Julie-Ann Guivarra, the CEO of the National Indigenous Australians Agency, stood before the audience at the 2026 Russell Taylor Oration with a quiet but firm resolve. The annual oration, named in honour of a respected Indigenous leader, is meant to be a space for reflection and dialogue on the issues that matter most to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But this year, Guivarra had a more pressing task than simply offering a visionary speech. She was there to set the record straight, to push back against a rising tide of misinformation that has painted government spending on First Nations…

It would be easy to look at the long queues and confusion outside Refugee Reception Offices and assume the government has been caught off guard. Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni rejects that assumption. Speaking at the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration briefing in Pretoria, she insisted authorities have been working on migration and misinformation for months, even if they have not held press conferences about every step. The immediate trigger was a Constitutional Court judgment in the matter of Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town v Minister of Home Affairs. The judgment was handed down on 7 July 2026, but the…