On Saturday, 12 August, Thomas Mayo will be one of the keynote speakers at the second Walking Together Conference.
Mr Mayo is one of the leaders of the Yes campaign for this year’s referendum on Indigenous recognition.
He is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man. He is the National Indigenous Officer of the MUA, and the author of several books, articles, and essays.
Mr Mayo was born and bred in Darwin on Larrakia country.
“We were a single income family, and my father was a very hardworking man, first in the mines and then on the roads,” he recently recalled.
“At school, I was lucky to have a very good English teacher who encouraged me to think that I could write, if I applied myself.”
He later worked at Darwin port, where he first became involved with the union movement.
“Some of the old fellas told me of how the Maritime Union that I was a part of had helped the Gurindji stockmen during their walkout back in 1966, by taking supplies down there to support them,” he said.
“And I learnt how the unions had been in the Pilbara strike in the 1940s; how the first all-Aboriginal political organisation was led by an Aboriginal wharfie, Fred Maynard back in 1924. And more recently there had been the union’s involvement in the land rights struggle, and on Aboriginal deaths in custody.”
As one of the leaders of the Yes campaign, Mr Mayo is the coauthor of The Voice to Parliament Handbook, a book promoting the Yes vote.
For the first time, Newspoll recently showed the No vote gaining traction. In a recent interview with The Saturday Paper’s 7am podcast, Mr Mayo said he was not concerned.
According to Mr Mayo, the proposal is a simple one that still has a chance to succeed.
“It’s a tough task and we’re working hard on that. Australians need to understand that this is simply about recognition and listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is not all the things that the No campaign is saying,” he said.
“This is a simple proposal. You know, do we want to recognise Indigenous people? Should we be listening to them when we make decisions about them? And you know, it’s about time that we do that. And I think, you know, we’ve got time to change those minds.”
Nathan Tyson is the Synod’s Director of First Peoples Strategy and Engagement. He said Mr Mayo was a speaker worth hearing from regarding his perspective on the Voice.
“Thomas is an engaging and influential speaker, who speaks with a passion derived from both his work as a Union representative, and from his lived experience as man of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage,” he said.
“Thomas is well versed in the history of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and the rationale behind the modest request for a Voice to Parliament for First Peoples. If you would like to understand more about the Voice to Parliament then I encourage you to join us on 12 August at Newtown Mission.”
The referendum regarding the Voice to Parliament is expected to take place in late 2023. No date has been announced yet.
The first Walking Together conference took place on Sunday, 23 October 2022. Keynote speakers included Rev. Mark Kickett, Dr Anne Pattel-Gray, Rev. Dr Garry Deverell, and Naomi Wolfe.
Walking Together 2023 takes place at Newtown Mission on Saturday, 12 August from 9:30am to 12:30. For more information and to register, visit the Eventbrite page here.
