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CHRISTMAS has come early for Vicki Yatjiki Cullinan – in the form of a $100,000 prize. 

The Senior Yankunytjatjara artist from Indulkana Community, APY Lands, has taken the top award in this year’s Hadley’s Art Prize, for Ngayuku Ngura (My Country). She plans to save the prize money for Christmas and share it with family. 

Ngayuku Ngura depicts waterholes, creeks, flowers and rocks, and is connected to Tjukurpa (ancestral stories) Vicki knows. 

“I paint my Country, the beautiful and powerful Yankunytjatjara Country that I live on and that will always be a part of me,” she said. 

“My paintings are an extension of who I am, and how I interpret my place in the world.” 

Last Tuesday morning she was home making tea when Iwantja Arts manager Beth Conway came to tell her the news. Vicki was shocked. 

“I couldn’t believe it, there were a lot of entries.” 

Next Vicki was in Nipaluna/Hobart for Friday’s public announcement. The 53-year-old, mother of two and grandmother of four, started painting almost thirty years ago. She mentors younger artists and is a director and cultural liaison officer at Iwantja…

PROMINENT Indigenous leader Noel Pearson has issued a call to arms for supporters of the Voice, saying more work needs to be done, with the referendum’s success in doubt. 

Support for constitutionally enshrining an Indigenous advisory body has been tracking downwards according to numerous polls. 

Mr Pearson said the ‘yes’ campaign had its work cut out but “the inertia is no, the momentum is yes”. 

“The ‘yes’ campaign has got to get out, it’s not going to fall into our laps,” he told Sky News on Sunday. 

“We need to be at the railway stations, we need to be at the town halls, we need to be meeting people in the malls and we need to be appealing to the better angels of the Australian nature.” 

Former Liberal MP Warren Mundine, who is campaigning against the Voice, said it would be hard for the ‘yes’ campaign to shift the momentum, with polling showing Australians are against enshrining it in the constitution. 

Mr Mundine said while the public wanted practical outcomes, the government was failing to make the case for how a Voice would deliver change on the ground. 

He said education and economic participation, such as starting a business and getting a job, were key to closing the…

AUSTRALIA has gone green and gold for the Matildas with more than 75,000 fans turning up to watch their first World Cup match against Ireland.

The Matildas kicked off their campaign at Stadium Australia with a 1-0 win thanks to step-in captain Steph Catley’s penalty in the second half as the ‘Tillies’ opened their campaign last week. 

Close to 1.4 million tickets have been snapped up, surpassing previous tournament records. More Matildas jerseys have sold than the Socceroos managed during and since the 2022 men’s World Cup, according to sportswear brand Nike. 

The match was initially scheduled to take place at the 42,000-capacity Sydney Football Stadium, but Football Australia (FA) and FIFA agreed to take a chance and flip the game to the bigger venue. 

All of Australia’s major cities, including Melbourne’s iconic football hub Federation Square, are turning green and gold with dedicated live sites. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sent a message of support to the Matildas ahead of their opening…

PREPARE to have your senses ignited as the sensational Mitch Tambo takes centre- stage with his deadly new collaboration, Walanbaa Yulu-Gi Burn The Floor.

The scorching show fuses Tambo’s love of his Gamilaraay culture with Australian ballroom dance company Burn the Floor leaving audiences spellbound. 

Tambo, the captivating singer- songwriter, actor, performer, and presenter who gained international acclaim with his breathtaking rendition of John Farnham’s You’re the Voice is ready to conquer the stage alongside a cast of other amazing performers in a blaze of mesmerising performances along the entire east coast of the continent. 

“I’m just a brother out here trying to make some way in this big beautiful wide crazy world,” Tambo told the Koori Mail. 

“And I’m just really pumped and ready to hit the road with Burn the Floor, who are just such an incredible dance company – and to bring our culture into it.” 

“Walanbaa Yulu-Gi is going to be just so deadly and will really showcase to the world…

THE unique Beyond the Bars live prison radio show aired once again during NAIDOC Week this July. 

Run by a team of volunteers from 3CR community radio in Naarm (Melbourne), Beyond the Bars gives inmates in prisons across Victoria the opportunity to broadcast live-to- air. 

Featuring music, discussion, rap and shout outs to family, the program began in 2002 and each year it features songs, stories, opinions and poems from the men and women inside, while also connecting them with culture and community. 

Robbie Thorpe, a presenter on 3CR and one of the volunteers with Beyond the Bars, told the Koori Mail the program is “an opportunity for mob inside to have a little shout out to their families and connect in a small way. There’s a lot of restrictions in jails as you can imagine.” 

The series broadcasts every day during NAIDOC Week from a different prison. Yet along with the live-to-air – which can also be streamed online anytime – volunteers also work with inmates during the weeks leading up to the broadcast for training and…

WHEN Aboriginal Hostels Limited (AHL) turned 50, the milestone anniversary was celebrated with a big celebration at the University of Canberra.

During NAIDOC Week, AHL held a national event, bringing together AHL staff and residents (past and present), with board and community members, Elders, stakeholders and supporters. 

Since its establishment in 1973, AHL has offered a ‘home away from home’ for thousands of First Nations people. AHL has provided around the clock services – and safe, culturally appropriate and affordable accommodation for First Nations people needing a place to stay. 

Gamilaraay/Yuwaalaraay man and AHL board chair, Anthony Ashby, told those gathered “as current stewards, we have inherited an organisation crafted by the wisdom and hard work of those who have played their part over the last half century”. 

“Myself and the other board members know that the genesis of AHL came about through the advocacy and tireless efforts of iconic First Nations leaders,” he said. 

Mr Ashby said the early 1970s was a time of huge…