The Sydney Morning Herald Selfless act warms spirit Sharon Verghis 9:41PM, Sep 08 For tiny Candelo, sandwiched halfway between the mountains and the sea, reconciliation is brokered by the simplest of gestures. For its sole torchbearer, Craig Dixon, 17, the personal is truly political, the torch-run a powerful statement and an act of pride. The Year 11 Bega High student was not even a local, but Candelo was generous in its applause as he carried the flame down its tiny main street. It was a run made possible only through an act of sacrifice, when Candelo local Chris Allen, 52, gave up his spot so that the South Coast could have an Aboriginal runner. Allen, nominated for his work with the environment, was shaped by his years working with remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia, planting tree belts around arid settlements. When he heard that Craig's nomination had been knocked back by the local selection panel in Bega, there was only one natural outcome. "It was an easy decision in many ways," he says. "I heard Craig's uncle John Dixon on the radio saying how disappointed the local Koori community was that no Aboriginal runner had been selected. "They felt excluded from a celebration that was meant to involve the whole of Australia, especially when it was supposed to be the Year of Reconciliation. "It became clear to me that if they could get a runner, it could turn it around for them. They'd been pushed to the fringes for so long, it was important for them to be involved." For a community often confined to the periphery, it would be a powerful act of reconciliation, Allen says. Craig Dixon knows that the action carries more than symbolic import. Aboriginal communities on the south-east coast, including the Nagarigo, Yuin and Djirringanj people, had planned a boycott of torch celebrations at Merimbula and Bega yesterday to protest Craig's omission from the torch run. For the communities, beset by high unemployment, it was the final straw. It reinforced the sense of dispossession many felt. But Chris Allen's act changed everything, Dixon says. "When I was knocked back, my family kept trying to get SOCOG to change its mind but then Chris contacted my uncle and I got to run. I only found out last week," says Dixon, a promising rugby league player who hopes to play for the Canberra Raiders next year. "For me it's a political thing. People have been coming up to me saying 'Good onya'. It's just so good for them to see me run." Dixon's family maintain he is the only Aboriginal runner for the South Coast but SOCOG said yesterday it could not confirm this. A spokeswoman, Ms Holly Reynolds, said the change of runners had been brokered by SOCOG's program manager for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander relations, Mr Gary Ella. "We're very strict about swapping places but we felt that Chris's action was particularly generous and in the spirit of the torch relay, so we were very happy to accommodate it." Earlier, the torch made its way down to Cooma again on its journey to the coast. In a region which some locals believe has been hurt by high recent petrol prices and the GST, it was a welcome return. Reaching Merimbula, the flame entered to the pulse of drums, the community cauldron lit by 1956 Melbourne Games timekeeper, Mr George Brain. At dusk it entered Bega where most of the locals were waiting dressed in togas in homage to its Grecian origins. In the lead-up to the celebrations, the local dressmaker was the busiest person in town, organisers said. -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
