Cocktail Party at Sky Phoenix Restaurant, 13 April 2005
On Wednesday, 13 April 2005 a cocktail party to raise funds for the Indigenous Barristers Trust (The Mum Shirl Fund) was held at Sydney's Sky Phoenix restaurant.

More than 150 guests attended, including the patron of the trust, the Hon Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE, Attorney General Bob Debus, and the Hon Dr Andrew Refshauge MP, Deputy Premier and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.

The highlight of the evening was a heartfelt and insightful speech by Noel Pearson, in which he expressed a view that the decision in Mabo had been misunderstood by the community and that an opportunity for attitudinal change towards native title had been lost. He also raised concerns that the Native Title Act had been interpreted by courts in a way that diminished Indigenous land rights.


E-mail: amcconnachie@nswbar.asn.au