00:00A four-year journey ending in a 400-kilometre walk.
00:06Let's walk for truth!
00:10More than 300 people adjoined the start of the Walk for Truth in Portland on Victoria's southwest coast.
00:17There's been a real sense of community and unity.
00:21I want the nation to know about it and this was one way of demonstrating my commitment to that.
00:26For Yulrook Commissioner Travis Lovett, it's a personal journey.
00:29Our people have walked on country for 60,000 plus years.
00:35As a Gunditjmara and Karatmara man, these are his lands and a historical marker in the lives of Indigenous Victorians.
00:42The story of colonisation started here with the arrival of the Henty family,
00:47which ultimately affected Gunditjmara people's lives forever.
00:50After four years of truth-telling, hearing the stories of 9,000 people,
00:54Commissioner Lovett says he was looking for a way to reinforce Yulrook's findings.
00:59Settling on a walk across country as a nod to Indigenous tradition.
01:03We want to heal, but we can't heal unless it's underpinned by the truth, justice, healing and hope.
01:12Years-long conflicts with our warrior men.
01:15Joining him on the walk were those who told their stories.
01:18I feel like partaking in the walk for truth is just a physical release of all the anxieties that I've had along the way.
01:27These stories need to be told and shared and, you know, the government needs to catch up.
01:34Commissioner Lovett will walk the 400-kilometre journey in five legs over 25 days.
01:41Along the way he will stop at significant First Nations cultural sites
01:45and pass message sticks from mob to mob before arriving at Parliament House in Melbourne on June 18th.
01:51Now it's up to you fellas to action, put action behind those recommendations.
01:56That's the most important part.
01:57The final report is expected to be handed to Parliament next month.
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