Indigenous woman and Alice Springs councillor Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says she wants to foster understanding, break down barriers and "share the truth without the confines of political correctness".
That is why she is undertaking a national speaking tour called Mind The Gap: Bridging the Indigenous Divide, which will see her come to Bendigo on Friday, August 30.
Ms Price said "political correctness and guilt for historical injustices" had prevented the community from moving forward and closing the divide that existed between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
"First it needs to be understood that the divide exists between those Australians who have opportunity, education, jobs and access to meaningful services and those who don't," she said.
"That includes people of Aboriginal descent who are faring well in comparison to our most vulnerable Australians who are largely out of sight and out of mind and usually without a voice.
"The focus is needed where the vulnerable and voiceless exist.
"The focus should be on practical solutions and not shallow acts of symbolism that lead nowhere."
Ms Price said the focus on such issues as changing the date of Australia Day were irrelevant to practical actions that created change.
Her views on these issues have put her at odds with other prominent Indigenous Australians, although she says the vast majority of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people she speaks to want "progress" instead of being "trapped in the past".
"My stance on such issues as 'changing the date' and my calls for real change as opposed to symbolic gestures threatens the positions of those who have perpetuated the victimhood narrative within the grievance industry," she said of the controversy surrounding some of her views.
Friday's event will include a talk, questions from a moderator, and an audience Q&A.
It will be held in the Bendigo Bank Theatre at The Capital at 6.30pm. For more information, visit the event website.
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