Cirrus@Austlit

'Ridgeway, Executive Director of the N.S.W. Aboriginal Land Council, talks about his upbringing on the Bellwood Aboriginal Reserve in northern New South Wales; his move to Sydney with his mother and brother while still at primary school; his attendance at St. John's College in Lismore on an Aboriginal study grant; the influence of his Catholic education; early work experiences in a factory and in the National Parks and Wildlife Service; political influence of his grandmother, Phoebe Mumbler; employment in the NSW public service in various departments; departure from public service to work for NSW Aboriginal Land Council; his view of the relationship between Aboriginal land issues and environmental groups and mining interests; the role of the NSW Land Council; land claims in NSW; Aboriginality and bi-culturalism; the Aboriginal Mediation course developed for the Australian Commercial Disputes Centre; native title; the NSW Geographical Names Board; the role of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

'Ridgeway discusses the need for agreements to be reviewed; reconciliation; joint management issues; cultural appropriation; the Murray-Darling Basin Commission; water; Mabo legislation; his admiration for Neville Bonner; Aboriginal leadership in the 1990s compared to the 1970s; sovereignty; personal qualities and life and his desire to reintroduce the Gumbaynggir language. He also speculates about his position, and that of the Land Council, in seven years' time.'(Interview summary)

'Aden Ridgeway talks about his previous interview; his family; Rugby League and football; the Maori Haka and an Australian equivalent; the national anthem; spending 6 years in public office; his work-life balance; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC); inspirational young Indigenous people; how his world perspective is different to new generations because he grew up on a reserve; Bangarra Dance Company; running a consultancy business, facilitating community and corporation meetings; the Lion Nathan and Brewarrina community partnership; the aims of the Indigenous Social Investment Guide; hoping to establish a grants marketplace and tax credits program; preferring to work behind the scenes rather than be seen as a leader or re-enter politics.

'Ridgeway discusses the NT Intervention; the ATSIC model of representation; the next Indigenous generation; Australia's definition of identity; the possibility of doing Masters at Oxford University; to lead a delegation from the NSW Aboriginal Land Council at the next UN forum in New York, in April; the current focus of the forum is the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People; youth delegates from FaHCSIA's National Youth Leadership Development Initiative attending the forums; Megan Davis; how he regularly visits India over the last four years to detox; the need for more to be done to heal Indigenous peoples' spirits; Red Dust, a trauma-healing program for men; racism, consultation, community, identity; his personal philosophy.'  (Publication summary)