To mark NAIDOC Week 2020, Sophie Coppenhall, Geoff Bew, and Chris Dabbs discuss human rights and how western diets have impacted Aboriginal Australians and the New Zealand Maori.
CD: Well hello there! Welcome. My name’s Chris Dabbs and I am joined to talk about something quite interesting, I think. It’s something that we’re going to be looking at across the world more and more: the impact of – well, I’ll tell you what, don’t let me tell you – let’s introduce who we’ve got here. Sophie, would you like to say hello?
SC: Morning. My name’s Sophie and I am an MA student at the University of Brighton studying Journalism. I do have some experience of living over in Australia, I lived there for about 9 years when I was younger, during my childhood. Something that’s very close to me, and something that I care a great deal about, is the welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. When I was living there I saw quite a lot of destabilisation and separation between the way new Australians – or white Australians – are treated separately from Indigenous Australians. I think it is important to recognise the traditional custodians of Australia and pay our respects to the sovereign peoples of that land.
CD: Well, that’s true isn’t it – sovereign people of every land, not just Australia, but obviously we’re just talking about Australian and New Zealand peoples at the moment. Do you think what you’ve just mentioned is peculiar – specific – to the white population of Australia? Because it’s quite a mixed bag over there these days, isn’t it?