Journalist and proud Gamilaroi woman Brooke Boney has returned to Australia after eight months at Oxford University, where she completed a master’s degree in public policy. She is now promoting her debut book, All of It, a collection of personal essays covering ageing, beauty standards, fertility, and the politics of public life.
Boney, who left mainstream television in mid-2024, describes the aftermath of the 2023 Voice referendum as a deep grief. “I was in such a deep fog, a very heavy kind of grief, I couldn’t believe that this country that I love so much and all of the people in it, who I love so much would do something so damaging,” she says. She anchored Nine’s coverage of the result and found it difficult to watch back: “It’s hard to see yourself in so much pain.”
Her time at Oxford gave her a new perspective on power. Studying in the elite institution, she read the same texts that shaped many world leaders. “It gives you insight into how policies and political leaders are formed,” she says. The experience helped her understand the institutions whose policies have historically disadvantaged Indigenous Australians.
All of It also addresses the pressures of fame, including being followed by photographers and a prowler entering her home. Boney writes about the distortion of reality that can come with public attention, noting that even a water bottle can be mistaken for a camera lens. She also explores her ambivalence about motherhood, concluding, “We cannot have it all.”
