WEBVTT - Maggie Blanden - Beyond the Vote: First Nations Yarn on Post-Referendum Impacts 0:00:00.600 --> 0:00:05.640 This podcast is brought to you by on Track Studio. 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:14.080 Welcome to Yarning Up, the podcast that showcases First Nations 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:20.400 stories and conversations to help us learn and unlearn Australia's 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:25.759 history to work towards a better future. I'm your host, 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:30.360 proud barber woman and founder of Black Wadel Coaching and Consulting, 0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:37.720 Caroline cow We acknowledge the rundery people and elders where 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.440 this podcast is taped, but we also acknowledge the lands 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.760 that you are listening in from today. It always was 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:50.640 and always will be unseated Aboriginal and tourist rede Islander Land. 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:56.800 Hey you mob, Welcome back to Yarning Up. As always, 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.840 we are so incredibly grateful that you you are here 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:06.760 with us, choosing to continue the journey of walking alongside 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:11.880 our First Nations brothers and sisters here in so called Australia, 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:18.760 continuing to listen, to learn, to unlearn, and elevate First 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:24.240 Nations peoples and stories because we are all in the 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:28.400 business of truth telling right now and we need you 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:34.000 to continue this good fight. We are all witnessing the 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:41.720 horrors of the colonial oppressive powers, and my heart aches 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:47.840 for our Palestinian brothers and sisters who have been subjected 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:53.960 to an ongoing ethnic cleansing, apartheid and genocide at the 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:59.680 hands of the Israeli government. We of course condemn any 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:04.520 actions of harmas but we cannot and we will not 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:09.440 turn a blind eye to the colonial forces and the 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.120 genocide that we are seeing in the war in Gaza 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.600 right now, from the river and to the sea. None 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.880 of us are free until we are all free. And 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:25.240 to the Palestinian brothers and sisters, know that every First 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:30.240 nation's people and mob and clans are standing in solidarity 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.680 with you, and we are using our voices and we 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:38.639 are elevating and we are activating here and we are 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:44.120 just thinking of you so much. This week's episode is 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:51.400 a beautiful episode with an incredible lawyer, warrior, community woman 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:57.560 and activists Maggie Blandon. Maggie and I shot this episode 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:02.520 a week after the failed referendum here in so called Australia, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.800 as we wanted to bring you a very raw and 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:12.120 very candor discussion about how we were feeling and how 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:17.400 we want to reconstruct and deconstruct post the failed referendum. 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:22.800 That said, the quality of the sound is not the 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:27.079 best because I was traveling up to see my family 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.800 on beautiful Barbroom Country, but we wanted to bring you 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:36.000 this episode in spite of that. All my love to 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:42.440 everyone listening right now. It's important that we nourish ourselves 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:46.000 the best we can while we continue to fight for 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:52.080 the systemic injustices that the colonial powers continue to subject 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.520 first nations and marginalized and people of color to. 0:03:58.240 --> 0:03:58.520 Well. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:02.000 I'm super super excited to speak to my next guest, 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.320 a young sister girl who I've been following for quite 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:09.760 some time, who's been doing amazing working community, especially around 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:15.040 educating the masses on the now failed referendum. It's been 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.200 a week since Australia. 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:23.800 By a large margin, voted against enshrining the Aboriginal voice 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:28.479 in the Constitution, and so I'm really excited to be 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.720 meeting with Maggie Blandon today decide to talk a little 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.800 bit about the aftermath of the referendum. 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:39.000 And where we can possibly possibly go next. 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:43.760 So thank you so much for being here with me today, 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:46.880 sister Lovely, to connect in this way. 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.040 Absolutely, thank you so much for having me. I actually 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.640 have to double take when I saw the message, I 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.039 was like, are you soest? This is so special, So 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.680 thank you so much for even considering me to come 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:57.679 on and have a yarm. 0:04:57.960 --> 0:04:59.920 Oh no, don't be silly. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.160 We'd love to have you on. You've been doing so 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:04.600 much amazing work and this is what the show is 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:08.360 all about, is bringing people like you to Australia and 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:09.880 across the other side of the world. 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:14.880 So the feeling is very mutual. Before we dive. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.279 Into the referendum and what you're doing at Melbourne University, 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.760 I'd love you to start, you know, as we always 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.120 do it, yearning up with just a little bit about yeah, 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:25.960 who you are, who's your mob, a bit about your 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.159 personal story, anything you feel called to share. 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:30.719 Absolutely so. 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.560 My name is Maggie Ida Blandon. I'm a proud pallow, 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:40.680 a woman from Lutuita, Tasmania. I always like to pay 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:42.800 tribute to the people that have come for me, the 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:46.720 giants whose shoulders and I'm trying to stand on. So 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.599 I've got my great grandmother, Auntie Ida West or Grunny 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.360 Ducks to me. She was an amazing advocate for Aboriginal 0:05:55.400 --> 0:06:01.200 women's health, learn rights and empowerment for our community. She 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.880 has this really special spot who where I always go 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.880 back to the anti Ida West Healing Garden on why Berlena, 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.960 the site of an awful, awful genocide of our people, 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.920 but she reminds us all in that garden to sit 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.320 with it, but also come to terms with moving forward 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:25.840 as a community and working towards First Nations justice. Everyone 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:27.760 has stories about grand so I'll move on from her. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.120 Every time I go to a conference or anything, everyone's like, 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.600 Mama Grant needs to do this. I'm like, you're saying, no, 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.080 She's amazing, So I move on to my pop now, 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:42.760 Darryl West. He is he was such an amazing advocate 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:43.600 in our community. 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:45.480 His absence has really felt. 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.200 He passed away a few years ago, but I feel 0:06:49.200 --> 0:06:53.240 like he's most known in our community. For I feel 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.640 like everyone knows the Tasmanian Dam's case, or you know, 0:06:55.960 --> 0:06:58.599 the Franklin River campaign where we wanted to stop the 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.240 damning of the Franklin River. It was kind of the 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:04.159 birth of the Greens Party, and you know, it's where 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.200 Bob Brown kind of came to light. But it was 0:07:06.240 --> 0:07:09.560 also for us a moment where our community banned together 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:14.440 to save our heritage. So later on in the campaign, 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.440 it was discovered that one of our old People's Caves 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:21.000 was at the site of the Franklin River, and so 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.600 so many of our old people were headed into the 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:27.160 caves and camped out there for many, many months to 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:31.840 protect our river and our heritage because it formed part 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.760 of us. The river wasn't just something that we wanted 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:38.240 to celebrate as a natural thing. 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:39.480 It was it was us. 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:43.120 It is our community, and we didn't want it to 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:45.840 be absolutely destroyed by the damning of it. So his 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.480 legacy is something that I'm trying and my Auntie Ida 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.840 West legacy is something that I'm always trying to live 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.560 up to. I've grown up in community down in lotrowa 0:07:56.880 --> 0:08:00.240 biggest mob down there. Shout out to you all. Went 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.880 to our Aboriginal daycare down there, which was the coolest 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.840 experience of my life. I'm so grateful that we even 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.880 have that available to young people in our community. We 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.280 learn Pavakani, which is our language, debts are you know, 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.400 we do it all down there. It's so special, whilst 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.480 also just learning how to be young people in this 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:22.640 crazy world, and that's on country on pure Kipma, which 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:23.440 is really special. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:23.880 You know. 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.880 We've grown up jumping on the Aboriginal school bus heading 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.760 to all the protests that were happening in Nippolona whenever 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:35.400 we were needed, us young fellas, and that was something 0:08:35.440 --> 0:08:38.080 that I've continued to kind of hold onto, that fight 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:39.520 and that passion. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:40.920 So that's me. 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:48.080 Well gosh, So you know, after hearing that, I'm not 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:53.040 surprised that you come from this long line of worriors. 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:54.040 All my follows do. 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:57.440 But you know, just to hear that story about your 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.000 your old ones and where you come from, it can't 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.040 of makes a lot more sense about you know, the 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.680 person that you are and the legacies that you're creating 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.280 and the pathways you're creating. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:09.480 And I love. 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:14.960 Hearing those stories. I mean, stories are medicine. They there 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:16.559 are ways that we make sense. 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:18.520 Of the world, but as Black followers, there's ways that 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:20.079 we make sense of ourselves. 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.520 And so to hear that, that's so beautiful. 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:26.600 I loved I love a garden named after me one day. 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:33.880 Literally at the sight of such a violent and like 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:38.199 horrible genocide that happened to our people, it just it 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.280 forms who we are as Poloor people today. And to 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.120 have a sight of healing named after you to remind 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.120 us all to keep going, to have those moments of 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.080 joy to have those times where you sit and reflects 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:54.079 something so special about her legacy. I love that people 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.160 felt that that was the right thing to do. Yeah. 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.200 Yeah, there's obviously no way to look at that in 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:04.199 terms of you know, how horrific the genocide and that 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.160 the massacre would be. But there's something to be told 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.280 about black fellows to make things that are so inherently 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:16.480 violent still have that black and rich beauty to some expert, 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.960 and the remembrance and the reclamation of that is really 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:25.880 something that can be yeah, to be explored. But yeah, wow, 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.240 that's really fascinating to learn about your your personal story. 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:33.120 I mean, in thinking about that, you know, I'd love 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.839 to just sort of unpack a little bit further about your 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:40.400 personal story. You are a law student at Melbourne University, 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.760 and you know, as I said, I really want to 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.560 touch on the work you were doing with non law school. 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:53.320 But yeah, I mean what led you to law and justice? 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:56.479 Was it your old ones? Was it your family? What 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:00.360 what talked me through how you got there in your life? Yeah? 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.600 Absolutely, it's always my old ones that inspire everything I do. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:08.439 I've always had the power of education driven into me 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.760 as a young The younger, it was always you will 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:15.240 go to school and you will get terstory education. And 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:18.439 you know, people can get resentful about that and can 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:20.319 be like, but I just want to, you know, go 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.400 and work or go do things. But I feel like 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.920 the power of education has always been to my family, 0:11:26.160 --> 0:11:29.920 soaking up as much information as you can learn as 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.760 much as the white of the white system that you 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.800 absolutely can, and then bring it back to community to 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:41.840 further empower us. All during the early seventies eighties in 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:44.680 our community, we had a lot of anger and a 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:49.320 lot of powerful resentment and emotions coming out in our community. 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:51.960 Were starting to get angry about what had happened to us, 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:55.400 and lots of our community would end up in prison 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:59.880 after you know, fighting for our rights, protesting, training us 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:02.520 to the gates of you know, the Franklin River, you 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:06.160 know the tack Heina, and it led to a lot 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.840 of our people getting locked up, and so matriarchs in 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:13.120 our community, including Annie Outa West, set up our Peak 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:15.920 Body back home through fundraising. They were just selling little 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.600 cakes at the mall just and this fundraising was literally 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:24.000 just going towards getting our people out of prison, getting 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.319 them out of prison for standing up for our rights, 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.520 and so we then started to flip and we realized 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.160 that perhaps aggression and violence maybe isn't the right course. 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.240 You know, there's always a place for it, there's always 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:40.560 a place for anger and protesting, but you know, maybe 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.480 we need to turn our attentions towards getting educated and 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:47.240 learning the white man's system. So, you know, we all 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.280 headed to schools and we started to head to universities 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:54.200 for the first time, and we actually had an Aboriginal 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:56.520 school set up down in Nippolona, which was really cool 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.360 and it just encouraged young people to turn to edge location. 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:06.520 And then we had the first community members turn to law. 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.520 So it was the first yeah, power people to become lawyers. 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.880 We've got Michael Mansell, We've got Heavy Skull for Rosie Smith, 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:17.000 all people who I look up to. There're such role 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.640 models for me, and they were the first people to 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:21.960 kind of be like, you know, our people are in prison, 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:24.120 what can we do about that. We can learn the 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:28.640 white man's law and empower our community through that. And 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.600 I'm inspired continually to you know, this degree is one 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:33.920 of the hardest things I've done. I have done hard 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:36.360 things in my life, and I know that sounds so privileged, 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:39.360 but it is not. It does not come naturally to me. 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:42.320 I'm not a rational being like they want you to be. 0:13:43.080 --> 0:13:46.080 So I've just pushed myself. Every day I wake up 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.720 and I remind myself that this is not for me. 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:53.959 This is for my community. And I've worked for many years, 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:57.760 no longer actually for the Peak body the TAC down Home, 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.080 and that's been quite fun mental to the person I 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:05.240 am today. And I'm now actually really excited to have 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:08.280 been nominated to be on the board for the TC, 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:11.720 which was really special. And it feels like, you know, 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.320 Kenny and I always talk about we need to have 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.200 young people's voices heard in our community. We need to 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.520 be empowering them through leadership positions, and so this feels 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:23.360 like the time where I can turn around and you know, 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:26.320 give back to my community through that. And you know, 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.160 wherever I end up with my law degree, I just 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.240 want to be helping mob and you know that. 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:32.120 Could be criminal law. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:36.240 Sadly, you know, overrepresented in the criminal justice system. The 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.680 most incarcerated people on this damp planet could be family 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.600 in law, with having children ripped away from us like 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.800 nothing else. We're literally witnessing a second stolen generation could 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:48.800 be land rights, it could be ip I'm not sure. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:51.880 I'm graduating in a few weeks, so I really need 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.600 to narrow that down and pick something to work on 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.360 during the nine to five. But also I'll continue to 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.040 campaign for all the rest after five, you know, in 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:01.920 my lunch breaks. 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:07.560 Yeah, gosh, it's so I mean, you're so right a 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.240 lot in that context about you know, the importance of 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:14.000 education and how you know, so many of our old 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:19.520 ones really instill that legitimacy by the colony to have 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.280 that sort of degree, to be able to give something 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:23.680 back to our communities. 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.360 And I guess it's also really interesting. 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:30.760 To hear you say that, you know, it's the hardest 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.000 thing you've done, because I could imagine, Yeah, the proximity 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:42.120 to these very big imperial systems, academia, governments, it does 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.560 bring up a lot sometimes for mom. I've worked with 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:49.440 a few clients who are coach who have expressed, yeah, 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.680 that sometimes that proximity to these big systems that they 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.800 don't really value our knowledge, They don't really value how 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:59.160 we do business, they don't really value the importance of 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.400 how we tell stories or our knowledge. They only value 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:06.280 theirs and then there's this kind of dichotomy between our 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.320 knowledge systems and their knowledge systems, But we. 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:10.760 Still have to toe the line to. 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.520 Get their paper and then bring it back make sense 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:16.720 of it. So we're always doing so much labor here, 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:18.880 So I'm not surprised to hear that it's been challenging. 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:23.400 So true, Roestly, we're the hardest work in colors. 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:26.480 Absolutely, even like the referencing guide for the law the 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.640 bloody what is it? A GLC? You can't give lived experience. 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:32.920 There's something that you want to talk about in an 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.320 so you have to find a primary or a secondary 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:39.160 legal source, like what about our you know, opal traditions, 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:42.240 what about these stories that have passed down? I want 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:44.200 to talk about that in my property rights? Best way 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.440 to talk about Marbo. Why can't I be doing that? 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:51.440 Yeah, exactly right. And also too, you know a lot 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.320 of this work is yet you know. 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.360 Not only do we have like we can't author or 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:03.040 our own information, but also it's kind of like, yeah, 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:04.520 who's telling the story. 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:10.359 And on whose term? Sometimes you know, And so I 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.120 imagine it would be difficult. But I must say we've 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:17.439 had Taylor Gray on the podcast, you know, we've I 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.800 work with a couple of sisters who were in the 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.800 legal firm. We did vowel strategic plan. There is this 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.159 not maybe it is an explosion. 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:31.040 I feel a young lawyer powerhouses who are really trying 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:35.000 to change the discourse in yeah, what's good and right 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:39.200 and fair in our worlds. And it's really bloody exciting 0:17:39.280 --> 0:17:42.679 to see so many young ones really take up that 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.840 charge because yeah, we do have such a problem in 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.640 Australia with overrepresentation in these areas. 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:53.000 And so yeah, congratulations on getting through. 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:55.439 This and being at a point where you're about to 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.440 graduate and you don't have to have all the answers 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:00.480 just yet. If you can work it out as you. 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:04.720 Go, absolutely doors will open. Trust the pros. 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:08.160 Exactly right, and I think doors will open for you 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:12.719 because you have been a very very busy person. You know, 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:18.919 in the lead up to the referendum. You showed incredible 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:28.040 leadership an incredible courage as well in setting up Actually 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:29.720 I'd love to find out a little bit more, but 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.440 you know, as I understand you follows set up what's 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:38.439 called num Law numb Law Students on the Voice twenty 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:45.119 twenty three, which was really focused on providing neutral fact 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:50.160 base education and resourcing to whoever was willing to really 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:52.120 take it on board. And it was a mixture of 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:56.959 you know, black followers and allies. So how did this 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.840 all come about? You know, you mob are busy, you're studying, 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:03.600 you're doing your exams. What what was the catalyst that 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:06.520 led to you to set up norm law students on 0:19:06.560 --> 0:19:10.160 the Voice and what work did you want to take 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:13.000 throughout this time in the lead up to the referendum. 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:13.920 Yeah. 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.919 Absolutely, You've been following us the whole time, which has 0:19:17.960 --> 0:19:18.760 been really special. 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:20.919 Was like, oh, cousins like this post. 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.840 Yes, we're doing well here and sharing and sharing. 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:25.600 I was like, get on board. 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.120 I was so awesome. I was like, yeah, we got 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:32.760 the tick of approval. Let's keep going. Yeah, I feel 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:36.879 like no more students on Voice. It really was triggered 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:44.520 by feeling absolutely disheartened by the increasing wave of disinformation 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:49.800 and misinformation that was spreading our through our worlds at 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:53.840 the time we started in May. Obviously the referendum campaign 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.679 was occurring way before that, but this is when we 0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:59.720 felt the most disheartened about what was going on, and 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:04.680 most of the discourse was about our humanities. It went 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.119 to who we are as Aboriginal and charge under people 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.920 none more students. On Voice is run by two Aboriginal women. 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:16.040 We've got Keshimore and myself, which is really special. But 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:20.480 we felt this pressure on us to you know, we've 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.879 got this legal education, we're so fortunate enough to be 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.320 in this institution. We've got all this legal knowledge. How 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:31.240 about we use it for good? And you know, I 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:33.760 pretty much look, I don't admit this often, but I 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.320 almost failed constitutional loss so this is not my. 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:38.440 Area of expertise, and I did. 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:42.160 We were so fortunate enough to collaborate with some legal 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:45.400 experts to help train us up to be constitutional law 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:50.160 mini experts to help spread the information. So we've had 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:54.400 Ryl Saunders and of course most importantly doctor Eddie Cabillo 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:57.240 from the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub. And you know, 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.959 we started to witness these violent and damaging information that 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.160 was just spreading. And you know, when the official Yes 0:21:05.200 --> 0:21:10.960 and No pamphlets were released to all Australian households, they 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.879 had never been fact checked and they never would be 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.280 and they were official, the only official document that would 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:22.000 be sent out to voting households. We just were like, 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:24.399 this is we need to step in here and you know, 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:26.800 we were seeing conspiracies from the Voice was going to 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:30.480 take our backyard to you know, you n conspiracies. Fear 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:35.040 was just growing. We had family members and friends coming 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.359 to us like what do we want to do. We 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:40.919 had mobs that have recently enrolled to vote because of 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:44.520 this issue and that it was affecting us, and they 0:21:44.560 --> 0:21:46.320 were like, this is my first time voting. What do 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:48.639 I do? I'm hearing all this stuff about me and 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:50.000 my family and my community. 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:52.240 How do I vote? 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:56.240 So we wanted to create this community legal education campaign. 0:21:57.520 --> 0:22:00.320 It was very important to us that it be Indigenous led, 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:04.400 community informed, and culturally safe. The yes and no from 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:09.600 mob and the positionality mob were taking was very important 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:11.840 to us that we tiptoed a line that had to 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:13.959 be neutral and it had to be fact based because 0:22:14.800 --> 0:22:18.120 most of my community back home, they're very staunched no voters. 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:20.840 But then we're in these echo chambers of yes. So 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:22.000 we were just like, we want to. 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:24.359 Canvas all of this and bring it into one place 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.520 so that everyone has a one stop shop for information. 0:22:28.640 --> 0:22:30.960 So that's what kind of motivated no UM law students 0:22:30.960 --> 0:22:35.320 on Voice. We wanted people to be having conversations with 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.600 friends and families and strangers on the tram and colleagues 0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:44.439 tea break prior and beyond the referendum, and we quickly 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:48.040 noticed that we filled a gap in the market as 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:53.320 such for this neutral and fact based information. The two 0:22:53.400 --> 0:22:57.760 sides of the campaign were dominating social media and the 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:00.359 newspapers and the media. At the time, I felt like 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:05.440 we could fill this void where voters were turning off 0:23:05.520 --> 0:23:08.000 when they were hearing information about the referendums. They didn't 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.159 want to engage with the discourse. They wanted nothing to 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:12.959 do with it. And that's not how democracy should work. 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:17.320 All voters should have the information and be informed as 0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.480 possible so that we're not driven by scare tactics or 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:25.560 you know, information that's based on harmful falsities. So yeah, 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:27.600 you know, as a law student, we knew we had 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:30.040 to do something. And as you said, we were a 0:23:30.080 --> 0:23:34.000 bunch of Indigenous and non Indigenous law students, most of 0:23:34.080 --> 0:23:35.640 us in our final year, and we were like, what 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:40.320 can we do? And so came together and we've developed 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:43.359 this twenty minute presentation that goes through just the basics 0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:46.840 of what a referendum is, what even the hell is 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:52.040 a constitution, Why we're even voting in a referendum, what 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:55.440 the proposed constitutional amendment looks like and what it means 0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:58.160 for you in your everyday life, and then what could 0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:02.800 happen post reference them for us. All we delivered sessions 0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:06.560 in person and online across the country. It was really special. 0:24:06.560 --> 0:24:09.560