‘You just bow down’: What happened when ABC’s Bridget Brennan met her childhood idol
ABC News Breakfast host Bridget Brennan had never met her childhood idol, Ernie Dingo, until a script-reading for That Blackfella Show, a “cheeky, very Blak” hour of variety entertainment the pair is hosting for NAIDOC Week.
The Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta woman, who was inspired to pursue a career in journalism by Dingo, along with Stan and Karla Grant, was starstruck.
ABC News Breakfast host Bridget Brennan with her fellow That Blackfella Show co-hosts Ernie Dingo (left) and Isaac Compton.
“Any kid from the ’90s grew up watching Ernie Dingo. He’s the guy!” says Brennan. “You forget how much of a sole voice he was for so many years. The path that he has paved for young Aboriginal people is incredible. I mean, you just bow down to Ernie. He’s so funny. And he’s got so many amazing stories. He lifts the whole team.”
Sharing hosting duties is musician and comedian Isaac Compton, a Munanjali, Minjungbul and Wiradjuri man and winner of Nine’s reality adventure competition, The Summit.
“I’ve shed tears of laughter watching Isaac’s comedy online,” says Brennan. “He’s so grounded in Community. And he brings those Black in-jokes to a wider audience via TikTok and Instagram. His commentary is so sharp, but he’s also a warm, beautiful performer.”
ABC News Breakfast hosts James Glenday and Bridget Brennan.
The First Nations line-up includes comedians Steph Tisdell, Dane Simpson, Kevin Kropinyeri and Outback Tom; rappers Barkaa and Miss Kaninna; all-female rock band the Ripple Effect; and Eurovision contestants Electric Fields. Two non-Indigenous performers also appear – Jimmy Barnes, and former Bachelor contestant Abbie Chatfield.
“People will be surprised when they see their cameos” says Brennan. “I think it’s great because there are a lot of non-Indigenous Australians with profound, deep connections to Aboriginal Australians. So many non-Indigenous Australians celebrate NAIDOC. It’s for everyone.”
A team of First Nations people is also working behind the scenes.
“We’ve got this beautiful network of Blak badass, amazing people here at the ABC. They are the best at what they do and have supported one another for a long time,” she says. “I’ve been here for 15 years and we always give each other a little nod and a wink and a Blak wave when you see fellow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the building.”
Bridget Brennan is proud of the impact she is having on ABC News Breakfast and its increased focus on Indigenous stories.
Brennan made the news herself in 2020, when she became the first non-white panellist on the ABC’s current affairs program Insiders, after she decried the lack of representation following a discussion about Black Lives Matter.
“There’s been a long history of Aboriginal journalists speaking up to ensure that our voices, our stories and our knowledge and our wisdom are heard and respected in the Australian media landscape,” says Brennan. “I was just continuing a really proud tradition. We have this responsibility as Aboriginal people to say, ‘Hey, we need to be in all spaces’, and we’re still not, and that’s simply frustrating to me.”
Her appearance on That Blackfella Show is no indication she intends to swap the ABC News Breakfast couch for light entertainment.
“I’m having a really great time at Breakfast and I’m noticing the impact,” says Brennan. “We’re doing a lot of stories on deaths in custody and, post-election, on the continued push for different advancements in Indigenous policy areas. It’s meaningful for me to bring the stories I was doing elsewhere to that landscape and to be doing those kinds of accountability interviews.”
This NAIDOC Week falls during a time of sorrow and anger for First Nations people, with communities in the Northern Territory and around the nation reeling from the death in police custody of a disabled 24-year-old Warlpiri man during Reconciliation Week.
“Every NAIDOC week is difficult,” says Brennan. “Every year and every day is difficult, given some of the very painful realities we have to shoulder in Australia. But that’s the nuance of being an Aboriginal person – that we are able to carry all those heavy realities, but are also able to continue celebrating one another, and looking back at our achievements. I believe strongly in that place of Blak joy and positivity ... NAIDOC week is like our Christmas. It’s a celebration of who we are.”
That Blackfella Show premieres at 7.30pm on Saturday, July 5, on the ABC.
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