A Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa public servant has spoken out after revealing on social media he had been terminated from the NSW public service over "code of conduct breaches", following months on suspension.
Last November, Jayden Kitchener-Waters was suspended after Premier's Department staff told him messages painted on his guitar were "too political" and could be seen as "taking sides" before a planned performance at NSW Parliament.
Messages included "NO PRIDE IN GENOCIDE", "FREE GAZA" and "F*CK THE IDF".
After two months of suspension, Mr Kitchener-Waters revealed on Instagram last Friday that NSW Premier's Department Secretary Simon Draper had formally notified him that his employment would end on January 27.
"You publicly mocked the procedures and policies of the Department and repudiated the values that make the Public Service what it is," read the email.
"I regret that there is no sound basis for forming a view that you now embrace the values and employment requirements of the Public Service, nor that you will conduct yourself differently in the future or that your continued employment will allow the reputation of the Public Service to be upheld."
A post shared by Jayden Kitchener-Waters (@jaydenkitchenerwaters)
Mr Kitchener-Waters told National Indigenous Times he rejected claims he had breached the Public Service values of "Integrity, Trust, Service and Accountability", instead urging a closer look at those in senior leadership.
He alleged Mr Draper had shown "no regard for any of them (the values)", adding that "nobody in his little posse shows any actual care for the values of the public service".
Regarding reputational damage cited in his notice, Mr Kitchener-Waters claimed "Simon Draper and Premier Chris Minns have done a very good job at dragging the reputation of the public service through the mud themselves".
"If they have to worry about the reputation of the public service or the Premier's department, they just need to look in a mirror and see the actions that they've done," he said.
"They are the ones that have completely disrespected and devalued all of the things that make New South Wales public service great, and they've forgotten that they serve the people."
Mr Kitchener-Waters also called into question the fairness of the investigation. Last year, he was invited to respond in writing to allegations of an ethics and conduct breach, and chose to submit his response in the Gomeroi language.
However, Mr Draper advised Mr Kitchener-Waters that the submission must be written in English to be "properly considered".
"Now I understand that they don't know Gomeroi, and that they need things to be in English," Mr Kitchener-Waters said.
"But the use of the word 'properly', this is something that our people have been hearing for hundreds of years - that when we speak our languages, it's not proper.
"But the other frustrating thing with this letter is I gave Simon Draper the name of an Aboriginal Corporation that could provide the translation. They did not even seek to go down that avenue, didn't even bother to actually speak to community members themselves."
To Mr Kitchener-Waters, their refusal to translate the letter illustrates the disregard for Aboriginal voices in the government.
"When you have an Aboriginal person telling you that if you want the language, you have to seek this through an Aboriginal Corporation, there's an expectation that government follows through that... to listen to Aboriginal voices and not silence them," he said.
"It just speaks volumes of the disrespectful ideology that they have towards Aboriginal languages - that they aren't good enough, that they're no longer proper."
Mr Kitchener-Waters also questions the date of his official termination, the day following Invasion Day.
"I just find that the most disrespectful, bizarre trauma, traumatic thing, you know, to fire an Aboriginal man from the New South Wales public service the day after Invasion Day is heartbreaking," Mr Kitchener-Waters told National Indigenous Times.
"Not only do I have to carry the trauma from the day before and everything that our old people have talked about, but then I get fired the day after. If that isn't a sign of just how disconnected they are with the reality of Aboriginal people within New South Wales, then I don't know what is."
Mr Kitchener-Waters believes his termination is emblematic of a larger problem of racism and censorship within the NSW Government.
"They can have all the RAPs and the equity targets in the world, but when they're actively silencing Aboriginal voices and firing Aboriginal voices for speaking up against genocide, then it speaks like we have a real issue within the New South Wales public service," he said.
"The New South Wales Government, led by people like Premier Chris Minns and Simon Draper, the Secretary of the Department, is making really solid efforts to try and suppress and silence Aboriginal voices, especially around this time of year."
Despite these challenges, he remains determined to stand firm and continue advocating for Aboriginal voices.
"The keyword there is try. They're trying, but they won't succeed, and very soon, the whole world will see that they are nothing but frauds and fakes, and they don't stand up for Aboriginal people," he said.
"We've seen people right across the country who have been punished, expelled or left out of certain events and stuff because of their stances on genocide. And each and every time, we've seen a massive uprising of the people.
"And I just know that there are so many people behind me, supporting me, and you know, we're going to take this termination letter straight back at him and take him on."
For him, his determination to speak out is underpinned by the historic suppression of his people.
"For over 200 years, Aboriginal people have been told to sit in their oppression and not say a word, and I'm not letting that happen anymore," Mr Kitchener-Waters said.
"I'm not going to sit here and let our people be oppressed and told what to do and how to act, especially when we're being targeted and treated with such bigotry and racism.
"I've always spoken up for what is right and for the Public Service, for Simon Draper to expect that an Aboriginal employee is just going to sit down, lie down and be kicked is crazy to me."
