By Phil Jarratt
It’s funny how the weather can seemingly respond to human situations.
Just last month a black cloud rolled across Laguna Bay and engulfed us in fog as we gathered to walk the beach in solemn remembrance of John Kerr, brutally murdered a week before.
Last week a similar fog rolled along the eastern beaches at dawn as rain threatened, but right on cue nature reversed itself, and shards of sunlight lit up a small crowd which had gathered at Peregian Beach to send 82-year-old Margaret Landbeck on her brave mission for social justice. A diminutive figure clad in black trackie pants and trainers, with “Yes” badges pinned to her shirt, Margaret was almost hidden from view by her circle of supporters, until handed a microphone so that she could explain the purpose of her four-day 82-kilometre walk along the Sunshine Coastal Pathway (a kilometre for ever year of her rich life so far). The crowd parted as she spoke.
“I’d like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I shall be walking and am privileged to be doing so, knowing that it has been tended for many thousands of years by the Kabi Kabi people. It’s a wonderful coastline when you consider it in the light of its history and culture, as well as the beauty of the spots we’ll walk through. I feel privileged to be making this small statement because I’ve always believed in the power of one, which is magnified today by the power of all of you who will go out and talk to people about the need for the yes vote.”
Among those who had gathered at Peregian to send Margaret on her way were Aboriginal leader and Noosa resident Noel Pearson, a director of Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition, the organisation behind the Yes23 campaign, and Noosa deputy mayor and Voice supporter Frank Wilkie. Mr Pearson said: “The people of the Sunshine Coast live in the shadow of the ancient Aboriginal past, and the Kabi Kabi are still alive and well. Australians need to understand that all of this predates European colonisation, and if we acknowledge and recognise our Indigenous heritage we have a richer and bigger understanding of Australia. So I’m very pleased to join Margaret in starting her walk this morning and I’m sure I’ll keep up with her.”
Thanking Margaret for creating the opportunity to walk together towards reconciliation, Cr Wilkie said: “First Nations people have been walking this country for 60,000 years and this referendum is an invitation for us to walk forward together. It’s a wonderful offer, in fact it’s a gift, and many of us are going to embrace it with both arms and take it to our hearts.”
Filmmaker and musician Michael Butler filled the beachside park with the haunting sounds of the didgeridoo, and we were off, Margaret in the lead with Noel Pearson, in full sunlight now.
Margaret Landbeck grew up in a traditional establishment family in England, and later took up a nursing career, but soon after her marriage she and her husband accepted a university posting to Lesotho, a small African kingdom completely landlocked by the republic of South Africa, then under the strictures of the apartheid regime. They were to stay in Lesotho for six years. Says Margaret: “We went with one son and came back with four.”
When I joined Margaret again on day three of her walk, she said she was a little sore of leg and a bit tired, but I struggled to keep up as we walked the Bokarina Beach parkland. I asked her if her exposure to apartheid had awakened her strong sense of social justice. She answered thoughtfully: “When we went to Lesotho all those years ago and saw apartheid in practice I’d never been confronted by anything like that. From where we lived we had to go into South Africa for some of our major supplies, and going into those towns with their lovely parks, we were struck by benches that had whites only signs on them, and the buses were the same until an old rundown one would come along that was for blacks only. It was all very shocking and I became aware for the very first time the plight of marginalised people. Those experiences certainly set me off on a pathway of social justice and in Australia I’ve been aware of our own Indigenous issues for many years, so when I heard about the referendum coming up I thought, well this is a no-brainer.”
The octogenarian resident of IRT Parklands Meridan Plains retirement community has not opted for a quiet life in her senior years. She is active in many social justice and community groups including refugee support through the Buddies network, and in publicising many social justice issues. She starts most days with a 10-kilometre brisk walk, so when she heard about former Liberal parliamentarian and ultra-marathoner Pat Farmer’s round-Australia run for the Voice, an idea for her “no-brainer” started to form. The fact that Farmer had come from the side of politics that is officially against the Voice to Parliament was further inspiration.
Speaking at the finish line near Caloundra, her close friend retired accountant John Everall said: “Margaret suddenly announced she was going to walk from Peregian Beach to Bells Creek. I couldn’t believe it but I said, alright, I’ll help you. And it’s turned into the biggest exercise we could have imagined, months of training and planning. For Margaret it’s been a dual accomplishment – first to walk a kilometre for every year of her life, and second to promote a conversation in the community about the Voice. I wasn’t particularly passionate about the cause, but with a background in tax and law, I was very interested in the constitutional side of it. I’ve worked in Aboriginal communities in my professional capacity and, in the end, I believe where we are going with this will be helpful to all, but it will take some time to work its way through the systems. I started out in this exercise simply supporting my friend, and by the end of it I’m feeling very comfortable about saying, vote yes in 2023. It’s the right thing to do.”
So the little old lady had won over the hard-working organiser to the cause. There’s a good start. The power of one.
But striding towards the finish, a glass of bubbly in hand and son Anthony at her side, Margaret was quick to point out that her efforts had already spread through the community, with television news coverage and interested people engaging with her at every pitstop. She said: “My motivation was to make a statement about the Voice and hopefully engage people in conversation and help them see another side of the story. That’s my hope from this walk. Just to start the conversation.”
Noel Pearson, at the finish to congratulate Margaret, commented: “I’m so inspired by Margaret. There’s a lot of cut-through in her advocacy as she speaks to people and explains the case for the yes vote. In fact she’s teaching me things about communicating.”
