General Manager at Alice Springs Cinema, René Sutton visited 8CCC Brekky Show to unpack the inaugural inclusion of Alice Springs in this year's National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA), and update us on their screenings over the next few weeks. There'll be more Indian films, the school holiday picks including Toy Story 5 and this month's 4pm Craft-a-noon on 28 June - How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days!

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Liz Jok joined the MCSCA team at the beginning of 2026, from Melbourne & her background is in International Studies. Liz is excited to be part of this year's Big Day Out In Harmony (BDOIH) celebrations, assisting performers in the green room & also staffing the MCSCA stall to speak to people about MCSCA's role in the settlement space. She visited 8CCC Brekky Show with the Desert Paradise performance group, Matilda, Kyra, Manaia and Kalaea, and their chief organiser, costume designer, teacher and choreographer, Maria Faatauvaa, representing the Pacific Islands communities.

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Shihab Rahman has 18 years of educational experience, working as a teacher in India, Kuwait and Australia and joined the MCSCA Board in 2025. He was on 8CCC Brekky Show to chat about this year's Big Day Out In Harmony and support the performers. Thamanna Shihab is a member of the Indian Semi Classical Dance group - Alice Springs Malayalee Association (AMA) performance, who has previously been on the show to talk about her acting role in the short film, First Drop. She was joined by fellow AMA performer Jenelia Subeesh, who also performs with Team J Dance, a group of girls who came together and formed a group and started performing last year in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. The group has five girls - Jennifer, Jenelia, Julia (3 sisters) and Malavika and Madhvi, who have been dancing from the age of 3 and have been a professional dance group from the age of 10. J Dance have participated in many dance competitions in both Australia & the UK, winning second prize in Australia’s biggest Indian dance competition, DANCE 4 OZ (2026). The group performs different styles of dancing including: Indian Bollywood, classical, hip hop, jazz and contemporary. Jenelia also performs with the dance group, GUTS, at Araluen Arts Centre.

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CEO of Barkly Regional Council answered some ratepayers' questions and explained the current financial situation for Tennant Creek and the Barkly to 8CCC's Brian Coleman. Peter will accompany the Tennant Creek Mayor Sid Vashist and Deputy Mayor Valda Shannon to the Budget Estimates in Canberra this week, hoping to access some sustainable funding.

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Beanie Festival Director Jo Nixon joined Kate Lyons-Dawson on 8CCC Brekky Show, to send off the biggest, best and last Beanie Festival for Mparntwe Alice Springs in it's current format. Sharing the stage with the record 7800 beanies will be all the workshops, food and this year a puppet show written by Jo! Beanie Central kicks off on Friday 19 June at 10am and the gala opening night begins from 5.30pm with opening of Thank You Thank You Thank You Beanies of Gratitude Exhibition, announcement of the competition winners and entertainment by Moongaze, Katie Harder and Gleny Rae Virus. On Saturday June 20 from 9am-10am they will open to allow those with a disability to access beanie central - wheelchairs, gofers, walkers, Autism, ADHD, mental illness – anyone who requires space and quiet times. 

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Mparntwe Alice Springs has been included into this year's National Indian Film Festival of Australia (NIFFA) touring here from 11 to 14 June. Festival Director Anu Sharma spoke with 8CCC's Kate Lyons-Dawson about how special it is to tour to the red centre, with it's diverse, growing Indian community. From the red carpet opening night at Araluen Art Centre, get ready for a full program of features and shorts, premiering in Australia. A wide range of languages are represented including Hindi, Malayalum, Telugu, Tamal and Marathi and will be screened across Araluen Arts Centre and Alice Springs Cinema.

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Following the announcement on Tuesday that Peter Garrett will head a public inquiry into AUKUS, 8CCC Brekky spoke to retired Australian Defence Force Major Cameron Leckie, spokesperson from Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN), to dig deeper into the repercussions of this and the Deputy Prime Minister's announcement in Singapore of yet another change to the AUKUS deal. The other commissioners will be Retired Admiral Chris Barrie former Chief of the Defence Force,
Carmen Lawrence, WA’s first female Premier, Leanne Minshull, the Australia Institute’s Co-CEO and
Karina Lester. Submissions are open for the inquiry which will run until October 2026.

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Lucy McGarry came into the 8CCC Tennant Creek studio to update listeners on the activities at Our Community Shed. The website is almost live, yoga is currently happening and there's still positions for the right kind of community-minded people as project officers. It's also good to hear the Shed is available as a venue for organisations and groups to meet with the community.

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After a shaky start to the live stream on antiquated equipment, the May Alice Springs Town Council went ahead, assuring the members of the public in the gallery that funds have been committed for the infrastructure's upgrade. Proceedings were recorded but not able to be live streamed, so you can now listen back on their website. Prayers began acknowledging the family of Kumanjayi White's family in the wake of the announcement that no charges would be laid for his death. Mayor Asta Hill spoke on 8CCC about this month's meeting, with some highlights being the new Whistleblower Policy and the report on homelessnes. T%he Whistleblower Policy has been endorsed to strengthen good governance, accountability and integrity across the organisation, Council has obligations to report suspected improper conduct and ensure protections are in place for those who speak up, providing a clear framework for Council team members and Elected Members to safely raise concerns and reinforcing a culture of transparency. Council received a report outlining a range of potential short-term actions to support people experiencing homelessness in Alice Springs, alongside longer-term opportunities requiring further investigation.

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8CCC Brekky may be slow to get great interviews like this out quickly, but senior architect Tonielle Dempers and the team at Tangentyere Design, along with Kennedy Nolan, are on task, having just finished the consultation phase for designing the new Alice Springs Library. They've held information sessions including the presentation about the process at the markets on Sunday, but if you missed it here's your chance to listen back to learn about the approach they have taken to create this design and provide feedback while there's still time.

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