Murrumu Walubara Yidindji (born 1974), also known by his former western name Jeremy Geia, is a Yidindji man, former journalist, and Australian Aboriginal activist. He is the foreign affairs minister of the Sovereign Yidindji Government micronation, having renounced his Australian citizenship in 2014.[1]
Geia was born in Cairns in 1974 to an Aboriginal mother and Croatian Jewish father.[2] In 1999, he won the NAIDOC Youth of the Year award.[3] In 2001 Geia symbolically declared the "Peoples Democratic Republic of Palm Island" independent from Australia.[4]
Geia was an NITV and SBS journalist,[5] who was part of the Canberra Press Gallery.[6] In 2012 he became the first western journalist to obtain an interview with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.[7] He left his job when he renounced Australian citizenship.
Geia was charged by police in May 2015 after being caught driving a car with a license and registration plates issued by the Yidindji government.[6]
References edit
- ^ Howden, Saffron (2 November 2015). "Murrumu Walubara Yidindji renounces citizenship to reclaim Australia". The Age. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ Albeck-Ripka, Livia (13 September 2019). "The Indigenous Man Who Declared His Own Country". New York Times. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ "Award Winners 1999". Koori Mail. 28 July 1999. Retrieved 5 November 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Eyers, Patrick; D'Souza, Carl (2001). "Recent Happenings". Indigenous Law Bulletin. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ "Jeremy Geia". SBS. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ a b Uhr, Grace (28 May 2015). "Former journalist who renounced Australian citizenship charged". Cairns Post. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ Daley, Paul (26 August 2014). "The man who renounced Australia". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2015.