Change the nation

In the lead up to Invasion Day this year I’m seeing renewed energy towards keeping/changing the date amongst many non-Indigenous people online. My guess is…

Aussie Pride. A beauty to behold in all its forms; lamb ads, green and gold school uniforms on our Olympians, 2GB and a casual small…

Growing up in the early 1990s, Australia Day celebrations were everywhere. It was a huge commodity largely felt through the local community, school, and social…

In his debut IX piece, Ben takes us on an intimate and thought provoking deep-dive into the nature of the colonial machine and its endless war against the strength, beauty and dignity of Indigenous existence.

We are protectors of country that are labelled as ‘activists’ to portray a disconnected image and scare mainstream society away from issues at hand. However, we have proud mob who are doing the work with their own varied skillsets to contribute to our obligation to care for the life giver.

Thomas Mayor is an advocate for the Voice and sets out his reasons why and what he hopes it will achieve if supported.

This is not just a matter of equity but a matter of humanity for individuals, families and communities. It is repugnant enough that people die younger through no fault of their own but to miss the opportunity to do so in a socially richer environment, where they can enjoy the quality time with family and grandchildren that others enjoy, denies them of some dignity.

I am angry for the many things I don’t know and cannot ask, for opening those wounds would only hurt more. The inquests, the fights, the deaths and ones we no longer speak of, or those who we no longer recognise.

Changing the nation requires us blackfellas to also do our bit, and in the prevention of suicide among our mob it’s an important bit. But we must be on the same page. This means no longer treating mob as if they are not worthy of clinical interventions that everybody else has access to. This means no longer excluding Indigenous clinical expertise from the conversation.

Patriotism that should be about a love of the land and people has become instead about a justification for bigotry and racism, about instilling hatred in the perceived ‘other’, and about providing a comfortable smokescreen for government looking after its own interests at the expense of the rest of us.

With the urgency we have now to not only represent our First Nations and peoples but for the Australian nation holistically, it’s time to #ChangeTheNation our way. If Australia is genuine about listening to Indigenous voices then the power imbalance has to shift urgently

Racists pretending to be Aboriginal online is not a new phenomenon, with the basic idea being to increase hatred against Aboriginal people by validating white supremacist rhetoric and conspiracy theories.

In the absence of government leadership, our grieving families and communities are leading the way to change the nation.

I can’t help but find hope in the history of this land. It has seen destruction before. And survived. Over and over again. First Nations people have watched this land change, over tens of thousands of years. And they have adapted with it, both genetically and culturally.

The truth is, that after all of the pain that the colonisers have caused, while we are led to believe that the book on Australia’s colonisation is complete, is actually still wide open, with plenty of blank pages to be filled in.

It is evident that Australia has no shortage of black expertise and leaders. What Australia does lack is the ability to centre these voices and leaders where we need them the most; in our policies, education, health and legal systems. Changing the date will not achieve anything while the nation itself is what needs to change.

Indigenous methods have always cared for country but the disruption of this has put us on the brink of ecological disaster. Jamie Graham-Blair discusses.

Neil Morris explains why he started a campaign to help Indigenous peoples displaced by the fires ravaging Australia.