Author, artist and advocate
Peter Drew - Author, artist and advocate renown for the 'Real Australians Say Welcome' and Monga Khan posters.
Peter's infamous posters, 'Real Australians Say Welcome' and Monga Khan, have highlighted and raised awareness across Australia around the unfair treatment of indigenous Australians and asylum seekers.
Peter's artwork has been featured at the National Gallery of Australia, although his most notable work is installed on city streets.
Peter has also recently published his own book, Poster Boy: A Memoir of Art and Politics, which explores the parallels between Australia's past and the conflict he's experienced throughout his life.
Verbatim from the transcripts — each quote links to the moment.
“I see my posters as being sort of playing at certainty, but really what an Aussie is, what a real Australian is, these are things that are up for debate.”
“No, really listen to them, because even if what they're saying is completely wrong, if they're passionate about it, it will tell you something about the fears that they're going through.”
“If the cops catch me doing it, then I get fined. And that has happened a few times. But otherwise, there's no real risk on my part.”
“A poster on the street on a wall, it's just a poster for a band or whatever. But a poster 3 storeys up on a ledge, that's a storey of a person going up there. And why did that person need to do that?”
“Fascism is an intolerance towards nuance, or it's an inability to accept nuance.”
“It's the toilet wall made immortal, you know, like you're meant to be able to clean the toilet wall, you know. You're meant to be able to forget that garbage, but it's just, it's there forever.”
How should you respond to online critics or 'haters'?
Actually listen to critics rather than dismissing them; even if their point is wrong, their passion reveals real fears worth understanding, and blocking out all dissent only makes your own position weaker.
How do you know if a creative idea is worth pursuing?
Write the idea down and stick it on the wall so you see it daily; if it 'empties itself' and loses energy over time it's not worth pursuing, but if it keeps humming and retains interest, there's something real there.
How do you write honestly about personal and political topics without asking everyone's permission first?
Commit to honesty throughout the process rather than calling people in advance to negotiate how they're portrayed; trust that truthful work serves everyone better long-term, accepting that not everyone will like it.
Peter Drew recounts climbing into an abandoned building, hauling paint cans and a roller pole up by rope tied to his ankle, to paint a large roller piece on an exterior wall at night.
Drew describes putting up posters of old criminal mugshots from the South Australian State Archive around Adelaide, prompting the council to call him and ask him to seek property owner permission retroactively so they could avoid their legal obligation to remove them.
Drew describes being aggressively confronted by a site manager while putting up a poster on a construction hoarding in Sydney, noting the manager seemed simultaneously angry and ashamed.
Drew admits he initially got a historical detail wrong in his original video about hawkers, stating they used camels everywhere, when in Victoria they actually used horses; he corrected it after being informed.
Drew explains the book originated from a panel discussion on Australian identity where he felt he hadn't said enough, combined with a personal conversation about unresolved family secrets, leading him to draw an analogy between family history and national history and pitch the idea to a publisher before writing a word.
Drawn from the episode transcripts.
He is Monga Khan, a hawker (travelling seller) whose photo was taken in 1916 for his exemption application under the White Australia Policy; Drew found the image in the Australian National Archive.
From episode 452→He cooks large bags of flour with water on a stove (often in hostel kitchens) until the gluten releases and it becomes sticky; it's essentially the same base as commercial wallpaper paste like Clag, though without preservatives, so it can go off.
From episode 452→Yes, he has been fined after being caught in South Australia, Canberra and New South Wales; fines vary by state (e.g., around $793 in Victoria, according to the hosts' research), though he says there's no dedicated task force chasing postering and most risk comes only if police catch him in the act.
From episode 452→Every episode featuring Peter Drew on The Daily Talk Show.
