Nyadol Nyon addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on the topic of Re-imagining Australia on Wednesday June 30th.
The lawyer and community advocate from a South Sudanese background spoke brilliantly and shared her experience as a migrant woman in Australia. She also talked about key findings of a report about refugee and migrant women in Australia.
After the speech Nyadol commented on her speak on her Linked in page and stated “in my speech I tried to re-imagine what this country might be not from a place of hate, anger, or blind love. I tried to be “a conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.”
Nyadol Nyuon addressing the national press club of Australia (credit Linked in)
On social media many African-Australians commented on Naydol’s speech and reported feeling great that she was offered such a great opportunity and her speak represented the hopes and aspirations of many migrant communities.
One community member commented on Nyadol’s Linked in post “your speech echoed thousands of voices..amplified and validated experiences of many..challenged perspectives and injected hope..hope that we can have the Australia we want..we can be the Australia we want..if only we seek to reimagine our pathways to that we seek – together! Thank you Nyadol Nyuon” .
Nyadol Nyon and Laura Tingle, the president of the National Press Club (Credit linked in)
Another member of community member commented: “well done . let’s re-imagine – Not ignore, not pretend, not whitewash! We definitely need more authentic and inspiring voices like yours to influence the tide. Wonderful role model”
In recent times, Nyadol Nyuon has been in the public sphere and mainstream media regularly to discuss various issues, especially those pertaining to the lives of migrants in general and women migrants in particular. She has been a regular commentator on ABC and has published many opinion pieces The Age newspaper.
You can find the full speech here
