18/06/2026
The below is beautifully written by Peta Strachan 👏🏾
“Aboriginal people did not start with bank accounts, inherited wealth, investment properties, family businesses, or generations of accumulated assets. Our wealth was our land, our waterways, our resources, our knowledge systems, our culture, and our connection to Country.
When Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land, they lost far more than property. They lost the economic foundation that had sustained their communities for thousands of generations. Land was taken, resources were controlled by others, traditional economies were disrupted, and people were pushed off Country. Many Aboriginal families were left with nothing.
How can people expect Aboriginal communities to be on the same financial footing as those whose families have had generations to accumulate wealth, buy homes, build businesses, access education, and pass opportunities down to their children?
For many Aboriginal families, the starting point was not wealth—it was dispossession, exclusion, poverty, and survival.
Despite this, countless Aboriginal people have worked extraordinarily hard to succeed. Many have become leaders, professionals, business owners, artists, academics, athletes, and community champions. Their achievements deserve recognition because many have had to overcome barriers that others never faced.
The issue is not whether Aboriginal people are capable. We have always been capable. The issue is that you cannot remove people from their lands, destroy their economic foundations, deny them opportunities for generations, and then expect everyone to be standing at the same starting line.
Understanding that reality is not about seeking sympathy. It is about acknowledging history and recognising that true equality requires understanding where people started and what they have had to overcome to get where they are today.”
