'Silence is not our inheritance': Yoorrook Commissioner

Lesa Scholl

Anglicans are celebrating truth-telling and first nations’ strength and resilience as they join thousands of Victorians in the Yoorrook Walk for Truth. Yoorrook Justice Commissioner Travis Lovett’s more than 500km Walk for Truth culminated on the steps of Parliament House this morning. Mr Lovett started his journey where colonisation began in Gunditjmara Country at Portland on 25 May.

Bendigo’s Diocesan Aboriginal Community Support Officer the Reverend Canon Shannon Smith said the walk was a journey of self-discovery. Canon Smith said on entering the Convincing Ground she was able to connect with the ancestors in a way she had never been able to do before. The Convincing Ground was the site of the massacre of Gunditjmara people and was the first recorded massacre in Victoria. As a Wiradjuri and Worimi woman, Canon Smith said it was a personal connection for her, where she felt the ancestors were waiting for them to arrive. She said for her the silence was deafening, and she could almost hear them crying out. “Some of the truth we learned along the way was absolutely devastating,” Canon Smith said. “They’re the stories that need to be out there.”

On the steps of state parliament, Mr Lovett said the walk placed truth-telling stories at the centre of the conversation where they should always have been. They were stories that belonged not only to the past, but to now, he said. “Truth-telling is treaty in motion,” Mr Lovett said. “Silence is not our inheritance.”

Gippsland and Bendigo Bishops Richard Treloar and Matt Brain, who both contributed to the Yoorrook commission, saw the walk as an important recognition of truth telling. Dr Treloar said he was moved by Mr Lovett reminding the walkers that their journey was not just about resilience but resistance. “It’s such a significant moment for not only the history of Victoria, but potentially for Australia,” he said. Bishop Brain noted Australians were only at the beginning of the truth they needed to recognise. “For myself as a bishop, I can’t stand aside and pretend they journey alone,” he said. “I want to be a part of their journey.”

The Yoorrook Justice Commission drew to a close on 30 June and their report was tabled in Parliament on 1 July.

This article was first published on the 18th of June 2025 in The Melbourne Anglican. Reproduced here with permission.