Chapter 7

It was quite warm and I decided I needed a midday shower.

"Will you get my phone when it rings?"

"When?"

"It'll be my dad. I don't know what he wants, but it's not bad."

"Okay. Someday I'll get used to it."

When I emerged, Rachel was on my cell. I waved and got redressed. By then she was off. "He wants to come and visit. He's got to be in Sydney in early April for some do at the Museum. I said you'd call later."

"Okay. Anyway, I wanted to talk about the get-together."

"Well, the twins are on; and I spoke to Mark, who said 'yes, ' but was unexcited. I was going to phone Gordy when Gordy called. That sounds dumb."

"Well, I think I can disambiguate them. Melissa and Alf both seemed enthusiastic."

"Okay. I'll try Gordy while you call Gordy." Rachel giggled as she walked into the study.

It would be the week after Easter. Dad didn't need a place to stay. He'd be flying in on Thursday and the "do" was at the Museum on Friday evening. He wanted to take us to dinner on Saturday. He'd be staying at the Marriott, so he thought he'd take us to Mezzaluna. I said "okay" and he reminded me that I'd need to dress and Rachel would need "something fashionable." I said I'd put in on the calendar, asked about Sarah and mum and got off.

Rachel was talking as I got to the door.

"Yes ... Yes ... Of course ... Yes. Saturday. 19 Queen Street. It says 'Hollister – Eyre.' No. I'm serious. My fiance's father is Gordy Hollister ... Calm down ... Okay. Do you know where Green Gourmet is? On King? Okay. 15 minutes." She looked at me. "Get re-dressed, we're meeting Gordy. He's quite excited."

"I'll bet."

Gordy was already waiting. A year younger that I was; about the same height. "You must be Patrick, I know that's Rachel."

"Too right, Gordy." We clasped hands.

"I'm really glad to meet you."

"And I'm glad you're coming to our – uh – engagement party." Rachel held out her hand.

"I thought it was for the panel report."

"That, too. It means we can count you and the twins."

"Yeah. It's quite amazing. By the time I get my degree I might be considered human."

"The commission report is only part of it," Rachel added. "The Referendum'll be even more important."

"Of course."

The signs are promising. A 22-member panel - representing all sides of politics and including several of the nation's most respected indigenous thinkers and brightest legal minds - has produced a unanimous and compelling blueprint for change.

Moreover, the initial response from Gillard and Abbott suggests they are up for the challenge. Yes, Abbott was cautious but his concerns should be easily allayed and he seems acutely aware of the stakes.

The challenge is clear: to reignite, and then harness, the passion for reconciliation so evident during the Harbour Bridge walks for reconciliation in 2000 and during the Sydney Olympics that year, and at the time of the national apology in 2008.

The degree of difficulty is greater on three counts: because there isn't much time if the referendum is to be put at or before the next election; because ''bipartisan'' is the forgotten word of Australian politics; and because few Australians understand that the job was not completed when the nation embraced the 1967 referendum.

That emphatic vote - which gave the Parliament power to make laws to advance Aboriginal people (and removed a prohibition on counting indigenous people in population statistics) - did not afford positive recognition or remove all racial discrimination in the constitution.

Finishing the job will go beyond symbolism. It would, in the words of Patrick Dodson, ''fundamentally debunk the White Australia Policy and the white Australia mentality''.

It could, in the opinion of Noel Pearson, drive a new approach to indigenous policy that gets the balance right between the symbolic and the practical. It could change lives. – Sydney Morning Herald, 19 January 2012

"Let's sit and have a cuppa."

"I can't wait to tell my mum and dad!"

I handed Gordy my mobile. "Here, call 'em."

"Hey, mum! ... No, I'm fine ... No, I'm not sick ... I just met someone and had to call you ... Patrick Hollister ... That's right ... I'm sitting in a coffee shop with him and his fiancee ... Yes, I will ... You'll tell dad? ... Okay ... Love to Weena ... I'll tell him." He handed me the phone. "You'll have to talk to her ... and to my Dad, you know."