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ABC Listen. Nginna

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maani nga ngaayi tiyana. Ngaayi

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gaana ngaayi ganga bina. Hello,

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are you good? My name is Tiana.

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My Gaana name is Ganga Bina, which

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means the caring one.

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To begin, it's important that we acknowledge

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the country that we are on. I'm

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on Gaana Yata, the land of the Gaana

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people, of the Adelaide Plains. We

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would like to pay our respects to the custodians,

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to the ancestors that nurtured the land and

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the elders that have led the way

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for generations.

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This is your land, this is your country.

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It has always been Aboriginal

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land. And as this is a podcast

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whose reach is far and wide, we

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would like to extend our respect to

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the elders of the lands this recording

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might reach.

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This

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is a story of the girl who came through for

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her community in a crisis. Naomi Morin,

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written and read by me, 10-year-old Anu Cochings. As

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Naomi

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Morin reached the

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hoop, she lifted the ball above her head and shot!

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She pulled off a spectacular goal and

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threw her arms up

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high. She heard the girls on

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the side of the court sneering.

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They'd been watching

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the young Aboriginal girl dribbling the basketball

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down the court and Naomi knew that if anybody

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else had made the shot, they would have been

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impressed. But for

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her, all these girls had was contempt. The

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lunch bell rang, but Naomi didn't go to play.

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The lunch bell rang, but Naomi didn't

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go to play. She

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had an appointment with her teacher

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in his office. And she was nervous. She didn't think

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it would be good news. So,

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she went to her teacher's office.

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Thanks

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for coming in," her teacher said,

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shuffling some papers into a folder.

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Naomi gulped. "'The

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Gourmet newspaper is

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looking for a young Aboriginal trainee,'

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he said. I thought

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you might be the right candidate." Naomi

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was shocked. She

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didn't know what to say. Why

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her? A girl who wasn't

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enjoying school and had been bullied

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for years. But

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then, Naomi thought about the

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opportunities and more. She

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started to well up with excitement. This

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would be her ticket out.

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When she got home, Naomi told

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her mum she was going to quit

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school. Her

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mum was not happy. She

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knew Naomi was often bullied at school

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and that she wasn't very comfortable there.

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But she also knew that dropping

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out was not the answer.

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She didn't want Naomi to suffer

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from the stereotype so many Indigenous

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people were given. That they were lazy

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and uneducated. Naomi

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had the second part of her bombshell

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ready to drop. She

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told her mum about the opportunity

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at the Koori Mail, a national newspaper

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dedicated to Aboriginal news. After

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some persuasion, her mum agreed.

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On Naomi's first day, she started

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with the basics. The things

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that the other workers didn't want to do.

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She was making cups of tea and coffee. She

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was changing toilet rolls and licking stamps. She

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was doing the photocop. Answering

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phones. And while she was doing

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results, she was trying to work out

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how the big

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old faculty she loved. Naomi

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was actually enjoying herself.

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Ten years later, in 2008, Naomi

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was still at the query mail, but

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she wasn't just making cups of tea anymore.

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By then, Naomi had worked in

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every single department of the business,

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from administration to advertising,

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editorial and subscriptions. Now

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she was working as a photojournalist.

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She

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would travel all over the country taking

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pictures of Aboriginal events at

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the paper. She loved her job

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and loved the query mail. But

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she wanted new challenges and decided

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to try something different. So,

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she went to work for the brand new station

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NITZ, National Indigenous

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Television and other indigenous

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media organisations too. But

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she never forgot how much she

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loved the query mail. And

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eight years later,

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in 2016, Naomi was invited

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back into the query mail team. But

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not just the dual job that she had done.

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They earned writing her back to

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be the people. Naomi

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was scared. She felt

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unqualified. She didn't

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even have her year 10 certificate. But

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like scoring a goal on the basketball

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court, she tried to silence the outside

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noise and doubt and back herself.

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She realised something important. Her

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newspaper trusted her and

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she decided to trust herself too. With

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her fierce passion to give a voice

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to Aboriginal people driving her forward,

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Naomi knew she could do this.

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Naomi was now responsible for

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calling all the shots at the paper. And

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it was a huge challenge. And

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four years into leading the query mail,

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Naomi became a mum, working.

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and being a parent can be a juggle,

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but

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she didn't let it stop her. She

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was running a business and a family

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now and she took it all

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in her store. Life got even

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more complicated when disaster struck.

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In early 2022

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devastating said wept

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through Naomi's hometown of Lismore

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on Bundjalung country in northern New

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South Wales. Naomi took

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a deep breath.

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We walked down to work.

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Her leadership shone through. She

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got out her phone and spent every

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single contact on it and

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she had a lot of people she could call.

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After all she was the Boston newspaper.

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She asked for help from every

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single one of those contacts. There

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were big things like coordinating

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shelter and resources, but

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Naomi asked for small things

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too.

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Even donating a box of oranges was

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important. Naomi and her

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team set up a support hub for the impact

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of community. Those flood-affected

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people climbed off

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the folks and tinny that had saved

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them from rising water and stumbled

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into the evacuation sentence. The

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curry

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males gave them warm food and

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dry

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clothes.

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In the aftermath, Naomi's team

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helped people clean out their houses. They

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delivered supplies and offered emergency

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accommodation. They started the

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curry kitchen to feed people every

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single day. For the first

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time in 30 years the

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curry male couldn't print the newspaper.

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When Naomi recently made a speech to

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the young leaders of Lismore she

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admitted that she hadn't always believed in herself.

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She said that when she liked to back herself

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her opportunities grew.

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There are four words that Naomi

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believes in deeply. responsibility,

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opportunity and choice. We

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can all learn from her. She is

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one super, she is girl.

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That story was written by me,

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Anu Karkings. I

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chose Naomi Morin because

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I feel her story shows a strong message

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to the community to not give up, even

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if you aren't very confident in yourself. In

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sharing her inspiring story with more

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people, it demonstrates that

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people can push through and believe in themselves

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in the hardest of times. I also

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wrote about Naomi because she shone

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through for our community when we needed

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her most, regardless of the huge

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obstacles she was faced with.

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Roll the credits.

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This

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episode of Fierce Girls was

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produced by Nat Tenchish and 13 times

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it was by script editor. David

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Lehais is our sound engineer. Claire

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Rawlinson is our executive producer.

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And Nanique

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Bolly is the boss who makes

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you all who get to keep telling stories about

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Fierce Girls. Don't forget,

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you can listen to all the past episodes

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of Fierce Girls on the ABC Listener

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or on your smart speaker. Just ask

9:18

your smart speaker. Hey, short

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speaker,

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play Fierce Girls. Sure,

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she is the most successful in the

9:25

world. Thank you.