Bunjil's Fire

Uncle Robbie Thorpe has a chat with filmmaker and cartoonist Charlie Hill-Smith. They discuss the tragic landslide that has recently occured in the Enga province highlands of Papua New Guinea, as well as what's been happening at Camp Sovereignty.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe gets on the line with Larrakia, Kungarakan, Yangman, & Gurindji activist and musician Robert Mills to discuss Aboriginal affairs in the so-called Northern Territory.

Bunjileenee Robbie Thorpe is joined by Manju of Old Country Calling to discuss the upcoming Big Boss Fire Tour, a tribute to Uncle Kev, on Arabunna & Kokatha Country this June & July."Old Country Calling & @native.title.rockets are excited to announce the Big Boss Fire Tour, a tribute to Uncle Kev, on Arabunna & Kokatha Country this June & July.Join us from the winter solstice to light the peace fire at Alberrie creek on 22nd followed by the Big Burn & tribute concert the next weekend, 29-30 June, for music and mischief with an all star cast of local legends and infamous artists to honour the life and legacy of Uncle Kevin Buzzacott, Arabunna elder and peace maker. Bring your art, words and music for a memorial to be built on Arabunna country. There will be music, workshops, films (including footage & messages from Uncle Kev’s last trip to Arabunna country last year), and more. BYO your creative response to caring for country!The Old Country Peace Gathering was Uncle Kev’s vision for many years, and something we began working on with him on Arabunna Country last year. He wanted people to gather on country to educate and re-educate them, connect with and care for country, and work together to stop the destruction of country and sacred sites.He also envisioned this gathering as an opportunity for mobs from across the continent to come together to share and discuss issues they are facing and how to work together to move forward.The second leg of the tour will begin on 5 July with a convoy to Kokatha country, led by senior Kokatha elder Aunty Sue Haseldine. She will be hosting a gathering for people to learn & care for country & sacred sites at the Inla rockhole. This sacred site, and many others are at risk of damage & destruction by Southern Launch’s rocket range. Come down, connect with & learn from Aunty Sue & join her fight to protect & preserve Kokatha munda for future generations." - Old Country CallingTo stay up to date with information follow Old Country Calling on Instagram & Facebook.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe talks with Wangan and Jagalingou man, Gurridyula Gaba Wunggu, who has been one of the main players in the resistance to the Adani Carmichael coalmine in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, as its being constructed on his people’s homeland.Gurridyula, or Coedie McAvoy, has been staging a protest action opposite the entry to the Adani mine site. A six hour drive inland from the coast of central queensland they have established a camp opposite the mine - Waddanangu ‘The Talking’, where they have sat within a ceremonial “bora” circle, and kept the fire burning for more than 994 days.The Queensland Government extinguished the Wangan and Jagalingou’s Native Title in 2019, giving Adani freehold title to the land.Section 28 of Queensland’s Human Rights Act (2019) states that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold distinctive cultural rights.This includes the right to “conserve and protect the environment and productive capacity of their land” and the right to “maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual, material and economic relationship with the land, territories, waters, coastal seas and other resources with which they have a connection under Aboriginal tradition or Island custom”.Since 26 August 2021, they’ve maintained a fire inside of the stone circle up on top of the hill, opposite the pit and maintained one Wangan and Jagalingou person inside the circle 24 hours a day.No foreign objects are allowed inside the circle. You can’t wear shoes, can’t have watches and can’t have phones inside the circle. There is no roof on it. There is only bark and leaves. Because you can’t have anything foreign inside the circle, on the ground or above it.These three rules – having the fire going, one Wangan and Jagalingou person inside at all times and no foreign objects – were to bait the police in.And because we created these three rules and had stuck to them for so long, the police didn’t want to intervene, because who are they to break a tradition. It is a ceremony.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe and Len Lindon discuss their case against the Melbourne City Council for their interference of a cultural site, when they removed gear and tried to extinguish the ceremonial fire at Camp Sovereignty on Friday 10th May. They are seeking orders to provide protection for the site into the future.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe catches up with Waanyi Garawa Gangalidda man Alec Doomadgee. Alec Doomadgee is an Aboriginal activist, respected leader and advocate for Aboriginal rights, as well as a performer, film producer, actor, and radio & television host.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe chats with Palestinian scientist and author, Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, where they discuss and analyse the correlation of the ongoing colonisation, ecocide and genocide occuring in Palestine and so-called Australia.Mazin Qumsiyeh (born 1957 in Beit Sahour) is a Palestinian scientist and author, founder and director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History (PMNH) and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS) at Bethlehem University where he teaches.Over the course of his career he has published well over 150 scientific papers on topics ranging from cultural heritage to biodiversity in addition to several books. Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh says, “There is both a genocide and an ecocide going on, supported by some Western governments against the will of the Western public.” An enormous global movement is rising to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, to end decades of colonisation, and work toward a free Palestine that delivers sustainable peace for all in the region.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe speaks with Black Peoples Union (BPU) president Keiran Stewart-Assheton, where they discuss BPU's upcoming May Day event at the State Library of Victoria on May 1st at 5pm, and have further conversations around imperialism and colonisation. They're also joined by barrister Len Lindon and 3CR Radioactive Show host Michaela Stubbs.

Uncle Robbie Thorpe and barrister Len Lindon discuss the liitigation taking place in the Supreme Court of Victoria against King Charles III for the crimes of genocide and ecocide.