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00:02Why did you come here?
00:04We had a calling from the heart.
00:07A calling from the heart?
00:09Since recovering from my heart operation,
00:12I've travelled from the West Coast
00:14to the most easterly point in Australia.
00:16Ready to go? I'm ready.
00:18On a personal mission to learn what it takes
00:21to adapt whatever the future holds.
00:25What is it about Australia?
00:26It keeps making me change my mind.
00:28I wonder if I've been changed in the night.
00:31Let me think.
00:32I've wrestled with what it means to be free to grasp change.
00:36And being in the ocean, everyone's always afraid.
00:39That's how you deal with the fear.
00:42And I've seen the courage it takes.
00:45It's Australia's history.
00:46We need to be able to work through this
00:48in the spirit of reconciliation.
00:50We've got to heal from this.
00:52I'm heading into the Outback
00:54to learn how people reinvent themselves
00:58in a place built on legends and traditions.
01:03Even when the odds are against us.
01:06You are you.
01:08And you are changing the world.
01:34Australia's always been a country that's expanded my horizons
01:37of what's possible in life.
01:41Now, on my quest to embrace change,
01:45I've come to a place of endless horizons.
01:49Broken Hill is one of the most remote towns in Australia,
01:53about a thousand kilometres inland from Sydney.
01:56Welcome to Broken Hill, Miriam.
02:01I'll get you a hat and your baggage.
02:05It's probably the remotest place I've ever been.
02:11I've read Australia's oldest human remains
02:14have been found in the vast deserts around here,
02:18dating back more than 40,000 years.
02:21Today, these are the traditional lands of the Wilkie Kali people,
02:26as well as the nearby Barkindji.
02:29It's all sky.
02:31The Australian sky.
02:33It's stunning.
02:35Where the Outback begins.
02:39Oh, boy.
02:41Broken Hill is also one of the most iconic towns in Australia,
02:45a place where the country's rugged Outback identity was forged.
02:50It's a desert town.
02:51You can feel the dust in the air.
02:55That must be the mine up there.
02:59Right in the middle of the town, sort of.
03:01And as almost every Australian will tell them,
03:05the town owes its existence to the discovery of silver ore in 1883,
03:10which brought tens of thousands of people here from all over the world.
03:15Broken Hill, the silver city,
03:17the silver city awakens to the drums of industry.
03:20And gave rise to what's become one of the world's largest international mining companies,
03:26Broken Hill Proprietary Limited, or BHP Billiton.
03:31The only real riches here lie deep underground.
03:35If that were to stop, Broken Hill would become just another ghost town.
03:41Now, almost 140 years later, BHP is gone.
03:47Mining doesn't shine like it used to.
03:50And the town of Broken Hill is shrinking.
03:54Theatre Royal.
03:56Ah, not anymore.
03:58So how are people here adapting to this change in fortune?
04:04Can Broken Hill reinvent itself?
04:07And is it even possible to do this in such an isolated environment?
04:12What kind of a mindset would people have in a place like this?
04:17Everything I've seen on my journey so far suggests it's the arrival of newcomers that spark change,
04:25for better or worse.
04:27But the last visitors to come here that I know about were entirely fictional.
04:37Priscilla Queen of the Desert is the story of three Sydney drag queens
04:42who find themselves stranded in Broken Hill.
04:47I loved that film.
04:48I just adored it.
04:50So I'm quite interested to see where it was filmed
04:54and what the aftermath of having a whole pile of poofs in a place is.
05:06So this is the hotel where Priscilla Queen of the Desert was filmed.
05:12Wow.
05:19Hi.
05:20Oh, hello.
05:23I'm Miriam Margulies and we're checking in.
05:26Hi.
05:27Obviously I know the film and I never thought I'd get to the actual hotel.
05:32Well, you've made it.
05:33Welcome to the palace.
05:35What's your name?
05:36Esther.
05:37Are you the proprietor?
05:38I am.
05:39Lucky girl.
05:40Yeah.
05:41How long?
05:42We've been here since the end of 2009.
05:45This building had been closed for a couple of years.
05:49My sister and her husband, they rang me.
05:52I was living in India at the time.
05:54And then I came back when we bought into the hotel.
05:57A bit of a reopening project for the building.
06:00It was sort of just sitting here very quietly for a long time.
06:04And luckily, you know, lots of colour is still left behind.
06:08Well, that's what I love.
06:10Thank God they didn't pull it down.
06:12Yeah.
06:14This is a glorious relic.
06:15And it's alive.
06:16It is.
06:17Such an important history, I think, for the town and for Australia.
06:21Did you put all these things up?
06:23A lot of this collection comes from Mario, so he owned the building from the mid-70s.
06:28Stephen Elliott, actually, the writer and director of Priscilla, told me that when he first checked into the hotel, Mario
06:34was stuffing a chicken on the front counter.
06:39Mario was so colourful, they made him a character in the movie.
06:48There's over 500 square metres of paintings all throughout the building.
06:52Isn't it ripper?
06:55It is!
06:57Botticelli's Birth of Venus.
06:59It was actually painted by Mario.
07:01Wow!
07:02I bet she never expected to be here.
07:06That's right.
07:07You see that all these paintings have got water in them, and that was Mario's idea.
07:12He wanted the building to feel like an oasis in the desert.
07:16It's unlike any other place I've ever been to.
07:21And Esther tells me it was originally built as a coffee palace by the women of Broken Hill.
07:27It was built in 1889.
07:29The mining had started by then, hadn't it?
07:32Yeah, indeed. I mean, they were thinking Broken Hill was going to be one of the next biggest cities of
07:36Australia with the amount of wealth that they were pulling out of the ground here.
07:40I mean, people were flocking here in their thousands to, you know, to make life fortunes, and certainly, you know,
07:45many people did.
07:48And this is where I'll be staying.
07:52I hope you like it.
07:53Oh, I'm sure I will.
07:56Welcome to the Priscilla Suite.
07:58Great.
07:59So this is where they stay in the movie.
08:04We've tried to keep it as original as we could.
08:07Wow.
08:08So you've got your own little record player in there.
08:11You've got some ABBA vinyl to spin.
08:13ABBA?
08:13Yeah.
08:15Or disco.
08:17Do gay people come?
08:19Absolutely. Yeah, they come from all around the world.
08:21We still celebrate that link with Priscilla, you know, which is really a really classic and iconic Australian film.
08:29I believe that there are more movies coming here, that it's quite a place to film things.
08:36Is that right?
08:37I think, so from the 70s, a lot of films started coming out, people making films started coming out here.
08:44I think everything looks spectacular in the light that's out here.
08:47It's the light.
08:48Yeah.
08:48It was the same in Hollywood, you know, because it started because of the light.
08:52Oh, is that right?
08:53Yeah.
08:54And Esther says some 45 movies have been filmed in Broken Hill.
08:59Mad Max was filmed out here, Wake and Fright, which is a, I'm not sure if you've seen that.
09:04It's another sort of very old, cult Australian film.
09:08No, I haven't seen that.
09:08Which was nearly lost.
09:09Someone pulled it out of a dumpster.
09:11People tell me when it was released in town, you know, it didn't portray out here very nicely.
09:21I've never watched Wake and Fright before. In fact, I'd never heard of it.
09:26So, Esther lends me a copy.
09:29I'd better do a little bit of homework.
09:32It's a question of pushing away the covers, trying to find out what the rules of the game are here.
09:44This 1971 film tells the story of a British blow-in, a bit like myself,
09:51who arrives in a fictionalised mining town based on Broken Hill
09:56and is confronted by drunkenness and machismo.
10:06Sweaty testosterone.
10:15Even more distressing are the visceral depictions of kangaroo hunting.
10:20Jesus!
10:24Get out!
10:26Beauty, it's a boomer!
10:27Oh, that's horrible.
10:29The men in Wake and Fright gave me the shivers.
10:34And I'm rather hoping that it's not still exactly like that.
10:40Oh, I know. On we go.
10:47Wake and Fright is all about the ugly side of the rugged outback identity that Broken Hill's long been known
10:54for.
10:55I want to find out how much of that still holds true.
10:59And I think I know just where to go.
11:05I don't feel terribly at home in a pub because I don't drink.
11:09Apparently it's a bit of a cliché.
11:11If you don't drink, you're not really very Australian.
11:14Hello.
11:16Hello.
11:18But it's where you meet people.
11:22Afternoon.
11:24This pub's a lot emptier than the one in the movie.
11:27Perhaps because the town's a lot smaller now.
11:33I've read 35,000 people once lived in Broken Hill.
11:38Now the population's only half that.
11:41You've got the sort of hat I should have.
11:43Is that an Akubra?
11:45Indeed it is, madam.
11:47G'day.
11:47G'day.
11:48Miriam.
11:49What's your name?
11:50Neville.
11:51Can I sit and talk to you for a bit?
11:53Absolutely.
11:53Sit down.
11:55And what are you doing out here?
11:57I'm learning about this part of Australia.
12:01Are you?
12:02I am.
12:03Have you seen a film called Wake in Fright?
12:06Wake in Fright.
12:07Yeah, what a movie, that.
12:09It showed a country town as a rather cruel, vicious place, didn't it?
12:17Well, roo shooting can be quite vicious.
12:20Have you done that?
12:22Yes.
12:23And how do you defend it?
12:26I don't.
12:28I don't need to defend it.
12:30But you don't think it was a true picture of country life?
12:35It had a lot of true parts.
12:38But I was so fortunate to have been born here and lived here.
12:44And I worked underground.
12:46Did you?
12:47You worked underground.
12:48Oh, yeah, the best years of my life.
12:50A retired boilermaker, 77-year-old Neville,
12:54was the fourth generation in his family to have worked in the mines,
12:58during their good old days, when the industry was closely protected.
13:03This is the home of organised unionism in the world.
13:07So what happened in about 1923 was that only Broken Hill boys work on the mines.
13:15That's a bit rough.
13:16Certainly not.
13:17Kept all the shit out.
13:19Well, who are the shit?
13:20The others from away.
13:22You can't say that.
13:23I think unions are good.
13:25But I think to say that anybody who doesn't come from Broken Hill is a lump of shit is wrong.
13:30They've done it to protect the workforce here.
13:36And have things changed?
13:38Oh, vastly, vastly.
13:39After the Second World War, the Federal Government said to the mining unions,
13:44we need to have people from away.
13:47They came, and on their union pence cards, a B was stamped.
13:53B group.
13:54If there was a downturn in the mining industry, the B group, they would go first.
14:00God almighty.
14:01Today it's a bit of jest.
14:03B grouper.
14:04What are you?
14:06You're an A, I suppose.
14:07Of course, born here.
14:08There aren't many like you left, are there?
14:11You can take a boy out of the hill, but you never take the hill out of the boy.
14:18I wonder if there are others like Neville here.
14:24Nah, rubbish.
14:27Can I talk to you?
14:28Of course you can.
14:30I'm Piggy.
14:31Piggy?
14:31Lovely to meet you.
14:32Lovely to meet you.
14:33Yeah.
14:34Are you local?
14:35I am.
14:36Yes, all my life I've lived in Broken Hill.
14:38I'm an A grader, as they used to say.
14:41Yeah.
14:41I know what it means.
14:42It means you come from here.
14:44What does that mean to you?
14:46Oh, I think it's just, this is where you belong.
14:49It's all my family here.
14:51We've had four generations of us here.
14:53My mother's sitting over there.
14:55Oh, she as well.
14:56How old is she?
14:5795.
14:58Oh, no.
14:59Really?
15:00Yeah, mum's 95.
15:01Piggy's mum raised five children when Broken Hill was still a strong union town.
15:08Mum was a basic stay home mum.
15:10And, of course, back in those days, married women weren't allowed to work.
15:18And women were also banned from drinking in the town's public bars.
15:24Those rules changed in the 1980s, and today, things are very different.
15:30But do the women here want to see more change?
15:34Hello.
15:34Hello, this is my mother, Nita.
15:36I'm Miriam.
15:36This is Miriam.
15:37I'm very pleased to meet you.
15:39And what's your name?
15:39Nita.
15:40Nita.
15:41And you are neat, too.
15:42A lot neater than I am, I tell you.
15:45So, you are sisters, are you?
15:48No.
15:48That's my daughter.
15:49Oh, daughter.
15:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:52So, one of the questions that people ask about small towns, and you know about small towns, because you've lived
16:01here all your life, what's going to happen in the future?
16:04Do you want it to change?
16:06No.
16:07You don't?
16:08No.
16:09You like it to stay?
16:11As it is.
16:11As it is.
16:12What about you?
16:13Do you want it to?
16:14Because you're the next generation.
16:16Yeah.
16:16I like it the way it is.
16:17It would be nice if there was more employment, but that's everywhere, isn't it?
16:21Well, that means more people need to come here, doesn't it?
16:24Yeah, yeah.
16:25But I don't sense a great enthusiasm for newcomers or change here.
16:31As I looked around, I thought, well, they're all the same.
16:36It's a place for old white men, and they inhabit the spirit of the old broken hill, and I liked
16:43it.
16:44I'm surprised at myself, because I'm not somebody who goes for the good old boys.
16:52And they seem to like me, too.
16:56Piggy invites me to a friend's Sunday barbecue, a chance to experience the A-grade life.
17:15I could tell you my adventures, beginning from this morning, said Alice, a little timidly.
17:22But it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.
17:31If anything, Alice, in her adventures in Wonderland, teaches me that the future is inevitable, and we have no choice
17:39but to move forward and change.
17:42But Broken Hill, it's an interesting place.
17:46It's rooted in the past, deliberately, unapologetically, perhaps based on a vanished world.
17:55So, is this town destined to become a relic?
18:00I shall find out.
18:01I'll talk to everybody.
18:03Why do they love it?
18:04Why are they here?
18:06What keeps them in Broken Hill?
18:09Hello.
18:10Hello, how are you?
18:11Um, can I have a little chat with you?
18:14You certainly can.
18:15Is that one four-wheel drive?
18:17I don't know.
18:18I borrowed it so that I could get around.
18:20You can't take a pig hunting, then?
18:22Pig hunting?
18:23Is that what you do?
18:24I have done, yes.
18:26Well, I'm not going to do that.
18:31Are you local?
18:32Yeah.
18:33I spend most of my life up this way.
18:35What do you think of this place here?
18:37Has it changed?
18:39Oh, yeah.
18:39It's changed considerably, yeah.
18:41In what sort of way?
18:42Well, once they put Woolworths Plaza out there, things changed.
18:46It started going down here, hill here in the main street, and then they put coals out
18:50there, and they shut the shops, so it stuffed everything up for everyone.
18:54So you think it's changed the way of life a bit?
18:57Oh, it has.
18:58You know, people are always in a hurry now, where it used to be all laid back style here,
19:01you know?
19:02It's hard for me to imagine this town could be any more unhurried.
19:07But then I'm an outsider.
19:10Hello.
19:10Oh, hello.
19:11Can I have a bit of a chat?
19:14Certainly.
19:15I want to hear why you're here, and what you think of it.
19:20Were you born here?
19:21No, I was not born here, but I've been here for a good part of 30 years.
19:25My father had moved here from Sydney, so that's why I came.
19:30I stayed.
19:31You didn't go back to Sydney?
19:32Well, I did for a little bit, and then I came back again.
19:35What brought you back?
19:36I thought we could probably never buy a house in Sydney, but Broken Hill was a place where
19:43we could buy a house.
19:44It was a place where we could see ourselves growing older, and being an original person,
19:51I felt that connection.
19:52It felt right to be out in the country, in the bush.
19:56I worked for a health service, and it did have the employment that we needed.
20:00In the old days, it was an industry town based on...
20:05Yeah, very mining town.
20:06Mining?
20:07Yes, yes.
20:07And so what fuels it now?
20:11Education, teachers, the police force, the jail, so those community services.
20:19The jail?
20:36Good morning.
20:37Are you anything to do with this?
20:39Yeah.
20:40I'm Miriam.
20:42Yep.
20:42And you're?
20:44Christine.
20:44They call me Chrissy.
20:46How are you?
20:46Chrissy, hi.
20:47I mean, I've never seen such a big police station in a school.
20:50It's only new.
20:53Oh, you are in the police?
20:55Yeah, so I'm an Aboriginal community liaison officer with New South Wales Police.
21:00You're Aboriginal?
21:01I am.
21:02Is it rewarding work?
21:03Do you enjoy it?
21:05Do you feel you...?
21:05I'm very passionate about my job, but we're here to help bridge that gap with the police
21:10and community, basically.
21:12Do you have to tread carefully?
21:15I mean...
21:15No, I've got something to say.
21:16I say it.
21:17I'm not that good in public forum.
21:18You know, I...
21:20Are you...
21:21Can I join in on something?
21:23Can I watch?
21:24Can I...?
21:24Yes, you can...
21:25I'm happy for you to come and have a day with me if you want.
21:28I would love that.
21:30No worries.
21:31Bye.
21:32Bye-bye.
21:41For now, though, I have a date with Piggy from the pub.
21:45I'm on my way to an A-grade Aussie barbecue with some of his mates.
21:50Funny little neighbourhood, actually.
21:54I don't know, a bit ramshackle.
21:57There's just one problem.
21:59I don't really like barbecues, because it's usually meat.
22:04And, um...
22:05I'm not into meat.
22:07But I'm nosy.
22:12Hello, Miriam.
22:13Hello, Piggy.
22:14How are you?
22:15Home sweet home.
22:16Home sweet home.
22:17This is my friend, Laurie.
22:19Hello, Miriam.
22:19Nice to meet you.
22:20I'm Miriam.
22:21Come on in.
22:21Come on in.
22:23No.
22:23All right.
22:26It's really nice of you to invite me over.
22:30No, it's a pleasure.
22:30You don't know what I'm like.
22:33Oh, there's a lot of women.
22:35Yes.
22:41Hello.
22:41Hi.
22:43Hi.
22:43How are you?
22:44How are you?
22:45Good day.
22:47Wow.
22:48Oh, my friend.
22:51Where are you from?
22:53Philippines.
22:54Three years living in Australia.
22:57With Laurie.
22:58Laurie.
22:58Laurie.
22:58Yeah, Laurie.
22:59Well, he's a good-looking man, I think.
23:01Yeah.
23:02Yeah, when I first met him.
23:03He's got a nice...
23:04Yeah.
23:05...feeling.
23:05Good physique and a good face.
23:07Yeah.
23:08Changing now.
23:09Changing?
23:10Thomas Rice.
23:11Well, you went.
23:12You'll change too one day.
23:14And do you have a wife?
23:16Where is she?
23:18That's the...
23:18I'm...
23:19I'm in Virginia there.
23:21That's the old lady.
23:22You married a Filipino too?
23:25Yeah.
23:26I'm sensing a bit of a pattern.
23:30So, you married Aldo?
23:3242 years next month.
23:36Why did you marry him?
23:38Because he is a good man.
23:40You could see that?
23:42Yeah.
23:43My friend took my photo and put it in the mail business.
23:51So, you were a mail order bride?
23:54Not really mail order.
23:56Because he met me.
23:59Oh, that's the difference.
24:00He came to meet me.
24:01To check if you got on.
24:04And you liked him straight away?
24:06Uh-huh.
24:06Yeah.
24:07It's a...
24:08What do you call that?
24:09First sight.
24:11Love at first sight.
24:12Love at first sight.
24:14Yeah.
24:15So, how old were you then when you met?
24:1747.
24:1847.
24:19And had you been married before?
24:20No, no.
24:21I've been single all my life.
24:23Gosh, that's a big change.
24:25Because I told myself I will never marry a Filipino.
24:30Why?
24:31To demanding.
24:33Is that right?
24:34Not all.
24:35Not all.
24:36It depends, really.
24:38In every forest there is snake.
24:43While Virginia and Aldo look close in age, Angie tells me she's 40 years younger than her husband, Laurie.
24:52I never went over there to meet anybody.
24:55I went over there to have a look around the country.
24:58And we met, we talked, and just like I invited Angie out for lunch.
25:03Now we've been together for five years.
25:05You've been together for five years?
25:07Two years married.
25:09And your parents, how do they feel about all this?
25:13They don't accept much before, because of the age.
25:18It worries them.
25:19Yeah.
25:19Yeah.
25:20It doesn't matter for me.
25:23It doesn't matter for you?
25:31Why does that make you cry?
25:34I don't know.
25:36Well, it seems she loves you, Laurie.
25:39Yeah.
25:39It does, doesn't it?
25:40It really does.
25:41Yeah.
25:42I'm a lucky man.
25:44Well, I think you bloody are, actually.
25:50What would you like?
25:52Chicken?
25:53I'm not into the meat, sir.
25:54I mean, you're a vegetarian.
25:57Nearly.
25:58I'm a lesbian.
26:02Piggy is one of the few unmarried men here.
26:05Though he says his friends are constantly trying to matchmake.
26:09When I came here, there was only four.
26:12I'm the pit one.
26:15So before you came, there were four other Filipino ladies.
26:21Yeah.
26:22Today, there are over 250 Filipinos in Broken Hill,
26:26making up the town's fastest-growing migrant group.
26:31It was so different from what I was expecting.
26:35You think it's all going to be the same kind of people there.
26:39Well, it wasn't, was it?
26:41And there was such heart.
26:43There was such good humour.
26:45And they've managed to reinvent themselves and make community.
26:51In this weird little town that I've become very fond of.
27:11Broken Hill's a fascinating place.
27:14This is a little country town, far from anywhere.
27:18But is the town looking outward and not inward?
27:23Hi, welcome to Broken Hill.
27:26Oh, thank you.
27:27I just want to say welcome and my mum is like a massive fan of yours.
27:30Thank you, thank you.
27:33I want to meet people who are trying to reinvent themselves,
27:40to carry them on into the future.
27:43So, today, I'm meeting a young man named Brendan for a coffee.
27:48Apparently, he knows a lot about this town.
27:52Hello.
27:53Morning.
27:54I'm Miriam.
27:55OK, yeah, good to meet you.
27:56Yeah, I'm Brendan.
27:57Are you local?
27:58I am local, yeah.
28:00Yeah, were you born here?
28:01I was born here, yeah.
28:03What's it like living here?
28:05Um, now, it's really great.
28:07I really appreciate the town now.
28:09Now that I've been away and, sort of, experienced, sort of,
28:12different things about myself, um,
28:15sort of learnt who I was as a person to come back here.
28:17Are you gay? I'm gay.
28:18I am, yeah.
28:18I'm gay.
28:19Yeah, right, yeah.
28:20Snap.
28:21Yeah.
28:22So you know the challenges, yeah.
28:24I guess growing up in a country town,
28:26there's that country, sort of, blokey aspect to the town.
28:29Well, you look pretty blokey to me, actually.
28:32Maybe it's just a cover.
28:33No, I, um, I tend not to really think about what other people think.
28:37Very sensible.
28:39Yeah.
28:40I'm here for me, so...
28:41Yeah, we're here.
28:42We are who we are, aren't we?
28:43Absolutely.
28:44So you can't...
28:44Yeah.
28:44You can't shift shape just to please someone.
28:49What sort of job do you do?
28:50I do, uh, walking tours.
28:53Perhaps you'd like to join me on a tour?
28:58I really would love to.
29:12To be honest, I'm more interested in Brendan than his walking tour.
29:18Perhaps the old saying is true.
29:21You can take the boy out of Broken Hill,
29:24but you can't take Broken Hill out of the boy.
29:28Where's Bray?
29:29Good morning, Miriam!
29:30How are you?
29:33Blimey!
29:34I've got some gifts here for you.
29:35Just thought we'd jazz you up a bit.
29:38Okay.
29:40Here we go.
29:41We've got a beret here for you as well.
29:42Pop that on top of you.
29:45Fantastic.
29:46Now you are ready for our drag tour.
29:49Perfect.
29:50Drag tour.
29:52Did you know it was a drag tour?
29:55I didn't.
29:57I'm Shalita.
29:59Shalita.
30:01Pleased to meet ya.
30:02Right, just continuing now down the main street.
30:05The main drag, if you will.
30:07Towards the Palace Hotel.
30:09Home of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
30:11And thank goodness, because it's given me a job today,
30:14I can't imagine any other reason to have a drag walking tour
30:17in Broken Hill.
30:18Shalita seems a bit of a fixture around town.
30:22Over a one-hour tour, no-one bats an eye.
30:27And after the tour,
30:29Brendan seems quite happy to continue his day in drag.
30:32How are we going?
30:33Yes, I agree.
30:36Shalita?
30:36Yeah.
30:37Um, is that what I should call you now?
30:40Yeah.
30:41I generally go by Shalita when I'm in drag.
30:43My pronouns when I'm in drag would be she and her.
30:46Obviously, I'm a drag queen with a beard.
30:48So, for me, I'm sort of a little bit flexible.
30:50It doesn't bother me if someone refers to me as he.
30:52It only bothers me when someone is intentionally referring to me as a man,
30:56knowing full well that I'm presenting in a drag form.
31:00Well, I can understand that.
31:01Yeah.
31:01The pronouns were what worried me more than anything,
31:04because I love grammar and I believe in grammar
31:07because it's the structure of language.
31:09And it was going against everything I knew.
31:13Yeah, in terms of, yeah, the references day and then.
31:15But on the other hand,
31:16on the other hand,
31:17a lovely person taught me
31:18that if you use the pronouns that they want,
31:22it makes them happy.
31:24That's true.
31:25And if you can do something to make somebody happy,
31:27for fuck's sake, do it!
31:29It's only a pronoun.
31:31Hello.
31:32Good morning.
31:33How are you?
31:34And we're allowed in your shop, aren't we?
31:36You certainly are.
31:37You're more than welcome to come in my shop.
31:39I'm more than happy to have anybody and everybody in my shop.
31:42There is no doubt that the fact that Priscilla the movie was in Broken Hill
31:48has made a big difference to the town that has lost it.
31:53And it certainly inspired Brendan, a shy, anxious man,
32:00to find his inner Shalita.
32:06Some people, you know, say, oh, their drag personality is a character and stuff like that.
32:11I think to me, my drag personality is an extension of myself.
32:14You grew up in this town, didn't you?
32:18I did.
32:19I grew up knowing that homosexuality was a bad thing and accepting myself was the hardest thing.
32:25Yeah.
32:25Doing drag gives you that element to sort of really come in and just be whoever you want to be.
32:30You kind of, I don't know about reinvent, you added.
32:35Added, yeah.
32:36That's what I like to think added, yeah.
32:38When you say added, that's perfect.
32:40Brendan managed to evolve into this brave, very flamboyant personality,
32:51which I think completes him.
33:05It's 6am.
33:07Fat old Jew emerging.
33:10Morning.
33:11Now then.
33:13This is always the most difficult bit of the day.
33:16Getting in.
33:18If I fart, I'll tell you first.
33:21OK.
33:22They're usually not smelly.
33:26Chrissie, the police Aboriginal Liaison Officer, has arranged for me to join her on her daily rounds to see what
33:34she does.
33:35Most of our police are white, not Aboriginal.
33:38So my role, it's more about trying to keep young ones or even young adults out of custody if we
33:44can.
33:45Chrissie tells me that First Nation kids make up less than 6% of young Australians,
33:50but nearly half of all youths in detention.
33:56What's even more shocking is that Aboriginal deaths in police custody across the country are at an all-time high.
34:05She's now leading a programme that's trying to prevent these terrible statistics.
34:10This morning we've got Fit for Life programme, which is trying to engage police with community.
34:16And when you say community?
34:18The children.
34:19And we've got quite a few we're picking up today.
34:22I'm trying to encourage both sides to interact outside of somebody being arrested as well.
34:31Good morning. How are yous this morning?
34:34Morning.
34:39I'm Miriam.
34:41My name's Miriam.
34:42Miriam Margulies.
34:43The kids joining Chrissie today aren't in any trouble.
34:46And she wants to make sure her fellow police officers are committed to keeping it that way.
34:52You're in the Arsenal colours.
34:55And they're mighty.
35:01So how are yous this morning?
35:03Excited?
35:05My name's Miriam.
35:08Miriam Margulies.
35:10You sound like Harry Potter.
35:12Yeah, well, do you notice I talk with an English accent?
35:17I'm an actress.
35:18I'm 82.
35:20Do you know the one that takes out the point and they start crying?
35:22Yeah.
35:24I used to love Harry Potter.
35:26I was the head of...
35:28I think it was called Hufflepuff.
35:31Is that right?
35:35There's the cops.
35:39OK, guys, let's go.
35:42Right.
35:42Right, here we go.
35:51Right.
35:51Hello, good morning.
35:52Hello, Miriam.
35:54How are you?
35:54Good morning.
35:54It's wonderful to have you here and to see all of our great kids and what they're going to do
35:57today.
35:58Yeah.
35:59We're going to do some dodgeball today.
36:01OK.
36:02Dodgeball.
36:03Don't ask me to take part.
36:04I was just about to say you should be relatively safe there.
36:08OK, we've got to start.
36:09Is everyone ready?
36:11Yeah.
36:11One, two, three, go!
36:16Wow!
36:20Oh!
36:24This is fucking terrifying.
36:26They get very competitive and it's just a little bit of friendly competition.
36:31So here we go.
36:32We've got a police officer down here.
36:33So, yeah.
36:36Oh, shit.
36:37It's a brick.
36:39Time for me to escape the firing line and find out what Dave Cooper, the superintendent here, is hoping to
36:46achieve.
36:48It's such an extraordinary situation here between the police and the young kids trying to, you know, and you're trying
36:56to make a bridge.
36:58That's the bit I'm most proud of, that the kids now come in and they're happy to come there.
37:02They're happy to engage with the police and interact with them.
37:04And that's the bit they enjoy the most.
37:07Some of the kids that we talk to and deal with, their parents probably didn't like me because of who
37:12I am and what I represent.
37:14I'm the first to admit that our relationship with our First Nations people wasn't positive going back, you know, generations.
37:20And I guess as a police officer, as you grow and you experience things and you meet people, that you
37:26get a far greater understanding about the trauma that people experience and how that plays out through generations of people.
37:33It's something that there's certainly no easy answer to it, but I think what we're trying to do out here
37:39is just a small step in that direction.
37:43The hope is that the next time they see the kids on the street, that there'll be a, there'll be
37:47already a little bit of a connection there, they'll say g'day.
37:49I think we're doing pretty well, but there's a long way to go. You've got to earn the trust of
37:54the community.
37:57I believe you.
37:59Thank you. Because it's how I feel, so.
38:10But what do the kids make of it all, beyond a free breakfast? And what kind of future do they
38:17see for themselves in Broken Hill?
38:20What's the best thing about coming here?
38:25What's it like living in Broken Hill?
38:28Fun, fun, fun.
38:30You like it?
38:31Fun, all it.
38:34Are people friendly?
38:37Yes.
38:38How old are you?
38:39Sixteen, fifteen.
38:41Right.
38:42What do you, what do you want to do with your lives?
38:45I want to just become a photographer and take photos mostly.
38:50I've always had the thing to be a doctor or a nurse or, yeah.
38:55My, my father was a, a GP.
38:58It's, it's hard work.
39:00What about, um, acting?
39:02Have any of you ever done anything like that?
39:04Yeah.
39:05Tell me about that.
39:06I was one of my background character.
39:09Future actors, doctors, photographers.
39:12But I can't help wondering, is this shrinking town doing enough to keep its young here?
39:19Would you stay?
39:21Yeah.
39:21Well, if I had to make a choice between the city or here, I'd choose here.
39:26Why?
39:27Because it's like, I could go out walking about without being scared or something.
39:34Um, and everyone knows everyone.
39:36So it's like, more people to be friends with and stuff.
39:41You feel safer?
39:43Yeah.
39:46That's interesting.
39:47So you wouldn't move away unless you had to.
39:52Yeah, unless I had to.
39:55Community is a way of belonging.
39:58That's what they want.
40:00They want to be part of a community.
40:02And they want to stay in Broken Hill.
40:05They're all working life out to be better.
40:19Hopefully, Broken Hill will continue to evolve.
40:22And the young people here will stay and transform it from within.
40:28I talk about reinvention a lot.
40:30It's one of the things I'm pursuing.
40:33And Brendan told me about a 14-year-old girl that he thought I should meet.
40:38Are you Abby?
40:40I am.
40:41Okay.
40:42I'm coming to see you.
40:44I'm Miriam.
40:46Nice to meet you.
40:48Somebody's a gardener.
40:50Oh my gosh, my granny absolutely adores it.
40:53I see that.
40:55Wonderful.
40:56Hello.
40:57Hi.
40:57Hi, Miriam.
40:58Hi, Miriam.
40:59My mum is my biggest supporter in everything that I do.
41:04So...
41:05My goodness.
41:06It is.
41:07It does look a bit chaotic, doesn't it?
41:10I started the Rainbow Shoelace Project basically to help those who were experiencing homophobia
41:16or bullying, especially at school.
41:18I'm fascinated.
41:20How did it start?
41:22Who are you?
41:23What happened?
41:24Well, so first of all, I'm Abby.
41:27I'm 14.
41:28And I've lived in Brooklyn all my whole life.
41:31And I'm very grateful that I got to grow up here, but I think it has been quite isolating,
41:35especially as a young queer person.
41:37The Rainbow Shoelace Project.
41:39The whole aim is to put rainbow-coloured beads on your shoelaces just like this.
41:45And the whole message it spreads is that you're either an ally or a part of the community yourself.
41:51And our kind of catchphrase is you normally see rainbows when you're looking up in the sky.
41:57And when you're experiencing homophobia or bullying, you tend to look down and hide yourself in the world.
42:02And just by coming across someone who has these little rainbows on their feet,
42:05it can make you feel so much more seen and loved and show that you belong.
42:10So...
42:10That's incredible. Are you alright with that?
42:12When she came out to me, she said, I think I might be bisexual.
42:15And I said, I'd be disappointed if you weren't.
42:18You're a lucky girl.
42:20I know. I'm very lucky.
42:21I wish my mother had been quite so broad-minded.
42:24But anyway, I don't mind asking you if you would relace my shoes.
42:30Of course I will.
42:31As we talk.
42:32Of course.
42:33Because I'm buggered if I'm going to do it myself.
42:36And, um, Mummy, you do it.
42:38Do you mind?
42:39No, of course.
42:41Since she started the project a year ago, Abby has sent more than 150,000 rainbow shoelaces
42:48to people all over the world for free.
42:53Finished shoes.
42:53What do you think?
42:54Oh, my goodness.
42:56Oh, that's gorgeous.
42:58They're very cute, aren't they?
42:59I'm really proud to wear that.
43:01Now everyone who looks down will know.
43:03Will know.
43:04That woman is as camp as a row of tents.
43:06See as well.
43:07How wonderful.
43:10Abby's rainbow shoelaces are now worn in almost every country.
43:15And from her bungalow in Broken Hill, she has electrified the world.
43:23This is my bedroom.
43:24It's very nice and tidy.
43:28Very feminine.
43:29It's lovely.
43:29I've been out as bisexual since I was maybe 10, I think.
43:35And then I went to high school.
43:37And all I could hear when I walked down the hallways was, you know, generalized homophobia.
43:43You know, people saying the word faggot.
43:45People calling other people poofters.
43:47Like, it was all I could hear.
43:49And it made me feel terrified.
43:51And every part of pride that I had in myself quickly faded.
43:54Oh, God.
43:58That's awful.
43:59Yeah, but, um, I guess the sadder thing is, is that even though I started the Rambo Shoelace
44:07Project to help other people, it's almost made the target on my back bigger.
44:11So, um, from, from kids at my school.
44:15Um, I've been told to kill myself.
44:17Um, like, I've been told horrible things.
44:20And these are all people from Broken Hill.
44:23Um, yeah, I know.
44:25This is a side of Broken Hill.
44:27That you haven't seen.
44:27That I'm not aware of.
44:31The school knows about this.
44:33Like, the school knows all of this.
44:35You know what they said to me?
44:36Oh, it happens at every school.
44:38And I'm like, just because it happens at every school doesn't mean it's okay that it happens
44:42here.
44:43And I have contemplated stopping the Rainbow Shoelace Project because of the amount of backlash
44:47that I get for it.
44:48But I know that...
44:50Then the bad guys win.
44:52Exactly.
44:52And that's the thing.
44:53Exactly.
44:54They're just ignorant little, little bastards.
44:57Exactly.
44:57They're just pathetic.
44:58Yeah.
44:58And you will not give up your project.
45:00Exactly.
45:00You are you.
45:02Exactly.
45:02And you are changing the world.
45:03Yeah, it's, it's...
45:04And you're magnificent.
45:07What you have to face is that you have courage.
45:13I don't always feel I do.
45:14I don't always feel I do.
45:14No, of course not.
45:16Because you're under attack.
45:18Yeah.
45:18But you have courage.
45:19And in that courage, you forged an idea which is going to give courage to other people.
45:26Yeah.
45:30I feel a great sadness, actually.
45:36And anger.
45:38Because Abby told me something about this sweet town that I had not expected.
45:47She's been bullied.
45:49She's been bullied.
45:50So, some things haven't changed.
45:54There are stupid little bullies here.
45:59I was appalled by her story of the current nastiness.
46:03I made a personal effort to reach out to her school to discuss this issue.
46:08I just hope things get better.
46:25I feel conflicted about Broken Hill.
46:29I can see the wisps of change.
46:32How the town is trying to prepare for the future.
46:36Trying to adapt.
46:38To attract more people to keep its young and build community.
46:42But it's still holding on to what it started as.
46:48So, I don't know what's going to become of Broken Hill.
46:53Towns do die.
46:55Towns do become ghost towns.
46:59I'm on my way to a town called Silverton.
47:04Silverton, 1881, original outback.
47:07A 25-kilometre drive from Broken Hill, Silverton's an example of what can happen if you don't adapt.
47:21It was once the region's biggest town and the place where mining first began in 1881.
47:29It all looks very dead.
47:31And it's a kind of grim warning as to what can happen to a town.
47:36If it doesn't find a road into the future.
47:40If we don't reinvent ourselves, we get slug on a scrap heap.
47:52But I've heard there is someone living out here who's on a unique mission to try and help turn lives
47:59around.
48:00There's the camels.
48:03One hump or two, Madeline.
48:05Ha, ha.
48:06All right.
48:12Come on.
48:14Hello.
48:15How are you?
48:16I'm so glad to be here.
48:18My name's Peter.
48:19This is my farm.
48:20Well, I'm Miriam.
48:21Hi, Miriam.
48:21Hello, boys.
48:23I love dogs.
48:25So that's...
48:26That's lucky, because I've only got 16.
48:28What?
48:30So you've got 16 dogs.
48:3216.
48:33Four pigs.
48:34Four pigs.
48:34Four ostriches.
48:35I've got four emus.
48:37About three miniature donkeys.
48:39Three miniature ponies.
48:42Twelve alpacas.
48:43Seventeen camels.
48:45Wow.
48:47And one toilet for visitors.
48:49Hello.
48:51Well, I'm going to close the door now.
48:57Going all right?
48:59A former Sydney policewoman, Peter's created her own animal sanctuary out here in the desert.
49:06She's now known throughout Broken Hill as the Camel Lady.
49:10So we do camel rides, camping and farm visits as well.
49:16Come on.
49:21There you go.
49:24How was that?
49:26A bit kosher?
49:28Come on.
49:31Oh, blimey.
49:34Many of the animals that she cares for are rejects and rescues.
49:39Oregon, it's cool how they all interact.
49:41It's like people.
49:43Yeah.
49:44And look, it doesn't always go smoothly, but...
49:46Well, that's true.
49:47Life isn't smooth, is it?
49:49I'm curious about what persuaded Peter to give up her professional career
49:55for this quixotic adventure in the back of beyond.
50:01When did it start for you?
50:03Well, I've always loved animals.
50:04I hated school.
50:06Was never an academic.
50:08But I knew I wanted to do something with animals.
50:10Now, my dad was a policeman and he said,
50:12well, why don't you join the police and work with the dog squad?
50:16And I thought, yeah, there you go.
50:17I'll join the police, work with dogs all day.
50:20What was your time like with them?
50:23Oh, look, I enjoyed being in the police.
50:25I was in it for 23 years.
50:27You have your good and bad days.
50:28I don't quite think people realise, um, how difficult some days can be.
50:36Um...
50:37Sorry.
50:40But...
50:41You're weeping.
50:44Why?
50:45I just...
50:46You know, you have your tough days and you see a lot and you deal with a lot
50:49and I didn't want to get out of bed every day.
50:52I didn't want to talk to people.
50:54I just wanted to do nothing and...
50:57You were in a sort of depression.
50:59Yeah, yeah.
51:00Big depression.
51:02Peter tells me she's still recovering from PTSD from her time as a policewoman.
51:08When you've got animals, you've got to get out of bed every day
51:10and you've got to look after them and, look, they don't answer back.
51:13They, um, they just want your love and cuddles.
51:17So...
51:17Works for me.
51:20You...
51:20You became a different person?
51:23Oh, definitely, yeah.
51:25Did you intend to?
51:29I didn't intend to, but, um, I'm...
51:31I feel like I've got a bit of a purpose.
51:34Like, you know, sometimes you think, well, what am I good at?
51:37Or, what can I be good at?
51:38Or, what makes me happy?
51:40And, you know, you do what you have to do.
51:42Do you realise that what you have is a very unusual gift?
51:49Yeah.
51:53I'm not sure I have it.
51:55He, he, he, he.
52:01Come on!
52:03Jockey!
52:05Come on!
52:06Spencer, come on!
52:08Jockey!
52:12Peter is now using her sanctuary to help others.
52:18Hey, guys.
52:20These guys are from Broken Hill from the Live Better the Disability group.
52:24One of my most regulars is Tony here.
52:27He comes out quite a fair bit.
52:29I'll part my arse.
52:31There we go.
52:32What do you reckon of this?
52:34It's pretty good, isn't it?
52:35I thoroughly enjoy it.
52:37Does it make you happy?
52:38It does, actually, yeah.
52:40Come on!
52:42Carrot time!
52:43Feed a camel?
52:44Feed a camel?
52:45Yeah.
52:47You put the carrot in your mouth and they take it from your mouth.
52:49Oh!
52:49Would you do that, Miriam, if I got you a carrot?
52:51If it was a big carrot.
52:52Yeah?
52:53I don't want a little squitty carrot.
52:55Okay?
52:56So, just hold it in your mouth and don't walk back.
53:00Because he'll just follow you.
53:03Wait a minute.
53:04Now, wait a minute.
53:08Oh, my God!
53:10Fucking hell!
53:12I did it.
53:14I knew I was coming to a camel farm, but I didn't know I was going to get up close
53:20and personal with one.
53:22Got a kiss?
53:22Oh, he likes you.
53:26Oh, good Lord.
53:29I think they're majestic animals, they're huge, but they can be quite gentle and affectionate.
53:34I'm not usually a big lips kind of girl, but as I'm learning, you really can adapt to anything.
53:41Kiss?
53:42Kiss?
53:43Kiss?
53:45Help!
53:47That'll do.
53:51You survived, see?
53:55Thank you, darling.
53:58What I experienced was glorious.
54:01Peter has made a world which helped her rebuild herself, feeling happier.
54:17I came to Australia to explore new places and learn how people are adapting to change.
54:24And I've discovered so much more, not just about the people I've met, but about myself.
54:31Change is never easy.
54:35We like what we know.
54:38We sit comfortably in our little worlds.
54:41Because the boundaries are firm and you know them and you can depend on them.
54:48But everything changes.
54:51Everything.
54:51Three, two, one, tapping!
54:56Get out the way!
54:58And if you don't stretch, if you don't grow, if you don't learn...
55:03Here's my twist. Here we are.
55:05You actually do the opposite.
55:08You shrink.
55:09You dwindle.
55:10You diminish.
55:14It takes courage.
55:16And determination.
55:19But the future is what we make it.
55:23Do you want me to tear new?
55:26Oh, don't be ridiculous.
55:28Thanks, Miriam.
55:30Pleasure. Bye-bye.
55:31It's what we Australians choose to do.
55:36Welcome to the Priscilla Suite.
55:41In fact, I rather like Australia.
55:44I'm rather big.
55:48And rather hopeful.
55:51And as yet unfinished.
55:55Christ.
55:56I've really got to love this.
56:17I should not be allowed on this.
56:19It's terrifying.
56:21Oh, bugger.
56:22No, I can't get up there.
56:24What am I going to do?
56:28Blimey, thank you, boys.
56:31I haven't had a man behind me like that for years.