• Professor of First Nations Belonging at Charles Sturt University and Yindyamarra Nguluway Founding-Director, Stan Grant Jr, will launch his new book: The Queen is Dead (HarperCollins) in Canberra on Wednesday 10 May at 5.30pm
• The new book reflects on Australia’s response to Queen Elizabeth II’s passing while considering the continued impact of colonialism on First Nations people
• In the book, Stan Grant Jr reflects on the enduring injustices that First Nations people face in Australia because of the legacy of British rule, and reflects on what justice for First Nations people might look like in the year of The Voice referendum

On Wednesday 10 May, Charles Sturt University Professor of First Nations Belonging, Stan Grant Jr, launched his new book, The Queen is Dead, at a free event in Canberra.

The book reflects on Professor Grant Jnr’s, the media and wider Australia’s response to Queen Elizabeth II’s death on 8 September 2022, while considering the continued impact of colonialism on Australia’s First Nations people.

In the book, Professor Grant Jnr reflects on the unjust legacy of British rule for First Nations people in Australia and calls for a deeper, moral reflection on our country’s history and future in the year of the Voice referendum.

At the launch event Professor Grant Jnr read selected passages from the book before being interviewed by Charles Sturt Yindyamarra Research Fellow, Mr Jack Jacobs.

Professor Grant Jnr said the book explains that the legacy of colonisation is that the “racial hierarchy of whiteness” had ruled across the world and had a devastating impact on Australia’s First Nations people.

Professor Grant Jnr met Queen Elizabeth II several times. While respecting what the Queen meant to people, he argued the Crown represents a deep and ongoing suffering for many First Nations people.

“We know that over the last 300 to 400 years that the legacy of empire, colonisation, genocide, has firmly established whiteness as an organising principle,” he said.

“Look at the power and where power sits in our world. Who occupies positions of power?

“The symbol of the Crown is one that my people continue to suffer under. I wanted to explore the full dimensions of that and Queen Elizabeth II’s passing was a cathartic moment I thought to tear open that idea.”

The book is essential reading for all Australians in the year of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

The Queen is Dead was launched at 5.30pm on Wednesday 10 May at 15 Blackall Street at Charles Sturt University in Canberra.

Professor Grant Jnr commenced his first appointment at Charles Sturt as the Chair of Indigenous Affairs in 2016. Professor Grant Jnr’s father, Stan Grant Sr, is a Wiradjuri Elder and coordinator of the University's Graduate Certificate in Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage.

Professor Grant Jnr is one of Australia's most respected and awarded journalists, with experience across radio, television news and current affairs. With a strong reputation for independence and integrity, one of his most significant positions was as a Senior International Correspondent for CNN in Asia and the Middle East.

Professor Grant Jnr has been awarded three Walkley awards, two Peabody awards, four Asia TV awards, an Australian TV Logie award, International Indigenous Trailblazer award, two Australian Academy of Cinema Television awards, an Australian Heritage Literature award and an Association of International Sports Journalists award, among many others.

ENDS