Port Stephens for Yes

05/07/2024

21/05/2024

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve finished writing my new book, ‘Always was, Always Will be: The campaign for justice and recognition continues’.

It will be published by Hardie Grant books on 3 September and is up for pre-orders online and in bookshops. There’s a link below to help you find them.

The book starts with the ingredients for hope, it will cover the lessons from the past, and ultimately, it is about the future we want to see – one where there is justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

For the thousands of people who have been feeling sad, empty and powerless since last October, Always Was, Always Will Be aims to be a positive rallying cry. This book will map the path toward next steps on how to create a fairer Australia.

Dear supporters of the campaign for justice and recognition, please get the word out - we are 6 million strong now, 40% of all Australians, and we will only grow! This book will help us to keep building the movement ✊🏾✊🏽✊🏻

The powerful cover is designed by Larrakia woman Jenna Lee.

https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/always-was_-always-will-be-by-thomas-mayo/9781741179279?utm_source=titlepage&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=AWAWB

24/01/2024

23/01/2024

Seven tips from Yorta Yorta woman Summer May Finlay to help you support your First Nations friends and colleagues. READ MORE: https://bit.ly/3vHgLIR

13/12/2023

21/10/2023

Analysis: The movement that follows the Voice

Thomas Mayo's article in today’s Saturday Paper, following a week of silence. ♥️🙏

Although the Voice referendum was lost, and despite the racist vitriol it unleashed, the movement for Indigenous rights and recognition has grown.

15/10/2023

This is clearly not the outcome we worked to achieve, and I know many of us will be deeply saddened and disheartened by this result.

This Referendum was always going to challenge us, and it was always going to teach us about ourselves.

Together we’ve shown the enormous progress that’s been made, but the result reveals the long road we have left to travel.

For Indigenous people, these past few months told a painfully familiar story – one of hope and heartbreak, but also of love and community.

This movement started with just a few simple ideas – to recognise our people, our culture, and 65,000 years of history in this place.

To bring our voices to the fore, from the most remote communities to our biggest cities.

And to shine a light on health, education, jobs, and the need to create opportunity and equality for all Australians.

While this result is undoubtedly difficult to face, the powerful movement that we’ve built over these past few months won’t just go away.

You have all played an important part in the ongoing struggle for progress and recognition in this country.

Now, we must continue to work together to ensure that our kids have a say over their own destinies and can walk safely and proudly in two worlds.

Over the past few months, 60,000 volunteers have formed action groups in communities across Australia. This is powerful. These bonds you’ve forged won't be lost. This should leave us with some hope for achieving a better future, one day.

We must not lose our resolve and we must make sure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are recognised, respected, and listened to; that our communities can live well and live safely as most Australians have the opportunity to do.

This Referendum represented a promise made to Indigenous Australians for a better future, and it’s a promise we must find a way to keep.

Take this time to heal and to reflect on all that we have achieved together – and, when you can, find a way to re-commit to the change we want to see in this country.

This was never going to be the last campaign for recognition and justice; it’s yet another chapter in the story of our struggle.

Thank you for taking this stand alongside us, and for walking with us.

Dean Parkin
Campaign Director, Yes23



If you need mental health support in the coming days, there are services that can help. You can speak with your doctor to be connected to a service, or you can contact:

13 Yarn (13 92 76)

Lifeline (13 11 14)

14/10/2023

Sending Love from Lemon Tree 🌳 ❤️