The Front page of the Koori Mail Newspaper edition 797 features an image of Tyron Cochrane in action at the Golden Shears competition in New Zealand. A headline below the image reads: Tyron clips title with ‘shear’ skill. A smaller picture depicts Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney pictured alongside representatives from First Nations communities and organisations across Australia. A headline above the picture reads: Voice is on Track. A banner at the bottom of the page reads: Teen cops police warning for Latrelle slur – page 3.

EDITION 797 OUT NOW!

SHEARING five sheep in seven minutes is no mean feat. For Yuwaalaraay man Tyron Cochrane, 18, this shearing feat recently saw him crowned the winner of the junior final Golden Shears competition in New Zealand. He is the first Aboriginal man to win the event. 

The competition is known as the world’s premier shearing and wool-handling competition. Winning it takes strength, control and endurance – and for Tyron, his skill might also run in his family bloodline. 

Tyron grew up in Goodooga (Brewarrina Shire) and learned to shear only two years ago from his shearer dad, Terry. 

“When I was 16, I decided school wasn’t my thing, so dad took me to work and taught me shearing,” Tyron told the Koori Mail. 

“Then I went to shearing school, where my teacher Wayne Hosie taught me rhythm, timing, position and control – so you can work quickly.” 

These days, Tyron now works as a full time shearer in Dubbo. It means he gets up early – about 5am – and travels long distances to work in regional areas like Coonabarabran. 

He can be pretty tired when he finishes work at 5pm. 

“But I like the freedom you have doing this work,” Tyron said. “You can be yourself out here and travel to different places.” 

So how did a boy from the bush get to go to New Zealand? Tyron said he was working one day with Regional Enterprise Development Institute (REDI) program master Samson Te Whata. 

Latest News Stories

Alex Winwood with his new WBC International light-flyweight belt.

After Tibo demolition, who’s next for A-Rock?

Wednesday, 22 March 2023 1:31 pm

THE team behind Alex Winwood’s rapid rise in boxing will aim the Nyoongar man toward a June 16 main-event title fight after putting away former world champion Tibo Monabesa in four rounds recently. 

Veteran trainer Angelo Hyder said post-bout that 25-year-old Winwood has what it takes to become world champion. 

“I put him in the category of very few fighters and I’ve trained a few world champions, he’s special,” Hyder said after watching Winwood dismantle the world No. 13 Monabesa. 

“Power and speed in every punch in both hands that he’s got – these guys are once-in-generation fighters that you rarely come across. 

“At this stage of his career, he’s in that special athletic group of fighters that are born with god-given speed and power and talent. 

“We wanted to see how Alex would go with that level of opponent under that type…

Naomi Wenitong, with Naytive Mentorship’s Layla Wenitong-Schrieber, spoke at the launch.

Strong culture and strong youth will help Close the Gap

Wednesday, 22 March 2023 1:30 pm

BRIDGET Cama believes it’s time to take a different approach to Close the Gap. 

Ms Cama co-chairs the Uluru Youth Dialogue and spoke at the launch of the 2023 Close the Gap campaign in Sydney. 

“Australians know that the gap exists between Indigenous and non- Indigenous Australians,” she said. 

“Government-implemented initiatives, policies and laws imposed on us and our communities to address or manage First Nations affairs have not worked. 

“They continue to fail us because at every stage we are shut out of the decision-making processes.” 

The Close the Gap campaign represents more than 50 organisations who, since 2006, have advocated for Aboriginal and Torres Strait…

The home where Kumanjayi Walker was shot by police is now a “memory house” and is being removed from the Northern Territory’s public housing stocks.

Site of Walker shooting now a ‘memory house’

Wednesday, 22 March 2023 1:29 pm

THE home where Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot by police is now a ‘memory house’ out of respect for the Indigenous teenager, the inquest into his death has been told. 

At the request of the 19-year- old’s family, the property in Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, has been removed from the Northern Territory government’s replacement and refurbishment program for public housing. 

Territory Families, Housing and Communities deputy chief executive Brent Warren said talks were underway with the current tenants about finding them alternative accommodation. 

“It’s my understanding that the request received was to stop treating that property as public housing, so that it could be used as a memorial for the sad death,” Mr Warren said. 

But he said the department was committed to continuing to make repairs and maintain the house as necessary. 

“We need to clarify whether it’s going to be used as a home or whether it’s going to be used as a place to visit and memorialised,” he said. 

“Because that will determine what kind of maintenance we do there…

Linda Burney says the working group is on track to get the wording of the Voice referendum right. Picture: Matt Turner.

Voice is on track

Wednesday, 22 March 2023 1:28 pm

FEDERAL Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says the referendum for an 

Indigenous voice to parliament is on track, despite having not yet released a question. 

Speaking from South Australia’s parliament house, Ms Burney said the referendum would be held by the end of the year. 

“We are doing the work that is needed to get this voice right. I can assure you that the voice is on track,” she said. 

“We are taking our time, consulting and being very deliberate … to make sure this voice is the voice that people are asking for.”

Both the referendum working group, which includes a cross-section of representatives from First Nations communities across Australia and the engagement group, which also includes representatives from Indigenous organisations, met in Adelaide last week. 

The federal government has said it will introduce legislation by the end of the next parliamentary sitting on March 30. Working group member Thomas Mayor said meaningful recognition of First Nations people in the constitution was long overdue. 

“We are doing a lot of hard work to reach a set of words we can take to the Australian people to see our nation become…

Gujaga Foundation chairperson Ray Ingrey (centre), and La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council chairperson Noeleen Timbery (far right) speak about the upcoming return of historic Kamay spears, on Bare Island, in Sydney. Four spears stolen by Lieutenant James Cook will be repatriated to the local Gwegal People during a ceremony more than 250 years in the making.

Artefacts taken by Cook to be returned to rightful custodians

Friday, 10 March 2023 12:14 pm

THE very first objects taken from Australia by the British are finally coming home.

When James Cook and his crew first made contact with Aboriginal people in 1770, the British soldiers took dozens of spears from their camps at Botany Bay. 

More than 250 years later, only four of those spears remain and they will soon be permanently returned to the Aboriginal community of La Perouse. 

The historic announcement was made last Thursday at Bare Island in Botany Bay, which is known as Kamay in the local Indigenous language. 

La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council chairwoman Noeleen Timbery described the return of the artefacts as ‘unimaginable’. 

“These spears are the markers of when our shared history began,” she said. 

“They’re important objects for all Australians, because they tell the story of what happened…

Murujuga Traditional Owners teamed up with Gadigal Traditional Owners to launch a community campaign in Sydney’s Redfern last week.

Traditional Owners deliver rock art protest to Plibersek

Friday, 10 March 2023 12:13 pm

TRADITIONAL Owners from Murujuga on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsular have travelled across the continent to protest outside the Sydney office of Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. 

The protest follows a community campaign launch held in Redfern on February 26 where Murujuga Traditional Owners teamed up with Gadigal Traditional Owners to escalate their fight for better protection of sacred Murujuga rock art from ongoing industrial threats. 

Murujuga Traditional Custodians, along with local supporters and allies, addressed the media outside Ms Plibersek’s office on March 2. 

“We are here this morning on Gadigal Country to stand with Traditional custodians around the country in opposition to the Federal Government continuing to allow industry to desecrate our culture, our communities and our Country,” Mardudhunera woman and former chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation Raelene Cooper said. 

“The minister has just made international headlines announcing the World Heritage values of our sacred Murujuga rock art, but she’s allowing Woodside’s Burrup Hub to continue pumping out massive emissions…