Facing the mediator to the right are the other lawyers. They have comfortable clothes and messy hair but they meet and match the formality of the government lawyers in their mode of address. Behind them, as far back as possible but still within hearing range, sits a big mob of blackfellas. The old men sit in front, very upright in their chairs. Despite the heat they are dressed in long pants, long sleeved shirts and some of them jackets.
Children climb over and under their legs but they keep their attention fixed on the front.
Behind the old men are the women and younger people, they sit in their family groups in silence but the buzz of excitement is palpable. The obvious one is Indigenous and non-Indigenous. The cultural difference that exists between these groups is real and important. In my experience, Aboriginal people do not ordinarily use verbal confrontations, insults, interruptions, objections, etc as a rhetorical device in argument. Non-Aboriginal people are generally familiar with this and understand it as theatrics.