I want to begin by grounding us in the truth of this country. The truth that First Peoples have endured genocide on the very lands we all stand on.

Our old people lived through massacres, poisonings, forced removals, starvation policies, incarceration and the deliberate destruction of language, culture and lore.

These were not isolated incidents. They were systemic. They were intentional. They were designed to eradicate us.

And the impacts didn't end generations ago. They live on in our bodies, our families, our communities and they shape our institutions today. Every day, First Peoples navigate the ongoing consequences of that violence. In justice, in health, in education, in child protection and in the way this nation still struggles to speak the truth about its own foundations.

When we talk about harm, hatred and violence directed at people simply because of who they are, we must start with the truth of what has happened here in Australia. Naming genocide is not about blame. It is about honesty. It is about healing. It is about refusing to look away from the reality that shapes this nation.

And in the wake of what happened at Bondi, I understand why the Jewish community are calling for a Royal Commission and for urgent changes to the education curriculum. I agree these conversations must happen. We do need to confront hate, racism and the conditions that allow violence to take root in this country.

If we are going to change the curriculum in the name of eradicating hate, then we must finally teach the true history of this country.

We cannot talk about addressing racism while continuing to hide the foundations of this nation, foundations built on genocide, dispossession and the ongoing harm inflicted on First Peoples.

If we are serious about preventing hatred, then truth-telling must sit at the centre of any reform. Because you cannot build a safe, united future on a false story.

You cannot teach young people to stand against racism while refusing to teach them the racism that shaped this nation from the beginning.

And you cannot call for national healing while avoiding the truth that First Peoples are still living with the impacts of colonisation every single day.

If this country is ready to change the curriculum, then it must also be ready to tell the truth. And this truth sits inside a broader story of who we are as a country today.

Australia is home to many cultures, many languages, many communities who have come here carrying their own histories of war, persecution, displacement and survival.

Multiculturalism is often spoken about as food, festivals and flags. But for many communities, it is also about trauma, memory and the ongoing search for safety.

People come to this country hoping for peace, hoping for dignity, hoping for a life free from the violence they fled.
As First Peoples, we know what it means to carry generational pain. And we also know what it means to welcome others into our Country with generosity, even while we are still facing the ongoing impacts of colonisation and still healing ourselves.

Holding all of that, the truth of this land, the diversity of our communities, the weight of our histories, we must remember this:

Their pain matters.

Their safety matters.

Their humanity matters.

We can hold all these truths at once.

We can name the genocide that happened and continues to impact First Peoples in this country.

We can honour the experiences of multicultural communities who carry their own histories of harm.

And we can stand firmly against antisemitism and the violence directed at Jewish people at Bondi.

These truths do not compete. They sit alongside each other. They call us into deeper responsibility.

Real justice means refusing to let any community's suffering be used to silence another's. And holding that truth does not stop us from seeing the pain of others. In fact, it should make us more attuned to it.

My hope and the reason why I am walking from Melbourne to Canberra on the call for national Truth Telling on the Walk for Truth, is that we build a future where all people, First Peoples and every community who calls Australia home can walk forward together, side by side and live with safety, dignity, respect and truth.

Truth without justice is unfinished.

Safety without truth is fragile.

And healing requires us to face every harm, not just the ones that are easy to speak about.

First Nations communities experience this daily.

This is why we need to come together because we live with this every day.

It is still hurting and killing our communities every day.

This is why Australia must heal. This is why we must come together. And this is why I ask you to join me on the Walk for Truth so we can finally walk toward a future built on dignity, justice and truth.

Travis Lovett

Kerrupmara, Gunditjmara, Boandik; Executive Director, Centre for Truth Telling and Dialogue, University of Melbourne; Former Deputy Chair and Commissioner, Yoorrook Truth and Justice Commission.