Thomas Mayo

In 2017, Thomas was part of the foundational moment at Uluru that conceived the Uluru Statement from the Heart, having been elected from the Darwin Dialogue on Constitutional reform to participate in the culmination of 13 regional constitutional dialogues. Following the Convention, Thomas was entrusted with carrying the sacred canvas of the Uluru statement across the country on an 18-month journey to garner support for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations voice and a Makaratta Commission for truth telling and agreement-making or treaties.

The campaign for the Uluru Statement from the Heart to form the basis of constitutional recognition of the voice to parliament is a turning point in the history of Australia’s relationship with First Nations Australia. It is already inspiring many other communities across Australia such as those of the Torres Strait who are seeking self-determination and regional sovereignty, outlined in a four-point plan called ‘The Masig Statement - Malungu Yangu Wakay (Voice from the Deep)’.

In the past month the Un Human rights Committee issued its ground-breaking decision after examining a joint complaint filed by eight Australian nationals and six of their children – all inhabitants of Boigu, Poruma, Warraber and Masig, four small, low-lying islands in the country’s Torres Strait region.

The Islanders claimed their rights had been violated as Australia has failed to adapt to climate change through upgrading seawalls on the islands and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, among other necessary measures.

The groundswell of community activism in relation to human rights and climate change seen in recent years only adds to the urgent need for the Vote yes campaign in relation to the journey of building consensus and community unity among first nations Australia. In October 2022 the Australian National Maritime Museum launched an exhibition of the Wharfie’s Mural, an iconic depiction created by Sydney artists which adorned the walls of the lunchroom that thousands of workers met and shared meals together daily. 

Many Aboriginal people worked on Sydney’s wharfs and the hardship they faced at work and in their everyday lives shaped an era of political activism which continues to inspire future generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people today.

Aboriginal wharf workers in Sydney faced hardship alongside non-Indigenous colleagues but also shared further burdens when at home living under the implementation of the policies such as the Aborigines Protection Amending Act which enabled the forced removal of children and the assimilation policies of Australia governments which lasted up until the 1960’s.

Thomas Mayo began his working life as a wharfie as a 17-year-old loading and unloading ships in Darwin and became where he later became an elected official for the Maritime Union of Australia, a division of the CMFEU which taught him the value of unity. In 2017, Thomas was part of the foundational moment at Uluru that conceived the Uluru Statement from the Heart, having been elected from the Darwin Dialogue on Constitutional reform to participate in the culmination of 13 regional constitutional dialogues.