The Indigenous Newspaper At Ground Zero Of The Lismore Floods

On Monday 28th February 2022, Lismore’s levee was breached when an unprecedented 14.4 metre flood hit the town in the Northern Rivers.

Situated literally right next to the levee itself, on Bundjalung country and in Lismore’s CBD, is the Koori Mail office. Recognised as ‘The Voice of Indigenous Australia” and a cherished treasure for Australian journalism, the Koori Mail is a fortnightly national newspaper that has been reporting since 1991.

And just like every building, business, home, and car in Lismore’s CBD, the Koori Mail’s office was underwater when the levee first broke in February, and for a second time when Lismore flooded again just four weeks later.

At Ground Zero

“We actually managed to get out too as many people as we could within those first few days and make sure that they were okay,” Naomi Moran tells me, sitting on a milk crate just next to the levee and behind the recovery hub that she and her team have set up outside and within their damaged office.

Naomi started working at the Koori Mail at the ripe age of 14 when she dropped out of school, and all these years later she is now the current general manager. After meeting and speaking with her, I can see she is also a natural leader and is absolutely adored by her community.

“I guess that’s what’s turned into the hub right here. The Koori Mail flood relief hub has grown from one marquee and one table and a few loaves of bread. And now we have an operation centre down here that has been a great source of comfort and relief for not just our own mob, but for the Lismore community and the surrounding areas that have been affected by this tragedy,” Naomi  said.

Locals Looking After Each Other

Naomi explains that the Koori Mail holds a responsibility, certainly as an Aboriginal organisation, to make sure her people are being looked after in times of crisis.

“The reality is that we can self determine what that looks like and that we don’t have to wait for a government agency or an emergency service to tell us, you know, when the time is right,” Naomi says.

She tells my colleague and I that it wasn’t until some six or seven days later that Lismore had local government representation here on the ground and certainly from a state and federal level. She adds that she’s very respectful of those conversations that were had.

“You know, we’re all exhausted and we’re all tired, but when we get down here we’re all surviving and thriving off each other’s energy. And I think that’s what keeps us going because at the end of the day, we take that cultural responsibility really seriously.”

“That’s who we are as black fellers and we will be here for the long run for as long as it takes to make sure that people are okay.”

Help For Everyone

The atmosphere at the recovery hub is pretty amazing – at one end there’s people lining up for a free BBQ lunch and at the other there’s two ladies set up with a sign saying “Need a chat?”.  Not before after several cars pull up, full to the brim with donated goods, which we help unload into the underground carpark that has transformed into a free-for-all supermarket.

“It’s a pretty mad vibe down here. It’s about respecting the land and the country, that we are here on and what we’re trying to build here. But also we have great respect and concern for people who have been affected by the floods,” Naomi says.

“And, you know, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Blackfella or white fella, that’s just part of being a good human. And I think what you see around here is just everybody coming together in a really respectful way and making sure that people have what they need to survive and get through this period of time.”

Koori Mail Lives On

Naomi tells me that what they’re doing down here is 100% grassroots operations, 100% from the community, for the community and wants us to capture her thanks to every single person that’s either given their time, their resources, donated financially, or donated items that have been necessary for people to recover during this time.

But she’s most grateful for people letting the Koori Mail and her people run the recovery.

“And I feel that that’s a really great example of respecting that First Nation’s People. A First Nation’s organisation can take the lead and can lead a community. For people to respect that this is our space and that it’s very important to us culturally to take on that response has been a really great thing to see.”

Koori Mail is now back on shelves as the recovery still continues.