'I am not Australia’s imagined Aboriginal, nor its Indigenous. I do not identify as an Australian citizen: I am a sovereign Plangermairreenner from Meenamatta Country in north-east Tasmania. My people are Pakana and Palawa. I was born on Flinders Island in 1942, and my parents were both from Cape Barren Island where many of our families survived the impacts of colonisation and dominance. This was an Aboriginal mission under the Cape Barren Island Reserve Act (1912), designed to control all aspects of our families’ lives.' (Introduction)