In The Bush, Matthew Priestley reflects on growing up at a time when incarceration was a new rite of passage for Aboriginal boys, a new way of taking kids away, and a yarn inspired by his own teenage years unfolds across the Dreamings of Gomeroi Country.

To check out the film Hurt click here to go to Coequal's Patreon page.

To check out Big Hart's website click here

Detailed Music Credits
"Chrysalis" by Simon McCorry, "Another One" by Mirko Sosai, "Omen" by Richard Johnson, "Old Postcards" by The Last Days of our Past, "Quirky Play" by Marco Pesci, "Porch Blues" by Kevin MacLeod, "John as well" by Mirko Sosai, "Hurt Guitar Track 8" by Damian Mason, "Charmaine" by Philip Okerstrom, "Dof Dof" by Philip Okerstrom, "Didgeridoo Long Loop" by Tera Mangala, "Guitar bits and bobs" by Philip Okerstrom, "Sneaky" by Philip Okerstrom, "Guts and Bourbon" by Kevin MacLeod, "deranged-terrifying-modern-hor" by Matthew Creid, "Tranquility Base" by Chill Factor, "Wonder and Intrigue" by Erick McNerney, "Spirit Land" by Tristan Barton, "Didgeridoo Ambient 2" by Pascal Tatipata, "What Dreams May Come" by Tristan Barton

This podcast was made with funding from Create NSW.

A podcast from Matthew Priestley supported by Third Space Ventures and Coequal.

To contact Coequal and find out more, check out our Patreon page, click here

This episode contains references to child removal, racism, incarceration, alcohol misuse and violence.

🪶 STRUCTURE AND CONTENT BREAKDOWN
Opening: The Dreamings We Hold
Speaker: Matthew PriestleyMatthew shares a story about Dreaming itself. Fire, wind, rain, water, animals and people all hold different dreams and responsibilities.Dreamings are not owned. They are held in trust.🌀 Themes: Dreaming as relationship · Responsibility · Interconnection · Knowledge held in trust

Growing Up Between Sydney and Moree
Matthew reflects on being born into a generation shaped by migration, activism and changing government policies.His father works on the Sydney wharves. Family move between Balmain and Moree before eventually returning home.🏙️ Themes: Displacement and return · Family networks · Aboriginal migration · Survival and workRedfern,

Relocation and Assimilation
Examines government housing policies and the movement of Aboriginal families into Sydney suburbs.Contrasts official language of opportunity and integration with the experiences remembered by Aboriginal families.📜 Themes: Assimilation · Government policy · Urban Aboriginal history · Contradiction between policy and lived experience

Grandmothers, Missions and Stanley Village
Matthew describes growing up surrounded by grandmothers, aunties, uncles and Elders.Church, family visits, fishing trips and everyday life become vehicles for cultural learning.🏡 Themes:
Kinship · Intergenerational knowledge · Everyday cultural education · Community

Learning Outside the Classroom
Matthew reflects on school, wagging, and feeling disconnected from formal education while learning from family and community. Contrasts institutional learning with knowledge gained through lived experience.📚 Themes:
Different ways of learning · School and culture · Informal education · Identity

Aboriginal Youth and the Criminal Justice System
Examines the growing overrepresentation of Aboriginal young people in policing, courts and detention during the 1970s and 1980s.Explores how incarceration increasingly becomes a common experience for Aboriginal youth.⚖️ Themes: Systemic discrimination · Criminalisation · Child removal by new means · Structural inequality

Matthew's Teenage Years
Matthew reflects on crime, peer pressure and the expectations placed on young people.Describes becoming caught between family knowledge and the pull of another world.🔥 Themes:
Adolescence · Belonging · Peer influence · Risk and consequence

A Fictional Story
Introduces Alfie and Cammo, two young boys from Moree. After a series of poor choices, Alfie is taken into the bush by his Uncles and left alone with Country.🌾 Themes:
Rite of passage · Consequence · Country as teacher · Storytelling

Hurt: Story Becomes Film
Reveals that Alfie's story formed the basis of the award-winning community film Hurt, created by young people in Moree. Explores how storytelling became a way of sharing cultural knowledge and lived experience.🎬 Themes: Community arts · Storytelling as cultural practice · Youth voice · Creative expression

Matthew's Real Story
Matthew explains that the story of Alfie was inspired by his own experience as a teenager.After getting into trouble, his father and uncles took him into the bush and left him alone. Matthew reflects on confusion, hunger, fear and the lessons that emerged from the experience.🌿 Themes:
Rite of passage · Learning through experience · Family responsibility · Country as teacher

Storytelling and Continuation
Matthew reflects on becoming a storyteller through the guidance of his father and Elders.He describes storytelling as a modern continuation of song and dance—a way for Dreamings and cultural knowledge to keep moving through new forms.💬 Themes: Cultural continuity · Responsibility of storytelling · Old knowledge in new forms · Dreaming in the present

Outro and Forward Look
Young hosts reflect on the relationship between story, memory and lived experience.Preview Episode 5: School.

Coequal's other podcasts

For Real Made Up Stories click here
For A Good Mind To click here
For Agents for Change cllck here