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Explore powerful stories at the intersection of history, culture, and music—from Aboriginal cricket pioneers and war heroes to legendary albums by Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Gurrumul. This blog dives deep into First Nations resilience, iconic protest music, and untold truths that shaped Australia and the world. Engaging, thoughtful, and unapologetically real—where powerful voices from the past meet today's social conversation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this page contains images and names of deceased persons.
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On This Day, 4 February 1939: The Cummeragunja Walk-Off.
On 4 February 1939, a quiet but revolutionary act unfolded on the banks of the Murray River. About 200 Aboriginal men, women and children walked off Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station, near Moama in southern New South Wales, in what became one of the first mass Indigenous strikes in Australian history. This was no spontaneous protest. It was a carefully considered act of resistance against years of neglect, abuse and control imposed by the NSW Aborigines Protection Board, the go
Groote Broadcasting
Feb 42 min read
January 26: A Date That Still Divides a Nation.
Each year, January 26 arrives carrying two very different meanings. For some Australians, it marks the foundation of the modern nation — the day the First Fleet raised the British flag at Sydney Cove in 1788. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, however, it represents the beginning of dispossession, violence, and the systematic disruption of cultures that had thrived on this continent for tens of thousands of years. This is why the date is widely referred t
Groote Broadcasting
Jan 261 min read
Colonisation: A Global Story of Displacement and Survival.
Colonisation is often taught as a chapter of expansion and exploration. For Indigenous peoples, it is remembered as a profound rupture — one that reshaped lands, laws, cultures, and lives across continents. In Australia, British colonisation from 1788 was built on the false premise of terra nullius, the claim that the land belonged to no one. This legal fiction ignored the existence of hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations, each with their own laws, langua
Groote Broadcasting
Jan 212 min read
Auriel Andrew - "an enduring influence on Australian music."
Auriel Andrew occupies a unique and quietly dignified place in Australian music history — a country singer whose voice carried the vastness of the Northern Territory and whose songs bridged gospel, country, and lived experience with remarkable grace. Best known for her 1969 album Just For You, Andrew’s work stands as an important, often overlooked chapter in the story of Indigenous Australian music. 'Just For You' is a gentle, heartfelt record that reflects both its era and i
Groote Broadcasting
Jan 172 min read
Plastic began as a “miracle.” Now, it’s one of our greatest environmental challenges.
Plastic’s story began with good intentions. In 1907, Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the world’s first fully synthetic plastic—hailed as a miracle material that could replace scarce natural resources like ivory and tortoiseshell. By the mid-20th century, plastics were mass-produced worldwide, woven into everything from packaging to medicine, transport, and electronics. Cheap, durable and versatile, plastic spread faster than any other material in huma
Groote Broadcasting
Dec 3, 20252 min read
Ivan Sen: The Visionary Storyteller of Two Worlds.
Ivan Sen is one of Australia’s most distinctive cinematic voices — a filmmaker whose lens captures both the vastness of the Australian landscape and the quiet, often painful introspection of those who inhabit it. A proud Indigenous storyteller of Gamilaroi descent, Sen’s work stands at the intersection of identity, belonging, and the struggle for self-definition in modern Australia. Over more than two decades, he has reshaped how Indigenous stories are told — rejecting stereo
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 5, 20252 min read
Samson and Delilah – A Haunting Masterpiece of Silence and Survival.
Warrick Thornton’s Samson and Delilah (2009) is an unflinching poem of isolation, love, and resilience. Told with sparse dialogue and extraordinary visual power, it captures the raw, often devastating reality of life for two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote Central Australian community. It’s a story that refuses sentimentality, instead revealing beauty through endurance and quiet connection. The film follows Samson (Rowan McNamara), a volatile young man numbed by boredom and
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 29, 20252 min read
Mervyn Bishop: Framing Truth Through the Lens.
Mervyn Bishop is one of Australia’s most groundbreaking photographers — a trailblazer whose images reshaped how the nation saw itself. Born in 1945 in Brewarrina, New South Wales, Bishop is a proud Ngemba man whose life’s work has been dedicated to telling stories of truth, resilience, and identity through the power of the camera. In 1963, Bishop began his journey in photography when he joined The Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet — making history as Australia’s first Aborigin
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 20, 20252 min read
The Many Nations of Aboriginal Australia: Countries, Languages, and Traditions.
Long before the arrival of Europeans, the continent we now call Australia was already a vast, vibrant mosaic of nations. Rather than a...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 15, 20252 min read
Pemulwuy: The Warrior Who Rose in Defence of His People.
As British colonisation expanded across Eora Country in the late 18th century, so too did the violence, displacement, and destruction...
Groote Broadcasting
May 12, 20251 min read
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