Supporting Qld’s State Memorial
by Jenifer Hasbun
CPA Group were delighted to support and participate in a range of activities during NAIDOC Week, enhancing our relationship and partnerships with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. One of the key events supported and attended during this year’s NAIDOC Celebration (theme – Voice Treaty Truth) was at the NAIDOC Family Fun Day at Brisbane’s Musgrave Park.
A short History of Musgrave…
Musgrave Park is a remnant of the former Kurilpa (South Brisbane) Aboriginal camping ground that stretched from Highgate Hill to the slanting slopes of Cumboomeya (Somerville House). In the 1840s and 1850s our Indigenous Australians would go into South Brisbane to work chopping wood, carrying water, and selling fish. The South Brisbane Recreation Reserve (as it was originally known) was created in 1856.
In 1867, it was proposed to build a public grammar school (Brisbane State High School) adjacent to the reserve. In 1884, it was renamed Musgrave Park after the then Governor of Queensland, Sir Anthony Musgrave.
On 24 August 1998, the Musgrave Park Aboriginal Corporation (MPAC) secured a lease to build a cultural centre on portions of the park. The park holds special significance to the local indigenous population due to a past restriction barring Aborigines from crossing the park and entering the city of Brisbane. Notably, being the site of a buried bora ring, it has historically been a sacred site to the native Murri people.
Pictured is CPA Group’s Indigenous Ambassador, Lorraine Hatton, OAM. Lorraine is the Chair of ATSIDMCQ Inc and is showing the miniature model of Queensland’s State Memorial for Indigenous Servicemen and women, planned for ANZAC Square Brisbane.
CPA Group is proud to be a supporter and ongoing sponsor of this wonderful inclusion. CPA Group aims to remain a partner and supporter of choice for Indigenous Peoples through which our relationships contribute to their economic, social and cultural empowerment.
- Lorraine with Indigenous artist Delvene Cockatoo-Collins, who designed the Commonwealth Games Medals
- Dr Harry Van Issum – of Griffith University
