Meet Antonia Burke who is standing up for Indigenous rights in Australia
For more than a decade, Antonia Burke travelled across Australia listening to First Nations people describe the impacts of government decisions on their lives. Over the years, she heard stories of oppression, injustice and intergenerational trauma. As a First Nations woman from the Yanyuwa and Garrwa people from the Northern Territory, Antonia understands first-hand how government policies can shape lives. That understanding took on new urgency when she saw the extent of offshore oil and gas development across the Arafura and Timor Seas, waters that sustain communities, cultures and marine life across Australia, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. First Nations people in Australia call these waters “Sea Country” – a source of identity that holds stories and songlines that have guided people for generations.
As Founder and Director of Sea of Nations, Antonia works with First Nations people and coastal communities to hold decision makers accountable for ensuring meaningful consultation and consent before decisions affecting their territories are made. Here, she shares her experience
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My name is Antonia Burke. I am an Aboriginal woman from the Northern Territory. I was born to a mother whose entire existence was impacted in a negative way by government decisions. Oppression, dominance, control, which led to intergenerational trauma, and caused a lot of pain and disempowerment for my immediate family.
Growing up knowing the story of what happened, and how it happened, instilled something inside of me that always made me want to stand up, and just do something. It created this deep sense of responsibility. And it’s this responsibility that required finding the truth and speaking out.
Working with and listening to First Nations communities across Australia, it was clear that the sicker the land or the country, the water, the air, the environment, the sicker the people are.
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