IN A show of community solidarity more than 1,500 people came together to march side by side in the annual Queanbeyan Reconciliation Walk this week.
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This year's theme for Reconciliation Week is "Let's Walk the Talk," and locals certainly did that as they marched down Monaro Street and congregated at the Reconciliation Garden in Town Park on Tuesday, May 27.
Aunty Ethel Baxter led the parade. She told The Queanbeyan Age that Reconciliation Week was about unifying the community.
"Reconciliation Week means to me, bringing people together. It's all about respect and learning to get along with one another. It's everybody's country so we should all just at least try," she said.
"It makes me proud to see so many people join in, especially the school kids."
In keeping with a tradition, mayor Tim Overall encouraged the crowd to help him spell out "respect." He said the growing participation in the local Reconciliation Walk each year set a good example to other cities nationwide.
"Every year this walk gets bigger and bigger," he said.
"I think we're leading the way in a lot of respects to a lot of regional centres and capital cities right across Australia by closing our bridge and closing our main street [and marching].
"It's about partnership and learning from each other," he said.
