ladies and gentlemen GQ is agenda setter
for 2016 is Stanground thank you very
much it's um it's an honor to be here
and collect this and it's a I can say an
even greater honor to share the stage
with my brother Adam I spent half of my
working life overseas
reporting the great stories of our world
I saw the world changed before my eyes I
saw the rise of terrorism throughout the
Middle East into the secret world of
North Korea the resurgence of China
there's now by some measurements the
world's biggest economy the return of
populism and nationalism and I saw
division I saw people who were separated
by the chasm of history and I came back
to my country a couple of years ago to
be reminded that we still here are
divided by our history and I saw it when
it happened to Adam with the booing of
Adam Goodes
and I looked on that and I thought is
this us is this truly the measure of who
we are and we have to ask ourselves that
question in Australia because in
Australia today ten-year-old girls
commit suicide in Australia today a boy
in a hood in a cell reminds us that
indigenous people make up half of all
youths in incarceration where fewer than
3% of the population and we are a
quarter of those behind bars we die a
decade earlier than other Australians
this is happening in our country in
Australian towns in 2016 and I can't
believe that this is who we are
I can't believe that a country is
wealthy and is prosperous
cohesive that is tolerant that is
welcoming as Australia is a country that
has given me the capacity to reach for
my dreams I can't believe that that is
who we are you know we live in a world
now where people are retreating to all
divisions we live in a world now that is
dominated by the politics of identity
we're seeing this with the election of
Donald Trump we're seeing it with the
return of politics on the left and right
and these are times when we have to ask
do we see ourselves in each other or do
we continue to see each other as
something against Barack Obama just
today said we have to stop the us in
them we have to see ourselves in each
other and I think that we have a better
chance of doing that in Australia than
any other place I've been thank you so
much and it's a pleasure to accept this
award and a pleasure to be here with my
brother I'm not saying I work at channel
7 now but growing up you know well I was
gonna say growing up I noticed I noted
that you were colored and I thought yeah
no that's right you know I mean I I
wanted to to be a journalist you know I
wanted to be a journalist on my own
merit yes it was important that I was an
Aboriginal person it was important that
we were out there and we were telling
stories to our country Australia as
people who are Colored People and we've
seen a lot more of that not been proud
to be part of it what's inspiring to you
about Stan what's inspiring is the the
leadership and the ability to to use the
platform that he's been given and the
skills that he's built up through his
life to be able to communicate a message
and start conversations with people
that's not about challenging people is
about to have that conversation about
are we happy with the way that our
communities are going and to be honest
from an indigenous point of view there's
a lot
there's a lot of positives that we can
focus on as well and that's and that's
what we really want to focus that focus
on the positives yes there's a lot of
negative things happening out in their
community we all need to acknowledge
that they're there first of all about
what are the things we're gonna do to
you know create the positive change in
our in our communities and by having
those conversations and that's what I've
been really inspired by stand is a
constant feedback of people this is what
the conversation is it's not about
always negative negative ads about
actually what are the positive things
and how can we move forward together
last question obviously as the agenda
setter like when you wake up what are
you thinking in the morning straight
away you know I'm just thinking I'm
thinking all the time about the world we
live in you know I've been really
privileged to have been at the front
line of history to be at the front line
of change you know I've walked through
terrorist bombings I've seen countries
torn apart by war I've seen the best in
the worst of humanity and I think all
the time about the importance of being
able to tell that story and to it and to
be engaged with making our country a
better country I really think about that
you know I think Adams right you know
yes we are there are so many things that
that us that remind us of where we fail
but there's a lot also to celebrate as I
said in the speech tonight we have a
better chance of being able to come
together as a people in this country
than just about any other place I've
ever been
yeah it's privileged to me tonight yes
thanks guys