BOOK REVIEW: Always Was, Always Will Be

Thomas Mayo's 'Always Was, Always Will Be: The Campaign for Justice and Recognition Continues' inspires hope after the failure of the ‘Yes’ campaign, urging Australians to confront their history and seek positive change.

THIS BOOK made me cry. As one of those left devastated by the result of last year’s Voice Referendum, I knew it would.

But I’m a British migrant who emigrated to Australia over 40 years ago so I can only stand in awe of Thomas Mayo, an Indigenous man and one of the leaders in the ‘Yes’ campaign, whose response was a determination to neither give up or give in. Despite the enormity of the country’s rejection of his people – who’ve called Australia home for around 65,000 years – Mayo’s response was to start writing this book, and continue the campaign.

The book is his answer to the question many were asking, and give hope to the six million Australians who voted ‘Yes’:

‘Whether you voted "Yes" or "No", this book is for all those good people who have asked the question, "What should we do next?"’

Rather than giving in to despair, Mayo emphasises the importance of hope and motivation – as well as activism – in generating change. And he shows how we can all do that.

A friend of mine didn’t wait long before doing exactly what Mayo advocates. Polly arranged to have 100 small badges made that simply said ’39.6’. She handed them out for free to those who expressed curiosity. For the ‘Yes’ voters, the number was recognisable. It represented those who voted ‘Yes’.

For others, querying its meaning offered an opportunity to begin a conversation so they might vote ‘Yes’ next time. She had no trouble finding takers for the badges. She even needed to order more.

How the media failed Australia in the Referendum 'campaign'

The mainstream media's performance during the Voice Referendum campaign was an abject failure.

Mayo also recognises and acknowledges a key point that arguably contributed to the high ‘No’ vote. It was a point that those in the ‘Yes’ camp failed to fully appreciate which allowed it to be cynically exploited by the “bad actors” who orchestrated the ‘No’ campaign.

The overlooked fact is that too many Australians don’t know their own history and even fewer know any Indigenous people as either colleagues or friends.

Although First Nations people have survived the ongoing brutality thousands of their ancestors have endured since 1788, they’ve remained displaced citizens in their own country since the arrival of the First Fleet. And until the 1967 Referendum, they weren’t even considered citizens.

Mayo confronts this gap in knowledge describing the gross injustices that have been done towards his people calmly and dispassionately. For Australians unaware of their history since the European settlement, or have learned a carefully sanitised version of it, Chapters 4 and 5 are undeniably tough to read because he doesn’t hold back.

I had to set the book aside several times while reading these chapters.

The sum of every act of the invading British settlers was still genocide: to clear Indigenous people from the land for colonial settlement. Those who were spared were forcibly removed to reserves to languish in poverty, or used like slaves. Indigenous people were subjected to forced assimilation, where speaking their own language, for example, led to cruel punishments such as beatings and children being forced to rake a yard with their bare hands...

...the first massacres started in the 1790s, they continued into the 20th century. The last to be recorded was... in 1928.

As Mayo points out, that was less than 100 years ago.

It’s human nature to fear what you don’t know, and like most Australians, I had little opportunity to know any Indigenous people until moving to Tasmania. I soon learned some of the dark history that involved the appalling treatment of the state’s Palawa people. Perhaps due to being a smaller population the chances of rubbing shoulders with a Tasmanian who has Indigenous ancestry is more likely.

For me, the relationship is now even deeper. While exploring her family history, a good friend of mine with Indigenous heritage discovered we are related! It might only be as fifth or sixth cousins, but it confirms those degrees of separation may be much closer than we think.

Fear and ignorance saw demise of Voice Referendum

As many feel the hurt from the rejection of the Voice to Parliament, one writer examines the factors that turned Australia into a nation of fear and anger.

After the challenging history lesson, Mayo urges us to look forward with purpose, balancing Noel Pearson’s 2022 Boyer Lecture comment that Indigenous people are “a much-unloved people” with a call to “flood the zone with truth and hope”.

It’s essential to counter the “bad actor” strategy that only seeks to spread misinformation and lies. Action is the next step, and Mayo lists a number of ways to help ‘Yes’ supporters, ‘overcome uncertainty and fear with familiarity’.

We won’t see consistency without people power. We won’t see consistency without organisations acting. We won’t see consistency if governments continue to use Indigenous affairs as their go-to scapegoat.

Change starts with each of us.

This is the beginning, not the end.

Mayo’s book is an inspiration as well as a call to arms. It’s a book all Australians are encouraged to read whether they were born here or not. Only if we have a true understanding of our shared country’s history – the good and the bad – can we have a future that is truly inclusive and that recognises all those who call Australia home.

'Always Was, Always Will Be: The Campaign for Justice and Recognition Continues' by Thomas Mayo is published by Hardie Grant.

This book was reviewed by an IA Book Club member. If you would like to receive free high-quality books and have your review published on IA, subscribe to receive your complimentary IA Book Club membership.