Australian Women’s Weekly NZ July 2020

What are those people shouting about, Mumma?” A simple question asked by my nearly five-year old as we watched the recent demonstrations on TV. But, if I’m honest, one I found not so easy to answer. What is the right way to explain the ridiculous concept of racism to someone whose only judgement on skin colour is a wish that we could all be rainbow hued like the Trolls in her favourite movie. 2020 has been the year of tricky kid questions. “Why is the park locked up? Why can’t I hug Nanma?” And “When will this ‘silly virus’ be over?” But it’s not just children who are questioning things. Our altered way of living during isolation, along with the tumultuous economic situation, has thrown up all sorts of questions.…

AS THEY remain in lockdown, royals are living life at a slower pace. While some spend time with family, others explore new hobbies. The Duchess of Cornwall has joined Taika Waititi in reading a chapter of James and the Giant Peach for the Roald Dahl story company. UNITED KINGDOM The Duchess of Cornwall meets one of six medical detection dogs who will be trained to detect the smell of COVID-19. A patron of Medical Detection Dogs, the Duchess said she had “every faith” in the brilliant canines. SWITZERLAND Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden introduced her children Oscar, four, and Estelle, eight, to the world of beekeeping. COPENHAGEN The Danish royal family has had some understated celebrations this month. Crown Prince Frederik celebrated his 52nd birthday in lockdown on May 26,…

THE SAYING CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME has never been more true than it is now, with the cast of Big Little Lies reuniting online to sponsor meals for frontline workers. Nicole Kidman said she was “thrilled at the chance to reunite with my Big Little Lies cast for an amazing cause”. Meanwhile, Oprah is getting in on the pandemic puzzle craze, while journalist and cookbook author Annabel Crabb turns her talents to Play-Dough.…

AS AMERICANS took to the streets Michelle Obama said she was exhausted by a heartbreak that never seems to stop, and prayed for the strength for a journey towards justice. “It’s up to all of us – black, white, everyone – no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work,” she said. In an address to the graduating class of her former school, the Duchess of Sussex said she was sorry they had to grow up in a world where injustice was still present, but knew they would be part of the movement to combat it.…

THIS MONTH, WE’VE WATCHED AMERICA in flames and seen that Australia’s record on race is little better. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most incarcerated people on earth, making up just three per cent of the population, but 28 per cent of prisoners. In 2017, after a massive national consultation amongst First Nations Australians, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was released. In the light of recent events, we reprint this eloquent call for reconciliation in full. SAMANTHA HARRIS, model “I’ve felt mixed emotions of anger and sadness watching these events unfold in the media. What happened to George Floyd and what is happening in America as a whole highlights minorities being fed up with how they are treated, especially by the police. “It has also made…

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart: Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago. This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of…