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August 2015 volume 5. number 2.

PG. ##

BURNING PAPINYA, FINDING KURLPURLUNU PG. 6, 14, 15

OUTSTATIONS RAISING BARS CLC YOUTH DETENTION CHEERS FUTURE CRISIS ADAM GOODES

PG. 3, 12, 13, 17 PG. 4 PG. 26 ISSN 1839-5279ISSN NEWS

EDITORIAL Land Rights News Central Back to the future? is published by the Central three times a year. From CDEP to RJCP to CDP The THE unpopular and unsuccessful remote jobs 27 Stuart Hwy and community program (RJCP) is getting a new name and some tweaking. The government is ‘rebranding’ the failed RJCP as the community development pro- NT 0870 gram, or CDP. tel: 89516211 Under the plan up to 30,000 job seekers in remote Australia have to work 25 hours a www.clc.org.au week in return for the dole. The new name is confusing for Central Aus- email [email protected] tralians because it’s the same as the CLC’s Contributions are welcome successful community development program. The big difference is that with the CLC’s brand of community development it’s Aboriginal people who make the decisions (see stories on SUBSCRIPTIONS pages 10, 11, 12 and 17). Indigenous Affairs Minister Scullion first Land Rights News Central announced the plans at the CLC April council meeting at Yulara Pulka. Australia subscriptions are Mr Scullion told delegates the new CDP he $20 per year. was workig on with Labor’s Warren Snowdon would be a ‘non-gammon’ CDEP (community LRNCA is distributed free development employment program). to Aboriginal organisations He said people will get top up if they work and communities in Central more than 25 hours a week and employers would have to pay it back to the government Australia if they did not offer job seekers a “real job” at To subscribe email: the end of their placement. He also announced he had dropped plans [email protected] to make participants work 52 weeks straight without holidays. Indigenous Affairs Minister NigelScullion with his CLP colleague Bess Price Under the new plan they would get six People can also use the scheme to work on and it should also be available to Aboriginal ADVERTISING weeks’ annual leave over Christmas, 10 days’ their outstations, the minister promised CLC and Islander people.” cultural leave and sick leave. delegates in April. The changes are based on mining billionaire In June the minister announced the new Carers, people cleaning homes, working in Andrew Forrest’s recommendations for wel- Advertise in the only scheme would be more flexible and transpar- fare reform. They aim to end ‘sit down money’, ent and “better engage” communities. according to Mr Scullion. newspaper to reach Mr Scullion said when the RJCP replaced “Employment rates have been decreasing the CDEP, more than half of participants left “It’s about no in Australia’s remote communities. The gap is Aboriginal people the employment program and ended up “on widening rather than closing,” he said. passive welfare”. The new approach was about Aboriginal organisations and job providers in remote Central re-engaging that group. work, no pay, are confused about the latest changes but re- Australia. “It’s about no work, no pay, and that’s what luctant to speak out publicly. the communities have asked for.” and that’s what “The program simply isn’t ready to roll out,” “If they turn up or work, they’ll be paid. said Green Party indigenous affairs spokes- Publication dates: If they don’t turn up for work they won’t be the communities person Rachel Siewert. She also asked where the new jobs will suddenly come from. November 2015 paid,” Scullion told media, adding that this was a successful aspect of the old CDEP and have asked for.” The unions warned businesses will be able Rates are available online at would get people used to normal mainstream to “exploit” job seekers by paying them less than the minimum wage. www.clc.org.au/land-rights-news working conditions. Under the plan up job seekers would be able gardens or carpentry workshops could receive Earlier this year the Minister caused an to work in a wider range of jobs. training to allow them to access the scheme. outcry when he said it was “not a bad thing” COVER IMAGE by Ben Kaethner: Service providers would be able to find local Counselling and rehabilitation treatment if people worked for the dole for decades. He solutions for eligible activities “based on the may also be considered as “work-like activity” pleaded with his critics: “What’s the alterna- Traditional owner Joe Bird with needs of their communities,” he said. because it may lead to employment. tive?” grandson Jeffrey Matthews Centrelink would be able to pay people to The minister told The Guardian he wanted “Part-time work for part-time pay” seems to Jr., on the prescribed burning work at regional councils, aged care facili- people to gain skills they find useful and enjoy be his latest answer. And he has another new trip to Papinya, where elders ties, child care facilities, ranger programs and their work: “We need to provide that flexibility tune: “Communities don’t like RJCP and nor rediscovered Kurlpurlunu. schools. because everyone else has that flexibility in life should they like work for the dole.” Rangers will stay with CLC minister says - but no promises on funding INDIGENOUS Affairs Minister Nigel “It’s working. Don’t change horses Scullion has backed down on plans to in the middle of the race,” he warned. split the CLC’s successful ranger pro- The minister backed off and re- gram into small independent organisa- assured the delegates that there tions that manage their own adminis- were “no changes on the table” for tration and commercial contracts. the ranger program. He praised the Rangers addressed the minister program and said many kids now and the CLC delegates at the Yulara wanted to be rangers. Pulka Council meeting in April be- Delegates also asked Mr Scullion cause they were worried about to expand the ranger program in changes discussed in a letter from response to growing demand from Mr Scullion’s department. communities, but the minister made Mr Scullion said he wanted ranger no promises. groups to have “more choice”, but he lis- Earlier the rangers drew lots of ap- tened when the rangers explained why plause when they talked about their they wanted to stay part of the CLC. work to Council. “The support for the rangers from The CLC’s ranger program devel- CLC is second to none,” Tjuwanpa opment strategy looks at different ranger co-ordinator Craig LeRossignol ways of growing the program. For told the minister. more information go to www.clc. “Having a direct link to traditional org.au/publications/content/ranger- owners who drive the work of the rang- program-development-report/. ers means it is more than a job, it is a Read what rangers had to say about way of life. their funding and future on page 16. Ranger co-ordinator Craig LeRossignol told Minister Scullion why rangers want to stay with the CLC’s successful ranger program. 2 August 2015 NEWS Outstations: your views

The government is saying that taxpayers shouldn’t fund outstations where kids don’t go to school and adults don’t go to work. Do you agree or disagree and why is that?

Margaret Lynch, Black Tank: Disagree “We pay taxes too. We contribute to the economy. As Mildred Inkamala, Ntaria: Disagree traditional owners we sign on to developments that “It's wrong! He (the Prime Minister) should support contribute to the nation-building.” them. Taxpayers should support communities because they are part of Australia too.”

Craig LeRossignol, Oak Valley: Disagree “Should we cut their funding and his ‘lifestyle choices? There hasn’t been much support for them to begin with so you can’t take what the people don’t have, it’s unfair.

Ngarla Kunoth-Monks, Urapuntja: Disagree "If communities won't be funded by taxpayers then Australia needs to back pay rent to Aboriginal people." Vincent Forrester, : Disagree Stewart Paroultja, 8 Mile-Imamplte: Disagree “Where are all the minerals coming from? Whose “They should fund Aboriginal communities. They land? The communities are already under-funded should support us, for work and to teach our children and now they want to take more away. Where is the out there. We need that for culture too.” infrastructure when people move anyway?”

Council NEWS To find out what’s happening at Council, download a copy of the latest Council News at: www.clc.org.au/council-news/ or pick up a printout at any CLC regional office or at the head office in Alice Springs on 27 Stuart Highway.

Council NEWS

Q&A with Minister Scullion May 2015 “Don’t change horses in the middle of the race.” Tjuwanpa ranger co-ordinator Craig LeRossignol explains to the minister why the rangers want to stay with the CLC.

The CLC andRangers ranger groups Future are worried about flagged changes to the ranger program. Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion told the Council meeting Warren Snowdon on bringing back a in April at Yulara Pulka he was looking “non-gammon” CDEP. at splitting ranger groups into small He said CDEP workers would get top-up organisations that manage their own which employers would have to pay back administration and commercial contracts. if they did not offer them a “real job”. He called it “more choice”. And that the workers, including those on Rangers drew lots of applause when they outstations, would get Christmas, cultural presented to Council about their work and and sick leave. Empowered Communities then told the minister why they want to He promised to support more teachers Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council stay part of the CLC. through the new CDEP because CEO Andrea Mason sought support for a new model for managing Tjuwanpa ranger co-ordinator Craig Aboriginal teachers with cultural Aboriginal communities called Empowered Communities. LeRossignol said: “The support for the authority and language skills are The NPY lands are one of eight regions across Australia where rangers from CLC is second to none. “fundamental” to better school attendance community leaders want to use the model to get more control over how Having a direct link to traditional owners and education outcomes. taxpayer funds are spent and how services are designed and delivered. who drive the work of the rangers means Four NPY communities are in the CLC region. it is more than a job, it is a way of life. Ms Mason told delegates Empowered Communities is “a self It’s working. Don’t change horses in the determination model where we take control”. It is being developed from middle of the race.” the ground up and would therefore work differently in each region. In The minister said there were “no changes the NPY lands the model is based on five ideas: on the table” for the CLC rangers. He 1. Access to quality educational opportunities and children ready, praised the CLC ranger program and said many kids now want to be rangers. Safety2. andwilling welfare and of able kids to and take vulnerable advantage people of them Delegates asked the minister to expand 3. Housing access and mutual responsibility the ranger program but he made no 4. Capable adults take part in economic and cultural opportunities promises. 5. Tackle domestic, family and community violence and drug

Other regionsabuse would be welcome to “opt in” if they liked the model. Minister ScullionA new discussed CDEP? his plans to Delegates had lots of questions and some asked to talk directly with the work with the CLC and local member CLC delegate Raelene Silverton elected leaders of the NPY Women’s Council. The federal government is yet to respond to the Empowered Communities report from the eight regions. Indigenous Advancement Strategy For more information go to http://www.clc.org.au/publications/content/ Minister Sullion also defended the empowered-communities-presentation-npy-womens-council/. Petria Cavanah, Ltyentye Apurte: Disagree controversial Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS). He said more funding is going to Aboriginal organisations. Those Boyd George, Kalkarindji: Disagree which had not delivered good services had missed out. Aboriginals Benefit Account Minister Scullion said the Aboriginals No promises about new ranger groups: Benefit Account (ABA) members decided “We are taxpayers too. Our families trying to get jobs Minister Scullion to move away from funding ceremony over 3 years and want people to use their royalty money for it. “I am not dictating “It’s bad, that’s our community, our country. Hunting, to the ABA anymore.” He said it was up to ABA members to allow senior land council staff to observe and do the right thing but he’s not helping to get more ABA meetings. fishing on country is a part of us. That’s where our family Andrea Mason, NPY Womens Council CEO jobs in communities.” has always been. Why should it be different for us?”

August 2015 3 NEWS Jail first, ask questions later AS CONCERN over the high rate in prison are indigenous. of Aboriginal children in deten- Amnesty’s John Cleary said young tion grows, the NT government has people in detention should be held changed the law so young people un- in “non-prison like” places with staff der 17 can be sent straight to jail, even who are specially trained to deal with before trial. vulnerable young people. And according to a Darwin magis- “When it comes to young people trate, they might be “safer” in prison caught up in the criminal justice sys- than in the Don Dale Youth Deten- tem, the focus should always be on tion Centre, which she described as early intervention, diversion and re- “a dangerous place” for both staff habilitation,” he said. and detainees. Darwin magistrate Elizabeth Mor- The Aboriginal Peak Organisa- ris recently sent two 16 year old boys tions of the to the Holtze Adult Correction Centre called for “an end to hard-line pu- in Darwin after they broke out of Don nitive approaches to youth justice” Dale and then “broke back in” two and said “children should be de- days later. tained in an age-appropriate way Their display of reckless driving and not like adults.” was filmed and broadcast on TV. North Australian Aboriginal Justice Their lawyer said the boys were Agency head Priscilla Collins said the locked in their cells for 23 hours a day move would expose young offenders in the adult centre, but Ms Morris to more criminal activity. said they would get better rehabilita- Human rights organisation Am- tion and education than they would nesty International has drawn inter- in Don Dale. national attention to the “shocking” Last month NT Attorney General number of Aboriginal children in jail John Elferink approved changes in Australia and called on States and which would allow young people who Territories to create alternatives to have been refused bail to be sent to imprisonment. an adult prison for up to 72 hours. Cells inside the Don Dale Detention Centre: A magistrate says children would be “better off” in prison. Photo ABC An Amnesty report was particu- The NT Law Society called the biggest increase in imprisonments larly critical of Western Australia, changes “appalling”. in Australia, with 904 prisoners which detains Aboriginal children “Kids need a safe and secure envi- for every 100,000 population. This Tough love at Loves Creek at 53 times the rate of non-Aborig- ronment to be detained, and an adult compares with 194 per 100,000 CLC delegates have cleared the for physical challenges such as hik- inal children. prison doesn’t provide [it],” society Australiawide.” way for a youth camp near the ing and abseiling, as well as cultur- But Amnesty also criticised con- president Tass Liveris said. Meanwhile the Labor party Ross River Resort to stop young al activities with elders, health and ditions of youth detention in Alice “This just proves that the system promised to make reducing the people ending up in adult prisons. drug education. Springs and Darwin. is broken and further highlights the numbers of Aboriginal people in The first group of 22 youths aged Council heard the ‘base camp’ The NT has the highest rate of youth need for a purpose built juvenile de- jail a key priority if it wins the next between 12 and 17 spent a week will have staff accommodation, imprisonment in Australia, and more tention facility.” federal election. at Loves Creek Station in the East cooking facilities and storage. than 95 per cent of the young people Since last March the NT had the MacDonnells in July. Up to another Delegates said elders played an 38 offenders will follow this year. important role in teaching, heal- The rehabilitation program is ing and disciplining young people. being developed in consultation Some worried that taking young with the traditional owners after people away from communities the CLC Council meeting at Yulara would weaken this connection. Pulka endorsed their decision to Others said it was hard to disci- give the NT Department of Cor- pline young people who don’t lis- rectional Services a two year lease ten. over part of their land. Nine traditional owners repre- The department wants to con- senting nine family groups will tract a non-government organisa- advise the department’s contrac- tion to take groups of young people tor, who has to employ Aboriginal to Loves Creek three times a year people to help run the camp. Death in custody was ‘paperless’ THE death of a man In 2012, 27-year-old Kwementy- in the Darwin watchhouse has in- aye Briscoe died in the Alice Springs creased concerns about the NT Gov- watchhouse. He had been taken into ernment’s new ‘paperless arrests’. protective custody for being drunk. Where’s the vigilance? Kwementyaye Langdon, 63, had Police did not check on Briscoe for COMMENT been arrested for drinking in public two hours, the inquest into his death and taken to the city watchhouse un- was told. WELL KNOWN to the court? Tick. Spokesman of a self-proclaimed ‘paramilitary’ group? Tick. Using der the new rules, which allow police The coroner found that Mr Bris- social media to recruit members with firearms experience? Tick. Attention seeker with a racist social to hold people for four hours without coe had probably died from a media following? Tick. Dangerously simplistic views? Tick. Potential for radicalising impressionable charging them with an offence. combination of intoxication and a folk? Tick. According to NT Attorney-Gener- blocked airway. A man who ticks all these boxes might be asking for a visit from the police or a close encounter with a al John Elferink, the new rules cut An inquest into Mr Langdon’s well-armed tactical response team. Especially in the wake of the Lindt Café siege. down on paperwork so Police can do death will be held in August But this is not Sydney, and Alice Springs vigilante enthusiast Gary Hall is white and does not have a their job more efficiently. Rex Japanangka Granites, a rela- muslim background. But the North Australian Aborigi- tive of Mr Langdon’s, said he be- Mr Hall and his friends in the Alice Springs Volunteer Force (AVF) have taken it upon themselves to nal Justice Agency, which mounted a lieved Mr Langdon should not have reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in Alice Springs to “acceptable levels”. He says members of his Supreme Court challenge against the been arrested. group are armed and has used Facebook to recruit new members with firearms experience. changes, says the rules lead to people “We’re not blaming anybody… un- “It’s very difficult to come from where I come from and not be involved in paramilitary activity,” he being locked up for minor offences. less we get the answers through that told The Centralian Advocate. He refused to deny he was active in Northern Ireland’s notorious Ulster It says the government should be inquest or police doing these kinds of Defence Force. taking a “health approach” to people things without, you know, checking if Mr Hall is known to the local court for his own troubles maintaining acceptable behaviour, having who have problems with alcohol they were sick or not or have … medi- twice been the subject of domestic violence orders in recent times. His former partner complained to the rather than locking them up, which cations or anything like that,” he told court about stalking and harassment in May. can lead to tragedies. ABC Radio. He also spends much of his free time on the court’s visitor benches, taking notes during bail hearings. But Mr Elferink said: “You don’t Police told the ABC Mr Langdon “We know where you live,“ seems to be the unspoken threat. take a person to a sobering up shel- had been twice examined by a nurse Supporters post violently anti-Aboriginal rants on social media, but Mr Hall says he’s not a racist. “Any group ter when they are charged with an and checked regularly before he was that I’m involved with will have absolutely nothing to do with the colour of a man’s skin,” he told the media. offence. That is an exercise of pro- found dead in his cell. “Alice Springs is divided into two groups of people, good people and bad people. We’re interested in the tective custody.’’ Mr Granites said Mr Langdon, a latter. If you’re a law abiding citizen then you have no concern from the Alice Springs Volunteer Force.” Mr Elferink said he believed Mr painter, was a talented and “quiet What a relief then, that the police are “monitoring” Mr Hall. Shouldn’t be too hard. After all, he often Langdon had pre-existing medical fella”, who would be remembered by works just next door. conditions but the government would the local football team murals that he wait for the coronial inquest findings. painted in Yuendumu.

4 August 2015 NEWS Recognising what, exactly? ABORIGINAL leaders have ac- original leaders, including CLC people. such as New Zealand’s and Canada’s, cused the Prime Minister of set- director David Ross, they outlined CLC delegates discussed a refer- constitution does not ting back the cause of recognition a process that allows Aboriginal endum to change the constitution acknowledge indigenous peoples as by rejecting their request to fund people to understand the options. for the first time in April. They the first peoples. a series of indigenous conventions Many, including NLC CEO Joe voiced many different opinions. First ATSIC, then former Prime on constitutional reform as too Morrison, insist the referendum The Australian constitution was Minister proposed to risky. should not just be symbolic and in- put together in 1901, when the six recognise Aboriginal people in the Garma festival participants clude a clause that prohibits racial British colonies came together as the constitution. Prime Minister Tony slammed Mr Abbott’s refusal as discrimination (see story below). Commonwealth of Australia. The Abbott wants it to happen in 2017, disastrous for the proposed refer- Opinion polls are showing most constitution is Australia’s ‘founding on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 endum on constitutional recogni- Australians support the idea of rec- document’, the basis of all its laws. referendum, which included indig- tion of Australia’s first people. ognising indigenous peoples in the It is the hardest law to change. enous people in the census for the Former CLC director Patrick constitution, but there is no agree- Only when a majority of voters in first time. Dodson and Cape York lawyer ment about what form it should take. a majority of states and territories Some supporters of constitutional Noel Pearson said the conventions A loud group of conservatives op- agree by voting in a referendum can recognition also want to change the are needed to help indigenous poses changing the constitution. it be changed. This is why many ref- parts of the constitution that give the communities make informed deci- Some Aboriginal groups are also erenda, for example about Australia Commonwealth the power to make sions about the referendum. opposed, saying it would make no becoming a republic, have failed. Billy Ah Kit debates constitutional laws based on race that discriminate Following a meeting of 40 Ab- difference to the lives of indigenous Unlike many other constitutions, recognition at the CLC’s April against Aboriginal people. council meeting. Discrimination Leaders insist : no referendum clause triggers without indigenous support controversy ANY change to the Australian con- stitution must include a clause protecting indigenous people from racial discrimination, a federal par- liamentary report has found. The Joint Select Committee on Racial Discrimination handed down its report in June. The committee backed the in- clusion of an anti-discrimination clause among the changes people Pat Dodson Noel Pearson Warren Mundine Marcia Langton Lowitja O’Donohue would vote for at a referendum. But not everyone agrees. “WE cannot proceed to a referen- constitution. He claims constitu- cessful referendum comes from con- a lot of public pressure if they ig- Some commentators say includ- dum without knowing where indige- tional recognition would be racially servative critics. Lawyer and Cape nored it. Academic Marcia Langton ing the clause will make it less like- nous people stand. If it does not have divisive. York Institute founder Noel Pearson said Mr Pearson’s proposal would ly for the referendum to succeed, indigenous support, why would the Aboriginal opponents of con- says conservative opposition could “overcome the underrepresentation nation proceed with a referendum?” stitutional change include Gary sink the referendum. of our indigenous population”. and it would be safer to leave it out. With these words Pat Dodson Foley and small groups such as the Mr Pearson supports removing Professor Langton also supports In its report, the parliamentary and Noel Pearson challenged Aboriginal Provisional Govern- racist clauses from the constitution. Mr Pearson’s call for a series of con- committee said it had heard it Prime Minister Tony Abbott in ment, which says Aboriginal people But he says that instead of rec- stitutional conventions. was “time to remedy the injustice But Mr Abbot’s advisor Warren July to help Aboriginal people should have self determination and ognising Aboriginal people in the of exclusion and recognise in our Mundine called Mr Pearson’s pro- founding document the significant make informed decisions about self government instead. “Our vi- ‘preamble’ [foreword] of the consti- posal “confusing”. constitutional recognition. Mr Ab- sion is for Aboriginal people to take tution, there should a separate “dec- “It’s starting to turn into a dog’s contribution of Aboriginal and bott has rejected the request beca- our place among the nations and laration of recognition” acknowledg- breakfast,” he said. “We need to get Torres Strait Islander peoples to a seu of the “risk” of it leading to “a peoples of the world, not beneath ing indigenous people. back to the real issues ... the removal modern Australia.” log of claims”. them.” “It could be our nation’s agreed of the race laws and inclusion of a “The committee heard that in But the leaders preamble,” he order to achieve this, the mere re- said any model said. moval of racist sections of the Con- for recognition ‘Father of stitution would not be enough and Reconciliation’ “should be devel- that much more is needed.” Pat Dodson also oped with genuine “That Aboriginal and Torres indigenous input believes recog- Strait Islander peoples will ac- and taken to a nition should cept nothing less than a protection referendum with be a part of the the wholehearted constitution and from racial discrimination in the not in a separate agreement and Constitution.” document. backing of indig- But critics predict that includ- He said it ing an anti discrimination clause enous people.” should be “not The two lead- just poetry”, but would increase the number of votes ers outlined three guide politicians against constitutional change. steps to help Ab- when they make Law professor Frank Brennan original people to laws affecting says he is afraid the referendum consider options indigenous peo- will fail because it is aims too high. and “move towards ple. The changes “Whatever the shortcomings of a consensus model should ban racial modest, symbolic change, it is sure to submit to the discrimination, to be a lot better than no change,” Australian people he said. Mr Dodson he said. at a referendum”: But NLC CEO Joe Morrison 1. Indigenous con- has also warned warned that Aboriginal people ferences and a na- Indigenous leaders meet with federal politicians in Sydney. that Aboriginal people would fail themselves would not support tional indigenous to see the point of proposed consti- convention. Another group, the National Unity change unless it included protec- recognition of the thousands year old tutional change if the federal govern- 2. Broader community consultation Government, says indigenous people indigenous heritage of this land … tion against racial discrimination. ment continued to cut funding to Ab- He said the Howard govern- with with all Australians. “have never ceded… our pre-existing recited in schools and taught to new original programs. ment’s intervention in the NT had 3. Negotiation between indigenous and inherent sovereign rights.” migrants at their citizenship ceremo- “I tend to be a bit despairing of our representatives and party leaders Similar views were raised dur- nies,” he said. capacity to change the constitution been possible because the constitu- to help parliament agree on a mod- ing the CLC’s last council meeting This ‘declaration’ could not be … because there is far too much an- tion had allowed it. el to take to a referendum. in April. used to challenge existing Australian ger and frustration in the Aboriginal Mr Morrison said the Joint Se- A clear path to consensus is badly Constitutional lawyer Sean Bren- laws, because it was not inside the community now,” he said. lect Committee had found wide- needed. As the proposed 2017 date nan, invited to answer delegates’ constitution. Lowitja O’Donohue, 83, was a spread support for a clause in the draws nearer, there has been in- questions, said it was possible to pur- Mr Pearson also called for the cre- prominent supporter of the 1967 constitution protecting indigenous creasing disagreement about what sue long term goals like and ation of a national indigenous advi- referendum, but is too sick to get in- people from future discrimination. volved in the current campaign. Australians would vote for. sovereignty at the same time as sup- sory body which would give advice “Any question absent a provision Right wing senator Cory Bernardi porting positive change of the consti- to the federal parliament about laws She told The Australian she was concerned the referendum would that would break the shameful re- offered to lead a campaign against tution in the short term. affecting indigenous people. cord of discrimination is bound to recognising in the But the greatest threat to a suc- Politicians would not have to fol- not succeed because Aboriginal low the advice but there would be groups were not united behind it. fail,” he said. August 2015 5 NEWS Elders find lost site again - after 70 years THERE were tears of joy as elders from the Southern and Northern Tanami Indigenous Protected Areas found Kurlpurlunu, an impor- tant rain making site they had not visited for about 70 years. Molly Tasman, George Ryder, Mark Lane and Jerry Jangala Pat- rick were among a group of elders who used a helicopter burning trip with CLC rangers from Lajamanu and Yuendumu to have another look for the long lost dreaming place in May. Some had been involved in previous unsuccessful attempts to lo- cate the site north east of the Granites, deep in the Tanami. After days of discussions among the elders Ms Tasman and Mr Ry- der navigated the chopper to the site, 100 km from the rangers’ burn- ing camp at Papinya. They brought back the good news. Mr Patrick was part of the second group that flew from Papyinya to Kurlpurlunu to confirm the discovery. He performed a song as soon as he stepped out of the chopper. CLC chair Francis Kelly said even though Mr Patrick and Ms Tas- man, both in their 80s, had not been to the site since they were chil- dren, they recognised it straight away. “Jerry Jangala said: ‘Yes, that’s the rock. I remember sitting there Dominic Lane,Eliza Lane and Mark Lane at Kurlpurlunu again in July when I was a small boy, killing all the birds.’ He was crying. ‘I saw it when I was a little one. If I pass away I’ve seen that place again. I’m happy.’ That’s what he said. “Kurlpurlunu was a main area for Warlpiri for all the ceremonies George Ryder, Mark Lane and Jerry Patrick (with PAW Media’s Jeff Bruer) are all smiles after finding Kurlpurlunu with the help of Molly Tasman (below right). Below left: Dominic, Eliza and Mark Lane visited the site again in July. for that area, for songs and rain dancing. “It was the only water they were drinking in that time, and it still bubbles. When you put stick there it starts squirting out.” Mr Kelly’s colleagues from PAW Media captured the journey for a documentary about ngapa song lines in the Tanami. It will be broad- cast on NITV next year. “Without our ranger and fire management programs we’d still be looking for Kurlpurlunu,” Mr Kelly said. “Burning trips are like that. So many good and unexpected things happen at the same time.” A month later the CLC took a group of elders and rangers back to the site to teach them its songs and stories and plan how to keep it in good condition. This includes keeping camels and bullocks out and doing ani- mal surveys. More photos from the Papinya burning trip on p.14 and 15. Check out the CLC Facebook page to see the huge reaction that greeted the news.

To frack or not to frack: delegates quiz experts THE CLC mining section organised the first ever fracking forum at the council meeting at Yulara Pulka in May. Delegates spent a lot of time on quizzing a panel of experts and advocates about the controversial gas mining technique known as hydraulic fracturing (or fracking). Representatives from the fracking industry, the environment movement, government and an independent scientist took up the CLC’s invitation to present. Many speakers made the point that the NT has a lot of work to do before it has strong rules (regulations) to make sure this new industry does not waste or poison our precious water. The NT gov- ernment is currently reviewing these rules. Professor Damian Barrett, a scientist from the CSIRO, said the CLC is in a strong position to influence the regulation of fracking. Judging from the many questions delegates put to Professor Bar- rett it won’t be the last time they will wrestle with this tricky issue. It looks like landowners have a bit more time to make up their minds. Despite the many granted exploration permits in the CLC region there are currently few if any actual plans to conduct oil and gas exploration and no plans to drill or frack any wells. “This isn’t likely to change while the oil price continues to be low and there is no new market for gas,” said CLC director David Ross. “Interest in exploration for shale gas, where hydraulic fracturing is a crucial technology in production, may gain momentum if the Sammy Wilson, Daisy Walkabout, Judy Trigger and Rita Okai with the Dalai Lama proposed north east gas pipeline goes ahead.” His holiness a hit with Mutitjulu HE was not trying to make converts in Some Anangu didn’t know a lot about nation (rebirth after death). his short visit to Uluru, but it didn’t take the Buddhist leader before they had He also told Anangu to keep their cul- long for the world’s most famous Bud- heard he wanted to meet them. ture strong. dhist to win new friends there. But Judy said when they found out He added that making sure they The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Bud- that he had lost his country they felt sorry learned good English at the same time dhist leader, insisted on meeting the for him. would help them to do that because it traditional owners during his visit to The Dalai Lama is not allowed to re- would give them a stronger voice in the Uluru in June. turn to Tibet, which has been colonised- mainstream Australian culture. They were very pleased to oblige. A by China. The Dalai Lama said it was important group of young women even got up early In front of a crowd of 1500 people, the for Aboriginal people to keep their tradi- to cook fresh damper for him. welcoming party presented the spiri- tional names. “We were very happy to meet him be- tual leader with some rubbing medicine, “Modern education, modern dress, cause we knew he wanted to meet us,” tjala (honey ants), and maku (witchetty but they would keep their traditional said Judy Trigger, an elder who was grubs) that they had collected. name,” he said. won over by the Dalai Lama’s open and They were amused when he confessed The Dalai Lama said he was impressed friendly manner. that he was afraid of caterpillars! by the complexity of Anangu culture. He “He wanted to hold our hands,” said Ten young Anangu women performed suggested Aboriginal people could pre- Fracking is not everyone’s idea of looking after country, but Santos Judy, who greeted his holiness (as he is an inma for his holiness, and Roley Min- serve traditional knowledge by adapting representative Che Cockatoo Collins was easily the most popular also known) on his arrival and took him tuma also danced for him. modern technology. panel member of the CLC’s first fracking forum. to the Mutitjulu waterhole. Here, she The Dalai Lama told his hosts a little Next time he visits the CLC rangers told him the story of Liru and Kunyia. about Buddhism and its belief in reincar- could show him how they do just that. 6 August 2015 NEWS Town, bush voters joined up in ‘super electorate’ plan ABORIGINAL voters in the CLP held bush seat dence of the NTEC. of Stuart may have to share their voice with town Ms Lambley refused to link the abolition of voters at the next NT election. her seat of Araluen to her role in the failed The NT Electoral Commission (NTEC) wants coup against “worst ever” Chief Minister Bess Price’s bush seat of Stuart to swallow up but said: “I do not believe coin- much of newly indepen- cidences exist in politics.” dent ’s Alice Her parting shot after Springs seat of Araluen. resigning from the CLP in And it would change the June: “We have had almost electorate’s name to ‘Bat- three years of the politics of tarbee’, after the friend hate, discord and lies -- the and mentore of Albert air is heavy with the weight Namatjira. of the misinformation and The new seat would the fantasies spewed out by force together very diverse the Chief Minister and his groups of voters from propaganda machine. ” Kalkaringi, Lajamanu and Meanwhile Mr Giles has Alice Springs in one ‘super objected to the proposed electorate’. redistribution. He said he Robyn Lambley told the wants the NTEC to keep ABC that merging Aralu- the three Alice Springs Bess Price, member for Stuart en with Stuart breaks the (above) and , seats and find another way CLP’s promise to give a member for Namatjira to deal with population voice to the bush. growth in Darwin. Alison Anderson, whose But the Chief Minister seat of Namatjira would and his party now face new stay largely unchanged, problems as a minority gov- agreed: “The CLP is selling ernment. out Aboriginal people in the The resignation of bush to get re-elected.” Speaker Kezia Purich in The independent MLA July meant that the gov- predicted that plan will fail ernment lost its majority because voters in the Larap- of one. inta town camp “will not The newly independent Itching to have your say? vote for Bess.” Ms Purich also criticised Ms Price did not respond the Giles government for The next election could be just around the corner. to a request for comment. a lack of integrity and The NTEC wants Central transparency. Make sure you and your family are enrolled to vote. Australia to give up one seat But she said she would to Darwin because the pop- not vote with Labour and Call 1800MYVOTE, visit MyVote Central at the ulation up north is growing much faster. the independents to bring down the government Yeperenye shopping centre, opposite the Alice Ms Anderson has questioned the indepen- before its fixed election term expires next year. Springs Post Office, or visit www.ntec.nt.gov.au. Giles’ backflips on land rights, statehood Morgues to be funded after “nothing to do with” looming election years of delay THE NT’s scandal plagued minority govern- pushed his state and federal ment has backed off its attacks on land rights and counterparts to support NT THE NT and federal governments will changed its tune on NT statehood - for now. statehood by 2018 - without spend $5 million upgrading morgues in As the NT election gets closer, Chief Minister discussing the issue with NT remote communities. Adam Giles has been sending conciliatory mes- voters first. The news comes before an NT election, sages to traditional owners and their land coun- Mr Giles has denied that the three years after a report by the NT om- cils. looming NT poll is behind his budsman calling for action. Only last year the NT government called the new focus on indigenous vot- Former ombudsman Carolyn Rich- federal Aboriginal Land Rights Act a “wall of im- ers. ards found in 2012 that that there was no prisonment” blocking development and demand- He has put public service government responsible for looking after ed its “repatriation” (sic) to the Territory. heads directly in charge of driv- morgues in communities. NT Attorney-General John Elferink even com- ing economic reform in 13 re- She described instances of bodies being pared the “disenfranchisement” he said resulted mote regions. He announced stored in inappropriate places, such as a from land rights to dictatorships such as North new Aboriginal employment shed, a kitchen and a courtroom. Korea. targets for government depart- Bodies had decomposed before funer- But since lobbying the Prime Minister and con- ments and contractors while als could be held because of refrigeration servative state premiers to launch an “urgent” excluding Ingkerregke and breakdowns. investigation into the administration of Aborigi- Tangentyere from lucrative In January this year, the ABC reported nal land, the CLP’s parliamentary majority had housing contracts that went to that a woman’s body lay on the floor of an slipped to one. the shires instead. unrefrigerated morgue in Kalkaringi for No longer talking about “taking on ” One of his first actions after four days in summer. over land rights, Mr Giles radically changed tack. surviving the CLP leadership gressed its Aboriginal policy goals “without any Only in February NT Health Minister He told The Australian he has “not a problem coup against him in February was to reverse announcements.” John Elferink said the NT government with the legislation” and now could find “nothing his scrapping of the Department of Aboriginal “We’re in a position now that we’re starting to was “not legally responsible for remote I would seek to change in a rapid time” if he ever Affairs. talk about it so people can see the plan the gov- morgue services or infrastructure.” did get control of the federal law. His backflip was widely interpreted as an ad- ernment has got,” he said. It has never funded the shires to operate Mr Giles went so far as to publicly suggest a mission that his strategies of the last three years But earlier this year a leaked recording of Mr morgues. close working relationship with the land councils. had failed and that the CLP was on the nose with Giles speaking at a closed CLP meeting revealed “Currently, the family is responsible for “Maybe we put some of our staff into the NLC. I bush voters. there was no plan. organising the funeral and other associat- think we can do the same with the CLC,” he said. But Mr Giles said his turnaround had nothing “There’s no Aboriginal affairs policy and that’s ed arrangements for a deceased person,” He has also changed his tune on NT statehood. to do with the forthcoming election where, ac- why a lot of times the pollies don’t know what Mr Elferink said. Only in June he dismissed the issue as unim- cording to recent opinion polls, the CLP would they stand for,” Mr Giles reportedly admitted Families often could not afford to bury portant. That was after his Minister for State- face a wipeout. to CLP members. “I think there has been a lack their loved ones, resulting in them lying hood, Bess Price, copped ridicule for not being “Not at all. There’s been a complete focus of implementation in a range of different policy in morgues for a long time, CLC delegate able to answer a question about it in parliament. on Aboriginal affairs the whole time,” he told areas,” he later told The Australian. “And there’s Baydon Williams told the November In July, when the NT government lost its reporters. been a bit of a lack of leadership.” Council meeting in Alpururrulam. majority following yet another resignation, he He claimed his government had quietly pro- August 2015 7 nNEWS Black land, white blueprint ABORIGINAL leaders have greeted the latest plans for their land with a mix of caution and distrust. They have asked the government to fund a forum where Aboriginal communities, groups and organisations will have an oppor- tunity to be consulted about the long awaited government ‘white paper’ (plan) about the development of Northern Australia. CEO Joe Morri- son said the conversation about native title should be driven by Aboriginal people. The plan pays the expected lip service to “full partnership with indigenous Austra- lians”. But Aboriginal leaders are concerned that it relies on the chaotic Indigenous Advance- ment Scheme (IAS) to create jobs and im- prove the education of Aboriginal people. It also flags proposals to ‘simplify’ exclu- sive native title. “ should be able to use their exclusive native title to attract capi- tal necessary for economic development,” the white paper said. “But banks do not lend against native title because native title is not transferable in the event of a default.” “The aim is to assist Indigenous landown- ers and businesses to create, on a voluntary basis, transferable interests that can be used as collateral for commercial loans, without extinguishing native title.” Mr Morrison told The Guardian that get- ting access to finance using the title “has been one of the most fundamental questions fac- ing native title claimants and holders”. “We’ve got to be careful when we look at these words in the white paper that they’re not code for winding back Aboriginal informed consent in those property rights,” he warned. “How do you hold a lease or sublease with- out losing those property rights? How do you get a financing mechanism that underwrites Community funded and initiated development does not rate a mention in the government’s Northern Development Plan. These Nyirripi children attended that?” he asked. a science workshop at Rosebud Secondary College. The excursion was funded by the Warlpiri Education and Training Trust (WETT), through the CLC. There are many hundreds of leases over Aboriginal freehold land held under the Ab- original Land Rights Act but it is more compli- “We’ve got to be careful when cated under native title. Mr Morrison said native title had to be extin- we look at these words in the guished if landowners wanted freehold. “I think it’s disturbing to suggest that Aborig- inal people have either got to surrender their white paper that they’re not code native title or extinguish it to be able to have … a typical western form of title.” for winding back Aboriginal Cape York leader Noel Pearson also warned that the white paper could be used to under- informed consent.” mine the Mabo decision and land rights. ABOVE: CLC chair Francis Kelly told the recent “The problem with government policy is that were already engaged in such self-development. decade, when land owners in our region have National Native Title Conference how Central they are anxious about making the north ame- They told the national native title conference funded education projects, improved infra- Australian communities are already developing nable to industry, but they pay little attention in Cairns in June that 35 communities were not structure on outstations and created jobs and the North on their own terms. to making the north amenable to self-develop- waiting for the government but used money training for locals,” Mr Ross said. Rather than wait for government white papers, ment by Aboriginal communities and Aborigi- from land use agreements to fund their own “Instead, the grand plan trots out old fan- they’re doing it for themselves, using their own nal land owners,” he said. development. tasies about Aboriginal home ownership in royalty and compensation money. “That’s self-determination,” Mr Kelly said. CLC chair Francis Kelly and director David “The white paper is a missed opportunity remote communities where most houses are Ross said Aboriginal people in Central Australia to build on Aboriginal initiatives of the past in an appalling condition, repairs and mainte- nance costs are through the roof, most people rely on welfare and there are no markets.” See how it’s done The white paper also proposes ‘cutting red tape’ – which Mr Ross sees as code for remov- ing hard won protections for cultural heritage - as well as more township leases. Most traditional owners are against giving ‘whole of township’ leases for commercially valuable land to the government. However, the white paper suggests that a community entity could also hold the head lease over a township. “As long as that entity was representative of Aboriginal traditional owners, the NLC could be prepared to consider such an alternative model,” said Mr Morrison. He also welcomed the white paper’s 10 year target to finalise all current native title claims, to speed up the process for future claims and EVER wondered how they’re doing it? its commitment to better fund native title rep- The videos of the CLC’s community devel- resentative bodies. opment unit showcase many great projects in Read the CLC’s submission to the which Aboriginal people are investing their time inquiry into the development of and money. Northern Australia at www.clc.org. See for yourself on the CLC website and on au/publications/content. Joe Mor- Youtube and listen to Aboriginal people explain rison’s speech is at www.nlc.org.au/ how they did it. media-releases/article/resilient-com- Go to www.youtube.com/channel/ munities-and-sustainable-prosperity- UCADqXgZFAr8qS9Il-vGizyA Northern Land Council CEO Joe Morrrison at a council meeting northern-indigenous-develo/

8 August 2015 NEWS NPY communities get ready to take back some power DOCKER River, Mutitjulu, Aputula communities. (Finke) and Imanpa residents are a The meeting step closer to adopting a new plan schedule will be that would give them more power to flexible. Some run their own communities. communities may The federal government is ex- want to hold sepa- pected to soon announce its re- rate meetings for sponse to ‘Empowered Commu- men, women and nities’, a proposal put forward by young people. indigenous leaders from eight re- The eight re- gions around Australia, including gions around the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Australia involved Yangkunytjatjara (NPY) lands. in the Empow- Under the plan, state and fed- ered Communi- eral governments would be asked ties project have to become “enablers of Aboriginal agreed on five people”. This would mean giving up goals, but Ms Ma- some of their powers over Aboriginal son said each re- people and sharing other powers. gion would inter- The plan is about “indigenous pret those goals in people empowering ourselves by its own way. taking all appropriate and neces- For example, sary powers and responsibilities Aboriginal people for our own lives and futures.” in Sydney may NPY Women’s Council CEO An- want to be able to drea Mason says her organisation afford their own wants to make sure that a significant homes, whereas number of NPY communities are ful- people in the NPY ly consulted about the initiative and lands may want have a say about their priorities. more and better Ms Mason explained the project public housing. at the CLC’s last council meeting in The NPY region April and sought support from del- has come up with egates for the four NPY communities its own version of in the CLC region. the five goals: NPYWC’s Peter Riley and Andrea Mason discuss the project with CLC delegates at the April council meeting She told the delegates Empowered • quality education and sup- Communities is a “self- determina- port for children to attend • all capable adults take part NPY communities will decide on progress on short term priorities. tion model where we take control.” school, with parents and fami- in training, work or meaningful what their first priorities are. While She said it is being developed from lies actively involved engagement in community and they negotiate those priorities with For more information go to the ground up. • urgently tackle domestic, fam- family life government, they will start work on www.clc.org.au/publications/ NPY Women’s Council and other ily and community violence and • access to housing, with mutual a five year development agenda. content/empowered-commu- leaders already engaged in under- alcohol and drug abuse responsibility between housing This step could involve a lot of nities-presentation-npy-wom- standing the model will hold flex- • safety and welfare of children providers and community planning, but Ms Mason said com- ens-council ible meetings in most NPY region and vulnerable people After all the community meetings, munities should soon be able to see Batchelor to Welfare card teach in jail trials coming Translating rights for all THE Territory’s biggest indigenous THREE communities with big grog UNIVERSAL human rights education organisation has signed and social problems are getting ready are for everyone, every- a seven year agreement it hopes will to trial radical welfare quarantining. where – no matter what make life better for prisoners when Kununurra and Halls Creek in language they speak. they get out of jail. Western Australia and Ceduna in That’s why Lance Mac- Under the agreement, Batchelor South Australia are negotiating with Donald and Shiela Joyce Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Edu- the federal government about an al- Dixon from Papunya have cation (BIITE) will become the NT most cashless ‘healthy welfare card’ been busy translating the Department of Correctional Services’ to stop Centrelink clients from spend- United Nations declaration main education and training provider. ing money on alcohol and gambling. of universal human rights BIITE CEO Robert Somerville said Under the plan people will only re- into Pintupi-. the agreement would help prisoners ceive 10 to 20 cents in every welfare It’s the first time that the to get jobs after jail. dollar as cash. Aboriginal and non- famous declation has been Mr Somerville said the training Aboriginal Centrelink clients will get translated into an Austra- aims to enable prisoners to go home the rest of their benefit - 80 to 90 per lian Indigenous language. and contribute to their community cent - on a card similar to the basics The two translators straight away instead of ending up card in the NT. know that while universal back in prison. Moree in northern New South rights belong to Aborigi- He said BIITE would teach them Wales decided not to join the trial af- nal and non-Aboriginal literacy, numeracy and how to find ter consulting elders. The local coun- people alike many of their jobs. It would improve networks with cil voted to reject the trial because the mob are not aware what industry, job service agencies, govern- proposal divided the community. those rights are. ment and support organisations to But Ian Trust, chair of Kununurra’s “Unless you know about identify a prisoner’s employment and Wunan Foundation told The Austra- your rights, how can you training prospects. lian his community was desperate to speak up for them and also stop the flow of grog. think about them and what Assault rates in Kununurra are 68 they might mean for you?” Correction times the national average and many asks anthropologist Sarah of the children in Halls Creek have fe- Holcombe. NT government contractor Zodiac tal alcohol spectrum disorder. Sarah received support Shiela Joyce Dixon and Lance McDonald translating the declaration into Pintupi-Luritja says it is not the contact for housing The card was proposed by mining from the Human Rights In- for two weeks. relevant and ensuring the integrity of repairs and maintenance in Papunya, billionaire Andrew Forrest, as part of novation Fund of Amnesty They looked at the declaration as a the core principles,” Sarah said. as reported in the last Land Rights a sweeping report to the government International to draft a translation of moral and a political document. “Australia is the only Western News. Ingkerreke (freecall number on indigenous disadvantage last year. the declaration. “They have been trying to get the democratic country without a na- 1800 266 464) is the first port of call Mr Forrest wanted the card to Amnesty funded Shiela and balance right between making the tional charter that legally enshrines for housing issues in Papunya, ac- quarantine all of a welfare recipi- Lance to work at the Australian declaration locally meaningful and universal human rights.” cording to Zodiac. ent’s income. National University in Canberra

August 2015 9 NEWS

CHURCHES are hot favourites in Central Austra- lia, with people using their five year lease money to strengthen their communities. Utju, Tara, Laramba, Atitjere, Epenarra and Al- purrurulam have all invested compensation they got for the compulsory leases taken out during the inter- Thank heavens for vention of the NT Emergency Response on places to meet and worship. Tara opened its brand new Lutheran church with a community barbecue. “The build up to the church opening was exciting. I was so happy,” said local resident Selma Thompson. “Everyone in the community pitched in to help.” “We didn’t have a proper church. Funerals and church services happened all over − night patrol office, bough shelter, my veranda, the clinic. “We felt a bit bad about that, feeling ‘this is not the right place’.” Residents planned the project with the support of the CLC’s community development workers, who are fast becoming church experts. Since 2005 they have helped more than a dozen com- munities to build or renovate churches, with at least three more planned. Tara residents decided to spend over $140,000 of their lease money to build the church with Tangen- tyere Constructions. Timothy Price is one of three local men who worked with Tangentyere. “We learned new stuff, how to build something from scratch,” he said. “We used a backhoe, a dingo and other machines. We did qualifications on the computer too, safety stuff. Building sites can be dangerous.” Tommy Thompson addressing the Tara community at the opening of the new church there. “It was good for the community, our own people working on our own projects and being a good example to young people.” Michael Hayes said:“It was good working with the young fellas and Tangentyere.” “The church is the first thing the community wanted to do with our lease money. We all talked about it and said ‘this is the most important thing’.” Nathaniel Long hopes the church he helped build will have a lasting impact. “It’s good for the kids,” he said. “We wanted to do something that will be here for a long time.” Laramba: room to worship It’s a similar story in Laramba, where the old church was bursting at the seams. “Services and funerals are often held at the school be- cause we can’t all fit into the church,” Laramba pastor Ronnie McNamara told the CLC in 2013, when the resi- dents first discussed how to use its lease money. Less than a year after they started planning with Tan- gentyere’s Niels Pedersen, the community was enjoying the extra space in their new extension. Niels employed local men Jonesean Briscoe and Francis Lovegrove to help with the $112,000 build- ing, and found the community to be ‘very excited’ about the project. “I reckon they’re a little bit proud of us!” Jonesean admitted. Alpurrurulam on the job Meanwhile in Alpurrurulam (Lake Nash) a concrete slab marks the spot where another brand new church is taking shape. The $430,000 building was the community’s second highest priority for its lease money, after a project to improve its water quality and supply. Local builder Ben Olschewsky designed the church after careful planning with the community lease money working group. He too, hired locals for the job and is really pleased The people of Utju (Areyonga) decided to spend their lease money renovating the with the progress of his four regulars. community historic church. At right you can see the church’s extended altar. Utju honours its heritage Atitjere all one mob In February Utju (Areyonga) celebrated the success- Church projects are bringing communities together. ful renovation and extension of its historic church with “Catholics and Lutherans, we all use the one church, a community barbecue and live music. one mob,” said Atitjere resident Sebastian Webb. “Palya, got a big church now, got more space, more Senior community members smoked their new church people going to church now,” said Tarna Andrews from at the opening, before Father Jan Szweda added holy wa- Utju’s community lease money working group. ter and blessings. “It’s really nice inside, clean, proper windows, got “It was fun to work on the church,” local worker Peppi tiles on the floor, also got a split system [air condition- Drover said of the $330,000 lease money project. er]. Really good, all palya.” Anthony Petrick, another of the five locals who built The CLC helped the working group to plan the $131,000 the church with Tangentyere, said: “I really enjoyed be- upgrade and other community benefit projects. ing part of building something for the community.” It contracted the Centre for Appropriate Technology The CLC’s community development program manager, (CAT) to do the renovation but to retain as many his- Danielle Campbell, is not surprised at the ongoing popu- torical features as possible. larity of church projects. Now the new verandas and a storeroom add plenty of “God knows after decades of top down control, church- space and there are new doors, lights, windows, a water es are often the only places left in remote communities tank and new roofing. that are run by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people. The altar was also extended and the whole place got a No wonder that’s where they want to invest their col- fresh coat of paint. lective income.” From left: Mitchell Mahoney and Greg Turner on the job with Shane and Peter at Alpurrurulam. 10 August 2015 NEWS Community Development!

“After decades of top down control, churches are often the only places left in remote communities that are run by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people.”

The Tara community chalk up a powerful message at the opening of their beautiful new church.

Sebastian Webb, Herbie Bloomfield, Peppi Drover, Louis Schaber and Ronnie Webb roll up for the first service at Francis Lovegrove at work on the Laramba church Atitjere ‘s new church, where inside (at left), Father Sweda added holy water after a smoking ceremony. Ntaria workers uncover family stories TRADITIONAL owners and com- men were eager to work on munity leaders of Ntaria are using the site, especially as their community funds to restore and relatives’ resting places were beautify three cemeteries. among those that had been Following careful planning with covered. Tjuwanpa and the CLC’s commu- “Young fellas started dig- nity development team, project ging then and kept finding work has kicked off at the historic more,” Mr Inkamala said. Pioneer Cemetery. “When I show these old Lutheran missionaries created burial records and photos the cemetery in the late 1800s but to the young fellas, they say: over the decades the area filled ‘This some of our families with dust and became overgrown. here. Oh that’s my grandfa- The Ntaria community lease ther, great grandfather’.” money working group decided to There are even some plots invest more than $200,000 in the outside the cemetery walls cemeteries upgrade project, in- where those who weren’t bap- cluding restoration of the old cem- tised were buried. etery’s walls, a memorial stone and Future works will involve protection of the area. planning on how those sites When local workers began mov- can be located using radar and ing dirt that had built up along the then protected, as a roadway old graveyard wall, they soon un- now runs over that area. covered concrete. “We’re getting advice from The crew discovered some cov- elders like Mr Rontji who ered graves and realised they had know about which family to be more careful. members are buried there,” The restoration then became a sen- Mr Inkamala said. sitive excavation, using shovels and Joseph Rontji, who worked wheelbarrows to remove the dirt. on the original wall, was Much of it is said to have come from pleased to see the young men a dust storm in the early ’50s, which from Ntaria working to re- covered many of the smaller plots. store the cemetery because Proud workers Boydon Campbell, Kearnie Malbunka, Kristoff Ratara, Edrick Coulthard, Cliffy Raggett and Mark Inkamala. Fifteen local young men are he also has close family resting children’s section. That’s why I want to turn the old community clinic helping with the restoration. there. and finding out more about the to put headstone there for her.” into a language and culture centre. The cemetery project leader “All the young fellas got to do history of Hermannsburg is impor- Traditional owners have also ap- “Knowing the skin groups, keeping and Ntaria working group mem- this,” he said. tant, especially for young people,” proved a lease application seeking our culture and language strong ber Mark Inkamala said the young “My last little sister is here in the said Mr Inkamala. August 2015 11 NEWS NT promises no outstations will close NO OUTSTATIONS will close as a re- homelands and could be used to hold peat of the developments in WA, where sult of the NT government taking over the NT government to account,” said the Commonwealth has washed its responsibility for outstation service de- CLC director, David Ross, and NLC hands of outstations, and an unknown But ‘deserted’ livery from the Commonwealth. CEO, Joe Morrison. number face closure. That’s the NT government’s promise “To see this agreement thrown out “If communities are to be closed in to the bush voters it depends on to win is a real kick in the teeth to people liv- Australia’s richest state it’s not hard the next election. ing out bush.” to guess what will happen in its most homelands to The deal with the Commonwealth in- The leaders said the deal would hand Commonwealth dependent jurisdic- volves a one off payment in exchange responsibility for outstation service tion,” said Mr Morrison. for the NT delivering municipal and delivery with no strings attached to the But Mr Giles said a “projected re- essential services in remote outstations NT, a failed state that was almost total- turn to surplus in 2017-18” would lose funding into the future. ly dependent on the Commonwealth. pay for making outstations “bigger HOMELANDS and outstations without permanent residents will NT Treasurer made “The NT will never have the funds to and better”. no longer be funded, NT Regional Services Minister Bess Price clear why the NT is considering the secure the future of outstations and al- “We’re not taking the same approach has announced. deal. “Clearly the NT government ready milks Commonwealth money ear- as WA,” he told the ABC. Ms Price said over 122 ‘deserted’ outstations across the NT wants to have a greater say about what marked for Aboriginal people,” said Mr Mr Tollner claimed having “no ar- would lose their funding. happens on Aboriginal land,” he told Ross. “It cannot be trusted with taxpay- ranged land access agreements” to re- She told a parliamentary hearing that money would be “redi- the ABC. ers’ money without careful scrutiny.” mote communities on Aboriginal land rected from homelands that do not have anyone living on them But it is not clear how the NT will The land councils called for high was the reason the NT government permanently to those who do live on the homelands.” fund outstations once the one off pay- level involvement of Aboriginal lead- continues to deliver substandard ser- In Yuendumu “there are only two (outstations) operating out ment has run out. ers in negotiations about the funds vices to communities. of 15,” she said. The $155 million payment would re- which are vital for all remote NT out- In fact the NT government has hun- “The outstations have great houses and rainwater tanks and I place a 10 year commitment from the stations and homelands. dreds of leases in Aboriginal commu- know it is country to my people that they want to visit now and Commonwealth under the Stronger Fu- “Unless Aboriginal people have a place nities and on Aboriginal land, and has then but it is not fair on the ones who live on their homelands the tures legislation at $20 million a year. at the table they have every right to sus- exclusive possession of those sites and whole year,” she said. “This $20 million a year was just a pect that the new deal will result in out- unfettered access. Yuendumu traditional owners have given up on the NT gov- trickle but at least it gave some secu- station closures,” said Mr Morrison. ernment and are using their own community lease money to set rity to thousands of people living on Traditional owners worry about a re- up an outstation resource centre to revitalise and support two Yapa do it their way dozen outstations.

Harry Nelson: YKNAC director Yuendumu people are backing outstaions by investing in a new resource centre Any questions YUENDUMU people are sick and tired to the birds. Good place for old people about CLC business? of waiting for government to support like me.” Call your regional co-ordinators: their outstations. But instead of com- The Yapa Kurlangu Ngurrara Ab- plaining they are taking action. original Corporation (YKNAC) plans The community is investing more to improve access and infrastructure in 1. ALICE SPRINGS than half a million dollars of its five more than 23 outstations, 21 of which Nigel Lockyer, 8951 6264 year lease money – compensation for currently receive no funding. the compulsory leases taken out dur- “I am overjoyed to see this thing ing the intervention in the NT – in a starting. When we get this thing new outstation resource centre. rolling in a few months’ time I’ll be 2. SOUTH WEST Matthew Egan, a member of Yuen- even happier,” said YKNAC director Vacant (Marty Darr), 8951 6255 dumu’s community lease money work- Harry Nelson. ing group, is proud of the decision. “I have worked hard on this “The outstations are very important plan. Me and some other Yapa and 3. NORTH WEST for our language and culture − getting a few whitefellas.” Tess Ross: Yuendumu community lease money Rob Roy, 8975 0885 to know our own stories,” he said. YKNAC is a not for profit corpo- working group member “Outstations are where we get ration, to be managed by long term knowledge and understanding about resident and employer Malcolm Wall, our country. Families taught in outsta- reporting to a Yapa board of directors. 4. TANAMI tions are strong. The new service provider will Vacant (Marty Darr), 8951 6255 “In this community the trouble is not continue as a strong local employer finished. When someone comes back and increase its viability by absorb- from prison the trouble comes back ing two local businesses − Wallcon and brings back memories of one we Constructions and Tanami Clean- 5. WEST have lost. ing and Maintenance. Robbie Kopp, 8956 8658 Outstations will mean four or five Malcolm has noticed lots of goodwill family groups can move away and towards the new organisation. find peace.” “This comes from a feeling of genu- 6. TENNANT CREEK Working group member Tess Ross ine ownership and an equally genuine Darryl “Tiger” Fitz, 8962 2343 agrees: “I go to my outstation all the commitment to remain engaged with time. All of our family from the South country and to ensure that children Side, we have a big area near Newhav- receive the right encouragement and en. I really want to live out there where support to engage with country as Matthew Egan: Yuendumu community lease 7. EASTERN SANDOVER money working group member there is no fighting, no humbug, listen well,” he said. Jared Swan, 8956 9955 Top End expert lends a hand 8. EASTERN PLENTY THE CLC hired business consultant tre, a nursery, brickmaking, a mechan- said Harry Nelson. Richard Dodd, 8956 9722 Ian Munro, former CEO of the Bawi- ics workshop and much more. “It has really been no trouble at all. nanga Aboriginal Corporation, to help Ian worked on a plan to support the We needed women and men involved. the Yuendumu working group to set up sustainability of the corporation. “It was useful having someone com- YKNAC. His enthusiasm, expertise and re- ing in from outside to help us. No ups 9. CENTRAL During its peak, Bawinanga employed spectful approach went down well in and downs. Lawrie Liddle, 8952 6256 500 CDEP workers in Maningrida and Yuendumu. ‘Everyone was pretty helpful. Land supported outstations, a local arts cen- “It was a good process setting it up,” Council, too.” 12 August 2015 NEWS Home on the homelands URLAMPE has been Shirley Dempsey’s ’90s. They would’ve been living in the tin home for more than two decades. shelters (before that), around ’95 we got The outstation off the Plenty Highway, the brick houses. about 550km north east of Alice Springs, We have TV. We got that set up through is just 20 km from the Queensland border. the resource centre, the decoder box and Shirley and her partner Alan Rankin, a satellite dish. We had one landline phone CLC delegate, came down from Mount Isa set up in 1986-87.” in 1991. As a teenager Alan worked as a ringer What do you live off? at nearby Tobermorey Station, where he “I’m sort of on the dole because of when was born. CDEP shut down. My partner does some In the “good old days” part-time work with the he worked on stations “We work in shires. all over Queensland. Because of CLA issues Shirley was born in our own time, [restrictive community Mount Isa, and went living area laws in the to boarding school in looking after NT] you can’t have busi- Charters Towers. She nesses. It’d be good to worked for an accoun- country, doing have some sort of enter- tant, Mount Isa’s Cath- prise so we’ll wait to see olic high school and for beautification, if they can sort that out. Territory Health. When I finished Before CDEP was fixing things. teaching I got the kids abolished she worked to go to town. We have for the Caring for Coun- I like living in to work to keep it going, try program. it can’t go on its own. Shirely and Alan our own place, Get the family to work share Urlampe with so the job gets done. their sons and their being in town CDEP [was] a good families, including sev- thing for isolated place en grandkids and one is like chasing like this. We can’t fax, old fella relation. Their and being no internet, hard to three teenagers are at put forms in so CDEP boarding school. chased.” works out a lot better. Steve Hodder caught It’s a long way to put the up with Shirley to find form in. out what it takes to live successfully on a They [gave] you a little money, too, for remote outstation. the projects, to get cement and fuel to run Alan Rankin and Shirley Dempsey are using exploration income to fix up their outstation Urlampe. He began by asking how Urlampe equipment. started out. They did horizontal fracking at the sta- “Them old peoples was there in the tion and we got exploration money. We ‘80s, Alan’s old uncle, they sort of set the used that on the pumps and made the wa- Over $6 millions invested place up in ’85, must’ve been homeland ter pressure better.” movement. [Late former CLC chair] Mr in outstations since 2006 Bookie asked if we’d go out there and sit Where do the kids go to school? out there when the uncle was getting too “My three kids are in boarding school old to move about.” and other ones [grandchildren] are babies still. We used to do School of the Air for What’s different about living here? the kids. “We’re really independent. We work in With School of the Air, there’s no gov- our own time, looking after country, doing erness so mothers need that education. 5% beautification, fixing things. I taught mine myself and the other kids Water 32. I like living in our own place, being in that were here then, too. We have an out- town is like chasing and being chased. station centre that was set up ATSIC time One of the down things is internet access, and we used that as a classroom. They paid it’d be good to get emails. We have to go all me from the DEETYA.” the way to Bonya, 180 km, to check emails or 300 km to Mount Isa. We’re looking at What are some of the problems with % whether that can be set up. living here? Power 12.5 We were pretty well alright before we got “Quality and quantity of water - it just the TV, we had nothing. We didn’t know sort of drips out the hose. We’re in the anything that was happening anywhere. pipeline now so we can get better pressure When you’re patient, it comes. We learn to and [fix] the salinity, using exploration be patient out here.” money for community development. 1.25% [Also] access to shops, Shelter 3 How do you get roads and transport. your services? There are no shops here. “CAT (Centre for “End of the day It’s expensive [to shop] at Appropriate Tech- community stores. We go nology) and Bush- we don’t get to Mt Isa every fortnight. 5% Roads 3.7 % light set up 56 stand- The roads aren’t too 6.25 tion alone solar panels for very much once crash hot. We drive Shower and ablu 2.5% tion five houses and the down the Plenty High- Telecommunica multipurpose centre. the money way, through Uran- 25% We got a backup gen- danji Station to go up to Other 11. erator through the filters down.” Mount Isa.” government, too. “We can’t get house in We actually got the water fixed up town, you can’t get houses. It’s really ex- through CAT and the NT government sup- pensive. They use a lot of Aboriginal mon- ported us via Bonya Resource Centre. We ey for Aboriginal housing, now all (are) Big outstation investment also get the fuel to run the pump bore. waiting to get the same places. There’s other things like fixing taps and This is our land. They stole our country. TRADITIONAL owners in the CLC region houses and ablution facilities, grading roads general maintenance. My partner, he does I reckon they should give us access to our have spent more than $6 million to keep their and many other things. all that. land. The money they get is from our coun- outstations going. Over the past decade they Most of these outstation projects have My sons worked on cattle stations, work- try, through the mines. have used their income from leases, mining been planned and implemented with the help ing the pumps. We are learning as we go End of the day we don’t get very much and other land use agreements to fund many of the CLC’s community development pro- with the solar. once the money filters down.” different outstation and homeland projects. gram. Many more are in the pipeline. Since 2006, the CLC has supported them The graph above shows a breakdown of The houses were built in the ATSIC days. to invest a total of $6,350,000 in improving the types of outstation projects communities Five brick houses were done in the early outstation water, power and phones, fixing have undertaken with their collective income.

August 2015 13 NEWS

BURNING PAPINYA BURNING COUNTRY can be while enjoying the view. languages of . So many ers to learn from them and pass significant ngapa site. Now in addictive. It’s been a hard, slow day’s birds have different dialects.” on what they’re doing. When to her 80s, Molly hasn’t been here “Once you start burning you driving from Henry ‘Parri The chair of the CLC and PAW burn and when not to burn. They since she was a young girl. want to burn more and more, go to Parri’ Cook’s outstation near Media is driving in the tyre tracks just point out to you ‘That area “I came to Pawala as a little one other places and burn more,” says the Granites, where we met of the PAW troopies, always on needs to be burned’.” with my father for big Jardiwan- Jerisha Green. “Burning is keep- up with travelling parties from the lookout for some bush turkey “After the rain new shoots pa [fire or reconciliation] cer- ing our country happy. It makes across the CLC region. Around dinner and a glimpse of the elu- come up, more animals come to emony. People came from every me feel proud and happy to see the lunchtime the overgrown track sive night parrot. Francis refuses that area.” direction,” she explains on the country getting cleaned up.” runs out at Parrulyu [Mt Da- to believe the small bird has be- Preston explains that for plant short helicopter flight. The 24 year old former child vidson] outstation. come extinct. and animals to survive and “My father took me and my care worker from Lajamanu From here our troopies fol- thrive this country needs to be brother around this land, walk joined the CLC’s North Tanami low George Jungarrayi Ryder. “We have to bring burnt during the cool season, on this land and care for this ranger group in March. It’s her Perched next to Boyd Elston, the our TOs out to when fires are less hot and easier land. We always stayed here un- first prescribed burn. most experienced bush driver to control. til whitefella came along and we Jerisha and her team mates among the CLC staff, Jungarrayi show us knowledge, Everyone pores over a vividly had to move away. have been lighting up the country navigates by sight and memory. coloured satellite based thermal “It’s not alright. There’s no- straddling the boundary between “Them old people just point out stories about the imaging map that looks like ab- body around now to talk about the remote South and North the direction,” ranger Dion Kelly stract art. Ben Kaethner, who the land and the meaning of Tanami Indigenous Protected says. “They don’t need a GPS. It’s rocks, the land, co-ordinates the CLC’s fire pro- the country.” Areas (IPA) for two days. good to learn that from them.” everything. Their gram, points out the dark blue The air at Papinya, a large rock Jungarrayi frequently halts areas that haven’t burnt for up to deep in the Tanami, is heavy the convoy to strike a few dreaming stories are eight years. with smoke from fires that have weatherproof matches among This puka [‘rubbish’] coun- burnt slowly through the night, the chest high spinifex, forcing really important.” try gets the blame for the huge all around us. It pokes like a red the cars behind him to detour “I’m crazy about the night par- summer wildfires that destroy island out of a sea of blackened, around the licking flames. He rot,” he says. One day I’m going species and heat up the plan- smouldering vegetation. may be better known as Cow- to catch him.” et. “It doesn’t burn softly but Rarely visited nowadays, Pap- boy George, but all his running The PAW crew is tagging along wipes out everything in one inya has been described as a mini around earns him another nick- to shoot a documentary about go,” says Preston. Uluru, yet it’s flatenough to drive name – Paddy Ryder. the ngapa that will air Ben says the significant con- a troopie right up to the small Lajamanu elder Jerry Jan- on NITV next year. tribution the CLC’s burning precious water hole on top. gala Patrick uses these breaks to In the back of another troopie trips make to species protection Papinya is an important site teach Warlpiri terms for different is Francis’ son Preston, a Warl- is the reason the federal gov- on the Tanami’s ngapa [water] kinds of flames, fires and smoke piri ranger from Yuendumu. ernment funds them through songline. Every depression on to anyone who will listen. Not “It’s very important for the its biodiversity fund fire project its scabby surface that’s large many young people use them old people to see the country and IPA program. enough to collect rainwater is anymore, he says. were they were hanging out It’s late afternoon when the surrounded by telltale smooth “Rangers is school,” Francis when they were young, like elders decide to make camp at patches left by generations of Kelly observes. “They learn re- teenagers,” says Preston. the base of Papinya. While Jun- women grinding grass seeds spect for their language and the “It’s important for the rang- garrayi lights up a patch for the Liddy Miller buckles up for a site visit. camp site the rest of us climb up George Ryder cleans up the Southern Tanami IPA. to the only source of drinking wa- “We hurt inside because we lost ter for miles. all the loved ones on this land,” Francis and the rangers use Jonathon says after the chopper iPads to document the large drops us back at camp. bones scattered around the rock Dion is still a bit choked up hole. A putrid hide still clings to about the visit. one wall. “That was my first time out “There are so many camels there and I wanted to visit that here destroying the country,” country,” he says. “That was re- Francis frowns. “The water is ally good. I felt proud standing still there but a camel fell in and on that site on my grandmother’s never came out. That’s how they country [listening to] that story spoil the good water. of that land. Later I’ll sit down “The rangers are saying: ‘We’re with her and get that story and sad. We have to put something keep it.” around it so the camels can’t “I don’t know why they re- get at the water. So that only the moved us in the first place,” says birds can get at it or dingos’.” Jerry Jangala, also in his 80s. Camel tracks also surround “I’m crying all the time, just be- the large soakage Molly Tasman ing here. I see my family on that shows her grandsons Jonathon rock, walking like they used to. Dixon and Dion Kelly the follow- It’s really coming back home. ing morning. The men discuss “We got trucked out of here 2. July 2015 how to protect Pawala, another without being asked, to look af- NEWS

My son wants to be a ranger, so yeah, I feel pretty good. “Without rangers in these com- munities I’m not sure what kids would strive to be. “If they’ve got a goal to be a ranger, well, you tell them: ‘You’ve got to go school and then you can be a ranger’. “That gives them a goal and they go for it. We’ve had a lot of youngfellas who’ve come out of school and started as rangers. They get a lot of training, a lot of experience working with lots of different types of people. I reckon it’s the best job in the world.” Molly Tasman with her grandsons, North Tanami rangers Dion Kelly (left) and Warlpiri ranger Preston Kelly lights up. Boyd’s journey from ranger to Jonathon Dixon, at Pawala. fire officer shows that it’s a career ter the cattle industry. Long way to be a ranger like me. And my path, too. All agree that it would kirda [traditional owners] and Matthews Jr. from home. That was a really bad little niece, too. It makes them be a dead end without the close kurdungurlu [managers]. Those “We have to bring our TOs out thing. If that hadn’t happened I want to go to school and learn collaboration between rangers who know the land have been to show us knowledge, stories reckon I’d still be with my family, because to get a job you have to and elders. here before us and walked on this about the rocks, the land, every- roaming around here.” go to school.” “For rangers it’s important to land when they were little. thing. Their dreaming stories are Jerry Jangala has worn a “It’s like that in every commu- work with the old people and “Their fathers told them: ‘You really important.” groove in a log by rapidly mov- nity,” Boyd confirms while chop- they are important to us. Because will be the leader if I’m gone’. It’s a sentiment that is shared ing a thin stick back and forth. ping pumpkin for dinner. they know the land and the song- They call this passing on to the by elders like Molly: “I’m so hap- Smoke starts curling from a fist- “They identify with the rangers. line,” says Jonathon. new generation … family line” py that all these people here are ful of spinifex. He’s showing the It’s a lot of hard work but from a “If they want us to do work we “We can’t do it ourselves, looking back to when I walked young ones how he made fire kid’s point of view it’s a lot of fun. go out and do it but we must take us young ones,” says Jeffrey through this land.” long before matches and aerial incendiary machines. Dion Kelly, his grandfather Jerry Patrick, Thomas Rice “The rangers do that with heli- and Francis Kelly spot feral camels from Papinya. copters today but it’s always been done,” he says. “Burning country is part of the lifestyle This coun- try is missing its people, its chil- dren, living here. It’s a mother- child relationship.” “Kids all want to learn about their culture and the place they come from. They all want to be rangers. It makes them want to go to school and learn.” Over at the women’s camp Molly sits on the neatly raked ground and prepares damper. The talk turns to the children of Lajamanu. “Kids all want to learn about their culture and the place they come from,” Jerisha says. “They all want to be rangers. My cousin told me she wanted July 2015 3. NEWS Whoa boy... thanks for that! NORTH Tanami rangers have made the busy track from Whoa boys are humps that let the water flow Lajamanu to Mirirrinyungu (Duck Ponds) outstation safer across instead of running down the road and form- and wider. ing gullies. The track is a much travelled road to many important They are better than windrows, piles of soil left cultural sites and hunting grounds. After several years by the grader along the length of the road. Wind- without maintenance it was overgrown and badly eroded. rows stop water from flowing naturally and cause North Tanami ranger Travis Alum is pleased with the erosion where the water breaks through. work he and his colleagues have done to fix the track. “The whoa boys will help to push the water back “It used to be just a bush track heading east, but now we onto country and stop it from eating away at the can see ahead to where we’re going,” he said. road. That way we won’t end up with another Members of the Warlu and Northern Tanami Indige- grand canyon,” explained Travis. nous Protected Area (IPA) management committees de- Traditional owners and rangers planned the pro- cided to rehabilitate the track with more than $120,000 posed track upgrade during a couple of site visits. from the IPA program and the Biodiversity Fund. The rangers then helped the road crew by flag- Col Stanton, a soil conservation consultant, gave them ging whoa boy points and used the water trailer to some ideas about how best to tackle erosion. wet them after construction. On his advice the rangers replaced windrows with They also installed guide posts and will soon add ‘whoa boys’. road signs to indicate new conditions on the up- graded track. Jonathon Dixon installing a guide post. Should the rangers stay with the CLC? CAN the Central Land Coun- monster, devouring us and cil’s ranger program keep leaving us empty.” (Jerry thriving and growing within Jangala Patrick, Lajamanu) the CLC? Or should its 11 rang- er groups get ready to go out on “No, I don’t think so. Our their own? How can it fund the headquarters are in Alice expansion communities want? Springs, but we have our These are just some of the own co-ordinator and we questions discussed in the plan where we do our work, CLC’s Ranger Program De- which area, which outsta- velopment Strategy (below). tion, country like this or Travis Alum hosing a whoa boy. The report reflects how go out to sacred places. We much thought traditional want to work together, CLC owners and rangers have and rangers as one.” (Jona- contributed to planning a thon Dixon, Lajamanu) Clayton Namatjira sustainable future for the Dion Kelly highly successful program. “I don’t know enough Here are some of the an- about land and outstations ain’t no lone ranger swers they gave Land Rights and who are the owners of the News when asked during a land. The old people tell us recent burning trip to the who’s the TO, the right peo- Tanami if the program was ple for the land. Always have ready to become indepen- to have the elders around the dent from the CLC: rangers and ranger work. For burning and looking af- “Not at the moment. ter country.” (Jerisha Green, Somewhere down the line, Lajamanu) yeah. Once the rangers get used to doing these things “It would take a long time and start taking everything for [a local ranger group] to on their shoulders then they get to the stage where they can become independent. would be able to do some- At the moment it’s the IPA thing like this. The resources Jerry Patrick co-ordinator who organises and organisational skills land this and the IPA committee. council has are second to [It’s] really good.” (Dion none. Most of the traditional Clayton Namatjira stood tall at the CLC Ranger Camp at Watarrka in March. Kelly, Lajamanu) owners here are part of land THE leadership of senior CLC ranger traditional owners on cultural and council, they’ve been del- Clayton Namatjira from Tennant natural resource management work egates. I couldn’t really see Creek’s Muru Warinyi Ankkul rang- across the Tennant Creek region. it working without the land ers has been recognised in the 2015 He has played an active part in council. It’s a hub. All Ab- NT Young Achiever Awards. protecting the small but significant original people around Cen- Clayton won the prestigious portion of the Warumungu Aborigi- tral Australia recognise land Conoco Phillips Environment Award nal Land Trust north of Tennant council has taken the rang- from a strong field of nominees and Creek that contains the historically ers a long way. The ranger took home $2,000 and a trophy from significant ruins of the former Phil- groups are better off with the the gala awards ceremony in Darwin. lip Creek Mission from damage by land council and to expand The 28 year old excelled in the cattle, wildfire and weeds. with the land council.” (Boyd Jerisha Green workplace and became a role model After four years with the CLC’s Elston, Alice Springs) for his colleagues and young Tennant Muru Warinyi Ankkul rangers Clay- Creek people after overcoming litera- ton was promoted to senior ranger “It’s really hard to tell gov- cy and numeracy challenges. last September. ernment what we need. They CLC director David Ross ap- Ranger co-ordinator Chris Jack- should be out here to wit- plauded Clayton’s abilities and com- son said Clayton was really humble ness this. And they’ll think mitment to caring for country. about his win and saw it more as an “yes, that ranger program, “He’s a young fella with a lot of achievement for the whole team. “Scullion needs to be re- we support it”. We got to cultural knowledge, he’s multilin- “Clayton’s had to overcome a lot ally careful. I’m happy with teach them. It’s the biggest gual and it’s fantastic to see that he’s of adversity to get to this point but the way rangers are work- thing for our communities. stepping up to the mark and showing he’s strong and puts everything into ing now. My message to the Running their own affairs in that leadership, dedication and reli- the job. government is: Take it away the way they want. It’s not ability,” Mr Ross said. “He’s learned so much in such a and we’re left with nothing. about money, it’s about their Clayton has inspired his 10 rang- short time and we’re all really proud You are always taking things life. It’s not all about cities, er colleagues as well as work experi- of him.” away from us and disabling it’s about our country, too.” ence students. He works closely with us. You’re like a devouring (Francis Kelly, Yuendumu) Jonathon Dixon 16 August 2015 NEWS More communities think about getting mobile MORE communities in the CLC region can look Telstra is also installing new mobile base forward to mobile phone coverage. stations in Aputula (Finke), Imanpa, Mt Li- The Lajamanu GMAAAC committee and the ebig and Wallace Rockhole under round one traditional owners of Native Gap north of Al- of the federal government’s Mobile Black ice Springs have asked the CLC’s community Spots program. development workers for costings for mobile They are among 500 new or upgraded mo- phone hot spots. bile stations around the country. Both groups made the request after read- Why only those lucky four places out of a ing a story about the hot spots Finke Gorge region that’s one gigantic mobile black spot? National Park landowners have installed Because they won in a competitive process near Boggy Hole (see Land Rights News April that gives points for meeting a list of criteria. 2015). They include how many houses the new mo- The Centre for Appropriate Technology bile coverage area has, whether or not their (CAT) designed the hotspots to capture and local member of parliament nominated the amplify signals from mobile phone towers, community and how many kilometres of a ma- extending mobile coverage into areas where jor transport route will get mobile coverage. previously there was none. It also includes the amount of cash third par- Lajamanu are thinking of using compensa- ties, for example the NT government, shires or tion monies to put hot spots in a number of traditional owners using their royalty, lease points along the Tanami Road. and rent money, can contribute. Native Gap want to invest their NT parks The next funding round starts next July. rent money in a hot spot for Burt Creek out- More information is at www.communications. Flashback: Kumanara Ungwanaka tests out one of the new mobile hotspots, as featured in the station. gov.au/mobile coverage. April edition of Land Rights News Home again for the Williams Well mob “IT’S good to be working on country,” says Aaron Burdett, a There’s still no response from the NT government, but resi- traditional owner of the East MacDonnell Ranges National dents have not let that stop them. Park. After a few meetings with the CLC’s community development He has been installing screens on the windows of three hous- workers the family chose the Centre for Appropriate Technolo- es at Williams Well, an outstation 56kms east of Alice Springs. gy (CAT) to fix the water supply and build a causeway so people When residents moved away following the death of a senior could get to the outstation even during heavy rain. family member and problems with the water and power Wil- The second project, also managed by CAT, included building liams Well dropped off the list of NT government funded out- a new ablution block with toilet, shower and laundry, as well as station services. upgrades to the houses, plumbing and electricity to make the Aaron belongs to the large Oliver family and shares their outstation safer and more sustainable. dream of moving back to Williams Well. Among the six traditional owners employed on this $170,000 “These were our ideas to fix up Williams Well, so we can project was Henry Oliver. move back and look after that country for the future of our chil- “Three of us got white cards. This training means we can do dren,” said traditional owner Henry Oliver. more work,” he said. The dream is close to becoming a reality, thanks to rent mon- Now that the outstation is liveable again, the Olivers plan to ey from the park. fix up the fences around the houses. After helping the park’s traditional owners to upgrade their They’ll be working back on country again soon. outstation, the CLC is now supporting them and regional ser- vice provider Ingkerreke’s efforts to put Williams Well back on the list of outstations that receive municipal and essential services. “The process for getting back on the list isn’t simple or trans- parent,” said CLC director David Ross. “We wrote to the government because we are trying to un- derstand the process. If it’s confusing for us, then what hope do outstations residents have?”

Beverly Oliver, Maree Oliver, Tom Burdett, Williams Quall, Faye Oliver, Henry Oliver, Emilina Meneri, Corey Burdett and Bonita Oliver at home at Williams Well. Building the new ablution block at Williams Well

August 2015 17 NEWS Tjanpi weaves a message for Venice THE TJANPI Desert Weavers told the world Fiona knew of Tjanpi’s history of making about Anangu land and culture at one of the animals in local grasses and other materi- world’s most important art festivals in Italy. als. The artist suggested they work together The Venice Biennale, which has been held to make endangered or extinct animals from every two years since 1895, featured Kuka the desert region. Irititja (Animal from Another Time), cre- The women got together in an artists’ ated by Tjanpi artists with Fiona Hall as part camp in June last year at a place near Pilaka- of Hall’s exhibition, Wrong Way Time. tilyuru in the tri-state border region close to Twelve women from the Central and South Australia. The locals collected tjanpi Western Desert region of Australia − Roma (wild grasses), while Fiona brought Aus- Butler, Stacia Lewis, Rene Nelson, Takiriya tralian and British military clothing. They Tjawina Roberts, Angkaliya Nelson, Sandra combined each other’s materials with found Peterman, Yangi Yangi Fox, Molly Miller, objects to create Kuka Irititja. Nyanu Watson, Rene Kulitja, Niningka Lew- is and Mary Pan – took part.

Tjanpi artists and Fiona Hall show off their work at the bush camp. Photo: Jo Foster Tjanpi artist Rene Kulitja in Venice, Italy, with work from the installation Kuka Irititja. Patrick speaks for many Watch out for this one KEEP an eye out for this exhibition coming “Combining stunning paintings, digital to the Araluen Galleries in Alice Springs. animation, immersive video installations, We Don’t Need A Map: A Martu Experi- aerial desert photography, handmade tra- ence of the Western Desert brings the lively ditional cultural objects and photographic and enduring culture of the Martu – the portraits, the We Don’t Need A Map exhibi- traditional owners of a vast area of WA’s tion and public programs offer a rich insight Western Desert – to Central Australia. into Martu culture and an opportunity to en- Launched at Fremantle Arts Centre and gage with their way of life, the way they care touring nationally, the exhibition includes the for country and the way they belong to it,” work of more than 30 artists and brings con- say the organisers. temporary Martu culture together with cutting The exhibition opens on 27th November. edge new media artists from across Australia. BEYOND Borders tells the story of one of This was because the NT government, Australia’s greatest artists and his struggle faced with a huge increase in demand for di- to stay on the country that sustains him and alysis, had decided it would only allow NT his art. patients to use its Alice Springs machines. Patrick Tjungurrayi’s paintings feature along- “What did these borders, these new con- side the story of his life in this beautiful book. cepts of states, mean to a man like Patrick, Sales of the book will fund remote dialysis. who had grown up travelling the desert The book has photographs from the time country his ancestors had walked for thou- he was born near Putujarrpa in the late sands of years?” writes Sarah Brown. 1930s to the installation of two dialysis “The artificial borders that now defined chairs at Kiwirrkurra by the Purple House. (and threatened) his life were an absurdity As its editor John Carty puts it, Tjungur- to Patrick. An indignity.” rayi is “revered throughout the Western The Purple House supported Patrick’s re- Desert for his knowledge and strength in the fusal to go to Perth. It began a media cam- law, feted in the art world for his original- paign to change the situation for Patrick and ity and respected everywhere for his stand other dialysis patients forced to leave their against the health bureaucracy of Central country for treatment. Australia.” After more than a decade of effort and rais- The Purple House’s Sarah Brown tells the ing public awareness, Patrick now gets dialy- story of Patrick leading other artists in the sis in his own country with equipment that creation of the “Kiwirrkurra Men’s Painting” has been funded through public support. in 2000. “In a time of funding cuts and talk of clos- The painting was auctioned for $340,000, ing communities in remote Western Austra- which went towards the development of di- lia, we push on to try to get some sort of on- alysis machines at Kintore. going support for the service in Kiwirrkurra,” Nine years later, Patrick himself needed Sarah Brown writes. dialysis. But instead of being able to be- “Not just for Patrick but for all the other gin his treatment in Alice Springs and then people from this small remote settlement continue it in Kintore, he was told he would who need dialysis three times a week for the have to go to Perth. rest of their lives to survive.” 18 August 2015 NEWS

WARUMPI Band founding mem- bers Sammy Butcher and Neil Murray rekindled the spark that That old black and white magic made the band a late twentieth century legend when they per- formed at the Barunga Festival earlier this year.

Butcher and Murray, who formed the band at Papunya in the early 1980s with Gordon Butcher and Elcho Islander George Rrur- rambu, performed a rendition of Blackfella Whitefella, originally released in 1984.

Sung by George Rrurrambu out front, the song became an unof- ficial anthem for reconciliation. George died in 2007.

The Warumpi Band’s name came from the honey ant dream- ing site near Papunya.

The band blazed a pathway for dozens of others in recording the first rock song in an Aboriginal language: Jailanguru Pakurnu (out from jail). It was also the band’s first single.

They followed it with the al- bums, Big Name No Blanket (1985), Go Bush (1987) and Too Much Humbug (1996) Sammy Butcher and Neil Murray now and then (below). Take this message home DECADES in rock and roll have convinced that’s the winning part,” he said. “The family CLC deputy chair Sammy Butcher that it’s part is the important part. the message of music that counts more “Everybody enjoys music. It’s the healing than being number one or making money. way. It makes you sad, in a way.” Sammy’s take home message from Sammy said he and Neil had been working Barunga, where he played with fellow on many new songs, and were hoping to get Warumpi member Neil Murray was about some money to put an album together. the power that music had to create direc- He spoke about one song he wrote after he tion in young lives. and his partner had had “a bit of an argument.” “We were like role models for other mu- “It’s a song about a man and a woman,” he sicians there,” said Sammy. “They said we said. He hoped the song would help young wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for Warum- men to show respect and stop before they pi Band. got involved in domestic violence. “I always say: don’t show off, don’t think “You know, it just takes a second to do a you’re better than him. You learn from silly thing when you’re angry, but the best him. You learn from each other.” thing to do when you’re angry, is just hold Sammy said music had the power to her. (Say) ‘I’m sorry’ and tell her ‘I love you’, bring people together, especially when kids you know.” were involved. “That’s a better way to deal with angriness. “When you got kids you got family − Be strong.” whether you’re playing football or music, In their own words, in their own languages CLC executive members Teddy Long, Francis Kelly, Michael Jones and Sam- my Butcher enjoyed an early peek at the CLC’s new oral history collection Every Hill Got A Story. They will be among the many sto- rytellers launching the first compre- hensive history of Central Australia’s Aboriginal people, as told in their own words and languages. The book launch will be on Wednes- day, 2nd September, at the Old Tele- graph Station in Alice Springs and ev- eryone is invited to the free event. The location features prominently in many of the stories and is bound to trigger memories. Over 100 storytellers have been in- vited to share a yarn and sign copies of the book that will be for sale on the day. There will be a slide show of the many historic images and visitors will be able to listen to the voices of storytellers from across the region while enjoying roo stew and wattle seed damp served by Kungkas Can Cook. Published by Hardie Grant under the SBS Books imprint and with a fore- word by Rachel Perkins, Every Hill Got A Story marks the 40th anniversary of the Central Land Council.

August 2015 19 NEWS Rona presents global idea at the UN CLC cadet Rona Glynn-McDonald and foster the deeply valued cultural represented Australia during a Unit- aspects of Aboriginal society, they are ed Nations forum on sustainable de- inherently more successful.” velopment in New York in July. Rona returns to Alice Springs dur- The second year business student ing her uni breaks to work at the at University presented CLC. Here, she’s been learning about a research paper on the role culture policy, communications and finance. plays in the sustainable development She sounds destined for a stint of indigenous communities at the with the CLC’s community develop- UN forum. ment unit: “A bottom up, commu- “It was a great opportunity to pres- nity based approach to development, ent my ideas to influential members adaptable to local circumstances, of the UN, and learn about what they would be more useful than a blanket are doing for sustainable develop- policy addressing the development of ment,” said Rona. remote indigenous communities.” “I told them that policy makers are The student from a prominent Al- overlooking the growing economic ice Springs film industry family has potential of indigenous knowledge also volunteered with an aid project and culture - what’s also known as in India. cultural capital,” said Rona. Rona was chosen to travel to New “We must build on these strengths York by Global Voices, a non-profit because they can create job and busi- organisation that gives young people ness opportunities in remote com- a chance to speak up on international munities and ensure the Australian policy issues. economy sustains indigenous culture For more information about ca- and country in contemporary ways.” detships at the CLC contact Debbie She told the Advocate newspaper Bruce on 89516309. “If specific projects are locally based CLC cadets Rona Glynn-MacDonald and Leonie Jones enjoy a break during a council meeting in Tennant Creek Website for running your organisation A NEW website is giving board members and CEOs of NT Aboriginal organisations access to a range of governance and management services and resources. A visit to aboriginalgovernance.org.au is all it takes to join the Aboriginal Peak Or- ganisations NT (APO NT) Aboriginal Gov- ernance and Management Program’s CEO/ Board network, for instance. The program’s site also lets visitors reg- ister for its regional workshops, download reports about past workshops as well as re- sources and tools. “The website is very important for remote, isolated and often poorly resourced Aborigi- nal organisations that are nevertheless doing a big job collectively, servicing and employing many Aboriginal people,” said program man- ager David Jagger.

“It’s where organisations can instantly get best practice governance and management resources while linking to other supports, for example referrals to pro bono legal help.” “We also provide 12 months of concen- trated support to four selected organisations as demonstration sites for strengthening gov- ernance,” he said. Rangers from across the CLC region put themselves in the shoes of visitors during a tour of Peter Abbott’s new Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experi- “Now many other NT Aboriginal organ- ence near Wanmara outstation at Watarrka. isations can better access our range of addi- tional services.” Online resources include corporate policy templates, governance health checks, links to Aboriginal tourist ventures get a hand up leadership courses, legal advice on incorpora- PETER Abbott knows all about The Northern Territory govern- in August 2015 and January 2016. bile responsive websites, signage tion, case studies of organisational structures the high cost of starting a tourism ment has encouraged businesses “There are a range of projects and brochure translations. that work and inspiring articles on gover- business. with innovative tourism products that could be funded including “We’re also keen to support the nance that wins awards or boosts Aboriginal The boss of a new cultural and projects to apply for fund- new technology to improve the development of new visitor experi- employment. tourism venture in Watarrka Na- ing through its new $4.75 million tourism experience, value adding ences that diversify the tourism of- “The site aims to reduce the isolation NT tional Park (pictured above right) tourism infrastructure develop- to existing experiences with new fering in a region, such as projects Aboriginal organisations can suffer from,” shared his journey of setting up ment fund. interactive signage, as well as new that target markets like fishing, said Mr Jagger. “This will help build their Karrke [Pertame for bowerbird] Small scale grants of up to walking trails or visitor accom- bushwalking, mountain biking, strength, which is critical for remote commu- with the CLC rangers during their $30,000 aim to help new busi- modation,” said Chief Minister bird watching and education.” nity wellbeing.” annual ranger camp in May. nesses with setup costs and are Adam Giles. Tourism NT is holding free The federal government has funded the Good tourism ideas like Mr Ab- available throughout the year. “Another example would be workshops to help businesses ap- program for three years. The program is bott’s could net budding entre- There are two funding rounds initiatives that tap into the lucra- ply to the fund. seeking financial backing to become a Centre preneurs $30,000 to help with for large grants of up to $100,000. tive and growing Chinese tourism More information at for NT Aboriginal Governance and Manage- establishment costs. Applications for large grants close market through in-language mo- www.tourismnt.com.au. ment from the middle of 2016. 20 August 2015 OBITUARIES He lay down the law for land claims Stolen child JOHN Toohey, who died on 9 April In that period he also con- came back 2015, was the first Aboriginal Land ducted a number of hearings Commissioner. related to the Kenbi land Justice Toohey was appointed claim and heard injunction with message Aboriginal Land Commissioner, a proceedings for the Lake judge of the Federal Court and of Nash community. the Northern Territory Supreme Not only was he produc- that moved Court, in 1977. tive, he conducted the hear- The Aboriginal Land Rights ings in a memorable way. KUMANARA Randall wrote and taught (Northern Territory) Act 1976 had Recognising the contested throughout the world, presenting Aborigi- been enacted by the Fraser govern- nature of the matters in is- nal cultural awareness programs based on ment and commenced operation sue, and their importance to principles of caring for the environment on 26 January 1977, despite tren- the parties, he was always and each other with unconditional love chant opposition from the North- courteous and scrupulously and responsibility. ern Territory administration, the fair, and discouraged unnec- Kumanara was born in the Central Des- pastoral industry, the mining in- essary aggression. ert region of the Northern Territory in ca. dustry and the Lutheran mission. His reports were prompt 1934. He was taken away from his mother A leading Queen’s Counsel at and admirably straightfor- at about age 7 under the government poli- the Western Australian Bar, who ward in setting out his find- cies of the day. He was one of the thousands had left his busy practice in Perth ings and dealing with the of Aboriginal children who came to be to establish the Aboriginal Legal issues he had to decide. He known as the . Service in Port Hedland, and who enjoyed the work. He was After living in government institutions appeared in the Laverton Royal genuinely interested in the right up until he was 20 years old and after Commission for the Skull Creek aspects of Aboriginal culture many heart wrenching searches he even- community, John Toohey was em- revealed in evidence. tually found his roots and returned to his inently suited for the new position. He set the pattern for land He respectfully viewed sacred ob- He led the way, and many Ab- mother’s country, his ngura. He lived his As the first Aboriginal Land claim hearings. He was willing to jects and observed with interest original people benefitted from his final years at Mutitjulu community near Commissioner, it was his task to hear evidence given by witnesses in the ritual performance of men and work. His intellectual ability, legal Uluru. establish a process for the lodging groups. He listened intently, care- women. He valued the insights of knowledge and judgment were In the early 1970s Kumanara’s song, and hearing of land claims. He did fully making notes (by left hand) in his anthropological advisors. recognised by his appointment to Brown Skin Baby, inspired a documentary it in a typically efficient and un- his large judicial note book. He was always unpretentious. the High Court in 1987, where he that won the bronze prize at the Cannes fussy way. When witnesses sat on the His terry towel hat hardly covered served with distinction until 1998. Film Festival and focused national and In June 1977 he issued practice ground, he sat on the ground to his head. He enjoyed kicking the There is no doubt that he international attention on the Stolen Gen- directions and in November 1977 hear them. I recall him rejecting football with kids at Willowra, brought his deep understanding of erations. He also wrote the song Red Sun, began to hear the first land claim, the offer of a seat and negotiating and spending an evening with the the relationship of Aboriginal peo- Black Moon and was inducted into the NT’s the Borroloola land claim. In his with Jacob Pitjara, a senior man at Gurindji community at Daguragu ple to their land to his Mabo judg- Indigenous Music Hall of Fame in 2004. six years as Aboriginal Land Com- Utopia, to share the only available as they watched, with obvious ment. It was a privilege to appear Kumanara wrote four books including his missioner he conducted hear- tree to lean his aching back against. delight, the film of the Wave Hill before him. autobiography Songman. In 2006 he col- ings in 15 land claims: Borroloola, He conducted hearings in the Walk Off. His calmness and re- Ross Howie laborated with filmmaker Melanie Hogan Warlpiri, Alyawarra, Old Top open, often on long days in hot and laxed personal warmth put shy or on Kanyini, which won ‘Best Documentary’ Springs, Uluru, Utopia, Willowra, uncomfortable conditions, and hesitant witnesses at ease. (Ross Howie SC was principal le- at the London Australia Film Festival 2007, Limmen Bight, Finniss River, Al- travelled considerable distances to He was the first of the fine judg- gal officer at the CLC and CAALAS the Inside Film ‘Independent Spirit Award’ ligator Rivers, Warlmanpa, Dagu- view sites and hear evidence. es who have discharged the role of in the mid ’70s and early ’80s) and the Discovery Channel ‘Best Documen- ragu, Daly River, Kaytej-Warlpiri Justice Toohey considered the Aboriginal Land Commissioner. tary Award’. and Roper Bar. evidence of women important. He was the 1999 NAIDOC Indigenous Person of the Year, in recognition of his lifelong work for Aboriginal rights, educa- tion, community development and cultural awareness. First Australians lit Phillip’s spark Kumanara established the Croker Island Night and in Darwin the RPT Pony Club, a “TRYING to change things and Aboriginal Legal Aid Service boxing club, folk club and the Aboriginal make them better” was how Phillip (CAALAS), where he worked Development Foundation. Toyne described what drove him to until 1978. During that period He also helped establish Adelaide Com- become a lifelong agent of change. he was also the principal ne- munity College for Aboriginal people, and A two year stint as a teacher in gotiator on the creation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cen- Haasts Bluff was the beginning of Pitjantjajra Land Rights Act of tres at the Australian National University, a career that helped bring land- South Australia. University of Canberra and University of mark changes in the lives of all In 1979 Mr Toyne appeared Wollongong, and served as director of the Australians. as counsel for the Pitjantja- Northern Australia Legal Aid Service. Mr Toyne, who died in June, jara Council in the Ayers Rock This tribute is but a brief glimpse of the was instrumental in the handover Land Claim. He was also de- life of a truly inspiring and quiet achiever. of Uluru to Anangu in 1985, the veloping his skills as a lobbyist. We pay respect to Kumanara Randall’s creation of the Pitjantjatjara Land Mr Toyne lobbied both the family and thank them for their approval to Rights Act, and the Royal Commis- Fraser and Hawke Govern- publish this tribute. sion into British atomic tests on ments for the direct grant of Pitjantjatjara land at Maralinga. title of Ayers Rock to Anan- (Adapted from a tribute by Linkup in He was also one of Australia’s gu, which took place in 1985. Queensland) most influential conservationists, In the same year the Royal successfully lobbying for the cre- Commission into British Brown Skin Baby ation of Landcare and the protec- atomic testing at Maralinga tion of the wild Tasmanian rivers. was completed. My brown skin baby they take him away He campaigned tirelessly against “Almost by accident, some As a young preacher I used to ride land degradation and for sustain- of the old people I worked A quiet pony round the country side able development. with in the Pitjantjatjara lands In a native camp I’ll never forget Mr Toyne came to Central Aus- told an anthropologist about heritage nomination for endan- lived here for 40,00 years really A young black mother whose cheeks all wet tralia in 1973 after completing a the black cloud coming over and gered Tasmanian forests. have nothing to tell us about the Bachelor of Law in 1970 and a Di- people falling sick and dying,” Mr Later, Mr Toyne and the Nation- environment.” My brown skin baby they take him away ploma of Education in 1972. Toyne recalled in 2001. al Farmers Federation’s Rick Far- In the Sydney Morning Her- Between her songs I heard her say In a 2001 interview with the “I realised there was this extraor- ley got the Hawke government to ald newspaper, Cape York’s Noel Police’s been taken my baby away invest billions of dollars in the cre- Pearson recalled working with Mr ABC, Mr Toyne said he had turned dinary untold story there and I ap- From white man, boss, the baby I have away from the law “because I proached the Hawke government ation of Landcare, an organisation Toyne to preserve native title on didn’t feel the law was addressing about a Royal Commission.” that addresses land degradation. pastoral leases in 1993. Why he let him take baby away social problems the way I thought Mr Toyne continued his close He insisted that it was vital that “His achievements outlive him My brown skin baby they take him away it should.” After his two years at association with Aboriginal peo- the nation listen to Aboriginal peo- but always a small part of all of us To a children’s home a baby came ple in understanding and protect- dies when we lose an old mate like Haasts Bluff, he set about making ple and causes as a legal advisor With new clothes on and a new name sure that it did. to the Uluru Board of Manage- ing the land. Phillip,” Mr Pearson said. Day and night he would always say “I suddenly realised that living ment and helped write the first “The fact that Aboriginal people “When young, I modelled my and breathing inside the Australia plan of management. believe they are related to country, own public advocacy on Phillip. He Oh mummy, mummy why they take me that I knew was this entire other “He’s a great, great fella on land that they say they belong to coun- was so good with [journalists] An- away culture, other world, other situa- rights for Anangu, a very good try rather than the country belongs drew Olle or Paul Lyneham on The My brown skin baby they take him away to them, carries some profound 7.30 Report when he headed ACF. tion that most Australians have no friend of Anangu and a good talk- The child grew up and had to go idea about,” he told the ABC. er,” said his friend Yami Lester. messages for us,” he said. My lesson from him? Pretend to “I felt I learned so much more As director of the Australian “Not only do we have to incorpo- own a suit.” From a mission home that he loved so than I taught in those few years.” Conservation Foundation, from rate some of that into our thinking, Phillip Toyne died with his sec- To find his mother he tried in vain In 1975 he became one of the first 1986-1992, he helped persuade the but I think it is arrogance on our ond wife Molly, and three sons, Ja- Upon this earth they never met again part to say that these people who mie, Atticus and Aaron at his side. lawyers of the Central Australian federal government to seek world My brown skin baby they take him away.

August 2015 21 NEWS

Congratulations Michael Liddle. Photo courtesy The Centralian Advocate Christine Ellis!

Boomerang comes back to the future EXPERTS say it will be impossible to establish the age of an old boo- merang found buried under two me- tres of sand in the Todd River. Council workers discovered Warlpiri ranger Christine Michaels-Ellis shows off some of the skills that have won her the the artefact while dredging in the Minister’s Award for Outstanding Frontline Achievement and Ranger of the Year (Barkly, river, and immediately contacted Katherine and VRD Region) in the 2016 NT Ranger Awards. traditional owner Michael Liddle. Mr Liddle then handed the boo- merang to Strehlow Centre an- thropologist Adam Macfie for a closer look. Mr Macfie said the could not be carbondated because it had been in the water table too long, but it looked like boomer- angs photographed with the ye- perenye men by the researchers Spencer and Gillen. He thought it was likely to have been made in the early 20th century, possibly more than 100 years ago. The boomerang appeared to be left handed, and may have been a singing boomerang. “It’s certainly a reminder that the old people should not be forgotten,” Mr Mcafie said. He said South Australian muse- um curator and author of the book Boomerang, Dr Philip Jones, would visit Alice Springs in September to examine the boomerang. Mr Liddle’s cousin, Baydon Wil- liams, told The Centralian Advocate it was not made from local wood, Ceremony brings back memories suggesting it came from north of town. NEWLY ordained Lutheran pastor Rodney manager) had a large iron hall built for a “It tells us that Aboriginal people Malbunka caught up with an old friend at church and meeting hall,” she said. living here had tools to fight and his ordination ceremony in Hermannsburg “Colin had a gift for singing and taught look for food,” Mr Liddle said. earlier this year. the camp to sing hymns. Every evening “We have certain older members Alice Springs author Jose Petrick knew after tea, Martyn and I would sit out in that can connect the dots in relation Pastor Malbunka when he was a boy and the garden under the starry sky. We lis- to this. This particular boomerang spent the first seven years of his life at tened and enjoyed the unaccompanied was found in a creek that is impor- Neutral Junction Station, where Jose singing of Colin and the Tara Community, tant to the – it pro- then ran the station’s health centre. as it wafted towards us.” vided water and life. Jose, now in her 90s, recalled how Rod- Jose met Rodney again when she was “It’s a good story that the council Luritja man photographed with boomerang in the 1920s. ney’s father Colin, a Christian evangelist, visiting Hermannsburg in 2007 to write a workers respected something they Picture National Museum of Australia had brought his young family to the station. book about Kuparilya Springs. found that belonged to the people of “Martyn (Jose’s husband and station this area.” 22 August 2015 NEWS Syphilis threatens youth and unborn children HEALTH authorities are concerned about the inside of the mouth. themselves tested.” an outbreak of a dangerous sexually One of the biggest dangers of syphilis Dr Thalany said there was no sign that transmitted disease (STD) in the Central is that it can pass through the womb to the syphilis epidemic was easing. Australia, Barkly and Katherine regions. the unborn child and can cause death or He appealed to community leaders to The NT’s Centre for Disease Control birth defects. make people aware of the danger, espe- says there have been 134 reported cases In an interview with the ABC, the cially young people. of syphilis in the regions since July last Centre for Disease Control’s Dr Mat- “As much as possible they should say year, almost nine times as many as in the thew Thalany said that unlike with what we are saying,” he said. previous year. many other STDs people infected with “This is such a preventable disease. The centre says most of the cases are in syphilis may not be alarmed at the first Avoid unprotected sexual intercourse and Aboriginal people between the ages of 15 signs of the disease. if someone has a slip-up... get yourself and 19, although children as young as 12 “One of the difficulties about syphilis is tested. And particularly young women have been found to have the disease. that it causes an ulcer, which is visible in who are pregnant, please, please be sure Syphilis is highly contagious, but can be the genital organs. that you go to your antenatal clinics and prevented by always using condoms when But it is painless, unlike some other get regularly tested.” having sex. infections which cause pain and debilita- NT Health Minister John Elferink told The STD can be treated effectively tion,” he said. ABC News the government was doing ev- with antibiotics. If it is not treated it “Sometimes people may not observe it erything possible to tackle the problem. will cause rashes in different parts of and then it gets worse. If they do observe “What we do do, of course, is education the body, such as the hands and feet and it they should of course straight away get programs ... [and] provide treatment.” Grace Smallwood’s Condoman cartoon helped to stop the spread of AIDS in indigenous communities. CAAPU: act to stop ice epidemic Does the action hero need to come THE Central Australian Ab- original Alcohol Protection out of retirement to spread the Unit (CAAAPU) wants to message again? force users of the drug ice to undergo compulsory rehabili- tation. The call came as youth Surgeon wages rehab program Bushmob warned that the number of us- ers of the drug, also known as crystal methamphetamines, war on glue ear is rising. A QUEENSLAND doctor has declared war on ear in- Bushmob CEO Will Mac- fections in Aboriginal children and says indigenous ear Gregor told a hearing of the health should be made a national priority. NT Ice Select Committee that The ABC reported that Dr David McIntosh, a sur- the number of ice users his geon with the North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for centre sees has gone up from Community Health, got $70,000 from the federal gov- one or two at a time to five. ernment for a “surgical blitz” on ear complaints. CAAPU is worried that ice He gave three minute operations to 15 Aboriginal use, still relatively low among children who might otherwise have had to wait months its clients, will rise quickly. or years for help. “Given expert predictions The surgery involves ‘vacuum cleaning’ the ear and and interstate experience inserting a grommet or tiny tube in the eardrum. This CAAPU, along with other NT stops the ‘glue’ building up in the middle ear. alcohol and other drugs ser- The children suffered from otitis media, better vices, expects this to change known as ‘glue ear’, which prevents people from hearing in the short term”, its state- Scene from the federal governmment’s anti-ice TV campaign properly and makes it difficult for children to learn. ment reads. users rather than a criminal growing problem. Mark O’Reilly said the service Indigenous children have one of the highest rates of This could be devastating response. Bushmob said they need was beginning to see an in- ear infections in the world, with about one in five chil- for Aboriginal people who are It has called on the govern- additional quiet spaces away crease in ice related matters dren suffering from it. already addicted to grog. ment to fund CAAAPU so it can from the centre where their that was “causing concern”. Dr McIntosh called for a streamlined national ap- Crystal metamphetamine is identify and treat ice users. young clients can withdraw He said it was important proach to treating the disease that would send sufferers a powerful, fast acting stimu- “We want to be in front from the drug. not to focus on or sensation- to the front of the surgery queues. lant that is either smoked or of, not behind the wave, and The Australian newspaper alise the use of ice but to work injected. It is highly addictive. make sure there are adequate has reported Queensland’s on the causes of drug abuse in Taken with other drugs, such and appropriate resources in Aboriginal mayors, health remote communities. as alcohol, ice can also cause place so we can try and pre- and social services are push- Mr O’Reilly said the big unconsciousness, strokes, heart vent ice from taking hold in ing for a ‘zero tolerance’ re- issue that needed to be ad- Gap closing for attacks and death. our communities,” Ms Hoo- sponse to ice. dressed was the social dy- Health organisations say san said. “We know the threat: it namic that led people to one that, used in high doses, ice can “This means Aboriginal or- would destroy us, to be hon- form of substance abuse after drive people crazy. It can cause ganisations taking a collab- est,” Lockhardt River Mayor another, whether it be alco- women but men a kind of psychosis with violent orative approach and sharing Wayne Butcher told the news- hol, petrol, marijuana, heroin behaviour and hallucinations. resources and expertise, sup- paper afzzter a meeting with or ice. “People get quite aggressive ported by government agen- other mayors. Professor Richard Murray, are left behind when they are coming off,” cies and the community.” “There were 17 mayors of a member of the National said Mr MacGregor. Central Australian Aborigi- indigenous communities sit- Ice Taskforce, however, has If an ice epidemic devel- ABORIGINAL women are living longer on average nal Congress has begun host- ting around the table and I warned that ice is “a particu- ... but men are not. oped here CAAPU said it ing an ‘ice community group’ asked for a show of hands if larly wicked problem.” would welcome forced rehab, Nearly two out of three indigenous people die for people who use the drug they knew that ice was in their He said the drug needed before the age of 65, compared with only about like the program in place for but CEO Donna Ah Chee is community, and nearly ev- special attention because of alcoholics who have been one in five other Australians. not sure if the number of us- eryone put up their hand. It’s its addictive qualities and the A new report by the Australian Institute of picked up by police three ers is increasing, happened so quick. It seemed problems it could cause in re- times in two months. Health and Welfare shows the life expectancy gap “What we do know is that like a city problem but it has mote communities. getting smaller, but not among Aboriginal men. CAAPU has had reports of we are treating a small num- been sneaking into the com- Meanwhile the ABC reports ice use in communities from Between 2008 and 2012, the gap in mortal- ber of clients,” she said. munities.” that the drug being sold as ice in ity rates between Indigenous and non-indigenous families of clients, especially “That’s not to say that there Several mayors are flagging Alice Springs may in fact be low among people aged 18-30. people decreased by 17 per cent, the report found. aren’t others out there who a proposal to evict convicted grade methamphetamine made This was mostly because Aboriginal women were “Every day we’re hearing are yet to receive treatment.” suppliers of ice from public locally from ingredients found about other family members living longer, with the gap between them and non- The hearing heard Alice housing, with reports of at in non-prescription drugs. Indigenous women closing by 30 per cent. using it,” said CAAAPU’s Ei- Springs organisations feel least one suspected dealer re- Police say they are sharing leen Hoosan. The national Close the Gap Partnership Agree- unprepared to deal with the cently “chased out” of a com- information with chemists to ment aims to close the gap in life expectancy be- Her organisation has spo- drug’s impact. It was told munity. track down these labs. They ken out for a medical and tween indigenous and non-indigenous Australia there is not enough training Central Australian Aborigi- have busted three alleged by 2031. therapeutic approach to ice and facilites to deal with the nal Legal Aid Service CEO meth labs so far this year. August 2015 23 INTERSTATE Outstations ‘road map’ THE West Australian government has put forward a ‘road map’ for the State’s 274 remote communities, as protests continue at the govern- ment’s announcement last year that as many as 150 faced closure. fails to stop protest Western Australian Premier Bar- nett has promised to negotiate with Aboriginal leaders and communi- ties in developing the government remote communities plan. But, while saying that no outsta- tions faced immediate closure, he warned that there would be “sig- nificantly”fewer communities at the end of the process. Australiawide protests began late last year after the WA government warned it would withdraw essential services to “unviable communities” after the federal government hand- ed over responsibility for the fund- ing of outstations to WA. West Australian Aboriginal Af- fairs Minister Peter Collier told media that the government was not trying to save money on outsta- tions, but to ensure that money was “well spent”. He said the government would assess the employment, education, child protection and healthcare op- tions available to Aboriginal people in remote communities to ensure services were delivered in the “most efficient and effective way.” Mr Collier said size would not be the only factor in deciding which outstations were viable. He said there were communities with fewer than 10 people that were “operating very well.” But he also said it was “not sus- tainable” to have outstations with nity services sector and Common- son was instrumental. only house and one family living wealth government, and regional But the WA opposition’s Aborigi- in them. Aboriginal leaders.” nal affairs spokesperson said he was In June the WA government The government advertised eight concerned the damage had already Native title called for nominations for ‘strategic Aboriginal leader positions – four in been done on outstations policy. regional advisory councils’ for the the Kimberley and four in the Pilba- “You’ve said to these communi- Kimberley and Pilbara regions. ra, who would be appointed for up ties, Premier: ‘I’m closing 150 of It said the councils would be “key to two years. them… You’ve failed… You’re rid- deal will pay drivers” of reforms to enable bet- Cape York Partnership strategy dled with STDs, it’s a disgrace, so ter education, health and wellbe- advisor Noel Pearson said the gov- we’re going to close you down’.” ing, and employment outcomes for ernment’s announcement was a “It’s not the way you treat people Aboriginal people living in regional “circuit-breaker” in the debate over who are incredibly vulnerable.” over $1.3 bn and remote areas. outstation funding. Protests against likely closures AUSTRALIA’S largest native Membership would include “rel- The WA government was report- were held in , New South title settlement is set to take evant heads of state agencies, senior edly inspired by the Hope Vale proj- Wales, Darwin and even in Euro- place in the south west of West- representatives from the commu- ect in Cape York, in which Mr Pear- pean capital cities. ern Australia. The WA government reached agreement with Noongar groups throughout WA and the signing of six indigenous Coal giant falters as land use agreements. Under the agreement the groups will receive $1.3 bil- lion in land and other benefits in exchange for resolving all court stops approval native title claims over the south-west area. WANGAN and Jagalingou fami- two family groups would benefit An independent Noongar lies of Central Queensland cel- from the mine and it will contin- Boodja Trust will be established ebrate a victory in their fight to ue to deal with the two pro-mine and assets will be transferred stop a massive coal mine. native title applicants. over 12 years, including funding The Federal Court has ruled the The groups are also lobby- of $50 million each year. Negotiator Glen Kelly federal government’s approval ing overseas banks not to fund Up to 320,000 hectares of “SWALSC was picking and of the $16.5 billion Carmichael the project, which The Guardian crown land will be transferred to choosing the family members mine being built by Indian corpo- reports has been rejected by 11 the trust. that were allowed in the meet- ration Adani invalid because the banks. The WA parliament will also ing, they had a bus load of people minister failed to consider two “The native title system isn’t be asked to pass the Noongar going to the meeting who was endangered species. representing Aboriginal people Recognition Bill to recognise the the ‘yes’ vote,” he was reported The families are fighting a deci- as it should, it’s designed for us groups as traditional owners of by the ABC. sion by the Native Title Tribunal to fail,” Murrawah Johnson, a the South West. “SWALSC and the government in June that the mine was “in the 20 year old member of the Wan- The South West Aboriginal need to be fair and go back into public interest”. gan and Jagalingou group told Land and Sea Council (SWALSC) the voting poll again.” They accuse Adani of “grossly the newspaper. negotiated the deal on behalf of Mr Bropho said the deal would over estimating” the benefits of “There’s this idea that Ab- the groups. increase homelessness. Its chief executive Glen Kelly the mine, which has the backing original people have to think and “You’ll have a lot of homeless told the ABC there was “great of two native title claimants. The act in the same way, while other people, you’ll have people in the empowerment in there for the streets, you’ll have a lot of home- third applicant is opposed to the groups can have diverse views. Noongar people and great pros- less people in the country areas mine. The Wangan and Jagalingou perity to be had.” living on the outskirts of the city The Guardian reported that people rejected a land use agree- replace the two pro-mine applicants But not all Noongar families areas and the ditches,” he said. the Wangan and Jagalingou family ment, we don’t want them destroy- with a new native title group. supported the deal. Henry Ken- “A lot of people are starting to council would vote about whether to But Adani says members of the ing our country.” neth Bropho claimed the vote in move to the city from the country favour was rigged. and filling up Perth’s parks.” 24 August 2015 INTERNATIONAL Dialysis the African way

VINCENT Mugyenyi, a 65 year old The hospital is now also offer- retired pilot from the Ugandan Air ing two free sessions of dialysis, Force, has lost count of how many leading to an influx of patients. dialysis treatments he has had in the “So now we are struggling be- last eight years. cause we are getting many more He spends eight hours a week on a patients on dialysis,” says Eyoku dialysis machine in Mulago Hospital “I wish we had more special- in Kampala, the capital of the East Af- ists managing kidney diseases,” rican country. said Dr Robert Kalyesubula, one “I used to have a small farm with of the four consulting nephrolo- about one hundred animals,” Vin- gists at Mulago Hospital. cent told the International Press “I wish we had more awareness Service (IPS). programs about kidney disease “I sold all those animals for so that people know about it be- treatment because I still needed cause it is devastating.” my life. That is how this disease One of the difficulties with has affected me. kidney disease is that in its early “It has depleted every resource of stages it has no specific symp- mine … land is very important but I toms so the patients who turn up have sold mine just to buy life.” for treatment are often in the fi- Mugyenyi is one of the minority of nal stages of the disease. Ugandans with chronic kidney dis- “Patients come in the dying ease who can get dialysis treatment. stage,” said Kalyesubula. “You As in Central Australia, chronic spend 90 percent of your time kidney disease is an increasing health struggling to keep people alive burden in Uganda. rather than making them live.” The World Health Organisation Patients who cannot pay the (WHO) says chronic kidney disease $40 a week for dialysis are is the 12th leading cause of deaths treated in ward 4C, and the im- worldwide and growing rapidly. This man is a patient in Uganda’s only public dialysis unit. Picture: International Press Service pression is that they are con- Dr Simon Peter Eyoku, a kidney disease “I have seen patients migrate from far cor- ago with four dialysis machines, a patient had demned prisoners with no possibility of specialist at Mulago Hospital’s renal unit, ners of the country to Kampala because that to pay $500 for a week of dialysis treatment appeal. told IPS that chronic kidney disease mainly is where the dialysis machines are,” Eyoku “Those who could afford it would fall out When IPS visited the ward, the scene affects Ugandans aged between 20 and 50. told IPS. after selling land, houses, cars and then fail- was chaotic, with the few doctors and The main causes of the disease in Uganda “That is how costly this disease can be ing to continue. And at that time, the cost of a nurses available rushing round, attending are HIV-related infections, followed by high to patients.” transplant was equal to the amount of money to both adult males and young girls in the blood pressure and diabetes. The dialysis unit has only 33 haemodialysis you paid in a year for dialysis,” said Eyoku. same ward. Mulago Hospital is the only public hospi- machines for a population of about 36 mil- In March 2014, the hospital dropped the tal in Uganda treating renal patients. Many lion. people. cost to $40, but that is still too much for most travel long distances to the dialysis unit. When the unit opened almost eight years Ugandans. ‘We will die to stop this Bougainville’s sulting all 126 villages eyes are all on that run the length of the Tapajos should the independence government make a de- THE people of Bougainville in Papua Guinea will cision about whether to vote on a referendum on independence within the go ahead.” next five years. Campaigners had Discussion about the referendum dominat- managed to stop con- ed the recent general election in Bougainville, struction of the Tapajos which emerged from a decade long civil war 15 dam last year. years ago. Now the government John Morris, a former Catholic priest, was re- claims it will consult elected as president. with the Munduruku Mr Morris has won two of the three elections people, but is also say- held since the formation of the Autonomous ing the new dam will go Bougainville Government (ABG) in 2005. ahead in November or Most of the candidates and most of Bougan- December this year. ville’s 172,000 enrolled voters, are in favour of The Munduruku are the referendum, which was provided for in the the largest indigenous 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement. group in the Tapa- Bougainville was administered by Australia jós basin, with about before being incorporated into the state of Pap- 13,000 living alongside ua New Guinea in 1975. the river. Then, from 1989 to 1997, armed conflict Ademir Kaba says erupted over grievances about the Panguna cop- the government uses per mine, operated by a daughter company of force to stop opposition Australia’s Rio Tinto, Bougainville Copper Ltd. to the dams – includ- More than half of the mine’s income of ing a police raid on a around two billion dollars from 1972 to 1989 village in 2012 during were claimed by Rio Tinto, and almost 20 per- which one Indigenous cent by the PNG government. Now the people leader was shot dead. of Bougainville want ownership of the region’s He told The Guardian development and its benefits. the Munduruku were But even with majority support for indepen- also prepared to use dence, Bougainville and Papua New Guinea force to resist the gov- must first agree that the conditions of the peace ernment’s plans. agreement have been met. These include good THE Munduruku people of the Amazon start generating electricity in November. “If the government does not engage in governance and successful disarmament. rainforest have gone to the United Nations According to dam builders Norte Energia, dialogue with us, if it does not use the tools Former militia groups hold up to 2000 weap- with their battle to stop the Brazilian gov- the Belo Monte will be capable of produc- of democracy, we are prepared to die to stop ons, and conflicts between different groups still ernment building a new hydroelectric dam ing 11,000MW of power, enough to fulfil the the building of this dam,” he said. have to be resolved . on their land. needs of 60 million people. Federal prosecutors in Brazil say con- Bougainville now gets 89 per cent of its in- Leader and spokesman Ademir Kaba The government says its dams will pro- struction of dams in the Amazon is endan- come from PNG and other countries, and will Munduruku has told the UN Council Brazil vide clean, renewable energy and are im- gering the livelihoods of thousands of fami- have to become financially independent to sur- is violating indigenous rights and its own portant for developing the country. lies in the area. vive on its own. constitution by building dams for hydro- But Ademir Kaba says the government They say Norte Energia has broken 55 Options being discussed include a return to electric plants in the Amazon. failed to consult with affected communi- agreements it made to guarantee indig- mining and developing the agricultural industry. The Munduruku previously opposed the ties about the Belo Monte dam and is also enous groups, fishermen and farmers their Mr Morris’s government must also tackle high building of the Belo Monte Dam, set to be failing to consult about the new dam, to be means of survival. the world’s fourth largest hydroelectric built across the river Tapajos. unemployment and illiteracy among youth. plant. It is nearly finished and expected to He told The Guardian: “Only after con- August 2015 25 SPORT Star duo Courage brother! fly the flag

CLC Executive members interrupted their July meeting to send a message of encouragement to Adam Goodes.

image courtesy of Football Federation Australia AUSSIE goalkeeper Lydia Williams who identifies with the Imparja cup not pulling stumps Darlot and Noongar and star striker Kyah Simon of the Anawan were proud to show their Aboriginal colours in Canada. Kyah made history in June by scoring the only goal in the Australian women’s team’s victory over Brazil in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015. They became the first national team to make it through a knockout stage of the soccer tourna- ment system. Kyah debuted for Australia as a 16 year old and has built a reputation as one of the county’s most outstanding young players. The 24 year old is also the first indigenous Australian to score a goal for the Australian women’s team, the Matildas. She scored five goals in the World Cup. Lydia grew up in Warrakurna and Warburton on the Ngaanyat- jarra lands. Sports feast out west

NT paceman Gene Norman bowls to Queensland in the Imparja Cup 2015. Getty Images CENTRAL Australia will host the separate from the traditional Imparja Imparja Cup for the next three years. inaugural National Indigenous Cricket Cup. Three areas putting up their Next year the state and territory Championships (NIC) in Alice Springs hand for hosting rights; Adelaide, division of the Imparja Cup will and the 23rd edition of the Imparja Toowoomba and Alice Springs. become the NIC, while the major Cup tournament from February 7-13, Fears that the 2016 Imparja Cup would centres, community and schools 2016. not be held in Central Australia were divisions will remain as the Imparja In May it was decided to run the stand also quashed after it was announced Cup. alone state/territory competition that Alice Springs would host the

for the past three years. EVERYONE loves a sports weekend, and bush communi- “The event was mainly sup- ties in Central Australia are renowned for events like the ported by the working group and Ntaria Sports Carnival. it would’ve been a lot harder to Teams from across the region entered the carnival on the put together without the lease first May weekend. money.” They came from Laramba, Papunya, Utju, Ti Tree, Plenty Taren said other organisations Highway, Kintore and even Yalata in South Australia. also chipped in. Papunya were the dual winners, triumphing in both footy “Both the stores and Tjuwanpa and softball grand finals over Ntaria and Laramba respec- made donations. Stronger Com- tively. munities for Children sponsored Taren Williams co-ordinated the Ntaria carnival with sup- a jumping castle, Western Aranda port from Australian Football League NT in Darwin. Health did the barbecue. Taren grew up seeing her grandfather Kwementyaye Ntjal- MacYouth [MacDonnell Youth ke Williams organise the annual event. Services] ran the disco and spon- After he passed away Taren and her friends took over. sored band equipment. Sharona “I’ve been doing it how I was taught to do it by the old man Richardson organised the softball. but I try to get others involved. It’s hard sometimes because “There was no trouble that long weekend and everyone was Night Patrol was really, really good,” she said. they’re busy already, too.” The sports weekends wouldn’t be complete without ready to go back to their home communities by 5pm that Mon- Taren said the carnival would have been difficult to stage some entertainment, including Taren’s uncle, Golden Gui- day. The Ntaria school also appreciated all the kids being at without funding from Ntaria’s community lease money work- tar winner Warren H. Williams. school the next day,” she said. ing group. She said the carnival had not only brought the community “I want to thank the Ntaria community and the visiting The group of traditional owners have planned their support together but kept everyone on track. communities that really respected our place and each other.” for the event with the CLC community development program

26 August 2015 SOCIAL

ABOVE:Jerisha Green, Maria Robertson, Tina Robertson, Molly Tasman and Anette Patrick on top of Papinya. Rangers Steven Morton, Dion Kelly, Jonathon Dixon, Jerisha Green and Jeffrey Matthews Jn.

ABOVE (l-r): Amy O’Donohue (front left) said goodbye to the library and resources team. Graham Hoosan from Aputula with daughter Kaniesha (4) and Muru-Warinyi Ankkul ranger Josephine Grant from Tennant Creek with her niece attended the CLC council meeting at Yulara Pulka in April. BELOW: Some long serving staff members have said farewell to the CLC: Amy O’Donohue (records manager, 22 years), Graeme Lightbody (Angas Downs IPA ranger co-ordinator, 11 years), Pat. D’Aranjo (native title program manager, 13 years), Gordon Williams (region 2 co-ordinator, 21 years), Steve Hodder (media officer, four years).

August 2015 27 “The local dog is still there watching over country... looking after country and This is one of Doris Stuart’s stories in the CLC’s new looking after family. But oral history collection ‘Every hill got a story’. still we show that respect The storytellers will launch their book during the Alice Desert Festival, and we stay away from 2 September 2015. places of such importance.” “What was so special about native able to do ceremony and that, it’s can see the evidence there of the title being found to exist here in now a big estate, housing estate. fat of the intruder dog where he the township of Alice Springs Stuarts, Stevens and Rices were ripped him from inside and took was because it was the first town giving evidence there then. The men out his fat and his other body that had native title found to exist gave evidence at what we parts. Another one that we went to all over the Alice Springs municipal called then Dunlops, but it’s was again a man’s site on Barrett boundary or, yeah, town boundary. Beaurepaires, the cluster of the rocks Drive – we call it Broken Promise And that was because we could there right beside Beaurepaires. Drive [below] – that’s where still prove connection to country, We as females sat away from the the government couldn’t go and because our sites were still here. main evidence-giving group. Frank prosecute itself. It was their law Even though we had lost a few, Stevens spoke, my brother was that said that sites shouldn’t be we still had enough, the main there, and a few other younger damaged. There was others that ones, to say, yes, these people members of the family. Then they went to – but they were three are still connected to country, we went over west of town, off that I remember. look what they do by protecting Larapinta Drive. We went to Blain The local dog is still there watching their sites. Even though we didn’t Street, and that’s part of the over country. His nose is up there have the room and the space to Kngwelye [dog] story, the local sniffing for the intruder. do ceremonies and things like dog that fought off the intruder He’s still there looking after country what my forebears would’ve that came in from the south to and looking after family. But still we done, because this town wasn’t as take over territory. But the local show that respect and we stay away developed. Where the men were dog had fought him. And you from places of such importance.”