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Australia

Federal opposition ‘respects intent’ of Indigenous Voice to Parliament, but demands details

The Coalition says it is keeping an “open mind” but has raised questions about how the proposed Voice to Parliament would work.

Nationals Leader and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the opposition “respects the intent” of the movement but is concerned about a lack of detail.

Nationals Leader David Littleproud
Nationals Leader David Littleproud said the issue has been “littered with good intentions” for many decades. (9News)

“This issue has been littered with good intentions for many decades and we haven’t necessarily got the outcome,” he told Today on Sunday morning.

“Now is the time for the government to tell us the detail of what they’re picking out of that report, how this is going to operate, who’s going to be on it, how will that go to building trust, and not just across Australia but also with Indigenous communities.”

“It would be a lost of opportunity if the government doesn’t get this right,” Littleproud said.

However, Labor’s Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy encouraged the opposition to go through the “15 years” of documentation surrounding Indigenous constitutional recognition for the answers to their questions.

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy (9News)

“Constitutional recognition has been talked about for over 15 years and there’s been many parliamentary committees, First Nation committees,” she told Today.

“Those reports are there and so the opposition and others in the parliament are very welcome to go and read them.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced yesterday a suggested wording for a referendum question to be put to Australians:

“Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Garma festival in Northern Territory
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Garma festival in Northern Territory (Getty)

Albanese also outlined three sentences which would drive discussion around the proposed constitutional amendment:

  1. There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
  2. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
  3. The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

In order to create the Voice to Parliament, Australia’s constitution must be changed through a referendum.

A referendum requires the majority of people and the majority of states to vote in favor of a yes/no proposal.

Of the 44 referendums in Australian history, only eight have been successful, and none have been carried out since 1977.

The last referendum was in 1999, when Australians voted against becoming a republic.

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Australia

Outback in bloom as floodwaters travel hundreds of kilometers into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre

It’s a special time in the outback and deserts of central Australia.

For many tourists, it is not the dust bowl they had in mind.

a woman bends down close to photograph a wildflower in the middle of a dry red landscape
It’s hard to imagine the variety of wildflowers in these arid landscapes and Zippy says it’s blown her mind.(ABC Western Qld: Carli Willis)

Cairns local Zippy Warnecke is currently traveling through the region.

“When you think of the desert, you don’t expect any life to be there, but it’s full of it at the moment; flowers, animals — the whole lot,” she said.

Across large parts of outback Queensland and the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin, unseasonal Autumn rain has left carpets of wildflowers and greenery.

“It’s not at all what I imagined — it’s so much better,” Ms Warnecke said.

Two children wearing bright pink shirts star jump surrounded by bright yellow flowers.
Wildflowers have emerged from the arid landscapes after recent rains.(Supplied: RLR Photography)

Months in the making

Floodwaters from rain months ago have moved through free-flowing rivers in the Channel Country into the illustrious Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in northern South Australia.

An aerial view of a flock of pelicans landing on a body of brown water.
Flooding transforms arid landscapes into rivers teeming with birdlife like pelicans.(Supplied: Wrights Air)

“This is just an amazing time when these floods start going down these big Channel Country rivers,” said University of New South Wales professor of environmental science Richard Kingsford.

“Lake Eyre gets water every couple of years, but a really big filling doesn’t happen that often.

“In terms of surface area, probably 70 or 80 per cent of Lake Eyre has water in it … that’s a pretty rare event.”

A satellite image shows Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre full with a blue body of water in the middle of desert country.
Satellite view of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in late July, 2022.(Supplied: Digital Earth Australia)
Satellite view of a dry Lake Eyre on January 9, 2022.
Satellite view of a dry Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre on January 9, 2022.(Supplied: SentielHub)

Hundreds of kilometers from any coastline, the Lake Eyre Yacht Club has seen members and tourists take to the waters of the Warburton River, which feeds into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.

“That is an adventure in its own right. It’s a 440km return trip from where we launch,” Commodore Bob Backway said.

“When you get to the lake you can sail about 6km before you run aground.”

Pilots are reporting an increase in inquiries and bookings to see Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and surrounding river systems while conditions are “spectacular”.

A plane flies over Kati Thanda lake Eyre and the water is hues of pink and blue against a blue sky and white clouds.
As Kati-Thanda-Lake Eyre begins to fill, the color of the water changes.(Supplied: Wrights Air)

“We’re starting to see lots of people plan their trips out now and the plans are going to Lake Eyre every day,” said Birdsville Aviation senior pilot Talia Ellis.

“Lake Eyre is over 170km north to south. People are absolutely gobsmacked at the sheer size of it.

“We give people perspective from down low so you can see the bird life—there are pelicans nesting on islands.

“We also give people the perspective from higher up as well, so they’ve got the perspective to pin it against the rest of the landscape.”

Water ‘a tonic’ for desert stations

Water flooding through an outback creek way creates intrinsic patterns through a brown landscape and green growth emerges around
Nappa Merrie station typically sees low rainfall and relies on Cooper Creek flooding.(Supplied: Nappa Merrie station)

At Nappa Merrie station on the SA border, Cooper Creek flooding has been vital.

The station relies on the flooding to grow feed for 11,000 cattle and to fill the 30,000-gallon (136,382-Litre) tank that provides running water to the family household.

“Just the last Christmas we were battling along with a few waterholes going dry and then we got a run in the river,” said station manager Peter Degoumois.

“It means a lot, really.

“It’ll hold us over summer pretty well and you can carry a lot of cattle.”

A man with gray hair and a blue shirt sits in front of an outback waterhole looking at the camera.
Richard Kingsford is a river ecologist and conservation biologist.(Supplied: UNSW)

Professor Kingsford, who has been researching the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre Basin for decades, said there was a shift in community morale when the rivers were watered.

“It really is a fantastic tonic for those times of drought, which are really tough and getting tougher with climate change,” he said.

An aerial view of the greenery carpeting Cooper Creek.
An aerial view of the greenery carpeting Cooper Creek.(Supplied: Air Central West)

Researchers galore

Associate professor Tim Cohen from the University of Wollongong is a desert beach hunter on a mission to track the major lake-filling events of the past millennium.

The “double-dip” La Nina pattern has primed the landscape to trace weather extremes back to 10,000 years ago.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
The water finding its way to Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre supports an abundance of life(Supplied: Timothy Cohen)

“I think one of the most exciting things we have discovered on this last field trip was… evidence of events as large, or larger than, 1974 in the recent past,” Mr Cohen said.

“We know there are cycles that drive drought and floods and by understanding how these manifest across the continent, we can see how anthropogenic global warming is influencing that.”

A recent aerial view of the edge of Belt Bay of Lake Eyre.
A recent aerial view of the edge of Belt Bay at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre.(Supplied: Moshe Armon/ETH Zurich)

To the north of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, the Kalamurina Sanctuary — a reserve at the intersection of three of Australia’s deserts — has been the location of a recent bird survey.

“The biggest benefit to the birds we found this survey is the rain we had earlier in the year,” said wildlife ecologist Keith Bellchambers.

“[We found] a lot of the smaller boom-and-bust species … we’ve had big flocks of diamond doves, zebra finches, budgerigars [and] cockatiels.

“Things like that have just increased enormously in number in the last six months just because of the food resources they’ve been able to find following that rain.

“It’s visually spectacular, but it’s also a spectacular soundscape.”

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Australia

Indigenous Voice to parliament detail to come after referendum, Anthony Albanese says

“The legislation of the structure of the Voice won’t happen before the referendum,” he said.

“What some people are arguing for is having a debate about the consequences of a constitutional change before you have any idea of ​​whether the constitutional change should happen or not.

“We’re appealing to the goodwill of the Australian people and as I said, the Australian character as I see it.”

Albanese said including the Voice in the Constitution meant the overriding principle would remain intact, although how it actually worked could change over time.

“The thing that enshrining in the Constitution does, it ensures that the Voice cannot be eliminated or silenced by a change of government or a change of prime minister,” he said.

“When it operates, people will wonder why we didn’t do it before. I see this similar to the apology for the stolen generations or the 1967 referendum or native title.”

Although a time has yet to be set for the referendum, there has been concern the government is pushing too quickly.

But Albanese said Indigenous Australians had already waited a long time before getting to this point.

“If you don’t try to get this change – and I recognize that it’s a risk – but if you don’t try, then you have already not succeeded. And we have waited a long period of time,” he said.

If the Coalition decides to oppose Labor’s referendum proposal, the Greens and crossbench Senator David Pocock may hold the balance the power in the Senate.

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Greens First Nations spokesperson Senator Lidia Thorpe said she is seeking discussions with the government about their proposal for a Voice, aiming to gain concessions on other issues.

“I’ll be … putting urgent, critical matters for First Nations people on the table. These are things that will save people’s lives, before any referendum,” Thorpe said.

“I want the government to support our bill to back the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, implement the remaining recommendations from the Stolen Generations and Deaths in Custody Royal Commissions, and back the Greens’ plans for concrete steps towards a Treaty [with First Nations peoples].”

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.

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Nukunu woman Amy Daniel on an uphill battle to connect to her Indigenous culture

Amy Daniel grew up with constant questions about her heritage and culture, something she still faces to this day.

“A lot of people question me and say, ‘You’re too white to be Aboriginal. You’re too pretty to be Aboriginal. You don’t speak like one’,” she said.

She said initially it made her angry and left her questioning herself, but now she used it to educate others.

“I take that opportunity to teach people that no matter how much milk you put in a cup of tea, you’re still a bit black on the inside.”

The 23-year-old Nukunu woman first found out she was Indigenous while in high school.

She was born and raised in Queanbeyan but her descendants are from Nukunu country, near Port Augusta in South Australia.

Ms Daniel recently began connecting more deeply to her culture after moving to Wagga Wagga, in southern New South Wales.

“I grew up painting a lot so I found a bit of a connection there and loved learning more about my culture,” she said.

“Then I moved here [Wagga Wagga]. I met a few of our friends and they taught me more about the importance of being on country.

“They’re helping me find my way and helping me find my story.”

A woman smiling and wearing quandong and emu feathers.
Amy Daniel is a Nukunu woman who grew up in Queanbeyan.(ABC Riverina: Romy Stephens)

a long journey

Ms Daniel always felt a sense of connection to her Indigenous roots.

“When I do things on country, when I paint, when I make jewelery and weave, I am so calm and peaceful,” she said.

“My mum always said when I was growing up [that] I was the most impatient person ever.

“But she was amazed that I’d sit down for six hours straight and do 1,000 dots on a piece of paper without moving.”

A pair of football boots with Aboriginal art painted on them.
Amy Daniel grew up painting Indigenous artwork.(Supplied: Amy Daniel)

But Ms Daniel said connecting to her culture has come with its challenges, such as being questioned because of the color of her skin.

She said it had also been difficult to connect to culture, because she did not grow up on Nukunu country and was not exposed to it from a young age.

“Now I wish I would’ve seen more stories or read more about young ladies or men who are on the fairer skin side, and read about their journey into finding their culture,” she said.

“Maybe even doing it with someone and knowing that you’re not really alone.”

A woman wearing quandong and emu feather earrings leans against a gum tree with her head down and smiles.
Amy Daniel began exploring her culture more when she moved to Wagga Wagga.(ABC Riverina: Romy Stephens)

Reconnecting to ‘vital’ culture

Ms Daniel is not alone in her journey to connect to culture.

The Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation has been helping descendants of Stolen Generations survivors reconnect to their culture.

It has managed a project, called Nurture Our Youth, to address intergenerational trauma caused by the forced removal and institutionalization of family members.

Wailwan and Gamilaroi woman Meagan Gerrard’s grandmother was in the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls, in southern NSW, for almost 15 years.

A woman smiling and looking in the distance towards the right.
Meagan Gerrard’s grandmother spent 15 years at a training home for Aboriginal girls.(Supplied: Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation)

Ms Gerrard said practicing culture was forbidden in the home, which impacted generations to come.

“So much was taken from us — we lost language, we lost that connection to culture,” she said.

Two boys wearing caps standing next to each other and smiling.
Descendants of Stolen Generations survivors are being supported as they reconnect to culture.(Supplied: Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation)

“That journey back to reconnecting to those vital things as Aboriginal people, it’s a hard journey.”

Ms Gerrard said the project would allow descendants to take part in cultural gatherings, which involved activities like weaving, eating bush tucker and yarning.

“To support them to reconnect to culture, to learn language, and to come together as a community,” she said.

“To embrace that would be such a powerful thing for them to experience.”

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Australia

The Prime Minister insists he’s willing to take a risk on a referendum, to ‘uplift our whole nation’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants Australians to consider a draft question — released by the government this weekend — asking whether the constitution should be changed to create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

He told ABC’s Insiders program that a referendum could be as powerful as the national apology for the Stolen Generations and the Mabo decision.

“This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our maturity as a nation, to uplift our whole nation. And I’m very hopeful that we can do so,” he said.

“I recognize that it’s a risk, but if you don’t try then you have already not succeeded.”

A Voice to Parliament, created via a referendum, was the key recommendation of hundreds of Aboriginal people at Uluṟu in 2017.

There is now a push from the Opposition and the Greens for more detail on what role and function the body would have.

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Queensland gardening guru Tom Wyatt hangs up his headphones after 40 years on air

From “give it a cup of urine” to “how to sex up your pumpkins”, Tom Wyatt’s practical and sometimes cheeky advice has won him legions of fans across regional Queensland.

But after 40 years of gardening talkback on ABC Local Radio, the 75-year-old gardening guru has hung up his headphones due to health issues.

Mr Wyatt puts his success down to being curious, having a retentive memory and having “a specialized interest in what happens to gardeners when they get frustrated.”

Tom Wyatt, with headphones half on, talks into a microphone in a radio studio
People from across Queensland called in to let Mr Wyatt know the impact he’d had over 40 years.(ABC Capricorn: Rachel McGhee)

“I’m so happy this has brought so much pleasure to people and solved so many problems,” he added.

Mr Wyatt’s familiar advice has often boiled down to Condy’s Crystals, a good dressing of gypsum, blood and bone delivered by one clenched handful to the square metre, lux flakes and “don’t forget the wetting agent”.

His encyclopedic gardening knowledge and unique on-air style had loyal listeners tuning in from across the state every Friday morning at 10am.

in the beginning

The program began in 1982 after ABC staff in Rockhampton bounced around the idea of ​​a 10-minute gardening program.

Tom Wyatt’s name was tossed around as he was a horticulturalist working for the Rockhampton Council as director of parks and gardens and curator of the Rockhampton Botanical Gardens.

“He seemed the right choice,” said David Anderson, a radio presenter for the station for more than 30 years.

And they were right.

“It just blew up,” Mr Anderson said.

A group of people with Tom Wyatt in the center holding an award.
Tom’s last broadcast was an emotional one, but his family and colleagues celebrated afterwards.(ABC Capricorn: Rachel McGhee)

The program was lengthened to half an hour, and it wasn’t long before it was extended again to the full hour at the request of listeners.

The program was soon networked to Mackay, Bundaberg, Longreach and Mount Isa – more than half the state.

“Tom has such a wealth of knowledge and he’s such an interesting person to talk with – he doesn’t talk at people, but he has a conversational style,” Mr Anderson said.

“There were so many times when people would simply ring up and say, ‘Oh, I wanted to congratulate Tom on such and such an idea that he gave me because it worked,'” he said.

Mr Wyatt credits Mr Anderson with the program’s success.

“David coaxed me all the way, so I owe my debt to David Anderson for developing the program,” Mr Wyatt said.

having a laugh

It would be difficult to name all the presenters Mr Wyatt has worked with over the years, but one who stands out is Craig Zonca.

Mr Zonca, who now presents Breakfast on ABC Brisbane, took on the role as a fresh-faced 21-year-old with no clue about gardening.

But the two struck up a special rapport.

“We changed the tempo of it a bit and made people laugh,” Mr Wyatt said.

Sometimes it was the other way around.

Tom Wyatt stands at the top of stairs at ABC Capricornia, a sandstone building
Tom has walked up these stairs at ABC Capricornia almost every Friday for 40 years to host his talkback program.(Supplied: Donna Thurecht)

Pat from Mount Isa recalls phoning in about her husband’s problem pumpkins.

“Tom asked, ‘Did John propagate them with a cotton bud?’

“I forgot I was on the radio all over north Queensland and said, ‘Yes. He’s sexing the pumpkins every morning’.

“Tom and Craig Zonca couldn’t stop laughing,” Pat said.

Traveling far and wide

Family sits together in radio studio
Tom Wyatt’s family came to his last broadcast and say they are so proud of what he’s achieved. (ABC Capricorn: Rachel McGhee)

Mr Wyatt’s popularity has seen him invited to gardening clubs, expos and agricultural shows all over Queensland – and he has never said no.

Long-time listener Margaret Pegler from Trinidad Station near Quilpie opened her gardens to the public and invited Mr Wyatt four times.

“He was always very popular and if he couldn’t answer a question at the time, he would find out and get back to you,” Mrs Pegler said.

“I have helped a terrific number of people with their gardens, and I know they have helped me a lot.”

Beautifying the Beef Capital and beyond

People who have worked with Mr Wyatt describe him as a visionary.

“You can see Tom’s touches wherever you look,” said Rockhampton councillor Cherie Rutherford, who was given her first job in council by Mr Wyatt.

The chimpanzee enclosure, a jewel in the Rockhampton Zoo’s crown, is one of those.

Cassius the chimp goes to kiss Tom Wyatt's hand through the glass
Tom Wyatt and Jim Webber saved Cassius the chimpanzee from death row. (ABC Capricorn: Inga Stunzner)

Mr Wyatt and Rockhampton’s eldest at the time, Jim Webber, drove through the night to save two chimpanzees from death row, breaking a few rules along the way.

“We did a lot of things we weren’t supposed to, but it worked well,” Mr Webber said.

And in this case, it did. Cassius, who turns 51 later this year, is now the oldest chimpanzee in Australasia.

Mr Wyatt also transformed Rockhampton from a dust bowl to a green city, converting an old rubbish dump into Kershaw Gardens — 50 hectares of parkland.

“The city wouldn’t be the green area that it is today if it wasn’t for Tom,” Mr Webber said.

A man sits in a paved area with trees.
Tom Wyatt designed the Stuart Fragrant Garden, a sensory experience for people with disabilities.(ABC Capricorn: Inga Stunzner)

It wasn’t just Rockhampton that benefited from Mr Wyatt, but towns around the state, I added.

“He would go anywhere anybody wanted him to go and he was always advising people on the talkback radio.”

Although the contribution Mr Wyatt has made to regional Queensland is immeasurable, ABC Capricornia presented him with an award for his 40 years of service.

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Australia

The mystery surrounding Australia’s ancient wild and endangered macadamia trees

Ian McConachie is eager to find the answer to an ancient mystery — just how many hundreds of years do Australia’s wild macadamias live?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.

After decades of visiting a precious remnant of the threatened species’ habitat in Queensland’s Amamoor State Forest, the founder of the Macadamia Conservation Trust has already discovered that looks can be deceiving.

“So many people are familiar with the macadamia but to see it in the rainforests is just quite mind-boggling,” Mr McConachie AM said.

“It’s nothing like you would expect, they hide amongst all the other trees.”

Living time capsules

An older man in a cardigan looks down at the serrated leaves of a wild macadamia tree that doesn't even reach his chest.
Ian McConachie AM says this macadamia tree hasn’t grown in over 40 years.(Rural ABC: Jennifer Nichols)

A self-described “macadamia dinosaur”, retired food scientist, field researcher, grower and passionate historian, Mr McConachie singled out a spindly chest-high tree, as a perfect example of how even a small plant could potentially be hundreds of years old.

“It’s only got about 18 leaves. I first saw it 1979 and between 1979 and now, it has not grown at all. It’s sitting in the rainforest in dense shade, just waiting until it receives light,” he said.

The oldest European-planted macadamia tree has been growing in Brisbane’s Botanic gardens since 1858 and still bears a healthy crop of nuts.

Craig Hardner dwarfed by the oldest known cultivated macadamia tree.
Craig Hardner says this is the oldest-known European-cultivated macadamia tree in the world.(Supplied: UQ)

“One of the initiatives we’re taking is we’re starting to do radiocarbon dating of trees in the rainforest so we can see just what their longevity is and how old they might be,” Mr McConachie said.

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A place to be your full self: new wave of queer bars revitalizes Australia’s LGBTQI+ scenes | LGBT rights

In the middle of Sydney Road in Brunswick is an unassuming bar. The blinds are drawn across the windows, and scribbled on the door – so faint it would be easy to miss – is the word “queer”.

Inside, a crowd of she/hers and they/thems dressed in flannel, flares and silver chains are popping off. The vibe is pumping.

“I’ve never been to a space like this,” one non-binary reveller says. They have never been in a queer bar that doesn’t center around cis gay men, and which has more seats than strobe lights.

Another person in the bar, a 40-year-old lesbian, tells Guardian Australia that her brother was beaten up for “looking like a fag” just meters down the road in the 90s. She looks around and comments that times have changed.

This is Flippy’s, Melbourne’s newest LGBTAQI+ spot. It’s run by queers, for queers, and the crowd is appreciative.

LGBTAQI+ culture has changed. The acronym has gotten bigger and the word queer has been reclaimed to signify a more fluid, inclusive identity. Within the community gay bars can be controversial, often criticized for being sexist, transphobic and unwelcoming to people who aren’t cis gay men.

Priya Vunaki and friend Diana Kalkoul started Nasty in 2021
Nasty was started by Priya Vunaki and friend Diana Kalkoul in 2021. Photographer: Priya Vunaki

A new wave of queer bars are changing this – offering spaces that welcome trans, non-binary and non-white members of the community.

Flippy’s owners, Amy Parker and Em Lipschitz, say there was a shortage of queer spaces even before Covid, with some venues closing down.

“So for us, even then, we felt there was a need for the queer community to have a space that was, I guess, more fluid,” Parker says. “For a wider queer community, instead of a strictly gay or lesbian space.”

The space isn’t just a bar – they’re in the process of turning the back room into a gallery and have plans for the community to eventually own it.

“We’re starting to look at models for collective ownership and operation, which is our ultimate goal for Flippy’s,” Parker says.

‘everyone feels comfortable’

After two years of lockdowns, Australia’s queer venues and nights are finding a new lease on life.

“The queer scene in Naarm [Melbourne] is pumping now,” says Lipschitz. “I think that there’s a really nice point where lots of people are pretty comfortable, excited about their queerness.”

To get the bar off the ground, the pair taught themselves carpentry, got a mate to paint the place and found all the furniture secondhand.

“We definitely acquired a lot of skills along the way,” Lipschitz says. “I also know a strange amount of plumbing now.”

The response from the queer community has been overwhelming.

The owners of Flippy's bar in Brunswick Emma Lipschitz, she/they (L) and Amy Parker she (R)
Queer bars are a safe place to find friends and chosen families, as well as lovers. Photograph: Ellen Smith/The Guardian

“Everyone feels comfortable,” Lipschitz says. “It leads to people expressing a lot of gratitude. I still get taken back when people are like: thank you, thank you.”

For queers, bars are not just places to get drunk; they are historically important spaces that act as the cornerstone of the community, and a safe place to find friends and chosen family, as well as lovers.

DJ Priya Vunaki and friend Diana Kalkoul started Nasty, a roaming queer dance party, in Hobart in 2021. They wanted a party with good music in an atmosphere that was femme and trans-inclusive.

“We aren’t capitalizing on a phenomenon or a queer market, we are making events for ourselves and our community,” Vunaki says. Nasty puts queer First Nations people on the door free and has a structured ticketing system, so the less money you have, the less you pay.

Tasmania’s only full-time gay bar, a venue called Flamingos in Hobart, closed last year.

“Queers just need a place to be their full selves, [to be] around like-minded people and to be seen properly,” Vunaki says.

“It’s sad that Hobart doesn’t have any gay or queer bars currently, and I think the community is suffering because of it.”

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The new events are the spiritual successors to meet-ups held in the 1990s. Among the most revered was Pink Sofa, a monthly meet-and-greet for lesbians who had been chatting online. It began in 1997 and was held upstairs at Dante’s, a hip function space off Gertrude Street in Fitzroy.

It was hosted by publican Maria Frendo, a straight, married, cisgender woman whose queer-friendly events made her the quasi-matriarch of Melbourne’s lesbian scene from the 90s to 2000s.

“They used to have online chats, like the original chat room, and everyone was talking to each other but they couldn’t see each other,” Frendo says.

“So I said let’s have a get-together upstairs so you can finally see the person you’ve been talking to for hours.”

Frendio would fill her pub, The Glasshouse, with 400 lesbians, and employed an all-female crew of bouncers, bookers and promoters.

Revellers party at Nasty
Nasty is a queer party collective based in Nipaluna/Hobart. Photographer: Priya Vunaki

1997 was a crucial time in queer liberation. Tasmania decriminalized homosexuality, the last state in Australia to do so, but the broader culture was not accepting: the then-prime minister, John Howard, refused to offer a message of support to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and said he would “be disappointed” if one of his kids was gay.

But by the late 2000s, the venues catering to queer women which had been established in the late 1990s had dropped away. Until the pandemic struck, bars and clubs that cater to cis gay men can still be found in every major capital city.

“It’s a hard market,” says Frendio. “Once the girls find a partner, they stop going out, and they didn’t have the disposable income like guys.”

Now Australia’s queer scene has entered a new era.

Kat Dopper has been running Heaps Gay, a queer party night in Sydney, since 2013, and is about to launch Summer Camp Festival, a one-day party in Melbourne and Sydney, later this year. She says post-lockdown queer events have just gotten bigger and bigger.

Revelers dance at Nasty
Revellers dance at Nasty, a roaming queer dance party, founded in Hobart in 2021. Photographer: Priya Vunaki

“I think the community realized the importance of safe spaces and our chosen families,” Dopper says.

“Nothing beats being on a dance floor with like-minded people you care about and trust. There’s this unspoken vibe – you can’t explain it.”

There’s another key element to the revitalization of the scene, however: mainstream acceptance.

“Queer is cool now,” Dopper says. “With the pink dollar, we’ve seen it with Pride, I’ve noticed it with Heaps Gay – they get more and more popular because queer is cool.”

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Australia

Linda Burney flags Makarrata commission for truth and treaty is on the horizon

Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has given the strongest indication yet that a truth and treaty process is in the works.

Speaking at the Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land, Ms Burney said the public should not forget that the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart was not only about a referendum.

“So many parts of this country [are] deciding how they’re going to explore the truth,” she said.

“When we think about the effect that a national truth-telling process would have on Australia, it’s remarkable.

“One of the things that we’re thinking about at the moment is what form that would take.”

“I see this as, you know, a thousand flowers blooming.

Large Aboriginal flag flying in sky with sunlight behind in city setting
The Uluru statement includes a First Nations’ Voice in the constitution, and Makarrata, referring to the process of conflict resolution, peacemaking and justice.(Getty Images: Trevor Collens)

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Pay rise: Teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants offered six per cent wage rise over two years

Western Australian teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants have been offered a six per cent wage rise over the next two years as a buffer to rising inflation.

The Western Australia government has increased its pay offer for 150,000 workers to three per cent annually for the next two years, along with an additional $2,500 cost of living payment.

Premier Mark McGowan said the move was in response to peaking inflation and would cost the budget an extra $634 million over the next four years.

“Given the current economic climate we’ve listened and reviewed our wages policy,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.

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