Known as Charles Pakana within the broader Victorian community, the founder of Victorian Aboriginal News was born - and remains - Keir Lalor Wells. He was named by his socialist activist parents after Keir Hardie (the first leader of the UK Labour Party) and Peter Lalor (the leader of the historic Eureka Stockade miners' rebellion).
His choice to adopt his community name carries profound personal and historical significance:
- Charles: Chosen to honor his Aboriginal father, Charles Frederick Wells. Born in Tasmania in 1918, his father was forced to hide his Aboriginality to avoid being forcibly taken away from his white grandmother.
- Pakana: A word meaning "people" in the language of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people. He adopted it as a constant personal reminder of his heritage and that he is "simply one of many."
A core driver of Pakana’s advocacy and journalism is his lived experience as a "disconnected" Aboriginal man. Due to the legacy of historic government policies, his family was severed from their traditional land, language, and clan networks.
He has spoken candidly about having to fight for his identity, making a formal submission to the Yoorrook Justice Commission on behalf of his grandmother, father, and three daughters. In it, he highlighted the "human tragedy" of forced disconnection, advocating fiercely for the recognition and support of Aboriginal people who are striving to find their way back to community.
The creation of Victorian Aboriginal News stemmed directly from a stand for journalistic integrity. While working as a Treaty journalist and broadcaster at a mainstream Melbourne radio station, a non-Aboriginal station manager disallowed his travel allowance, declaring that all future interviews with Indigenous community members and Elders had to be conducted over the telephone.
Believing deeply that respectful, face-to-face storytelling on Country was non-negotiable—especially when working with Elders—Pakana chose to quit his job. Supported by his brother, he purchased his Ford Transit van, sold most of his possessions, and custom-fitted it with a massive lithium-ion battery system and solar array to create a completely self-sufficient, mobile digital newsroom.
Pakana runs VAN under strict ethical and professional guidelines:
- Strictly No Advertising: He has stated a strong personal discomfort with commercialising First Nations community news, choosing to keep the platform entirely ad-free.
- Funding Model: Because he refuses commercial advertising, his journalism is largely self-funded. To keep the business running, he periodically pauses news production to take on independent corporate writing and consultancy work, supplemented by highly valued creative grants (such as from Creative Victoria and the Community Broadcasting Foundation).
- A Hyper-Local Focus: While he expanded his scope nationally during the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum with his Referendum '23 Tapes podcast series, his heart remains firmly in Victoria. He intentionally leaves national coverage to major networks like NITV or the Koori Mail, choosing instead to focus entirely on documenting the rich, diverse, and positive stories of Victorian Aboriginal communities.
