Meet Zhanāe
My name is Zhanāe and I am a proud Aboriginal woman from the Ghungalu, Wadja, Kaanju, Birri, Wiri, and Wungun peoples, belonging to the Gurubil skingroup.
I live on Darumbal Country in Rockhampton, with strong connections to the Darumbal people through my mother’s side.
I’m speaking up because our land, our people, and our future deserve protection – and justice.
I’ve witnessed how climate change is damaging my Country and beyond, from my homelands to across the Pacific. It’s threatening the land we rely on and the cultural knowledge we carry.
For First Nations peoples, the health of the land is inseparable from our wellbeing and our future.
Country is always listening and keeps score and as I see climate change take hold and seeing the damage being caused to her, it is deeply painful to me.
I am the founder of Guyala Yimba, a consultancy embedding First Nations knowledge into leadership, business, and cultural projects, and Burri Energy, a sustainable start-up advancing renewable solutions grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Through my work, I’m pushing for a future where Aboriginal wisdom leads the way in shaping climate solutions and caring for Country.
I want the Australian government to know that you can’t abuse something like the land and expect it to still give. It is the same with our human rights as young people.
I want the Australian government to face up to its responsibility to care for the land. You can’t continue to take from the land without giving back.
We’ve trusted our leaders to protect Country and secure our future, but they’ve failed us.
If we don’t act now, what will be left of our culture for our children? And their children after them?
