Gary Highland
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) was formed in 1997 in opposition to the Federal Government's Wik Native Title 10 Point Plan.
Since that time ANTaR has evolved to be an Australia-wide, community-based organisation committed to the rights of Australian Indigenous people.
ANTaR is best known for the Sea of Hands, which has become a powerful symbol of the 'people's movementfor reconciliation and the desire for justice for Indigenous Australians. The Sea of Hands has been signed by more than 300 thousand people and displayed in every major city and many regional locations.
Gary Highland was appointed National Director of ANTaR in March 2006.
Originally from Townsville, North Queensland, Gary has been a Federal Government Ministerial Adviser, held senior management roles at Australia Post and Amnesty International Australia and run his own consultancy business. Gary has also taught and researched history and politics at James Cook University, publishing in the area of Aborigines, Europeans and the criminal law.
Gary has worked extensively with the Metropolitan Aboriginal Land Council and a range of other Aboriginal community controlled organizations in Redfern.
Away from work, Gary enjoys rugby league, fishing, music and travel.
What a reconciled Australia looks like to me.
A reconciled Australia will be a place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are valued, respected and affirmed across all areas of society.
It will be a time after proper restitution has been made to the first Australians for the suffering caused by the invasion of their lands and the violence, dispossession and exclusion that followed.
In a reconciled Australia, Indigenous children will have the same life chances and choices as non-Indigenous children, Indigenous families will no longer fear violence and abuse and the length and quality of your life will not be determined by your racial background.
Australians will know we are truly reconciled when the shame of those descended from the invaders and the anger of those whose land was invaded are no longer barriers to us forming relationships of friendship and trust with one another.
Gary Highland
