Meet Connor
I’m Connor, my cultural name is Djindjbad. I’m a 27-year-old Larrakia man from Darwin. Climate change is destroying my culture – our seasons are shifting, our traditions are under threat.
I grew up surrounded by family, spending time on Country – fishing, swimming, and learning from my grandmother.
We’d head to the beach, go waterfall swimming at Litchfield National Park and collect periwinkles, longbums and mudcrabs in the mangroves and cook them up.
But climate change is threatening everything I know.
Our knowledge is tied to the land, the tides and the weather, but as the climate changes, so does our ability to pass down traditions.
It feels like a second wave of colonisation – another force stripping Indigenous people of our way of life.
The impact of climate change on Indigenous Australians is not well known or recognised globally. Australia promised to act on climate but has not delivered. I want this exposed on an international stage.
I’ve worked as an environmental consultant and seen the oil and gas industry’s destruction first hand. I can’t stop thinking about climate change – I feel imprisoned by knowing the consequences of government inaction.
That’s why I’m now studying climate change and policy – to fight for real action. Australia’s failure to meet its own emissions pledges affects young people on a global scale, including me.
Australia’s failure to cut emissions isn’t just a broken promise, it’s a betrayal of young people and Indigenous communities.
Will our land still be there for future generations? That question keeps me up at night.
The Australian government must stop fuelling the crisis and start protecting our future.
