Brooke Boney
Thejournalist and triple j news presenter
is a proud Gamilaroi Gomeroi woman and an
advocate for our Indigenous communities and the
challenges they still face.“Before she was a Labor Senator, I worked with Malarndirri
McCarthy at NITV. I was starting out as a journalist and she
was my producer. Malarndirri immediately struck me as
a woman I wanted to be more like. She had a strong sense
of her own culture, she was intelligent, confident and
incredibly capable. What really stood out to me though,
was her kindness, particularly towards younger women.
When you start out in media, you sometimes meet people
who don’t want to give you a hand. It’s difficult when you
want to progress but there’s nobody to mentor you. But
Malarndirri was so incredibly kind and generous, and I’ve
always been inspired by that. For the generation of women
before us, there wasn’t enough room
at the table, so I think there was this
notion that you shouldn’t be lifting
other women up. Times have
changed; that attitude needs to be
retired and we all need to support
each other.
Malarndirri taught me about
trusting my gut; as a journalist there’s
probably nothing more important,
but it’s not a skill that comes right
away. If you’re out on a story and something doesn’t feel
right, or if you’re asked to do something you’re not
comfortable with, you need to be able to say no. Conversely,
if a story is worth pursuing, you should fight for it. She taught
me to listen to my intuition and stand up for myself. I’ll never
forget that.”>“FOR THE
GENERATIONOF
WOMEN BEFORE
US, THERE WASN’T
ENOUGH ROOM
AT THE TABLE”Jacket, $490,
trousers,$260, both
VIKTORIA & WOODS,
viktoriaandwoods.com.au;
earrings, $95,BRIE LEON,
brieleon.com
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