Patrons and Supporters

Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster who has worked in politics, academia, and the media. She is Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Her books include The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (2014, Stella Prize winner) and You Daughters of Freedom (2018), her TV credits include Utopia Girls (2012) and The War That Changed Us (2014). She hosts radio programs and podcasts, has been an adviser to governments and a judge of literary awards. Clare is a Member of the National Museum of Australia Council. Recently, she has been researching the Yirrkala Bark Petitions of 1963, key documents in First Nations history. Her book on the topic, the final instalment of her Democracy Trilogy, will be published in 2024.  Her OAM (2019) was for services to literature and to historical research.

Professor Megan Davis is Co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue and was a leading campaigner for the YES case at the 2023 Voice Referendum. She is Pro Vice-Chancellor Society at UNSW Sydney, Balnaves Chair of Constitutional Law, a Professor of Law, and Director of the Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW Law. She is a Cobble Cobble woman of the Barunggam Nation and a renowned constitutional lawyer and public law expert, focusing on advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Her recent books are included on the Defending Country Reading List: Everything You Need to Know about the Voice (with George Williams, 2023); Our Voices from the Heart (with Patricia Anderson, 2023); Quarterly Essay 90: Voice of Reason (2023).

Professor Henry Reynolds of the University of Tasmania is Australia’s leading historian of the Frontier Wars. He began working in this field at Townsville University College in 1966 (James Cook University from 1970) and has continued to research, write, and publish over many years at UTas. He was Senior Australian of the Year for Tasmania in 2015 and is a National Living Treasure. A number of his books are included on the Defending Country Reading List: Fate of a Free People (1995, 2022); Forgotten War (2013, 2022); The Other Side of the Frontier (1981, 2006); This Whispering in Our Hearts Revisited (2018); Tongerlongeter (2021, with Nicholas Clements); Truth-Telling (2021); Why Weren’t We Told? (2000). He was a major contributor to the 2022 documentary, The Australian Wars, directed by Rachel Perkins.

Thomas Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man. He is the Assistant National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia. Thomas is a signatory of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and has been a leading advocate since its inception in May 2017. He is the Chairperson of the Northern Territory Indigenous Labor Network and a director on the Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition board. During the Voice Referendum, he campaigned tirelessly for Yes23. He is the author of six books published by Hardie Grant and has many articles and essays published across the major media providers. He co-authored with Kerry O'Brien, The Voice to Parliament Handbook: All the Detail You Need (May 2023).