Speaker 1: Welcome to First things first, I'm brook Blatten. My pronouns
Speaker 1: for she and her.
Speaker 2: Mattie Meals my pronouns are he and him. And before
Speaker 2: we get started, we'd like to acknowledge the custodians of
Speaker 2: the land on which we record. And today that's the
Speaker 2: Gatigal people of the urination for me.
Speaker 1: And for me it's a roundering people of the cooler nation.
Speaker 2: Let's get it giving to it.
Speaker 1: So today we have the beautiful I'm actually just going
Speaker 1: to let you introduce yourself and who's your mob and
Speaker 1: where do you come from?
Speaker 3: So my name is Joanna Stewart. I'm a muddy muddy
Speaker 3: wamba whamber woman and I'm a Labor Senator for Victoria.
Speaker 1: So I've harassed Jana to be my friend. Now she's
Speaker 1: on the podcast. I've followed your sort of politics journey
Speaker 1: for a little bit on socials. You know, when you
Speaker 1: just feel connected via socials and you want to get
Speaker 1: to know someone a bit more closer, attle bit more.
Speaker 4: We need to be in each other's lives.
Speaker 1: A little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah, and a lot of it. Sorry,
Speaker 1: but so yeah, that's why I say I'm kind of
Speaker 1: asked you to be my friend, and now you're here,
Speaker 1: and now I'm making you come on the podcast. I
Speaker 1: think this is also a really I want to highlight
Speaker 1: it in such a beautiful way, but also be like
Speaker 1: this needs to be better. You're one of the youngest
Speaker 1: First Nations women to be elected in federal Parliament, which
Speaker 1: is amazing, Like, that's incredible. Yeah.
Speaker 3: The funny thing about is, actually, don't feel like I'm
Speaker 3: that young. I'm thirty seven now.
Speaker 1: Doesn't look like a day over twenty.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, actually I say yeah.
Speaker 1: I love when your white friends like squirm when you
Speaker 1: say that. You're like, I can't say that, and you're
Speaker 1: like a couple of my colleagues like, what.
Speaker 4: What did you say?
Speaker 1: I said what I said?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was Yeah, I was thirty five when I
Speaker 3: went into the parliament.
Speaker 4: I was thirty four or thirty five weeks.
Speaker 3: Pregnant too, and the youngest average woman to go into
Speaker 3: the parliament. And it feels like a huge achievement. But
Speaker 3: also it feels like I shouldn't be the youngest at
Speaker 3: thirty five, like lots of lots of our women are
Speaker 3: pretty deadly exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but that's that crazy?
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: I guess why do people kind of have that feeling
Speaker 1: that you join politics later, like at an older age.
Speaker 1: Is it because of life experience? Why is it such
Speaker 1: a thing where it's like, oh, I'll do that when
Speaker 1: I'm like you know, you know what I mean? Or
Speaker 1: is it an experience thing like you need to get
Speaker 1: a certain type of experience.
Speaker 3: I think it's different for lots of people. But if
Speaker 3: I was to hazard a guess for our mob and
Speaker 3: if it's similar to me, like I didn't see politics
Speaker 3: as a pathway for me or a career path for
Speaker 3: me at all, not until really that was when the
Speaker 3: State Labor Government committed to treaty that I first became
Speaker 3: interested in politics. But before then I didn't really see
Speaker 3: it as a place for us for mob, and in fact,
Speaker 3: it's done quite the opposite to our mob for a
Speaker 3: very long time. Yeah, So it was a big call
Speaker 3: for me to want to enter politics. And even before that,
Speaker 3: if I kind of take a step back, before that,
Speaker 3: politics and parliaments had done lots of really terrible things
Speaker 3: to our mob and then all the other decisions that
Speaker 3: get made in our parliament, I suppose I didn't really
Speaker 3: see the connection between why you needed good people in
Speaker 3: parliament and how that impacted our day to day lives.
Speaker 4: And so I would imagine for.
Speaker 3: Lots of our young followers, they probably don't see that
Speaker 3: connection either, that actually the decisions that get made in
Speaker 3: our parliaments impact how you live your life every day exactly,
Speaker 3: And I think COVID really brought that to the front
Speaker 3: of people's minds. People seeing politicians making decisions about where
Speaker 3: they could go and how long they could live their
Speaker 3: house for, and I think for the first time, lots
Speaker 3: of people really thought, Ah, this is the influence, this
Speaker 3: is the impact politics I can direct exactly.
Speaker 4: You can only leave your house for an hour. Yeah,
Speaker 4: Like that's so.
Speaker 3: I think people should absolutely be engaged in politics because
Speaker 3: it impacts every part of our lives. And you need
Speaker 3: good people all along the spectrum. Like you need people
Speaker 3: on the ground doing that work with people who need
Speaker 3: it most. You need good people in our parliament being
Speaker 3: able to influence legislation and policy in funding. So you
Speaker 3: need good people all along that spectrum.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to know what was like, I guess
Speaker 1: for you growing up, Like I mean, you said that
Speaker 1: you had no interest in it originally, but you sort
Speaker 1: of would you say you fell into it or you
Speaker 1: sort of were like, nah, like, this is the direction
Speaker 1: I want to go in.
Speaker 3: So my journey into politics was really interesting because when
Speaker 3: I was young, there weren't any First Nations women that
Speaker 3: I seen in politics, and so lots of the women
Speaker 3: that I looked up to, the leaders that I looked
Speaker 3: up to, were actually people in my family, in my community.
Speaker 3: I didn't look to the Parliament as one of those places.
Speaker 3: And I imagine that's similar to lots of our mob too.
Speaker 3: You look to the people around you for that. You know,
Speaker 3: my nan, my arnies and uncles had worked in the
Speaker 3: systems where well bend up because of government policies and legislation,
Speaker 3: so that for me, is where I wanted to be.
Speaker 3: So like my nan had worked in child protection and
Speaker 3: keeping family together for a very long time, so of course.
Speaker 4: That's where I end up.
Speaker 3: So I started working at the Victorian Amagual child Care
Speaker 3: agency after I finished year twelve. And when I called
Speaker 3: my nan and told her that I got a job there,
Speaker 3: she just laughed because I was the generation to start
Speaker 3: working there.
Speaker 1: It's so nice, like giving it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, not that I knew that that's what I would do,
Speaker 3: Like I didn't know what I wanted to be when
Speaker 3: I finished high school. It's part of the reason that
Speaker 3: I didn't go to university because I don't want to
Speaker 3: spend the bucket loading money on her qualification.
Speaker 1: So much pressure as well for like people what was
Speaker 1: seventeen eighteen to know what they want to do with
Speaker 1: the rest of their life.
Speaker 4: I still don't know.
Speaker 1: You shouldn't know what I go same girls, same.
Speaker 3: So like it was just I didn't know what I
Speaker 3: wanted to be, so I went into So I got
Speaker 3: a job at the Victorian Amaual Tricur Agency VAKA and
Speaker 3: started working there, taking averageur kids to supervise visits with
Speaker 3: their parents once they'd be removed as a part of
Speaker 3: their kind of court ordered process. And when I was
Speaker 3: doing that, I thought, I actually really feel like I
Speaker 3: need more skills, more tools in my toolbox to be
Speaker 3: able to help these families, these kids with their parents
Speaker 3: be able to connect to make the most of this time.
Speaker 3: So then I thought, of course, I've become a family therapist.
Speaker 3: So that's what I did. So it was one of
Speaker 3: the things like I'm glad that I didn't go to
Speaker 3: university straight out hig school because I don't know that
Speaker 3: I would have chosen family therapy from that point.
Speaker 1: You needed to explore it and I just.
Speaker 3: Needed to find out what actually put the fire in
Speaker 3: my belly what I really loved, and actually working with families.
Speaker 4: Is what I really loved.
Speaker 2: What does family therapy look like? Is it? Is it
Speaker 2: like where the family come into therapy together and you're
Speaker 2: trying to figure out how to have a family dynamic
Speaker 2: and relationship or what is it?
Speaker 3: I know which which feels so foreign right for our
Speaker 3: mob topic that we were coming to these kind of
Speaker 3: clinical settings, But it can.
Speaker 5: My family need it a couple have you told her that?
Speaker 3: But like family therapy could happen in lots of different ways.
Speaker 3: Really it's a kind of it's a it's also different
Speaker 3: kind of theories and frameworks and ways of engaging that
Speaker 3: help you to kind of draw out feelings and experiences.
Speaker 3: And really it's about I suppose, articulating that to the
Speaker 3: people around you, and that might be the first time
Speaker 3: they've heard about what your particular experience is and that
Speaker 3: in and of itself, being able to talk in that
Speaker 3: environment and also then kind of seeing some of the
Speaker 3: dynamics saying you know, Brook, when you do this, this
Speaker 3: you know, Maddie does this. Can you see how that
Speaker 3: kind of can be a bit unhelpful to what it
Speaker 3: is you're trying to achieve. What are the things you
Speaker 3: think we might need to do or be conscious of
Speaker 3: so that doesn't happen next time I think.
Speaker 2: We've got a few things you want to talk about, we.
Speaker 1: Have literally entering out dirty law and red.
Speaker 2: OK, enough about this.
Speaker 1: I don't actually like.
Speaker 6: Him, So it's and but it's interesting because actually the
Speaker 6: therapeutic work actually doesn't happen to have to happen in
Speaker 6: the kind of purest clinical spaces.
Speaker 3: I've done that work too, so I did some of
Speaker 3: that work at VACKA, but I also went to the
Speaker 3: Bowery Center, which is where you do the in the
Speaker 3: room work with families, and I did a clinical Masters
Speaker 3: while I was there too. And like you sit in
Speaker 3: a room with a family, you've got one way mirror
Speaker 3: on one side. This is part of my training. You've
Speaker 3: got five other people from your class watching you with
Speaker 3: the supervisor. They're watching you work with the family and
Speaker 3: kind of seeing how you respond because they've heard all
Speaker 3: about your family of origin and how it impacts you
Speaker 3: and the decisions that you make. So they're like watching
Speaker 3: your work and every now and again they'll call in
Speaker 3: and say.
Speaker 4: Ask them this question.
Speaker 3: So like, sure, so ask that question. And then afterwards
Speaker 3: you have a conversation. Well, the family goes behind the mirror,
Speaker 3: the rest of your kind of supervision group comes into
Speaker 3: the room. They talk about what they observed in the family,
Speaker 3: and it's actually really quite powerful for the family.
Speaker 1: The family watch what you guys observed and discussed openly discussing.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you're kind of having a session in front
Speaker 3: of them, right, Well, I'm not. I'm behind the mirror
Speaker 3: with them, and then you swap back over again and
Speaker 3: then they can talk about.
Speaker 4: What that felt like, that's interesting.
Speaker 3: Incredible, And then there's a session on you writers the therapist. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and so then the class asked you, why didn't you
Speaker 3: ask that question?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Okay, So then you unpack your own Oh yeah, bias,
Speaker 3: like not that you do. Yeah, it is biased, and
Speaker 3: so it's not so bias isn't necessarily a bad thing,
Speaker 3: but actually about understanding it and understanding how influences the
Speaker 3: decisions that you make.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Because I feel like if I was a mob
Speaker 1: therapist kind of thing, like I would have things that
Speaker 1: I would probably know unconsciously what not to approach about
Speaker 1: certain things. I guess in the therapy world, you'd have
Speaker 1: to challenge that. I can imagine, you know, like because
Speaker 1: you would, Yeah, you would. You'd be thinking that you'd
Speaker 1: respecting the family, but you actually need to get under
Speaker 1: it and like unpack it.
Speaker 3: Hey, so absolutely absolutely So that's fascinating and.
Speaker 1: That's how you get assessed type thing as well.
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh my god.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And so you do like a big presentation on like
Speaker 3: your family genogram, and you talk about your growing up
Speaker 3: and kind of about what I might do today, and
Speaker 3: you kind of talk about how that impacted you and
Speaker 3: how that how you think that's made you the person
Speaker 3: that you are today, and you have a better understanding
Speaker 3: of the different things that influence you for better or
Speaker 3: for worse.
Speaker 2: Well, let's go into that. Let's go into Swan Hill.
Speaker 4: You grew up in swan Yeah.
Speaker 2: I did tell us about your childhood, Like, what was
Speaker 2: it like paint a picture for listeners close with.
Speaker 1: Your grandma's Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, my.
Speaker 2: Nan was.
Speaker 3: She was a backbone about our family, like lots of
Speaker 3: average women are for their families really, so in that way,
Speaker 3: like she was. She was no exception to other Aragual
Speaker 3: matriarchs in their families.
Speaker 4: And I often get told that I'm.
Speaker 1: Like my nan staunch and deadly, which.
Speaker 3: You know, well, like I do, wear it with a
Speaker 3: badge of honor. Yeah, my kind of growing up had
Speaker 3: ups and downs, I suppose, like I grew up in
Speaker 3: a home where there was family violence and drug addiction.
Speaker 3: I went to thirteen different primary schools, so I had
Speaker 3: a lot of kind of disruption and trauma I suppose
Speaker 3: in my life, so much so that my nan removed
Speaker 3: us from my mum when we were younger, like us
Speaker 3: three older ones, and she would say her biggest regret
Speaker 3: is not actually taking the three younger ones with her too.
Speaker 2: Have you alive? Gone in different directions the three older
Speaker 2: and three younger.
Speaker 3: Because eventually my mom kind of got her shit together
Speaker 3: and then come to Swan Hills, so like they're not
Speaker 3: like they're not on that path anymore, which is I
Speaker 3: think attested it to their kind of strength, strength and
Speaker 3: determination really to want to kind of keep the family
Speaker 3: together and do the right thing by her kids. She
Speaker 3: eventually got got herself back on track and we lived
Speaker 3: with my nan for a couple of years in swan
Speaker 3: Hill before my mum realized that she needed to kind
Speaker 3: of get her shit together. But it's kind of what
Speaker 3: made me who I am, right, Like all those kind
Speaker 3: of experiences teach you and help you to grow. And
Speaker 3: like me and my kind of younger siblings, there's six
Speaker 3: of us, I'm the oldest of six there the oldest.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, yeah, so you held probably a lot of responsibility,
Speaker 1: I guess.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, absolutely, Like I shielded my brothers and sisters from
Speaker 3: lots of the violence in the home, locked them in
Speaker 3: the room so I could go and deal with it.
Speaker 4: Like I think it's made us.
Speaker 1: Well, it feels like a norm, right, And Maddie and
Speaker 1: I talked about this often without what was happening in
Speaker 1: our household was just the norm, and that probably felt
Speaker 1: so normal in a way, like quotation normal to you
Speaker 1: to do. But then also you're a child at the
Speaker 1: same time, so it's kind of also like you kind
Speaker 1: of think you parent yourself pretty much and your parent
Speaker 1: your siblings as well, which is such a responsibility because
Speaker 1: if I was seeing a ten year old now and
Speaker 1: I'm nearly thirty parent their siblings and also parent themselves, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you'd feel for them and you don't think about that
Speaker 1: for yourself sometimes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well I think there's like there is some research
Speaker 3: that suggests that having some kind of responsibilities as a
Speaker 3: key in terms of parenting maybe seems like a too
Speaker 3: big a word for it, but kind of responsibilities goes
Speaker 3: to you having some roles and responsibilities in your house
Speaker 3: is actually good for you. Yeah, Like maybe not the trauma,
Speaker 3: but actually the resilience.
Speaker 4: And I think this is the thing right independence.
Speaker 3: That you know, it does like I think it kind
Speaker 3: of it taught me a lot and it did go
Speaker 3: a long way to kind of making me who I am.
Speaker 3: And I think about you know, I think if that
Speaker 3: just one kind of example, you know, the thirteen different
Speaker 3: schools that I went to, I think that's what makes
Speaker 3: me so good at creating and developing new relationships because
Speaker 3: I had to so many times as a kid.
Speaker 4: That is why I'm so good. Yes, yeah, I like, Hi,
Speaker 4: how are you?
Speaker 1: I'm on repeat?
Speaker 4: I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Went to so many different schools too. I was always
Speaker 1: the new girl and money. I think you're the same,
Speaker 1: Like we're just so good for people, and you know,
Speaker 1: you're so warm and welcoming and approachable, like that's that's
Speaker 1: what you want as a person, but.
Speaker 4: That's also what you had to be to survive exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, survival skills.
Speaker 3: And I think it does like against all odds really,
Speaker 3: And this is the thing I suppose for.
Speaker 4: Me that all the city stics tell you.
Speaker 3: You know, I remember being in a classroom when I
Speaker 3: was I don't know, like fifteen. I remember them reading
Speaker 3: out they're closing the gap statistics. Right, if you grew
Speaker 3: up in a home where as family violence, you're more
Speaker 3: likely to up at home with family violence, You're not
Speaker 3: you're less likely to go to university, you're not going
Speaker 3: to own your own home.
Speaker 4: Whatever, whatever.
Speaker 3: There's all these statistics to kind of try to reinforce you,
Speaker 3: as a young amagal person that great things aren't possible
Speaker 3: for you because I'd distacked against you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, actually that's not true. Now some of those old
Speaker 4: will tell you that you might end up in the Senate.
Speaker 2: Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1: I'm just whiz my way past them and I've like
Speaker 1: see it later.
Speaker 2: But you know what, like I believe like and I
Speaker 2: think that Brook you can attest to this too. It's
Speaker 2: that like, as young people, when we go through a
Speaker 2: lot of like adversity, especially as First Nations MOB, like,
Speaker 2: there is something about that that is like that it
Speaker 2: creates this motivation in yourself to break cycles or to
Speaker 2: you know, make change. And I think that obviously what
Speaker 2: you're doing is by being in politics, is you know,
Speaker 2: using all those experiences that you had and wanting to
Speaker 2: create change, especially for MOB. When you think about those
Speaker 2: experiences and then bringing them into like the now and
Speaker 2: being in parliament, do you believe that they are helpful
Speaker 2: or hindrance.
Speaker 4: No, I think they're incredibly helpful.
Speaker 3: Nobody's walked a day in my shoes, and I think
Speaker 3: that having a diversity of experiences in Parliament can only
Speaker 3: make the decisions that we make better.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, because there's too many clones of each other
Speaker 2: in that place. Are just you know, clone cut copies
Speaker 2: of privilege. And I think that when you have people
Speaker 2: who come from our community, no matter what walk of life,
Speaker 2: because you know, as First Nations people that everyone has
Speaker 2: dealt with a level of disadvantage, you know, if it's
Speaker 2: not directly, it's from family. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: having that experience in parliament, I always say it's about representation,
Speaker 2: like we need people in those places that reflect society
Speaker 2: and not everyone in society has privilege and has advantage,
Speaker 2: you know, or one step ahead. So having people with
Speaker 2: those life experiences in there is so important, especially when
Speaker 2: it comes to you know, your background of working in
Speaker 2: the family sector. Is that something that is what you're
Speaker 2: pushing for most change with in terms of policy or
Speaker 2: where is your passion right now?
Speaker 4: That's a really great question.
Speaker 3: Like, certainly the work with families is a part of
Speaker 3: the drive for me wanting to be in this place.
Speaker 3: One of my core beliefs is that we absolutely need
Speaker 3: to invest in women and families. That's where the change happens.
Speaker 3: You know, our families, our women in particular, have a
Speaker 3: huge responsibility of raising our next generation. We know how
Speaker 3: critical first five years are of a child's life. So
Speaker 3: if we can make that the very best experience possible
Speaker 3: for our kids, then that will set them up for
Speaker 3: life through school and through high school.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, my dad says that, actually, my adopted dad, he
Speaker 1: says that women are our first educators because like a
Speaker 1: man who educated another man, but he educated woman to
Speaker 1: educate the family. Like that's what his mentality is, like,
Speaker 1: you know, because the yeah, like and I'm not I'm
Speaker 1: not that that's you know, not saying that the men
Speaker 1: have don't have their part as well, but.
Speaker 2: That it's definitely an interesting perspective. And I think that
Speaker 2: that's why it's important to have female voices in institutions
Speaker 2: and policymaking, because they do come from a different lens.
Speaker 2: There is that there's this caring nature to women that
Speaker 2: is less than you know, this conquering nature of men.
Speaker 2: So it's like, I think it's so important that women
Speaker 2: are in these places and all the ones pushing for
Speaker 2: change because it does come from a different perspective, better perspective.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: Now, women have been change makers for a very long time,
Speaker 3: and so you know, I certainly do stand on the
Speaker 3: shoulders of giants in this in this place.
Speaker 1: We love that saying, yeah, absolutely, because it's true.
Speaker 3: And I think it's so important to acknowledge the people
Speaker 3: that have come before you because I think, you know,
Speaker 3: thinking back to my NaN's days when she was you know,
Speaker 3: I think one of a handful of people at VAKA
Speaker 3: covering the entire state for angel kids and out of
Speaker 3: home care.
Speaker 4: There's no way, in.
Speaker 3: Her wildest dreams she would have thought that was possible
Speaker 3: for an age person to be in this job.
Speaker 1: And that would have been less resources, less money, absolutely,
Speaker 1: and then got it done.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, and a system that was even more stacked
Speaker 3: against them. So you know the fact that we are
Speaker 3: here now speaks to the fact that every step that
Speaker 3: our mob have taken over the decades has gotten as
Speaker 3: to where we are today. And I think that is
Speaker 3: an important thing to acknowledge. We don't get here without.
Speaker 4: The people who have done the hard work in the past.
Speaker 3: Like it does remind me of something that my mum
Speaker 3: used to say to me all the time, you know,
Speaker 3: being the oldest of six. She would say to me,
Speaker 3: you know it's your job to let all the sticks
Speaker 3: and stones hit you. She got to clear a path
Speaker 3: for your brothers and sisters.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm strong enough.
Speaker 2: Yes, I know there's a little pressure behind that, a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure, a.
Speaker 4: Lot of pressure.
Speaker 3: But you got to stand up right, like got to
Speaker 3: You've got to make it hold down. Absolutely, And because
Speaker 3: you know that we don't have room for failure.
Speaker 1: We don't do we And I say this, we say this.
Speaker 2: Often when we do, we're just pushed aside. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: like if you fail, then there's no opportunity for redemption,
Speaker 2: and people are waiting for that, waiting, and you know what, don't.
Speaker 4: Give it to them.
Speaker 1: Exactly. I think some of these white people in the
Speaker 1: media we talk about literally have nine lives, And I'm like,
Speaker 1: that happened how because that happened to one of us
Speaker 1: canceled by are gone.
Speaker 2: And we have to be three times as good as
Speaker 2: those of our white parts. But I do want to
Speaker 2: ask you we are exactly. I wanted to ask you
Speaker 2: this question because I always feel that if I was
Speaker 2: in politics, and if I was in you know, a
Speaker 2: government body, and they will as a mob that were
Speaker 2: in that room or a part of this institution. Is
Speaker 2: their mob code? Like is there something that you are
Speaker 2: connected to as first nation's people, you know throughout the government?
Speaker 2: That's like, even though we're sitting on opposite sides right now,
Speaker 2: or even though they think that we aren't on the
Speaker 2: same team your mob, im mob, we are still on
Speaker 2: the same team. Is there that connection in that place?
Speaker 1: There is?
Speaker 4: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: Like I think I think it shows in different ways,
Speaker 3: and I think there's like it goes so far, I think,
Speaker 3: but I feel like there's a good hint of it
Speaker 3: today in that this badge that I'm wearing is actually
Speaker 3: from Green Senator during the COXA, so she gave me
Speaker 3: a like a birthday card. And so I think that
Speaker 3: there is on tough days when you know there is
Speaker 3: some stuff going down in the Senator, in the Parliament
Speaker 3: that we know is real heavy for MOB, we'll check
Speaker 3: in on each other. So beautiful because it's really important.
Speaker 3: I often say, and this is true for other MOB
Speaker 3: who are in the same workplace as me, that I
Speaker 3: do work in a workplace where I cannot protect myself
Speaker 3: from racism. That is the reality every time I walk
Speaker 3: into the Australian Parliament. So you need to look out
Speaker 3: for one another. Yeah, absolutely, Like I think that our
Speaker 3: politics is better because we've got MOB on all sides
Speaker 3: of the spectrum. Yes, and I think that is a
Speaker 3: good thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: What I would say about that is that every much
Speaker 3: a person that's in that place wants our communities, wants
Speaker 3: our families, want their kids to be better, They want
Speaker 3: them to have a better life than we've got today.
Speaker 3: And I think we've got different ideas about how we
Speaker 3: get there. Everyone wants our mob to have better outcomes
Speaker 3: that we've got today.
Speaker 4: And I think that's what.
Speaker 3: That's what I come back to you on the really
Speaker 3: frustrating days that we're all fighting for our families to
Speaker 3: be better off.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we say that a lot. Sometimes you got to
Speaker 1: do the things that you got to do, but the
Speaker 1: main objective doesn't change, which is to you know, help
Speaker 1: our mob, help our communities. I have a question. I
Speaker 1: guess for the future, I can talk to you all
Speaker 1: day every day. Yeah, because yeah, and we have. When
Speaker 1: we were first man, I had loub in my hair.
Speaker 2: That's an interesting story. Let's go there, Senator.
Speaker 1: I saw her after a shoot.
Speaker 4: I saw her after the money do it when they
Speaker 4: come into my office.
Speaker 2: I'm going to look. I am going to just my
Speaker 2: lip because when you said, I make everyone do it
Speaker 2: when they come into my office, I'm just going to
Speaker 2: tighten that and throw it away. I'm not saying anything.
Speaker 2: You're bad. Podcast used to be called Not So PG
Speaker 2: like we changed.
Speaker 1: We changed it.
Speaker 4: Yes, shut up, possibly comment No.
Speaker 1: Came in after a shoot and I was so embarrassed
Speaker 1: because I was like, yeah, I still had the wetness
Speaker 1: of my hair. It was actually my wellness shoot that
Speaker 1: I did wellness cover.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like that was a beautiful beautiful.
Speaker 1: Shoot, thank you, but yeah even with a loop hair.
Speaker 2: God, but I had ton't even look looped up on
Speaker 2: the cover.
Speaker 1: So what oh that was the dra shot and then
Speaker 1: we did the webshots. Yeah yeah, anyways, not enough about
Speaker 1: me anyways. So future wise, I mean I talked about
Speaker 1: this and the Wellness cover actually because I think that
Speaker 1: our young people are our future. Obviously everyone thinks next generation.
Speaker 1: I guess, what do you want to see for our
Speaker 1: young people in general? But also I guess in politics, like,
Speaker 1: what do you think will draw our young people to
Speaker 1: being young leaders?
Speaker 3: I think the first thing I would say is that
Speaker 3: just by very nature of who they are, they're already
Speaker 3: leading the way like our mobile incredible, And that's a
Speaker 3: narrative that I think is not spoken about enough. But
Speaker 3: if I kind of take a higher level, I think,
Speaker 3: you know, I want for our kids not to have
Speaker 3: to pick up the pieces in the same way that
Speaker 3: we have. And I think I feel like for us,
Speaker 3: and I don't know if this is and I say us,
Speaker 3: I use a royal us.
Speaker 4: You know, you feel drawn like you.
Speaker 3: Feel a sense of responsibility to have to come and
Speaker 3: work in spaces to lift own mob up. Yeah, and
Speaker 3: I think that is a good thing that our people
Speaker 3: want to come and help, and I think it is
Speaker 3: a part of our nature to want to help our
Speaker 3: brothers and sisters.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, But I want our young people to not have
Speaker 3: to feel that same draw of responsibility because things are better.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they just exist.
Speaker 4: They can just exist.
Speaker 3: They you know what, they can go and do ballet,
Speaker 3: They can go into a whole bunch of money, I
Speaker 3: tell because they can go engineers. You know, they're not
Speaker 3: drawn to they're not drawn to the workforces that are
Speaker 3: there to try lift down mob up out of poverty.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I always think, like one of the hopes I
Speaker 2: have for our communities that we feel light one day,
Speaker 2: but we don't have to feel so heavy. Because when
Speaker 2: I go exactly my hometown, my hometown, there's this there
Speaker 2: is this heaviness that surrounds me being home, you know,
Speaker 2: with community, because I'm seeing people be like that have
Speaker 2: this weight on them, and if the weight of the
Speaker 2: disadvantage that like they are faced with every single day,
Speaker 2: and even as you know, being able to go and
Speaker 2: live out my dreams and do what I get to do,
Speaker 2: I feel light And I want the same for our people,
Speaker 2: you know. I want the same for the young people
Speaker 2: who are always always the thing that is highlighted is
Speaker 2: the deficit, and it's like, what point do we That's
Speaker 2: why I do what I do. I love highlighting black joy.
Speaker 2: That's why I'm an entertainment reporter, specifically for MOB. I'm like,
Speaker 2: I want to show people that we are great. We
Speaker 2: have this joy that you know that can drive drive
Speaker 2: us instead of this heaviness.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree with that.
Speaker 3: There is this overarching narrative about who we are in
Speaker 3: this country and it's part of the Like what I'm
Speaker 3: focused on right now is that I chair a Joint
Speaker 3: Parliamentary Committee on Aboriginal interrustur Land Affairs. I took over
Speaker 3: from Uncle Pat Dodson, who volun told me that's what
Speaker 3: I needed to do.
Speaker 1: And when Uncle patay, you just do it, you just
Speaker 1: do it exactly and you're going to take it.
Speaker 4: I love that, so thanks Uncapat.
Speaker 3: And one of the first things that I wanted the
Speaker 3: committee to do was look at Abaginal people's contribution to
Speaker 3: the economy, which is pretty.
Speaker 1: Much you don't really think about.
Speaker 3: Abaginal people are absolutely economic partners in this country, economic
Speaker 3: players in this country.
Speaker 4: But that narrative is not told. So there was a
Speaker 4: snapshot in.
Speaker 3: Terms of average businesses contribution that was done by Melbourne
Speaker 3: University at the beginning of the year. I think it
Speaker 3: was their third one that says that averageor businesses contribute
Speaker 3: sixteen point one billion dollars to the economy. They employ
Speaker 3: one hundred and sixteen thousand people across the country, which
Speaker 3: is the equivalent to the town of Bendigo. Our Mob
Speaker 3: are absolutely kicking goals out there, but we are not
Speaker 3: talked about as economic contributors or partners in this country.
Speaker 3: But yet we're generating sixteen point one billion dollars in revenue.
Speaker 3: So I so the part of the committee's work is
Speaker 3: looking at how do we actually support more of that,
Speaker 3: How do we support these businesses to really scale up
Speaker 3: both domestically and internationally. When it comes to trades, there's
Speaker 3: huge opportunity in the international market for our mob and
Speaker 3: what are the things we can do support grassroots might
Speaker 3: be able to get into that space. And similarly, like
Speaker 3: I want our young people to see that this is
Speaker 3: absolutely possible for them. There's no secret source. You know,
Speaker 3: I'm not better than anybody else. No, no, no, you
Speaker 3: know and in fact, like I've come from similar circumstances
Speaker 3: like to lots of our young mob, actually, this is
Speaker 3: absolutely possible for you too, And so part of kind
Speaker 3: of elevating that is for them to see this is
Speaker 3: possible for you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that is really empowering.
Speaker 1: Mother scared about business and business and finance talk. I
Speaker 1: feel like in my family we didn't really talk about more.
Speaker 2: Of that stuff, and it was financial literacy is and
Speaker 2: something that is covered when you're growing up. It's more like.
Speaker 1: A lot see there you go. And I feel like,
Speaker 1: I mean, that's like something that I love teaching. When
Speaker 1: I work at mits and I work with the kids
Speaker 1: and talk about you know, they're like, do you make
Speaker 1: money off your sponsored ad? And I'll talk about it
Speaker 1: all the time because I'm like, yes, I do, and
Speaker 1: then I got to pay tax, and then I got
Speaker 1: to pay and pay my superanuation because I'm a business owner.
Speaker 1: But I love being so open and freely to talk
Speaker 1: about that sort of stuff because if they're educated young,
Speaker 1: they'll you know, I feel like it's just like a
Speaker 1: ripple effect, you know, and.
Speaker 3: Doing one of the things that has come up the inquiry,
Speaker 3: which is that when people have talked about the because
Speaker 3: one of the things that happens when you kind of
Speaker 3: have these inquiries, people often talk about the barriers too,
Speaker 3: which is what you need to understand. You need to
Speaker 3: understand the problem before you can seek to resolve it.
Speaker 3: And one of the things that's come up is that
Speaker 3: I suppose that corporate knowledge or the people around you,
Speaker 3: like we've heard from lots of people who have come
Speaker 3: before the inquiry that said that, say, we didn't have
Speaker 3: anybody in our family who owned a business, normal people
Speaker 3: or a house, and so we didn't have anybody around
Speaker 3: us doing what you're doing for those young people, which
Speaker 3: is normalizing conversations about business, normalizing conversations an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2: And not saying when you get your money, you can
Speaker 2: spend it all the other Well, this is so.
Speaker 1: Funny because I reckon I had a little business when
Speaker 1: I was youngest. Mummy is to make a lot of
Speaker 1: money off cards.
Speaker 2: Look at where we're hearing like poker.
Speaker 1: No rummy, like rubbing cards like you know rummy the
Speaker 1: set of seven year suits and you know to get
Speaker 1: four and a three pair, I.
Speaker 4: Said, a card game in our future.
Speaker 1: Okay play well, yeah, And she would make some money, right,
Speaker 1: and I stole one time sixteen dollars mom's first. But
Speaker 1: then I went and bought all these lollies and I
Speaker 1: charged double of what.
Speaker 4: I got them for.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: Then I went and dealing with all the other kids
Speaker 1: and I got made back to like twenty something dollars. Afterwards,
Speaker 1: I was like, this.
Speaker 2: Is a slow did you give your mom back at
Speaker 2: sixteen for it? But terrible?
Speaker 1: I need a family therapy.
Speaker 4: She was like entrepreneurial spirit. She was like, you stole that.
Speaker 2: That was a good place I did. I did?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I did the running away oh stick of his house.
Speaker 1: Literally packed my bag. Nothing in the bag that's useful
Speaker 1: for SKI.
Speaker 2: Was just lollies and you in your sugar heart. All right, Oh,
Speaker 2: I think that's all we have time for. We're getting
Speaker 2: the wrap up.
Speaker 1: I know, is there anything you want to say or
Speaker 1: a labrador or not?
Speaker 3: I mean think I think the only thing that I
Speaker 3: would say to any kind of young mob who were
Speaker 3: listening is that I'm high, because it's absolutely possible for
Speaker 3: you to achieve your dreams. And if there's anybody that's
Speaker 3: proof of it, it's the two people that we've got
Speaker 3: sitting here and Brooke and Maddie, and I think you
Speaker 3: can look around and see black excells everywhere.
Speaker 1: No, you inspire me, friends, I said to I said,
Speaker 1: adopt me.
Speaker 2: Oh my life is Brooks.
Speaker 4: Anyway, is that he needs adoption to.
Speaker 2: We need? I mean, it's another story. But I went
Speaker 2: through the care system, you know, so like I was
Speaker 2: already looking for a good parent when I was younger.
Speaker 2: Not anymore. That's right. Well, that's all we have time
Speaker 2: for today. It's been such a pleasure having Jonas Stewart on.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to First things first, if you love
Speaker 2: what you hear, leave us a little rating and a
Speaker 2: little of you.
Speaker 1: And if you want us to cover anything on the pod,
Speaker 1: reach out via our socials. My handle is at Brooke
Speaker 1: Duplin and Maddie's handle is at It's Maddie Mills and
Speaker 1: you can find Janna.
Speaker 4: At Jana Stuart Vick.
Speaker 1: There you go, see you guys later. Bye,