Saltwater Fella

Years later, when I found my mother, I asked, ‘Why did you let me go?’ My mother told me, in a very soft voice, ‘My son, you were going to school. I took you to school every day … then I went to pick you up this day and you were gone.’So begins John Moriarty’s search for his place in the world – a search that has taken him from is ‘Saltwater people’ on the Gulf of Carpentaria to heading an internationally acclaimed Aboriginal design company. Stolen from his family at four years of age, John was placed in a children’s home, where he struggled with harsh routines and poverty. A love of sport illuminates the young John’s life, leading him into a career as a promising soccer player. Then, fired by the injustices around him, he heads to the corridors of political power to fight for Aboriginal rights, before beginning the company that would put the stirringly beautiful Wunala Dreaming Qantas jet in the sky. Along the way, John sets out to find his Aboriginal and Irish families – uncovering some amazing connections.