During the councillor reports part of Monday night’s meeting, five out of seven councillors spoke about the Yarning Circle and the impact racism has on Indigenous people in the Horsham municipality.
Mayor Brian Klowss said the Yarning Circle was a chance for all councillors to listen and learn about the issues affecting the Aboriginal community.
“At times the conversation was very hard, especially around the racism that’s happening regularly in-person and online,” he said.
“To see the hurt, really hit home with me and it’s time we, as a community, start to call it out for what it is.
“It was really emotional. I think some of the stories that were put out there, to see this going on in our community … it was actually disgusting to see that sort of behaviour going on.
“ So I call on the community just to call it out if they see it. Let’s try to stop this in our community.”
Cr Rebecca Sluggett said the Yarning Circle was an opportunity for councillors to start building a better relationship with the Aboriginal community and listen to their experiences of living and working in Horsham.
“I was so disappointed to hear just how nasty the level and prevalence of racism is in Horsham, and how that affects people daily,” she said.
“No one should have to feel that hurt, insulted or unsafe to be in the town they live in. It is a disgrace to our community and we should call out these behaviours when and if we see or hear them.
“It is heartbreaking that an organisation that has positive stories and has won multiple awards for their work is unable to share them with the wider community because they are concerned about the negative comments and increased racism their community would face as a result.”
Cr Dean O’Loughlin, who works at Goolum Goolum, said it was one of the highlights of his term as councillor to be involved in initiating the Yarning Circle.
“This is just the beginning of building ongoing, frank and honest conversations with the cohort of the community that, let’s be honest, haven’t always been represented well,” he said.
“I thank this community for opening their doors to us and allowing us to hear their stories of strength and resilience,” Cr O’Loughlin said.
“ I implore my fellow councillors to push to further advance the development and implementation of the HRCC Aboriginal commitment and action plan to address issues, strengthen relationships, and highlight opportunities for our Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander community members to thrive within the community.
“I also implore the council and
councillors to develop and implement an anti-racism strategy or similar to address and call out the ongoing
incidents of racism within our community.
“ We all see the prevalence of racism by the minority community members cowardly, hiding behind keyboards and phones as they instil their hate speech upon social media platforms, easily inciting others to join in degrading of culture and community empowerment.
“All our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse community members have the right to celebrate and promote their programs, achievements and families free of persecution.
“I believe the council has a leadership role to play here, and I hope I am supported in advocating and informing developments of these key directional bodies of work.”
Cr Cameron McDonald said he hoped the discussions between councillors and the Aboriginal community could be a regular occurrence because ‘education came through understanding’.
“It is really disappointing to see some of the community (and what they write) on Facebook,” he said.
“I’m actually surprised that people put their names to it.”
Cr Angela Munn, holding back tears as she spoke about the issue, said the Yarning Circle was held in good faith and good will, with trust and honesty by both parties.
“One of the concerns was the
ongoing racism that people, including children, experienced daily,” she said.
Cr Munn spoke about the effect that proposed climbing bans at Mt Arapiles, due to cultural heritage protection, had on Aboriginal people in the Wimmera.
She also spoke about people booing Aboriginal people performing a Welcome to Country at Sydney’s Anzac Day service, describing it as ‘the lowest of the low’.
The entire April 29, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
The entire April 29, 2026 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!
