Flag not just a symbol

The Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire Council hosted a flag-raising ceremony on Sunday, followed by a concert by Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse.

Following a welcome to country conducted by Pibulmun Wadandi elder Sandra Hill, the Aboriginal flag was raised by Ms Hill and Wayne Webb, next to the Australian and State flags.

Ms Hill said the ceremony was amazing.

“It was amazing to see that flag flying at Bridgetown, it’s been too long coming, it’s 2020 and for the first time we’ve got the Aboriginal flag in Bridgetown shire,” she said.

‘This is my family’s country, this is my bloodline, the country of my bloodline, to see it flying for the first time was incredible, it meant the world to me.”

Djidjilup Reconciliation Group’s Norma Schultz helped to organise the event and said she thought it was a beautiful day.

“I had lots of positive feedback about the day, both about the flag raising and the concert,” she said.

“It was really a community effort and people supporting the cause, it’s not just a handful of people doing it, it was really the support of a lot of people and the work of a lot of people that made it happen.”

Shire president John Nicholas said it was a moving event.

“I thought it was a very moving experience, especially for the cultural elders that were there and I think there was significant coming together of community in respect of it, I thought it was very good,” he said.