Gold Coast aboriginal woman’s heart-wrenching tale to overcome poverty and raise a family

WHEN Narelle Urquhart was a young child, she was forced to live in a chicken coop and later on the streets. This one woman’s inspiring tale of how she beat the odds dished out to her.

WHEN Narelle Urquhart was a young child, she was forced to live in a chicken coop and later on the streets.

This was the grinding poverty experienced by the now 47-year-old, who’s gone on to raise four children by herself, who are now themselves enjoying successful careers.

“Life changes a lot,” she said.

“The 70s and 80s was a very different era — I was in the homes, in foster care, then I lived on fruit blocks and a chicken coop. I also lived with nuns because my sister and I were too young for school.

Narelle Urquhart had a rough life as a kid. Picture Mike Batterham

“(Eventually) I left school at 13, then left home at 14. I was on the streets for a couple of years.

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“That was one of the hardest parts of my life. I lost a son when I was 16, so there’s a lot of things over a long time.

“The way I’ve grown up, it is kind of the norm for aboriginal people — and I think it’s being able to overcome those systems and still live a decent life.”

Narelle Urquhart is now the Bond University indigenous Cultural Support Officer. Photo Supplied

Ms Urquhart, a Wiradjuri women, successful artist, one-year law student and cultural support officer, said she worked to rebuild her life from nothing, and was proud of her children who were forging great careers, one having ambitions to become Prime Minister.

“My oldest daughter, Sinead, did international relations and her masters at Bond,” she said.

“She ended up in defence in Canberra for a few years and actually wants to be Prime Minister one day — and she has since she was eight.

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“Her dad was actually part of the builders who built parliament, and we hung around the Tent Embassy a lot, so Sinead always said she’d be in parliament.

“My second eldest, Jessica, did social sciences at Bond and ended up in the Attorney-General’s office in Canberra. She’s come back to CSIRO as a research technician, but also wants to be in the senate.

Pictured at Bond University, Narelle Urquhart — the Bond University indigenous Cultural Support Officer. Picture Mike Batterham

“They’ve got political careers coming later.”

Of her two youngest, Katrina works with children with autism and Malachi is looking to get into either physiotherapy or film and television.

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“All my kids have done really well, and they have very high aspirations, and I have quite high expectations because of where we’ve come from,” she said.

“It’s not pressure, just a given because of the cultural responsibility, even out of that comes a lot of joy and fulfilment.”

But the road to this life has been far from smooth. Ms Urquhart has used her experiences to grow and give her children a solid foundation and said the generational poverty was difficult to overcome.

“Mum, she was taken from her parents when she was young and was trained as a domestic servant and until she was 18,” she said.

“My nan, she was on a mission on rations, then what happened to me, all those stories are part of who I am.

“Their story is our story. A lot of non-indigenous people don’t really know the history, even in their own backyard, and a lot of things that happened to us, happened because we were aboriginal.

Narelle: ‘Nothing much phases me because I’ve seen everything’. Photo Supplied

“So I carry mum’s story, I carry nan’s story, and I have my story. Everything that we are makes up how we live out our life.

“I’m quite humble, forgiving and strong, nothing much phases me because I’ve seen everything.”

Ms Urquhart is just one of many women sharing stories and immersing themselves in NAIDOC Week activities.

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“This is just a good time to showcase who we are and bring people in,” she said.

“NAIDOC Week opens the door for people to have conversations and learn. It’s always been us huddling in together, now people are starting to know who we are, what we have, our amazing culture

This year’s theme is ‘Because of her, we can’.

“To recognise the women in our community is huge, because of our history — there is a lot of trauma, grief and rejection, oppression,” she said.

“The women in our community have become the restorers, the heartbeat and the nurturers, so we’ve had a big job to do, to try and repair a lot of damage, so recognising women this year is a big deal.”