Tony Armstrong reveals the ‘thing’ he’ll never give up

Everyone has, among all their possessions, one special thing. A simple treasure that marks a turning point in their lives. That’s what AFL player-turned broadcaster Tony Armstrong firmly believes after filming the ABC’s five-part series, Tony Armstrong’s Extra-Ordinary Things, which coincides with a free exhibition at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra opening on June 24.

A nationwide callout for items that tell uniquely Australian stories turned up precious objects such as the signet ring of an Ash Wednesday firefighter, a typed letter about death from Bob Hawke, a pioneering motorbike and the paint tray that served the infamous “No War” slogan splashed across the Sydney Opera House in 2003. Of course, Armstrong has his own extraordinary thing, which does not appear in the series (but more on that later).

Tony Armstrong hears from Dave how a paint tray became the symbol of a daring anti-war protest.

“Everyone’s got stuff that’s sentimental,” says Armstrong, who has been with ABC News Breakfast team since 2021 and has signed on to co-host the new sport show, Monday’s Experts. “When we listen to people’s stories, we find out that these things are special regardless of collective association, but the work done by the researchers to discern what would make good storytelling was incredible.”

Conceived around the time of the 2019-20 bushfires, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the series, a neat follow-on from Armstrong’s first two ABC factual programs, A Dog’s World (for which he won his second Logie) and Great Australian Stuff, was intended to uplift.

“We needed something hopeful, where everyone could feel proud of themselves,” says Armstrong. “Not saying this is a silver bullet, but it was in response to that feeling of doom and gloom. Everyone’s got a strand of the fabric that is Australia, and everyone’s strand is their own. It’s got its flaws, it’s got its attributes, and that’s what makes Australia, Australia, and I think it’s something to be celebrated.”

The ABC News Breakfast host criss-crossed the country on his commuter bike in Tony Armstrong’s Extra-Ordinary Things.

Cycling around the country on a fold-up commuter’s bicycle that becomes a comedy prop, Armstrong travels from Darwin to Birdsville and beyond, hearing bizarre yarns and deeply personal anecdotes. As a Gamilaroi man, he found meeting 11-year-old Perth rapper Inkabee, who shared his lyric book, particularly affecting.

“Inkabee is an Aboriginal boy and his father is a black man,” says Armstrong. “Inkabee has performed with Chance the Rapper, and he has performed at South By Southwest in Sydney and Austin, Texas.

“But the thing that was most extraordinary for me was the relationship between him and his father. Because when I think about stereotypes of black fathers, I think, ‘absentee, unreliable’, all of those bad tropes. Well, I was looking at a triple-gold star in his life, empowering him, and it was just this amazing relationship that I was privy to.”

In Redfern, Armstrong meets Indigenous Olympic boxer Marissa Williamson Pohlman, the first woman to win the coveted Arthur Tunstall Trophy, named after the late sports administrator and boxing identity who threatened to ban Cathy Freeman for flying the Aboriginal flag after her 1994 Canada Commonwealth Games win.

“Marissa’s story is one of such strength and resilience,” says Armstrong. “It’s a story of power … for her, [the name of the trophy] is a ‘Nah, stuff you! In spite of all of life’s hurdles, here I am, and [Tunstall] would have hated seeing me with this, and here I am’.”

As for Armstrong’s extraordinary thing – a framed photograph of his eight-year-old self with AFL great Adam Goodes – it will remain in pride of place on his bookcase.

“It’s a beautiful photo,” says Armstrong. “I’ve got a Sydney Swans hat on and I’m staring intently at a very young Adam Goodes signing an autograph at a Swans function day. The significance of that … I looked up to him as an idol and tried to emulate him as a kid, and then I was lucky enough to get to play with him in the Sydney Swans, and now I’ve become a friend of his. What he means to my people, that would be my extraordinary thing.”

Tony Armstrong’s Extra-ordinary Things premieres on Tuesday, May 21, at 8pm on the ABC.