Book review: Always Was Always Will Be, by Thomas Mayo. (Hardie Grant Explore, 2024)

Thomas Mayo’s new book, Always Was Always Will Be, is his deeply considered response to the defeat of the National Voice Referendum in 2023.

Thomas was one of the most prominent and effective Aboriginal spokespersons for the YES campaign, which sought endorsement for an Aboriginal Voice to parliament through constitutional recognition.

We all know the majority rejected the proposal.

This book inspires because of its dignity, intellect, breadth, clarity, simplicity, steadfastness, honesty, humour, modesty and defiance.

Thomas’ final 2 sentences are:

“Change starts with each of us. This the beginning not the end.”

And, then in a short postscript:

“Build a fire in your belly – never give up.”

This book is for everyone, including those who voted NO against Constitutional Recognition.

Thomas takes us on his journey across Australia since 2017, carrying the Uluru Statement canvas with him, from the deeper past to founding the Statement at the National Constitutional Convention in Alice Springs in 2017 to the days of bitter defeat in 2023.

Occasionally, poetically, he takes us into his personal world; fishing with his family on the first page and night spearfishing with his son in the closing pages. Thomas is a bloody good writer.

He notes, without dwelling on it, his personal experience of public and more private racist vilification and threats during the campaign.

Any page can provide any or some or all of fact, analysis, interpretation, attack, proposal, empathy, advice, perspective and practical action. His words are deeds.

The starting point is thematic: “What do we do next?” The rest fills us with what we can do, and maybe an awareness of what it will take from within us to do it. All of us will have to change at least a little bit to bring the vision of the Uluru Statement of the Heart – Voice, Treaty, Truth – into a new reality of irreversible momentum.

He convincingly argues the Uluru Statement remains as relevant as it has been since its adoption. We should heed his call to re-read and learn it. I add there is a lot for all of us to gain from learning how Aboriginal people developed the statement through hundreds of consultations. That is as profound as the Statement itself.

Thomas sees and explains the Referendum loss in a profound, radical way: the 40% YES minority is our foundation for a future victory that establishes a new reality. Put sadness and misery behind you. 40% is a step towards 98% (the YES vote in the 1967 referendum).

That’s how to start a new strategy cycle.

“Hope” is at the centre of Thomas’ message, linking to motivation and resilience, and it implies new levels of determination.

He explains his learning of hope and resilience in his family history and union such as the wharfies’ confrontation against Patrick’s and the Howard government in 1998, and the election of the Rudd Labor government in 2007, surfing off the National Your Rights at Work Campaign. He is now a national union leader within the MUA.

He reviews the factual 200-plus years of history of Aboriginal achievement in collective struggles and personal dedication in all fields of Australian social life, in the face of racism in all its forms.

There are protagonists of racism, and they certainly went to work during the 2023 Referendum campaign. Thomas describes them as “Bad Actors” and carefully lays out their destructive motivations and messages. Almost, he gives them more respect than they deserve.

Arguably, his development of the “Bad Actors” is the thinnest aspect of the book. The reflection on the YES strategy is somewhat limited. Yet the strategy did have problems and weaknesses that go beyond, for example, whether Albanese was correct to go for a Referendum when it would be opposed by the LNP opposition.

Thomas was an exemplary campaign leader “in the field”, face to face with the doubters and opponents (the “soft Yes’s”, the ignorant and the racially driven), not just his supporters. He looked for them with generosity. Perhaps he just was not close enough to the strategy setting to help make it better. Some more on this would be useful.

The overview of Aboriginal history and experience since the British expropriation of country started in and around Gadigal land (Sydney) In the middle chapters might already be known to some, but there is much that is not. Slave labour, the killing fields, cultural destruction, stolen children, the Intervention, the calculated lying and so on. It’s all there, briefly and eloquently told, including the timely and fair reminder that Dutton was the only MP who boycotted Rudd’s apology to the stolen generation. The referencing is strong and inviting.

The third and final part of the book is all about action: Thomas’ rationale and proposals that build upwards from the 40% minority who voted YES. Given the Treaty struggles and Closing the Gap platform there is no shortage of opportunity.

Central to this is popular education that strengthens respectful familiarity of whitefellas with Aboriginal people and their continuing culture. He lists the major lies and misconceptions about aboriginal people – 15 of them – and briefly provides ideas on how they can be countered. They include, for example, “Indigenous people will take your backyard” and “Australia treats all people the same”. In the middle, there is a brief and useful reminder of what racism is, again backed with strong references.

In 2025 Dutton and others behind and around him will push back against the Aboriginal flag and “acknowledge country” practices. It may well be a central theme of the coming national election. Thomas explains the history and rationale for “acknowledging” and how it is such an important part of truth-telling and owning up to, and ideas that can hold them in place and take them further.

The final chapter proposes “What’s next – starting today”. Thomas puts forward an incomplete but healthy and varied next steps list. For some, there will be comfortable first steps. For others, who have been working on this for some time, there are new ideas that can enliven past efforts and take us onto new ground.

His concluding resources list is rich and inviting, especially his thorough, though incomplete, summary of the Aboriginal music traditions.

Overall, Thomas's new book breathes defiance. But, as he stresses, he inherits a tradition of determined, carefully considered, mindful militant defiance. Step into that world, read this book and work out the necessary changes in ourselves to join with him and others to achieve the vision of a just, non-racist and peaceful future.