Moorditj and Tim Winton

Freo Today. 1 March 2022. Autumn arrives. However, it’s still the Noongar season of Bunuru which changes to Djeran in April. There’s something about Noongar culture, well described by the word Moorditj – meaning ‘hard or solid’. This image, captured by Deanna Shanahan of the famous Instagram duo @florsamandjetsam, was the backdrop at Fremantle Arts Centre for ‘our’ Tim Winton’s closing speech at the Perth Festival’s writers over the weekend where, in the words of the Sydney Morning Herald, Tim pilloried ‘the oil and gas industry for trying to expand instead of winding down, while calling out Australians as being captive to the sector.’ Tim was also critical of festival organisers for continuing to take sponsorship money from multinational Chevron and the sponsoring by Woodside of an upcoming WA Youth Orchestra and WA Symphony Orchestra ocean-inspired show. Lots to reflect on.