The Wire

Last week one nominee turned down an Australia Day award nomination on the grounds that the day is too closely related to European invasion of Australia. But a Noonga linguist from Western Australia says that she’ll use her nomination as a chance to spread the word about Indigenous languages.

Denise Smith-Ali hopes to use it as a platform to help keep her culture alive.She has been nominated for the 2014 Local Hero award for her work in teaching children Noonga, the language and culture of the south-west corner of WA.