Published in Overland Issue 215 Winter 2014 Uncategorized After the riot Ann de Hugard ‘Order has been restored … breakfast has been served.’ – Scott Morrison when interviewed after a riot on Manus Island And what did you eat for breakfast, Mr Morrison – after a silent grace to thank your bountiful god? All-Bran? Or, as you are visiting Darwin when the news breaks, a platter of tropical fruit? Papaya cut like a sickle moon, and lady finger bananas peeled clean, soft flesh unmarked, satin on the tongue? Next, toast spread thin with Seville orange marmalade? Makes your lips pucker, that sweet-sour taste. And coffee? I imagine a demitasse, a short black to wash away residual sweetness. A little bitterness won’t hurt. Then time to wipe your mouth with the damask napkin, take the toothpick provided for a little extra grooming. One cannot be too fastidious. Now practise that expression: smile, then tighten lips and belt and stride out to face the querulous mob. Cut a swath through all the messy business, solemn tone, dispense the usual platitudes (sympathy to the family). But keep it rolling, no time for irritating questions. Or any hint of the Good Samaritan. That would be irrelevant now order has been restored and breakfast has been served. Ann de Hugard Ann de Hugard’s publications include A Question of Translation (Australian Poetry Centre) and Breath (Mark Time). She is the coordinator of the Castlemaine Word Mine, a centre for readers and writers. More by Ann de Hugard Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 7 February 2023 Aboriginal Australia Victoria police back down, is this a case for defunding? Crystal McKinnon and Meriki Onus After three arduous years, Victoria Police have today withdrawn their charges against two organisers of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest. Whilst we welcome their decision, we note that their mediocrity gave them no other option. Emboldened by their state-sanctioned impunity, Victoria Police’s ineptitude hit a dead end. Pigs cannot fly. First published in Overland Issue 228 6 February 20237 February 2023 Aboriginal Australia Winaga-li Gunimaa Gali: listen, hear, think, understand from our sacred Mother Earth and our Water Winaga-li Gunimaa Gali Collective To winaga-li, Gomeroi/Kamilaroi people must be able to access Gunimaa. They must be able to connect and re-connect. Over 160 years of colonisation has privileged intensive agriculture, grazing and heavily extractive water management regimes, enabled by imposed property regimes and governance systems. Gunimaa and Gali still experience the violent repercussions of these processes, including current climate changes which are exacerbating impacts, as droughts become longer, floods and heat extremes become more intense, and climatic zones shift, impacting on species’ viability and biodiversity.