After the no vote

Despite the momentary cold snap that hung over Parramatta a few days before, it’s a hot day, and I’m sweating as I sip my coffee and pass my list of questions to Gav Harris. I can’t help but wonder if the cafe has even turned on the air conditioner and I’m worried that asking a man who’s just gotten out of the hospital to meet up for a chat about his work on the First Nations Voice to Parliament campaign was a bad idea. But Gav tells me he prefers a face-to-face conversation and that being out of the house is a good thing.

Gav grew up in North Queensland in the 1970s with his adoptive parents in a social landscape that was even more restrictive than it is today. His people are from Murray Island in the Torres Strait. Like many other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders during the 1980s, Gav was not heard. His voice was discouraged and he became a victim of the social oppression that continues to dictate the lives of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders today. 

Ideally, school life should’ve offered a respite from the racism of general society, but it didn’t; instead, as a teenager he was told by a teacher that he wouldn’t grow up to be anything special. This prompted his father to tell him that he would be battling these kind of racial stereotypes throughout his life. So Gav decided to keep his head down. He stayed away from the police, focused on the strengths he had, and realised that if he wanted to progress and get ahead he had to play the game – which is exactly what he did.