The three words Tasma Walton would love to hear on her deathbed

Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given. This week, he talks to Tasma Walton. The actor and writer, 52, is best known for her roles in Blue Heelers and Mystery Road. She’s also the author of I Am Nannertgarrook, which was joint winner of the ARA Historical Novel Prize in 2025.

You’re Boonwurrung on your mother’s side, which is something you discovered later in life. How did your awareness of your Aboriginality change how you saw things? I don’t think it really changed. I grew up in a housing commission suburb in Geraldton [WA]; my neighbours were predominantly Aboriginal. I learnt fairly quickly, as a kid, that the social structures that we have in place – put there by our colonial government, judicial and policing systems – benefit a majority of the population but can work against other marginalised groups. That was always clear to me.

Your novel, I Am Nannertgarrook, is based on a true story of your ancestor who was enslaved. Writing it, did you have a mission statement? First and foremost, it was about trying to be as true as possible to what I believe her experience was. I have people say to me, “I really hoped that such-and-such would happen at the end,” and I say, “Well, so did I.” So did Nannertgarrook. But life doesn’t work that way, particularly under the circumstances that she faced. For me, it was about truth-telling and helping as many people as possible to walk in the shoes of Nannertgarrook and those of all the other women caught in that terrible enterprise.

There’s so much ignorance – or denial – about the Indigenous slavery that happened on this continent. Were you scared about bringing it to light? I think I was more scared to not bring her story to light. It was clear that it wasn’t going to be an easy thing to do. So I put it off and I put it off and then got to a point where [I could do it] with a lot of support from an incredible group of women – particularly [author and publisher] Anita Heiss. So I was more scared that I wouldn’t be able to do the story justice. That, for me, would’ve been a terrible disappointment and failure.

OK, we’re talking about death. Oh, god … [laughs and groans]

You don’t like talking about death? There’s so much to unpack with death. As a chronic asthmatic in my younger years, I’ve come close to it. There have been two distinct times where I’ve thought, “I have a choice to make: whether I stay or whether I surrender.”

Wow. Tell me about them. The first instance w