AAP 2025 CONFERENCE

Colonialism is a thousand years old, starting from the Crusades (1100-1300) when Christian Europe tried to take the Holy Land from Muslim rule. Despite failing those wars, European colonialism came to dominate other countries further afield and has continued in different forms to the present day. 
The ancient Aboriginal system came from a long-term experiment in human order making. The activity of order-making requires elements that come under the general heading of social, political, and spiritual design. The elements are Coherence, Proportionality, and Predictability (CPP), which emerged out of the creation, life process, reflection, and development of two collective life experiences - relationalism and survivalism. Through CPP, the development of the Metaphysical Identity begins. 
Regional consensus-based decision making was based on a deliberate process of creating a collective, civilisational culture i.e., metaphysical identity, whereby members of a group begin to understand the multiplicity of beings, values, obligations and duties, particularly through the concept of beginning, that explains the existence of the universe – The Dreaming. 
All the learned requirements of maturity, of being mature adults emerge out of relationalism and reflectivity, further, we, the autonomous beings learn that land looks after us, it grows us up, we look after land, this leads to a reciprocal, relational connection underpinned by a conscience. The first instance of what an Australian metaphysical identity is and further, could be.
Being a metaphysical identity, that is, being fully, completely and reflectively human or proper humanness, is a skill that must be learned, i.e., acquiring a proficiency in being an ethical human being with a functioning conscience. The difficulty of acquiring and maintaining this skill is that it’s a choice of the autonomous being. Learning and maintaining autonomous regard and the stewardship system helps in strengthening and stabilising community.
What if Australia had its own philosophy? If Australia began exploring what its metaphysical identity could be, then, maybe, a philosophy will emerge too.
Mary Graham is a Kombumerri person (Gold Coast) through her father’s heritage and affiliated with Wakka Wakka (South Burnett) through her mother’s people.
Mary has worked across several government agencies, community organisations and universities and is a lecturer with The University of Queensland, teaching Aboriginal history, politics and comparative philosophy.  She has also lectured nationally on these subjects, and developed and implemented ‘Aboriginal Perspective’s’, ‘Aboriginal Approaches to Knowledge’ and at the post-graduation level ‘Aboriginal Politics’ into university curricula.