Four Corners: S2025 God Complex
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ABC News
37 minutes ago
- ABC News
Refugee support organisation helps multicultural women adjust to life in Australia
Samar Miqdad once lived a beautiful and fulfilling life in Gaza. She loved her job as a Montessori teacher, her husband ran a successful veterinary practice, and her four children were thriving at school. In her spare time, she made elaborately designed candles for people in her neighbourhood. In October 2023, she was sheltering at her parents' house when she found out her home was bombed. In disbelief, her husband and eldest son made the dangerous journey to confirm the 14-story building had been levelled to the ground. "My husband told me don't cry, we made a home, we'll make a new one when we finish the war," she said. That was the last time she heard from him. "I get a call after two hours [and] my son told me: 'Mum, we're in the hospital, and my father is dead,'" Ms Miqdad said. With support from her brother in Australia, the 45-year-old made the difficult decision to leave her homeland and evacuate to Egypt with her four young children. As she went back to the remains of her home to salvage what she could find for their journey, she discovered her candle-making kit in the rubble. The family of five arrived in Perth in August last year, but like many refugees, Ms Miqdad struggled to adjust. They are some of the more than 1,500 Palestinians who have arrived in Australia since 2023. "It's really so hard because it's so different, different place, different people, different language," Ms Miqdad said. That's when not-for-profit Sisters Hand in Hand stepped in to offer a lifeline. The grassroots, Muslim-run volunteer group has been helping women like Ms Miqdad for more than a decade. "It was started to create a community for women, women going through hardships ... women who had gone through domestic violence, had lost children, who were just lonely or new to the country," founder and CEO Korann Halvorsen said. "Our main goal is to help women to become self-sufficient." Some examples of the organisation's work include helping women with visas, going to court, setting up a business or finding work. With support, Ms Miqdad turned her passion for candle-making into a successful business, using the same kit from Gaza. "Korann bought a lot of material for me and made a special event, and made me a page on Instagram and Facebook," she said. "I'm making this business for my kids, to have a job, because they need something, the food, the shopping, the school, the clothes." Ms Halvorsen founded Sisters Hand in Hand after noticing a lack of culturally safe support services for women in her community. "I have five daughters so when I saw that gap and I saw that something needed to be filled, I wasn't waiting for it to get done," she said. It's a gap the Multicultural Centre for Women's Health has noticed nation-wide. "We hear from women all the time ... they say this is the first time somebody has come to me to talk to me about my health and circumstance in my language since I arrived in Australia," CEO Dr Adele Murdolo said. Dr Murdolo said mainstream services were often "siloed" and failed to cater to the "culturally appropriate and responsive aspect" of vulnerable women. Last year, Sisters Hand in Hand opened a culturally safe refuge for women and children. For women like Amal Abdullahi, it's been a safe haven. The mother of three has been living at the shelter with her children for months after they became homeless amid Perth's housing crisis. "If I didn't come here, I don't even know where I would be … probably ran out of money to rent hotels and motels and because I didn't have a car," she said. "It's not having only a place to sleep but having a support person … and [they] almost become like a family." The refuge has sheltered more than 20 women and their families, offering schooling and counselling services. But with only donations to rely on, Ms Halvorsen said they were struggling to keep up with growing demand. "Some of them come with nothing on their backs so it takes a lot financially to be able to keep a woman, pay the bills, food for a week," she said. While Samar Miqdad still longs for her life in Gaza, Australia has started to feel like home. She's enrolled into English classes, her children are excelling at school, and she's working around the clock to keep up with her candle orders. Her most popular one — a candle in the shape of the Palestine map. "I love my homeland, my Gaza. I hope so much to go back to Gaza and see my family but it's hard [because] we must have a future," she said. "My kids are happy here, they have safety, have peace, have school and have friends … life is good."
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Babinda Boulders locals want more safety measures to prevent deaths
A tranquil, turquoise stream surrounded by rainforest, birdsong and boulders — it's the kind of place people travel across the world to visit. Floating in the water or watching the stream rush between the rocks, modern life seems a thousand miles away. To get to these spots, though, you must first pass several striking signs, warning that 21 people have died here since 1916, with the latest death occurring last year. The vast majority — 84 per cent — of those who have died at Babinda Boulders (Bunna Binda), were male, and 53 per cent were aged between 18 and 24. Locals say that despite renewed safety measures, more action is needed to prevent further tragedies. Most of the deaths have occurred downstream from the designated "safe swimming" zones, in areas including those known as Devil's Pool and The Chute. Visitors and locals alike have sometimes slipped or sunk to their deaths after mistaking flat water, bubbling pools or narrow streams as low-risk areas. It's a danger the traditional owners, the Madjandji People, know is intrinsic to this place, and dates back to the story of how this place was created. Madjandji Aboriginal Corporation chairJamie Satani said the landscape was formed by a tragedy, when a young woman named Oolana was promised to an older man, but fell in love with a man named Dyga from a visiting tribe. Mr Satani said the pair ran away together, up the river, but the tribes found them at the site that is now the Boulders. "If she could not have Dyga … no-one could have her, so then she threw herself into the waters and, today, that spirit is still there, searching for a lover." Mr Satani said this moment caused the boulders to form, and it became a sacred story place for the Madjandji People. He said the impact of every death was felt across the region. "The moment that happens, it sends an uneasy feeling through the community … it's an awful feeling" he said. Local woman Leanne Thompson knows the rocks well. She grew up a stone's throw from the famous waterhole and spent many afternoons and weekends exploring the area with friends. "It's a pretty special, magical place, and each and every time you swam here, you definitely got like an afterglow," she said. But the darker side was never far from mind. "There were times when I was a child where I had nightmares about when you would hear the ambulance coming to do a body retrieval, and you found they had jumped across The Chute, or they got caught in a siphon or a sieve," she said. Years later, in 2008, after the death of a naval officer at the site, Ms Thompson decided something needed to change. Ms Thompson spent years trawling through archives, old newspaper records and coroners' reports. Using the information she uncovered, she successfully campaigned in 2022 to have the Cairns Regional Council launch a safety review of the site. Her tenacity also led to newer, more graphic signage being installed. The review found high risks from large siphons, or sieves, in areas upstream from Devil's Pool, which, to the untrained eye, appear to be merely small areas of bubbling water. "They suck [swimmers] down underground into subterranean caverns," Ms Thompson said. Ms Thompson says the best way to picture The Chute is to imagine the wide area of water upstream, forced to pass through a crack in the rocks. The narrow opening visible at the surface may be only a metre or two wide, however, beneath the surface, the rock has been more heavily eroded, creating a cavern where fast, aerated water rushes through, plunging many metres. Sergeant Doug Godden has worked in Babinda for many years and has coordinated several body retrievals at the Boulders. He says there are specific dangers in the water course that differ from most swimming holes. "The amount of oxygen that's in the [water], caused by the turbulence, makes it very, very difficult to swim because there's no pressure to push up to get yourself out of the water," Sergeant Godden said. He added that obstacles under the water, such as rocks and logs, "could either cause you to strike them and fall unconscious or [you could] be trapped underneath them". He said police had started regular patrols of the no-go areas over the past few years, with the aim of educating visitors and swimmers rather than punishing them. "The water course is stunning, and you can see the attraction," he said. Sergeant Godden said the signs, patrols and other information campaigns were making a difference, but one preventable death was one too many. Musician Will Clift was visiting Babinda Boulders with his girlfriend in 2021, when they heard someone screaming. A young woman had fallen into The Chute, and her friend was yelling for help but there was nothing anyone could do. The body of 19-year-old Chloe Narelle Bailey was found the next day. Mr Clift said the trauma of the accident stayed with him for years. "I found that I was having flashbacks and couldn't sleep," he said. Local councillor Brett Moller, who has been visiting the Babinda Boulders since he was a child, said there had been three deaths in the nine years since he was elected. He said as well as working with tourism bodies to get the message out, council was also hoping to work with National Parks to develop access to other natural swimming areas. Councillor Moller said the increase in crocodile sightings in the lower creeks and freshwater rivers meant areas where people used to swim were no longer safe. "So they're now congregating at the Boulders, at Josephine [Falls], at freshwater creeks, [and] that's putting a lot of pressure on that natural environment," he said. Both Ms Thompson and Mr Satani believe that promoting the Indigenous story may also make people think twice about swimming in the no-go areas. "Come out for a great day, enjoy it, and we want you to come and leave here safe, [and] return home."
Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
This old bloke's guide to happiness has one golden rule
Geoff Hutchison has officially entered the harrumph zone. Change is everywhere. His waning status. His ageing body. This whole shot-to-hell world. Whether on ubiquitous screens or the drive to the supermarket, stupidity and inconvenience conspire to exasperate him. His mission now: How Not to Become a Grumpy Old Bugger. 'I genuinely think I'm a better person for having written it,' the former ABC radio presenter says of his first book, subtitled A bLoke's Guide To Living a Better Life. 'I've had cause at times to remind myself, if I'm going to tell other people how they should live their lives, I've got to respond to that. I've got to take this stuff seriously.' After 40 years as a journalist, not least with Foreign Correspondent and 7.30, he knows serious. But it was his last 16 in talkback on ABC Perth that gave him the necessary tone for a book addressing the minefield of male discontent: rigorous inquiry, sure, but with a lightness of touch that invites leaning in. 'I wanted to hit blokes between the eyes on a couple of things, but I also know they will put the book down and never read another paragraph if I can't win them over to the conversation,' he says. 'Although I still think their partners might read bits of it out loud to them in bed. That would make me happy too.' In terms of inspiration, he recalls one beacon of grump from early in his talkback career: February 13, 2008, the day new PM Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generations. 'I reckon the first six callers were blokes, and they were all saying, 'I don't see that I should have to apologise for anything'. I didn't say it on air but I thought, 'Oh my god, how can these blokes be such bastards?' 'Back then I took it personally. I don't now. I would now want to say to those blokes: 'This isn't about you. Not everything that happens in the world is about you.' That whole 'Harrumph, well I don't like it' – I want to convince them to just let some things go.' Hutchison's book is not interested in culture wars. He isn't out to debate pronouns or cancel culture. What he's describing is something quieter and more insidious: a kind of emotional shrinkage, a stubborn stand-off with acceptance. 'You raise the kids, the job ends, and you become a little less interesting to everyone. That's the bit no one tells you,' he says, with the fresh insight of the recent retiree. 'And if you were defined by that role' – the job, the dad, the problem-solver – 'I think you're very vulnerable to sadness. And loneliness.' The grim end of male sadness is devastating. In Australia, Hutchison discovered, 86 men call an ambulance every day with thoughts of suicide. In 2023 alone, 64 women were killed in acts of male violence. But he doesn't have to consult experts and statistics to see the darkness festering in blokes' heads. He recalls stumbling on a social media chat sharing the praises of Italian restaurants. 'Every positive comment came from a woman. Every negative and unnecessary one came from a bloke. And I'm just thinking, who are you? What are you doing, sitting at a keyboard, hating everything? Is there any pleasure in that?' Then there was a bloke named Ian, compelled to comment under an exultant photo of three young footy players with hands casually resting on each other's knees. 'Back when I played footy,' Ian said, 'we would get the shit kicked out of us for posing like that.' TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO GEOFF HUTCHISON Worst habit? It used to be celebrating cynicism. But after hearing Billy Bragg declare that 'cynicism is the enemy of hope', I am now determinedly of the same opinion. Greatest fear? I don't like them Fascists very much. Indeed, anyone who seeks political advantage by using fear to target and blame 'others'. And I'm wary of anyone who thinks the concept of Prosperity Theology is endorsed by a greater power. The line that stayed with you? ' Love this life, don't wait 'til the next one comes' – Neil Finn. Biggest regret? A kitchen accident that left my young son only partially sighted. I had my back turned as he tried to open a bag of apples with scissors. And yes, it was as awful as it sounds. I've written about it for the first time in my book in the chapter titled Regret. Favourite book? Richard Ford's The Sportswriter (1986). I was a young version of one at the time. The artwork/song you wish was your s? The Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden by the German painter Otto Dix. If you could time travel, where would you choose to go? London in the mid '60s please, with plenty of money in my pocket. And if you could get me into the Marquee Club to see … oh I dunno, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones or Jimi Hendrix that would be splendid. 'That bloke is just curating a museum of dickheadedness,' Hutchison says. 'It's awful, and I bet it's making him sick. I bet his wife doesn't like him much. And I bet his son doesn't come home to watch footy on Friday nights because he can't bear to hear Dad talk about their haircuts.' That author doesn't exempt himself. He recounts one episode of fuming at an umpire's call that his daughter, gently, had to tell him was pathetic. He talks about making his mates laugh by impersonating 'some dickhead' at the pub. 'I find that kind of cynicism less funny now. When blokes shrink into that tight, narrow worldview, they must be awful to live with.' He owns that too. Post-ABC, he assumed more time with his wife, Philippa. But her career as a documentary maker is firing. 'She's about to fly to the UK for three weeks of interviews. So I had to remind myself: you don't need to be at the centre of everything. You can swan around on the edges. Pick and choose how you want to engage. Just make sure you do.' The active pursuit of engagement is a theme of Hutchison's book. 'If you've got male friends, place some value on that friendship. Whatever the next five, 10, 20 years look like – and they might be terrific, or they might be absolutely shithouse – you want to have people to talk to about it.' That refusal to disappear, to keep showing up, runs through the people he interviews. There's social researcher and psychologist Hugh Mackay, still sharp and empathetic at 86. Alex Pearce, the Fremantle Dockers' captain is emotionally open in a way Hutchison finds quietly radical. Through his son he meets a trans woman named Gemma, whose calm presence contrasts powerfully with the rage of anonymous detractors. Two GPs talk bluntly about ageing bodies behind pseudonyms designed to tickle sci-fi-nerds: Peter Venkman and Leonard McCoy. At both ends, it's Hutchison's late father who anchors the book. The man who blithely proclaimed his unhappiness as a fact of life when Geoff was a boy 'used to come home from the Italian Club in Pickering Brook and say, 'God, people are stupid'. I used to think, 'Is it just the gang you're hangin' out with Dad?' I've got to believe not everyone is quite so venal or miserable. 'Dad came back from the precipice a bit,' he adds. 'In his last few years he'd listen to me on the wireless, and he liked it well enough. And two of his grandkids were here. So that made him quite a lot chirpier than he'd been.' Loading The common root of men's discontent? From this survey, it's nothing more radical or newfangled than change itself: the slow, inevitable erosion of lifelong comforts we've been privileged to take for granted. Asked to boil the grumpiness solution down to a golden rule, Hutchison answers without hesitation. 'Curiosity. Try and prise your world open. Curiosity provides beautiful opportunity to be appreciative of things and not so judgmental. 'Even if the world is going to hell, I want blokes to realise that there is really good opportunity to provide hope and comfort to those you love. And when that's reciprocated, when your granddaughter says you're terrific, you can just think, actually it is worth being around. And participating.'
