Overnight Melbourne to Echuca
D e n i l i q u i n , G r i f f i t h & H a y
Aunty Mary
Hooker Visits Hay
Left: Tyron Morris and Leo
Fitzpatrick with Aunty Mary.
The scarf is an attempt to
break the Guinness World
record and Mary hopes it will
be 20 metres when finished.
Right: Dianne Butler meets
Aunty Mary.
Aunty Mary Hooker is a Bundjalung woman, a third generation Stolen
Generations Survivor and a former resident of the Parramatta Girls'
Home. She is also the first aboriginal person to become an
ambassador for the Guide Dogs Association of Australia.
Mary has recently been giving evidence at the Royal Commission into
Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse as part of the public
hearings into the Parramatta Girls' Training School.
Speaking at Hay War Memorial High School, Mary told the story of her
life and how, about ten years ago, she started to go blind. Mary is a
diabetic and did not have an easy time accessing medical treatment for
her condition. After six months as a prisoner in her own home due to
her blindness, Mary sought help from the Guides Dogs Association and
was trained in the use of her cane. Mary chose the Aboriginal colours
for her cane rather than plain white. Mary’s journey has turned into a
campaign to educate Indigenous people about diabetes and the Guide
Dogs Association. Several commercials have been made with Mary as
the central character.
Mary’s story can be found in the human rights and equal opportunity
publication "Us Mob – Taken Away Kids" which was launched for the
10th anniversary of the release of the Bringing Them Home Report.
Students from Narrandera travelled to Hay Gaol Museum to hear Mary
speak of her childhood and how she came to be in Parramatta Girls
Home.
13
Students from Narrandera travelled to Hay to meet
Aunty Mary. They have been studying the play
‘Parramatta Girls’ as part of their studies, and
recently travelled to Sydney to watch a production
of the play.