My name is Monique Conheady. I’m a co-founder of Flexicar. Prior to setting up Flexicar I was an engineer. In the immediate years prior to Flexicar I was fortunate enough to work on a number of infrastructure projects in remote Indigenous communities in WA and Qld. These projects involved the provision of basic services such as potable water, sanitation, power and roads – basic services most Australians take for granted.
Through this work I was privileged to meet, work, make friends, go fishing and swimming, hunt wild boar and hear some of the stories of several blackfella mobs. Today, as our nation finally says “sorry”, I am thinking of my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander friends.
I listened to the new PM’s inaugural, historical and important speech via a mobile phone, that was sat in front of a friend’s computer, which was streaming the speech live in real time, while on the tram, on my way to a dentist appointment.
Mobile phone reception, internet connection, public transport, dental health care – again things most Australians in big cities take for granted – but sadly things many Indigenous Australians still do not have access to.
Unfortunately many of my blackfellas mates will also never have access to a hassle free Flexicar. Although the Warlpiri Bush Mechanics have shown us Indigenous Australians are amazingly ingenuous when it comes to keeping a vehicle ticking over!
Now that we have finally made the important first step of saying sorry, I sincerely hope it is a better road ahead for Indigenous Australians.
