ABSTRACT
The implementation of public health control mechanisms to manage the COVID-19 pandemic has raised the ire of many Australians, who contend that their inherent freedoms are being eroded. Since colonisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been subjected to inequitable and intense levels of state violence and control5 over their laws, lands, cultural expression, freedoms, and movements, and have been subjected to intense levels of discrimination.6 These are not new experiences for my people. Indigenous families also experience institutionalised and interpersonal racism, higher levels of psychological distress, are at elevated risk of experiencing, witnessing or being impacted by self-harm or suicide, and talk often of the negative effects of disconnectedness as a key determinant of social and emotional wellbeing. Occurring in parallel to the current pandemic, the effects of climate change and more importantly, this nations' inadequate policy response to climate change, ignores the deeply symbiotic relationships Indigenous people have with Country and the obligation we should all carry to care for it.