gab’s work, who last year designed and set up the Yoorrook offices. There they also met Professor Eleanor Bourke AM the Yoorrook Commissioner, who noted the similarities with Jack’s wife as both had been named after Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the WWII American President.

The premises were most impressive and reflected many characteristics of a bush setting but was also modern and practical to allow for the work of Yoorrook, which is a Royal Commission.

One aspect that we found incredible is that when Uncle Kevin as a young athlete went to London to represent Australia, he had to travel on a temporary British Passport, as this was prior to the Referendum of 1967 when Aboriginal people were finally counted as Australians.

The Commission has been set up to record the stories of the Elders of the community, before that information and knowledge is lost forever to time.

It was a privilege to have been invited to their Open Day. It happened to coincide with the day when our Prime Minister, publicly acknowledged the work of B’nai B’rith and the Jewish community towards Reconciliation.