“I also intended on making a documentary about what had happened with the walk over the bridge and how people felt about it afterwards.”

Julie Nimmo (pictured) had one of the last interviews with Dr Evelyn Scott the night before the march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Credit: Jennifer Scherer

The second documentary came into fruition, but without a plan.

The second event was the Walk for Reconciliation across the Sydney Harbour Bridge that took place on 28 May 2000.

The night before the walk

“The two of them were in the hotel room having a cup of tea, and it was one of the last things that I did for the day; talk to them about what their hopes were for the culmination of the Corroboree 2000 weekend, but also in truth, what were they expecting for Sunday?” Nimmo said.

The late Evelyn Scott at the north Sydney meeting place before the historic walk over the Sydney Harbour Bridge in May 2000. Source: SBS News

“They both shared that they really didn’t know how many people were going to turn out; they certainly had high hopes and had put an enormous amount of planning into how a successful day could turn out, but no-one was certain. And that was how I left these two incredible women that evening,” Nimmo said.

“The night before the walk, I went home without a concrete idea of what was going to occur on Sunday.”

A ‘triumph’

Another said: “Exhilaration would be the best word for it and it will give further momentum to the course of reconciliation. It’s great to see the spirit of the people gathered here, and I think there is a feeling of triumph in the air.”

Walks were held in 2000 to demonstrate a desire for reconciliation. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins

When reflecting on the day, Nimmo described it as “one of the best days at work I’ve ever had in my life”.

Frances Rings, now the artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, was also part of the coverage team that day.

Frances Rings, now the artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, also covered the event in May 2000. Credit: Jennifer Scherer

“The waves of people that were coming across the bridge and just this sense of collective positivity,” Rings said.

“The mix of people from all different generations, from different cultural backgrounds, from different socioeconomic backgrounds, with Blackfellas, with our leaders and with our young people, with our families, and our peers — that mix and that collectiveness was this sense of, we’re all one community.”

A notable absence

The apology came later in 2008, under the Rudd government.

Then-prime minister John Howard refused to apologise to the Stolen Generations. Source: SBS News

Scott, who led the walk for reconciliation, also delivered an address at the Opera House in 2000.

“I remember her saying, well, there you go. It’s happened and it’s now a people’s movement.”

‘A shift in the nation’

Rhoda Roberts, an experienced arts executive and the SBS Elder-in-Residence, said: “There was this groundswell of support, it seemed.”

Rhoda Roberts is an experienced arts executive and the SBS Elder-in-Residence. Credit: SBS

“That emotional victory affected all Australians. She went from Cathy the Indigenous athlete to ‘Our Cathy’,” Roberts said.

Karen Mundine, CEO of not-for-profit foundation Reconciliation Australia, said: “We can’t not talk about the Referendum [Indigenous Voice to Parliament] — it’s had a big looming over reconciliation.”