The Central Land Council Annual Report 2023-2024 is also available to view through the Australian Government transparency portal
Author: Sophia Willcocks
Many of the people who celebrated our 50th anniversary with us were moved by No Final History, a powerful video honouring some of our land rights heroes and heroines.
Check out rare footage from a 1976 Central Land Council meeting at Amoonguna and a protest camp by Arrernte and Pitjantjara women elders at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station in 1983.
These women stopped a dam the then Country Liberal Party government wanted to build which would have flooded a women’s sacred site just upstream from the camp, at Welatje Therre.
We will remember them.
Young leaders have been called upon to “keep our fire burning” as one of the country’s largest Aboriginal land councils celebrates five decades of fierce advocacy for land rights.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article may contain images and names of people who have died.
Thousands gathered at Alice Springs’ Telegraph Station on Saturday to mark 50 years of the Central Land Council, which today has 90 elected members representing more than 24,000 people in remote Central Australia.
CLC chair and Warlpiri man Warren Williams said the celebrations showed “the fire in our bellies still burns brightly, half a century on”.
“It’s very emotional because we get to remember some of our past delegates that have paved the way,” he said.
“There’s a lot of great achievements that have happened during [CLC’s history], getting our land rights back, our homes … people living on those homelands.
“50 per cent of the land that we’ve claimed is under [the] Land Rights Act, we’re still looking at some more.”
The CLC’s beginnings trace back to 1974, when elected leaders from around Central Australia gathered in Amoonguna, a community 15 kilometres south-east of Alice Springs.
Two years later the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976 was established, which paved the way for the newly-formed council to claim back and manage traditional lands.
Senior First Nations academic Marcia Langton, who spoke at Saturday’s event alongside former CLC director and former WA Senator Pat Dodson, said it was “the first time in Australian history” Aboriginal land rights were genuinely recognised.
“[The Act] still today represents the highest point of recognition of Aboriginal rights in land,” she said.
Ms Langton, during her five years as an anthropologist for the CLC in the 80s, consulted with traditional owners to develop land claim documents and lodge those with the federal court.
“I wanted every land claim to win. I think in my time we lost one, I think I worked on about 20,” she said.
“People’s understanding of their country, their knowledge of their country and their ability to give evidence in compliance with the Land Rights Act criteria for traditional owners was just astonishing … one of the great experiences of my life.
“In the nation’s history, [the land council is] a profoundly important institution.”
The celebrations on Saturday featured traditional dances, bands and singers, with crowds gathering from communities across the NT’s south to warmly support the performers.
A number of council stalwarts were also honoured throughout the day, and two truth-telling sessions were held.
One was a women-only event on the banks of the Todd River remembering the 1990s protests against plans to build a flood mitigation dam, which traditional owners say would have destroyed a sacred women’s site.
Many community members said the highlight of Saturday’s event was seeing young children take part in traditional dances.
“They learning the little kids as well for the women’s dancing, so they can grow up and continue dancing around their kids,” Arrernte traditional owner Phyllis Stevens said.
“The young generation will carry on the dances and stories and songs … keep the country strong and the land,” Annette Williams said.
Next generation to forge the CLC’s future
Mr Williams, who was elected as chair last month, said he would like to see young people step into council leadership roles and help the CLC “expand”.
He also said he’d like to see more women standing for the CLC ahead of the next council elections in April 2025.
“In that time [the CLC was formed] it was all men … it changed dramatically when women come on board,” he said.
“We [now have] about a third women on the CLC board.”
While the event was alcohol-free, organisers said they were disappointed their requests for local takeaway outlets and bottle shops to close on Friday and Saturday went largely unanswered.
Lhere Artepe was the only business to heed the calls, with the Aboriginal Corporation closing its three IGAs on Saturday.
“I commend Lhere Artepe for leading by example and urge others to show some responsibility and follow suit,” Mr Williams said ahead of the event.
An ABC news story.
The Central Land Council (CLC) has launched two new resources to assist traditional landowners to make the most of their native title rights.
The two booklets, How to Claim Native Title, and Native Title and Mining, were launched by the CLC at Ross River, with elected members travelling to the location an hour east of Alice Springs immediately after the council’s 50th anniversary celebrations on Saturday, October 5. The new resources are designed to complement existing booklets and information, and will be translated into Aboriginal languages to help people understand native title mining and claim processes under the Native Title Act (1993).
CLC CEO Les Turner said these resources will help empower traditional land owners.
“Knowledge is power, and these new booklets aim to return power where it belongs – with the native title holders…” Mr Turner said.
“This enables Aboriginal people to have a seat at the table to negotiate agreements when something is happening on their traditional country.”
The meeting at Ross River also marked the last meeting of elected members during this council’s term, with elections set to occur next April. CLC executive leadership will continue to meet every two months, with Mr Turner saying the council is hoping for more diversity in its applicants in 2025.
“Our chair and other members have been encouraging young people and women to join them on the next council,” Mr Turner said.
The Central Land Council has launched new plain English information resources to help traditional owners to make the most of their native title rights and the opportunities that can come with them.
Immediately after last Saturday’s successful 50th CLC anniversary celebration, the elected members of the council travelled to Ross River, an hour east of Alice Springs, to meet for the last time during the current council’s term.
At Ross River they launched How to claim native title and Native title and mining, two easy-to-understand booklets for native title holders.
The new resources complement a series of native title booklets and the multi-lingual PBCmob app which native title holders in the CLC region launched last year.
The booklets will be recorded in local Aboriginal languages and, once uploaded to the app, help tackle literacy and language barriers to understanding the Native Title Act (1993).
The booklets help native title holders and other Aboriginal people to understand native title mining and claim processes under this law.
“Knowledge is power, and these new booklets aim to return power where it belongs – with the native title holders,” CLC chief executive Lesley Turner said.
During its 50th anniversary year the CLC also celebrates 30 years as a native title representative body.
The Minister for Indigenous Australians recently re-recognised the CLC as an NTRB until June 2030.
Around one-third of land in the CLC region has, or will soon have, native title rights and interests recognised.
“This enables Aboriginal people to have a seat at the table to negotiate agreements when something is happening on their traditional country,” Mr Turner said.
He also acknowledged the members for their service during the current three-year term of the council.
“Thank you for speaking out for the communities and for placing your confidence in me.”
When the council’s term ends, next April, fresh elections will take place in communities across the southern half of the Territory.
In the meantime the CLC’s 11-member executive committee will continue to meet every two months.
Mr Turner said a multi-lingual media campaign will inform CLC constituents in the new year how they can vote in the council election or stand for election themselves.
“Our chair and other members have been encouraging young people and women to join them on the next council.”
Ahead of the elections, the members reviewed how council member positions are allocated (also known as the “method of choice”), how members are nominated and the council’s code of conduct.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885 | media@clc.org.au
The elected members of the Central Land Council are inviting the whole community to join them as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of their council at the Alice Springs Bungalow/Telegraph Station on Saturday, 5 October.
The free afternoon and evening event will kick off at 2pm, featuring performers and guests from remote communities and beyond.
“The fire in our bellies still burns brightly, half a century on,” CLC chair Warren Williams said.
“And while the role of the CLC is changing in this post-land claim era, we will never stop speaking up for the people we represent.”
Communities across the southern half of the Territory will be represented by bands, traditional dancers and singers, and there will be a Blak Market with food, information, merchandise and activities for kids and adults.
“We are proud to present a program made up exclusively of artists from our region, and happy that some prominent former members, staff and friends of the CLC will be celebrating with us,” said Mr Williams.
“One special guest we’re all glad is feeling well enough to join a discussion panel hosted by filmmaker Rachel Perkins, the daughter of our first chair, is former CLC director Patrick Dodson, better known as the Father of Reconciliation.”
During the afternoon there will be two ‘truth-telling’ activities about the history of the Telegraph Station and the surrounding country.
“We would like to offer everyone a chance to learn how the Bungalow has affected the families of the Aboriginal people who grew up or were educated there before and after World War II,” said Mr Williams.
“And how protests by traditional owners and their allies in the eighties prevented a dam that would have flooded a sacred Arrernte women’s site just upriver.”
The CLC is expecting around 2000 people to enjoy themselves at any one time during this grog-free and family-friendly event.
It is pleased that the Liquor Commission has declared the Telegraph Station restricted premises for the day.
It has also asked the NT government and the town’s liquor licensees to close all takeaway outlets and bottle shops on 4 and 5 October – so far with disappointing results.
A notable exception is Lhere Artepe Enterprises who announced that the bottle shops at its three IGA stores will remain closed on both days.
“I commend Lhere Artepe for leading by example and urge others to show some responsibility and follow suit,” Mr Williams said.
“Our native title holders and long-term residents still remember how successful this measure proved when we celebrated our 30th anniversary at the ANZAC Oval.”
Mr Williams said the council members expect to hold an equally harmonious event this time around.
“Come on down, have fun and maybe even learn something new. Everyone is welcome!”
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579 | media@clc.org.au
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A special meeting of the Central Land Council yesterday elected former CLC deputy chair Warren Williams to lead the council as its new chair.
CLC members gathered at Tennant Creek from across the southern half of the Northern Territory voted for the former assistant principal from Yuendumu to replace Matthew Palmer, who had lost the confidence of the council. Mr Williams was a deputy to both Mr Palmer and his late predecessor, Mr Hoosan, with whom he shared a focus on the wellbeing of young people. As a former councillor and deputy president of the Central Desert Regional Council and chair of Yuendumu’s Warlpiri Project he brings a wealth of leadership experience to his new role. In thanking members for their confidence, Mr Williams said he would keep speaking up for people out bush and uphold the CLC’s strong governance culture and its commitment to honesty and fairness.
“This special meeting is testament to our council’s good governance processes,” he said.
“I would like to pay tribute to the integrity of my fellow elected members and express my confidence in, and high regard for, CLC chief executive Lesley Turner.” Mr Williams will be supported by newly-elected deputy chair Barbara Shaw, from Mount Nancy town camp in Alice Springs. Ms Shaw is a former deputy chair of the CLC and the current chair of Aboriginal Investment Northern Territory. They will lead the council until the regular council elections in April next year.
The elected members of the Central Land Council have called out untrue media statements by three constituents who have alleged that they were asked to leave a council meeting at Watarrka (King’s Canyon) in July.
“This is untrue – I was there,” said CLC executive committee member Barbara Shaw from Alice Springs. “Nobody was removed from the meeting. On the contrary, the women in question were heard at length and treated with politeness and respect.”
At the July council meeting Ms Shaw participated in a discussion by the elected members from the CLC’s Alice Springs region about a forthcoming review of how CLC members are chosen.
The council normally undertakes these reviews before a CLC election, with the next such election scheduled for April 2025.
Ms Shaw said the visitors asked to speak to the regional group and were allowed to do so.
“We welcomed the women into the group and listened for a long time to their reasons why their outstation should have its own, separate representation on the council.”
“We heard them out and gave them most of our limited discussion time, but they took over,” said another member of the group, Conrad Ratara from Ntaria (Hermannsburg).
“Ours is the largest of the nine CLC regions, and we also needed to talk about how the many other communities and organisations around Alice Springs are represented on the CLC,” he said.
Having made their case, the visitors left the group on their own accord during a break in the meeting.
“Members of our region then wished to complete our discussion without visitors and we asked them politely not to re-join the group after the break,” Ms Shaw said.
“There are so many witnesses who can testify that we treated the visitors respectfully and that nobody asked them to leave the meeting,” Ingrid Williams from Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa), another elected member from the Alice Springs region said.
“I am surprised and hurt that, after giving them so much of our time, they are now attacking us with false media statements.”
“If they are unhappy they should make a formal complaint so it can be properly investigated,” Ms Williams said.
Anyone can lodge a complaint against the CLC or give feedback by following the process set out on the CLC website.
The CLC has not received any complaints about the July meeting and encourages the women to put their concerns in writing or meet with the CLC’s executive committee and senior management.
Any CLC constituent can attend council meetings and speak at non-confidential parts of these meetings with the permission of the chair or the council, and many do so regularly.
Every three years CLC constituents elect the 90 members of the council and can stand for election themselves.
Contact: Tess O’Loughlin | 0461 396 054 | media@clc.org.au
We mourn the loss of Elliot McAdam AM, former NT local government and housing minister, former Barkly Regional Council member and a man who spoke truth to power no matter who held it.
Mr McAdam was an outspoken and tenacious advocate for his people, especially women and children, and always put their rights and wellbeing first.
Central Land Council executive member and former chair Sammy Wilson recognised these qualities when he and Mr McAdam were youngfellas, mustering together at Everard Park Station in the north of South Australia.
“I grew up with him and he was like family to me. We loved riding horses. I’ve been learning from him. He never gave up for people. He made me think about how to look after the country. When I went up to Tennant Creek I always visited him.”
The Central Land Council members are proud to have fought side by side with Mr McAdam for alcohol restrictions in Tennant Creek in the 1990s, which he led as a senior staff member at the Julalikari Council, for Aboriginal rights and better living conditions.
As a prominent voice of the NO MORE campaign he spoke out passionately against family and domestic violence and as chair of the Barkly Region Alcohol and Drug Abuse Advisory Group he raised awareness of the root causes of alcohol and other drug abuse while working hard to address them.
He richly deserved his appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia for his integrity and many decades of service to his people.
Our hearts go out to Barb Shaw, his daughters, extended family and many friends.
The Central Land Council welcomes today’s announcement by Chief Minister Eva Lawler of the establishment of a dedicated, stand-alone housing department if the government is re-elected.
As a signatory to the National Partnership Agreement for Remote Housing and Homelands and a member of the agreement’s Joint Steering Committee, the CLC has been calling for a dedicated housing department to deliver the 10-year, $4 billion investment into remote housing across the Northern Territory.
CLC CEO Les Turner said, “We hope that the establishment of a new Territory Homes department ensures a more integrated approach from government to rolling out the new ten year remote housing partnership agreement. The agreement is based on the Closing the Gap principles of shared decision making and we can’t do that without shared data and a coordinated approach within government.”
Mr Turner said, “Splitting housing across multiple government departments posed a challenge under the previous partnership agreement. Bringing them together will make the job of the Joint Steering Committee that oversees the rollout of the agreement much easier.”
Bringing all aspects of the housing system from planning and construction through to property and tenancy management under one roof should also result in better decisions and clearer arrangements for remote housing tenants.
Mr Turner added, “Our members out bush often report confusion over which government department to contact and suffer long wait times for responses to repair and maintenance requests.”
Mr Turner added, “We thank the NT Government for listening to our request and call on the CLP to make a similar commitment in the lead up to the NT election.”
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
The Central Land Council executive committee met with Police Commissioner Mr Michael Murphy and Arrernte police officer Brad Wallace in Alice Springs on Wednesday 19 June to discuss community concerns about racist behaviour in the NT police force.
The executive members were hoping for a public apology from Commissioner Murphy after he admitted in early June that he had been ‘too busy’ to order an investigation into racist behaviour among elite police officers.
This inaction is particularly egregious, considering there has also been no response to APO NT’s request for an apology from Police Minister Brent Potter for denying the existence of racism in the NT police force, a denial that blatantly disregards the lived experiences of Aboriginal people.
Deputy chair Warren Williams expressed deep disappointment, “While Commissioner Murphy expressed concern and understood our urgent call for an investigation into racism in the NT police force, the refusal to make a public apology shows the entrenched disregard for Aboriginal people.”
Furthermore, the rejection of an independent review called for by APO NT is another devastating blow to Aboriginal people throughout the Northern Territory. This refusal highlights the systemic resistance to accountability within the police force.
Commissioner Murphy acknowledged that there are problems and things have to change, including what measures police will take to achieve this change.
Mr Williams noted, “The CLC is pleased that Leanne Liddle has been brought in to help fix problems in the force, and she has said that she will be at the end of the phone to hear from us when police behave badly, don’t respect local knowledge, or treat Aboriginal people differently when they are called to an incident. We will take her up on that offer.”
Aboriginal representation in the police force is only 12 percent. If Commissioner Murphy’s goal is to reach 30 percent, not just through Aboriginal Community Police and Aboriginal Liaison Officers but all ranks, including senior leadership, this will need sustained and concerted effort far beyond token gestures.
Certificate pathways for Night Patrol workers to become Aboriginal Liaison Officers or Aboriginal Community Police Officers are welcome but need resourcing and implementation.
It was encouraging to hear about establishing a new police station and women’s shelter in Alpurrurulam and supporting local communities’ involvement in recruiting new police officers.
Mr Williams said, “So many communities still have empty police stations and no police. We are forced to call triple zero to get help when serious incidents happen, and we don’t know how the police will behave towards us when they get here.”
“These actions are needed, but the issues of racism go very deep. We understand Commissioner Murphy wants our trust and to work together. We need to see big and lasting changes in the NT police force before we give him that trust. Once we see his plan for fixing the police and he starts acting on that plan, we can begin to rebuild trust.”
Executive member Valerie Martin said, “Our people are still hurting. The Walker death was a tragedy, and the coronial inquest made that pain worse. There are families in Yuendumu that need more support and are still traumatised. We can see there is goodwill, but we will wait and see. The proof will be in the outcomes.”
The time for vague promises and delayed actions is over. The NT police force must take immediate, transparent steps to eradicate racism and rebuild the shattered trust with Aboriginal people.
The traditional owners of Huckitta Station will receive the strongest form of native title under the Native Title Act – exclusive possession.
On 22 May, the Amapete, Apwetyerlaneme, Atnweale, and Warrtharre native title holders of Huckitta Station will celebrate a native title consent determination.
Justice John Halley of the Federal Court will deliver the decision in the Plenty riverbed next to the Huckitta homestead, roughly 270 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs.
The native title holders purchased the Huckitta pastoral lease in 2010 with the assistance of the Aboriginals Benefit Account, and the Huckitta Aboriginal Corporation took over as the leaseholder.
Research on the native title claim began in 2011, and a native title determination application was filed in the Federal Court on 23 October 2020.
This makes it one of the longest-running claims in the CLC region.
Senior native title holder Kevin Bloomfield is glad the wait is finally over.
“After all our stories were written down and sacred sites, we was waiting a long time,”
“When that judge comes out and hands over that paper, I’m going to feel happy because we were waiting too long,” Kevin Bloomfield said.
The research for the claim included ‘exclusive possession’ native title, which also incorporates the right to take, access and use resources for any purpose–including commercial rights.
These rights will cover almost all the claim area of nearly 1700 square kilometres.
Central Land Council CEO Les Turner said native title rights differ from land rights.
“The determination allows native title holders to hunt, gather, conduct cultural activities and ceremonies in the area, as well as utilise resources from the land for an economic benefit.”
“What’s special about this determination is that the traditional owners hold the pastoral lease, which allows the native title holders to control access onto the station, but unlike under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, they have no veto right over mining.”
Native title holders and court staff will celebrate the event by cutting a cake to mark the occasion.
The Huckitta Aboriginal Corporation will hold the native title rights and interests for the determination area.
Contact: Tess O’Loughlin | 0461 396 054 | media@clc.org.au
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The Central Land Council wishes to acknowledge the pain and hurt that families and communities experience from domestic and family violence right across Australia. We are saddened to hear of the increase in women being murdered at the hands of their partners and ex-partners.
We know that the rate of domestic and family violence-related homicide in the Northern Territory is seven times the national average. The majority of women killed are Aboriginal. Despite this shocking statistic, the NT receives just 1% of federal domestic and family violence funding. We know that men need to be supported to address their use of violence and break the cycle so that our young men do not grow up behaving this way.
We also know this is a systemic issue that must be addressed. At the moment, we are stuck with funding to address domestic and family violence based on population, not based on evidence or need. Without adequate funding, Aboriginal-led solutions cannot be developed and implemented. The way forward cannot be business as usual. We desperately need significant reform.
“The Central Land Council needs to work with other Aboriginal organisations to take a leadership role to tackle domestic violence. We know there is a problem and there is a lot of work to be done. We need to show how much we honour and value our women. We are nothing without our women and children. They are our future.” Chair Matthew Palmer said.
The Central Land Council respects men and women equally and believes that justice will only be achieved when our women and children are safe from harm and our men can find a way forward that does not include violence.
“What we need is preventative education and programs for men at all stages of their lives. We need to educate our young people. There should be workshops and forums across the region to get men acknowledging the problem of violence and how it is impacting them and their families,” deputy chair Warren Williams said.
The Central Land Council welcomes Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement this week of $925 million towards addressing domestic and family violence.
We acknowledge that domestic and family violence is a shocking problem, and we all have a role to play in finding a solution. We call on the Commonwealth and NT governments to commit to:
- Provide the NT with needs-based funding that is desperately needed for prevention and support programs.
- Strengthen efforts to support the targets of the Closing the Gap National Agreement that align with reducing incarceration and improving safety.
- Invest in culturally relevant and meaningful men’s healing programs that support breaking the cycle of violence.
- Support place-based, community-led initiatives that ensure women’s and children’s safety so they can safely remain in their communities.
Domestic and family violence affects all of us from all walks of life. The Central Land Council will continue talking to our members about what actions we can take and join with the rest of the nation to address this national crisis.
Quotes from delegates
“We want to run programs for men; we want to talk with men. We need to talk about violence, have a conversation, and be open about it. Men want to take responsibility. Us mob who have been through it can talk with them,” CLC delegate Ronald Brown.
“Young people need opportunities like sports, training and safe spaces to talk with older people. In my community, we have a men’s shed and women’s shed. Us older men used to be there with younger men to talk about good ways, to support young men’s. We need to bring these things back,” CLC delegate Patrick Oliver.
Contact: Tess O’Loughlin | 0461 396 054 | media@clc.org.au
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Warlpiri woman Alice Henwood is an expert tracker from Nyirripi.(ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)
“Nyiya Nyampuju?” What is this?
The call rings out across the red clay and sand.
The voice belongs to Warlpiri woman Alice Henwood from Nyirripi, a small community about 400 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
“Nyiya Nyampuju?” she asks again.
The group of people, spread out like the tufts of spinifex across the land, slowly gather around to look at where she is pointing.
They are quiet.
Alice knows the answer to her question, but right now she is teaching.
Finally, someone speaks up.
“Wardilyka,” Bush turkey, he guesses correctly.
The questions continue.
“Ngana-kurlangu?” Whose is it? “Nyarrpara-purda?” Which direction?
A group of people are tested on their tracking knowledge.(ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)
Over and over she asks the group with each new set of tracks that are found.
There are many of the puluku, cow.
There’s also the ngaya, cat, the puwujuma, fox, the warnapari, dingo and excitingly, the endangered walpajirri, bilby.
Full story here: Warlpiri preserve language, culture through animal tracking program for next generation – ABC News
More than 100 Aboriginal rangers will meet at Tilmouth Well this week for the Central Land Council’s annual ranger camp.
The launch of a bilingual animal tracking training package combining traditional and modern teaching techniques is this year’s camp highlight.
The CLC developed Yitaki Maninjaku Ngurungka [pronounce YEE-tuh-key MA-nin-tja-koo NGOO-roon-kuh] (reading the country) to ensure future rangers maintain ancient tracking knowledge and skills.
The training package features tailored learning activities supported by resources in Warlpiri and English.
Kuyu pungu [pronounce KOO-yu POONG-u] (experienced trackers), knowledge holders, educators and language experts developed it with the CLC’s Warlpiri and North Tanami rangers and other staff during the past three years.
Fourteen CLC ranger groups will explore the resources for the first time at the ranger camp on Tuesday afternoon.
The resources are ready to be adapted for other language groups across Australia’s deserts.
Kuyu pungu Jerry Jangala’s teaching style – the Jangala Method – was vital to the Yitaki Maninjaku Ngurungka project.
The elder from Lajamanu likes to ask questions that encourage learners to “push deeper”, but “nati yirdi-manta” (does not give away the answer) too soon.
“We talk about asking questions [so learners] give the right answer [to] get the right words into their hearts and minds,” he said.
Elder Enid Gallagher has been part of the project from the start.
“We have worked together to develop new ways to use old methods like recount and repetition. We have seen that recycling these old ways is working,” she said.
“On a recent biodiversity survey the rangers responded really well and got really excited from learning in this way.”
The camp allows rangers from the CLC region and beyond to upskill, take part in training and network.
Rangers will learn how to operate skid steer and four-wheel drive vehicles, practice catching poisonous snakes and will take part in first aid and smartphone video training.
This year’s ranger camp will focus on the rangers’ health and wellbeing, with the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory delivering a mental health and a culturally responsive trauma informed program.
Guest speaker Cissy Gore Birch, a Jaru and Kija woman with more than 20 years of experience in land management and community development will speak about her journey and carbon farming.
The ranger camp is the CLC’s main professional development event for the men and women who make up its 15 ranger groups.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885 | Ranger camp program available from media@clc.org.au
The native title holders of Singleton Station, south of Tennant Creek, will fight another day against the country’s most controversial water licence.
The Central Land Council will on Wednesday lodge an appeal on their behalf against a court ruling allowing the station to extract up to 40 gigalitres each year to irrigate a large fruit farm in the desert.
Last month the Northern Territory Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge by the native title holders’ Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation against the NT government’s decision to grant a licence for the largest amount of groundwater the NT has ever given away.
They argued that the decision was invalid because it did not comply with the NT Water Act and did not properly take Aboriginal cultural values into account.
Now they are taking their fight to the Court of Appeal of the NT.
“We want to keep on fighting for this water,” native title holder Heather Anderson, from Tennant Creek, said.
“We have got to keep going until the end, until they leave us alone. Until we win.” Central Land Council executive member Sandra Morrison is pleased with the appeal.
“We’re going to keep on fighting for our rights and we’re not going to let it go,” the Tennant Creek resident said. Native title holder Valerie Curtis, from the Wakurlpu outstation, said the government’s water licensing decisions “don’t fit with us culturally” and benefit only the developers. “Why do they need so much water?
We are trying to conserve our water.
They are trying to drag it all out from under us and leave us with nothing while they get rich. “Look what happened in other places, like the Murray Darling. We don’t want that happening to us.”
Ms Morrison hopes the appeal will inspire her children and grandchildren. “As Aboriginal people we know about our environment and how much water we need in our land.
We know it by our heart because our ancestors used to live there and know where to get water. So we’ve got to keep going.
“We’re not going to give up, because the next generation – we don’t want them to give up.”
The decision to appeal comes two years after Mpwerempwer [pronounced emPUrra-empurra] asked the court to set aside the decision to grant Fortune Agribusiness the 30-year licence – free of charge. The native title holders and their supporters fear the licence will result in a lower water table, damaging groundwater-dependent trees, springs, soaks and swamps, and threaten sacred sites. Ms Morrison hopes the appeal will “make us satisfied and the traditional owners for our country”.
“We want to keep the country healthy for the next generation and to teach our next generation how to look after country.
That is important for us: not to destroy our country but to look after our country,” she said.
Government documents such as the water allocation plan for the region around Singleton Station are meant to protect country and culture.
In other states these plans are the gold standard for water planning. “The Supreme Court ruling means the NT government does not have to follow its own water allocation plans when making water licensing decisions,” said CLC chief executive Les Turner.
“Today, in the NT, water allocation plans mean little and can be ignored.”
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579 | media@clc.org.au
Jeffrey Curtis has been waiting a long time for a new ranger hub in Tennant Creek, but now it’s come — and he’s looking forward to seeing how it helps young people in the remote Northern Territory town.
The new Muru-warinyi Ankkul Ranger base, built by an Aboriginal-owned construction company, is bigger and airier than the last, with modern amenities.
The ranger group had previously been splitting their operations between two locations, but the upgraded single site replaces what was basically “a very old shed”, according to Mr Curtis.
“I’ve been waiting for a new one for a very, very long time, maybe 10 or 15 years,” he said.
“I’m very happy for this new ranger hub and I hope it can do better for the future for our young ones.”
Rangers as role models
Muru-warinyi Ankkul Rangers was established in 2003 and is one of the oldest Central Land Council ranger groups.
The rangers care for country by monitoring plants, animals and water, but they have also mentored Tennant Creek high school students; up until the work experience program was stopped due to COVID-19.
Ranger Kylie Sambo said she hoped to restart the program.
“It [learning about country] starts early. If they know it when they’re young, it’s easy for them when they are older to get back to their roots,” she said.
“This is just a fun way of trying to work with non-Indigenous people on country.”
Tennant Creek has long been facing problems of youth crime, but Ms Sambo knows first-hand the power of positive role models.
“When I was at school I would go on a lot of trips with Central Land Council and write up essays about what we were doing on country and that would give me credit with school,” she said.
“That helped me a lot with being on the streets and doing all of these things that are happening now.
“I watched them [rangers] as a kid first and then said to myself, ‘I’m gonna be a ranger some day’. And sure enough, I am.”
New hub cooler and closer
The new ranger shed has a large fan, lockers, a tool cage, welding benches and, outside, a pressure cleaner and wash bay, while the house on the property received a new kitchen, bathroom, furnishings, solar panels and air conditioning.
A new conference space and server room will allow the site to be used as a training facility, while space for heavy equipment storage means the site can be a central hub for other ranger teams from Arlparra, Lajamanu, Daguragu, and Ti Tree.
Ms Sambo said having a new truck and tractor stationed at the hub will also be a boon, as central regional rangers previously had to travel to Alice Springs to borrow big equipment.
“[The hub] can make a huge difference with the time the rangers spend on roads to get to places and then come back to do the job, and then get that equipment back to where it came from,” she said.
“That’s been one of the biggest problems.”
Modern way of caring for country
Ms Sambo said the new hub would help her work on country and learn about her culture.
“And I’m being paid to do that, which is very important, because with this society we live in, everything revolves around having funding, having money to do so,” she said.
“The ranger program that’s in place allows us to tackle jobs given to us by traditional owners and that is also deeply important to us, because we are connected to the country.
“This is just a modern way of taking care of country and taking care of family and taking care of the plants and animals.”
Mr Curtis said the rangers made him proud.
“[I’m] very happy with my group. We were established from 2003, but we’re still going,” he said.
“This ranger group has achieved a lot — a lot of training has been done and a lot of land management and conservation … it’s made us a stronger group.”
An ABC news story posted 20 Feb 2024
The Central Land Council will celebrate the opening of the long-awaited Tennant Creek Ranger Hub at 37 Brown Street, Tennant Creek, on Wednesday, 14th February.
CLC chair Matthew Palmer, executive member Sandra Morrison and the traditional owner ranger advisory committee of the Muru-warinyi Ankkul Rangers will open the new ranger hub at 11am, followed by a celebratory barbeque and cake. The hub replaces the ranger group’s old operational base, a humble, dusty shed with only basic amenities.
The group had to split their operations between two locations, using the CLC’s Paterson St office for administration and training and the shed for works and storage.
The new facility offers modern amenities and ample space for the team to grow and professionalise. In addition to being a training facility, the ranger base will also house heavy equipment that other regional groups can use, making it a significant central ranger hub.
The hub is strategically located to offer ranger teams in Arlparra, Lajamanu, Daguragu, and Ti Tree space for training, for which they have had to travel to Alice Springs until now.
CLC chief executive Les Turner said the new facility does justice to the rangers’ efforts. “Twenty years after the rangers first started to look after country around Tennant Creek they now have a building that meets their needs and can grow with them as they continue to go from strength to strength.
They deserve no less.” When the CLC acquired the Brown Street lot in December 2022, it already had an office, a sizable shed and a three-bedroom house.
Following extensive collaboration with the rangers, it awarded a renovation contract to Aboriginal-owned business Dynamic Solutions. Work started last August and the contractor completed the renovation four months later.
The office underwent substantial improvements, including new power and data points for future growth, air conditioning, an updated layout that includes a conference space and a new server room and laundry area.
Ranger Jeffrey Curtis said the aircon provides welcome relief when temperatures are in the 40s week after week.
“It was very hard working in the old shed during the hot weather. Now we’re working in luxury in the cool shed.
Everybody is very happy to have a new work place and we’ve got to look after it.”
The shed upgrade features a large fan, lockers, tool cage, welding benches, and outside a pressure cleaner and wash bay.
These improvements help the rangers to keep equipment organised, ready to carry out their duties efficiently.
The house on the property received a new kitchen, bathroom and furnishings, ready to welcome visiting staff and trainers.
The solar panels make the hub more sustainable, as do water tanks and insulation. A new truck and tractor, to be funded by the Northern Territory Government Aboriginal Ranger Grants Program will soon be stationed at the hub.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885 | media@clc.org.au
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The Central Land Council acknowledges the NT Supreme Court’s decision today to dismiss legal challenges to a controversial water licence.
“We’re considering the judgement carefully and will explain it to the native title holders and remote communities affected by the water licence and seek their instructions,” CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
The court’s decision comes two years after the native title holders’ Mpwerempwer [pronounced emPUrra-empurra] Aboriginal Corporation asked it to set aside an NT government decision to grant the licence for Singleton Station for up to 40 gigalitres per year – the largest amount of groundwater the NT has ever given away – free of charge.
In February 2022, the corporation and the Arid Lands Environment Centre took court action against then NT Families Minister Kate Worden’s decision to grant co-defendant Fortune Agribusiness the 30-year groundwater extraction licence.
Acting on behalf of Mpwerempwer, the CLC argued that parts of the licence are invalid because the minister didn’t comply with the NT Water Act, failed to consider Aboriginal cultural values and other important matters.
“The water licence decision is unconscionable considering the impacts of climate change on highly vulnerable desert communities,” Mr Turner said at the time.
The CLC believes the groundwater licence decision highlights the need for robust and transparent water planning in the NT.
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579| media@clc.org.au
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The old store in Engawala has been given a new lease of life, opening as an arts centre.
With few jobs in the community, Engawala’s many talented artists now have a dedicated space to work and earn an income from arts and crafts sales.
Tourists often drop in on Engawala, 200 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs, because the community is next to the Alcoota fossil fields. Those visitors now have a proper place to view and buy the artists’ work.
“The community are really supportive of the arts centre. Especially the board as well and Joy Turner, the elder for this community,” arts centre manager and Engawala local Janine Tilmouth said.
“We did this project so that there was a chance for people to have work and also to have their own community-owned arts centre, instead of someone else coming in and running it,” she said.
They first talked about turning the old store into an arts centre four years ago.
The community allocated a total of $145,000 to the renovation, which was made up of community lease money and matched funds from the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
Four residents then met with the Central Land Council’s community development team and Tangentyere Constructions to work out the details.
“The workers gave the old store a good clean-out and got electricity, benches and drawers,” resident artist Sharon Tilmouth said.
They boarded up some doors and fixed broken windows to make the building safe.
“We had to wait a while to get the work done, but Tangentyere Constructions did a good job,” Janine Tilmouth said.
“They listened to the community and suggested what would be good, with the sink and putting the drawers in.”
Tangentyere Constructions hired local residents Stewart Schaber and Leanne Dodd for some of the work and finished the job within six weeks.
“I helped pull out the fridges and I was painting the wall and glazing the floor. It’s the first time I’ve done this kind of work,” Ms Dodd said.
“I liked getting to work on time and communicating with the other workers.”
She also helped Tangentyere’s Aboriginal tradies Corey Coull and Adrian Shaw to coat the floor and install the benches and trolleys.
Ms Dodds is a local artist and helped the other artists with the designs painted on the floor.
The locals took over the centre ahead of the official launch in August.
“The arts centre looks good inside now. We’ve already started to work in the arts centre, doing paintings. I’m working at the shop now.”
Volunteers from Community First Development, a national organisation which connects skilled volunteers with Aboriginal communities, Taffy Denmark and Marella Pettinato were a big part of the project.
They helped write a business plan and sourced a $100,000 grant from the Aboriginals Benefit Account to paint the old store and build a shade structure. Now the artists can paint outside in good weather.
The money also paid for an eco-toilet, art equipment, insurances, governance training and project management.
During a year-long construction delay staff took part in intensive administration training.
“I got a lot of training from the volunteer Marella, for admin and bookkeeping and getting work-ready for the auditor. It’s a lot of work and I’ve learnt a lot,” said Janine Tilmouth.
Artists are also getting training from art professionals, and 12 community members have enrolled with the Batchelor College to complete visual arts certificates.
“The ladies have been screen printing,” Sharon Tilmouth said. “There was a workshop and one lady taught us. Lots of ladies have been using the arts centre and they’re happy with it.”
A $400,000 grant from the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program pays for a website, the wages of two local art workers for two years and covers the costs of attending interstate art fairs.
Janine Tilmouth said the centre will build on sales through the art fairs and allow them to explore other markets.
“Maybe we can take our artworks to the cities, spread the word and add more to the website,” she said.
The Engawala art centre shows what can be achieved when Aboriginal people work with a lot of different people and organisations to drive their own development.
The money for this project came from the income the community receives from leases of its land and a three-year trial by the CLC and the NIAA.
The matched funds trial funds groups that use new income from land use agreements for community driven projects, but may not have enough money for the projects they want.
If you would like more information about this work please visit https://www.clc.org.au/strengthening-our-communities/
Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) has become the first remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory to fund its very own outdoor concrete skate park.
Nicky Hayes, Eastern Arrernte man and Spinifex Skateboards founder, has been the driving force behind this project.
A keen skateboarder since the age of 11, he became one of the few Aboriginal skateboarders to compete professionally and the NT’s first Aboriginal qualified skateboard instructor.
His next goal was to bring the benefits of skate boarding to his community, 80 kilometres south east of Alice Springs.
Ltyentye Apurte started out with a single skate ramp in 2017 and upgraded to a wooden double storey skate course in the recreation hall.
It launched the outdoor skate park last September.
“This is my way of giving back to community,” Mr Hayes said.
“Having an indoor park, and then from the indoor park to this outdoor park here right now.”
“An outdoor skate park brings a bit more to the community, but also more to young people and families as well. “
For the past four years he has run weekly skateboarding workshops at the recreation hall and the basketball court with the Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation and the youth program of the MacDonnell Regional Council.
“I wanted the skate park to improve the wellbeing of the kids in Ltyentye Apurte,” Mr Hayes said.
“To ensure they stay active and to have an outdoor skate park where families can hang out and accommodate young people’s needs of having fun within a safe space for skateboards, bikes and scooters.”
The skate park near the store, footy oval and basketball court has become another place where residents socialise and enjoy sport.
Mr Hayes took his idea for the $436,600 outdoor skate park to a community meeting two years ago.
A local working group that plans projects with the Central Land Council agreed to fund some of the project cost from Ltyentye Apurte’s community lease income and income from a pilot project of the CLC and the National Indigenous Australian Agency, on the condition that grant funding make up the balance.
“The working group were happy to be part of something that is unique, to be the first community to have an outdoor skate park,” Mr Hayes said.
The community’s Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation and the CLC’s community development team helped the working group to get the project done.
The CLC sourced the grant from the Aboriginals Benefit Account that made the park possible.
Construction started last August, with designers Eastbywest and builders from Grind Projects working every day to complete the park in five weeks.
The local kids made the park their own by painting parts of it with their designs. A painted Aboriginal flag also features prominently.
The community has plans to put in a shelter and landscaping to soften the area and add shade.
Some of the best skateboarders in the country came for the opening of the park to celebrate this Australian skateboarding history event.
Mr Hayes hopes they will keep coming back.
“Bringing competitions here might be a great thing as well, down the track,” he said.
For now he is just happy that the local kids visit the park every day until dark, spending less time on their screens.
“It has been tremendous to see all the kids in the community having fun and enjoying themselves each day.”
The Central Land Council wants the Northern Territory government to take the overdue step of declaring the main fuel of the bushfires burning all around Alice Springs a weed.
As large surrounding fires blanket the town in smoke for the second week in a row the council has called for a weed declaration to assist with the management of the invasive and highly flammable buffel grass that is fanning the flames.
A resolution outlining the council’s appeal has been sent to the NT environment minister and a working group advising her on the management of the grass.
“The resolution shows how strongly our elected members feel about the extremely destructive cultural, health and environmental impacts of this introduced species,” CLC general manager Josie Douglas said.
“On some days last week the air quality in Alice Springs was on par with some of the most polluted cities in the world.”
With an area five times the size of Tasmania already destroyed and more than 80 per cent of the Territory predicted to burn this season, residents of remote towns and communities have months of smoke and fires ahead of them.
“Buffel is not just a danger to our health, homes and critical infrastructure, but threatens our sacred sites and is one of the main drivers of native species extinctions in Central Australia.
“Because it burns much hotter than native grasses it pushes our native plants and the animals that depend on them to the brink,” said Dr Douglas.
The CLC wants the NT government to follow the lead of South Australia, where the grass is already being managed as a weed.
“A weed declaration would be a catalyst for action and help to attract resources for buffel grass control,” said Dr Douglas.
“We stand ready to develop a weed management plan with government agencies and the traditional owners we represent and to better protect country that is still intact.”
Dr Douglas said investment in research and development, such as biological controls of the weed, is a matter of urgency.
The CLC is a member of the NT government’s buffel grass technical working group and part of a broad chorus of voices urging that the weed declaration apply to all land tenures across the Territory.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
The members and staff of the Central Land Council are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Northern Land Council chair Dr Bush-Blanasi.
The CLC has lowered its flag to half-mast out of respect for the 2003 NT Australian of the Year.
“Our younger members can barely remember a time when Dr Bush-Blanasi did not provide strong leadership to the Northern Land Council, either as chair or deputy chair,” Central Land Council deputy chair Warren Williams said.
“It is truly heartbreaking to lose yet another respected and outstanding Territory leader well before his time.
“Dr Bush-Blanasi was a steadfast and outspoken ally over many years.” Mr Williams said.
“He connected with people from all walks of life and cut through with decision makers on all sides of politics.”
“From the 2018 Barunga Agreement about a treaty with the NT government to the campaign to bring the Aboriginals Benefit Account under the control of Aboriginal Territorians and this year’s voice referendum, you could always count on him to fight on the right side of history.”
“He stood with the other NT land council chairs as they delivered the Barunga Voice Declaration to the Australian people at Parliament House in Canberra in July,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with Dr Bush-Blanasi’s family, friends and colleagues, especially those at the NLC. We know how they feel, having lost our own chair unexpectedly this time last year.”
“In a year of losses this is a loss that reminds us that we all must do so much more close the life expectancy gap between our people and other Australians.”
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579| media@clc.org.au
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On 14 October Australia voted NO.
But Aboriginal people in all our Central Land Council communities voted YES. In fact, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people all over remote Australia voted YES.
The referendum results tell us an important story:
We as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are united.
We know who we are.
We know what we need. And we know things need to change. But we live in a country that does not know itself.
Our people are grieving.
Those of us who have been around for a long time recognise how it feels. We have been here before.
We are sad, but we know that we must stay strong.
Others in our communities, especially young people, are in shock and disbelief.
We need to work together and support each other.
CLC leaders and elders created a legacy of fighting to improve the lives of our people.
The CLC will never stop advocating for our rights.
We will keep fighting for equality, fighting for land, fighting for water, fighting for housing, infrastructure, good jobs, education, closing the gap – a future for our children.
While we are disappointed with the outcome of the referendum, we recognise the courage of the Prime Minister Mr Albanese and thank him for providing Australia with an opportunity to vote for change.
The CLC members and staff thank all Australians who stood with us.
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The members and staff of the Central Land Council are deeply saddened about the sudden passing of the deputy chair of the Anindilyakwa Land Council, Mr Amagula, in Darwin yesterday.
“Mr Amagula was an impressive young leader, full of plans and passion for his people, and with so much to offer to his country,” CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
“He didn’t let his failing health stop him from joining the chairs of the other Northern Territory land councils as they presented the Barunga Voice Declaration to the Prime Minister in June this year.”
“As a member of the Voice Referendum Engagement Group he was proud of his signature under the declaration and he will be in our hearts and minds as we vote in the referendum.”
Mr Amagula served as deputy chair of the ALC board since 2018.
He was a director of the Aboriginal Sea Company Ltd, the Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation and Miwatj Health.
A former Dhimurru Ranger, he helped to set up the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers Program on Groote Eylandt and worked at the Gumatj Gulkula Regional Training Centre.
Young people were close to Mr Amagula’s heart.
He championed youth development, juvenile diversion programs and sports coaching.
He also travelled to Europe and North America to facilitate repatriations.
“We have lost a good man in our shared struggle for a better future for our people,” Mr Turner said.
“Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.”
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579| media@clc.org.au
The Central Land Council has called on the federal government to act quickly and decisively to end the Northern Territory’s remote education crisis.
“We need federal action to prevent a total collapse of the NT’s remote government education system which is starved of funds and unable to support the needs of all children,” CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
“We call on the Albanese government to bridge the scandalous education gap with an immediate emergency equity package that ensures our students are funded to the same level as students in the rest of the country from the start of next school year.
“It needs to use all levers, including $175 million in emergency funding for the next two years, to get the NT government to fund schools based on enrolment from next January.”
The Territory has bloated its education bureaucracy and starved remote government schools by funding schools based on attendance, rather than enrolment, since 2015.
It spends on average 20 per cent less on the education of NT children than the minimum spent on students everywhere else.
This figure hides the true extent of underfunding, with some remote schools receiving only a third of what they would get if they were funded based on enrolments.
School attendance under the so-called ‘effective enrolment’ policy is plummeting across the NT, with an average of only 41.2 per cent of students attending at least four days a week in the CLC region, the southern half of the Territory.
“Remote students in government schools are the biggest losers under this policy,” Mr Turner said.
The policy wipes out any progress federal funding for remote and disadvantaged children could achieve.
“Remote government schools currently cannot cope with additional students because they are not be able to support them,” he said.
“The policy is fuelling a race to the bottom when it comes to attendance and student achievement.”
A 2022 review of the NT’s policy by Deloitte’s found that the effective enrolment policy created uncertainty, prevented investment in quality engagement strategies and “led to band aid solutions to boosting attendance”.
Mr Turner said even remote students with good attendance faced enormous barriers because their schools don’t offer secondary education.
“It is deeply unfair that our children have to leave home and become boarders if they want to go to High School – a hurdle that is too high for most. This is not a real choice for Aboriginal families.”
“This is a clear-cut example of where a voice to parliament would hold governments accountable for the tax dollars they receive and to provide local knowledge and advice that ensures they are spent where they are most needed and make a difference on the ground,” he said.
“We appeal to all Australians to vote Yes so that governments can be held accountable for education spending and meet the needs of all our children into the future.”
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579| media@clc.org.au
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At a meeting in Alice Springs today, the Central Land Council Executive expressed its disappointment in Senators Jacinta Price and Kerrynne Liddle.
Senator Price
In her address to the National Press Club last Thursday, Senator Price claimed that the colonisation of Australia had a positive impact on Aboriginal people, citing running water and readily available food.
We, the CLC Executive, want you to know that her remarks are hurting members of our community and homelands and we reject her position.
The Senator’s denial of history and its ongoing impacts is disgraceful.
Her remarks are hurting the families of the stolen generation, those who lost their land, their wages and their opportunities.
They are an insult to those who survived the Coniston Massacre, the hundreds of Warlpiri, Kaytetye and Anmatyerr families, who were terrorised and murdered in 1928.
Her remarks are hurting the descendants of survivors of all the massacres that have been well documented and appear on the massacre map of Australia, which shows how extensive violent attacks were across the country.
What is not on the map is the administrative violence, pastoral violence, and wholescale theft of our land and waters.
There is a direct link between these historical truths and the gaps we want to close.
Our families still do not all have access to affordable healthy food, drinkable water and sustainable water supplies.
Many of our communities live with water stress, food insecurity, exorbitant costs and living conditions that would not be tolerated by any other Australians.
Senator Liddle
We also reject the claims by Senator Liddle, that land council operations are not transparent and that “there needs to be an inquiry… to hold them to account, encourage transparency and get the best results for people who need it”.
We are proud of the CLC’s record of good governance, strong democratic community engagement and 10 years of unqualified financial audit reports from the Australian National Audit Office, and the year-long performance audit in 2022-23.
The CLC is one of very few organisations providing real assistance on the ground to some of the most remote and disadvantaged communities and homelands in Central Australia.
We do not understand why Senator Liddle does not support our work.
We all want organisations delivering services to our people to be accountable and transparent.
Government services account for the lion’s share of expenditure aimed at closing the shocking gap in life outcomes between our people and other Australians.
Instead of singling out our community-controlled land councils it would be more useful to look at how much government money allocated for alleviating Aboriginal disadvantage actually hits the ground.
Senator Liddle also said she wanted to know if Indigenous Australians were being “properly consulted”.
Our statutory responsibilities include the requirement for proper consultation and the need for free, prior and informed consent. We have well-established and effective protocols and procedures for this purpose.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
Ltyentye Apurte (Santa Teresa) is driving its own development with the opening of a new, community-funded skate park next to its footy oval on Saturday, 16 September.
The event celebrates the vision of Spinifex Skateboards founder Nicky Hayes, who took his idea for the $436,600 park to a community meeting in 2021.
Mr Hayes is a member of the Central Land Council-supported working group that invests Ltyentye Apurte’s leasing income in projects that benefit the whole community.
For the past four years he has run weekly skateboarding workshops at the recreation hall and the basketball court with the Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation and the youth program of the MacDonnell Regional Council.
The workshops helped spread the word about the mental and physical benefits of skating.
“I wanted the skate park to improve the wellbeing of the kids in Ltyentye Apurte,” Mr Hayes said.
“To ensure they stay active and to have an outdoor skate park where families can hang out and accommodate young people’s needs of having fun within a safe space for skateboards, bikes and scooters.”
The remote community, one hour’s drive south of Alice Springs, decided to fund half of the projected project costs on the condition that the balance would be sourced from grant funding. A grant from the Aboriginals Benefit Account and in-kind support from the Atyenhenge Atherre Aboriginal Corporation and the park’s designers and builders, East by West and Grind Projects, allowed the project to be completed in August.
CLC chair Matthew Palmer congratulated community leaders for putting young people first.
“My nieces, nephews and grannies are lucky to grow up in a community that is doing good things with its lease money, keeping them happy, busy and out of trouble.”
“I am very proud of my cousin Nicky, and wish him and the community all the best with the skate park,” he said.
“I hope the next time I visit I can watch a skating competition.”
The opening event will kick off at 11am with a smoking ceremony and dance performance, followed by local bands, a community BBQ with roo tails and, of course, skating.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
The Central Land Council wants 14 October to become a date of which Australians from all walks of life can be very proud.
“Let’s make this a date on which future generations will look back and remember that they are doing so much better since they stopped ignoring the solutions our people have to offer,” CLC chief executive Lesley Turner said.
“Let them remember that was because the country decided to hear what our people have to say before laws and policies are made that affect them.
“Nowhere will this be more obvious than in the Northern Territory, where our people desperately want to be heard because, right now, they are going backwards.”
“14 October will become the anniversary when we will celebrate how we started to turn around what wasn’t working and when we began our united, respectful and successful journey towards a better future,” he said.
The CLC’s 90 elected grass roots members represent remote communities across the southern half of the Northern Territory and overwhelmingly support a Yes vote in the referendum.
“Our council has called for a voice for decades, yet lately the people they represent have been subjected to an unprecedented scare campaign about the referendum,” Mr Turner said.
“We will continue our community information campaign about the voice, dispel misinformation and disinformation, and help our constituents to enrol ahead of the referendum.
“We will also get ready for what will be a historic council meeting on 3-5 October at the Yulara Pulka homeland near Uluru, where the last leg of this long journey started in 2017.”
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
The Central Land Council calls on the Senate to reject a review that would duplicate existing independent processes that have confirmed the CLC’s effective representation of Aboriginal Territorians.
“Northern Territory land councils are among the most-successful and most reviewed organisations in the country and the CLC has demonstrated over and over that we are well-governed, transparent and effective,” CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
“Only two months ago we welcomed an intensive performance audit by the Australian National Audit Office.
One of a series of audits of NT land councils to be tabled this year alone.”
The National Indigenous Australians Agency also regularly reviews the performance of the land councils.
“Not only are we demonstrably accountable to our constituents and governments and improving continuously how we operate, we are also helping to closing the gap,” said Mr Turner.
“We contribute to one of the few targets in the National Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap that are on track, the native title target.”
Reviews show that the CLC provides effective and efficient services to traditional owners whose native title rights over a 161,000 square kilometres area have been recognised so far.
It also protects the interests of the traditional owners of more than 418,000 square kilometres of Aboriginal freehold land, has set up 14 ranger groups to help traditional owners to manage their land and has supported traditional owners and remote community residents to invest more than $200 million of their collective income in community-driven development projects.
Mr Turner urged the Senate to reject the review motion because it is wasteful. “I wonder what is driving such attempts to tie successful organisations up in more red tape.
“An additional review would force us to direct our limited resources away from serving some of the poorest Australians.”
Mr Turner said another review would duplicate the ANAO’s rigorous audits. “As we have heard loudly and clearly during this year’s Garma Festival, more waste and duplication and more of the same are unacceptable, and no substitute for a positive agenda for remote communities,” he said.
“Instead of making it harder for the most effective Aboriginal organisations to do their job the coalition should listen to the call of the elected representatives of grass roots Aboriginal people for a constitutionally enshrined voice.”
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
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The four Northern Territory Aboriginal land councils today signed the Barunga Voice Declaration that addresses all Australians and urges them to support a Voice to Parliament.
More than 200 representatives of the Northern, Central, Tiwi and Anindilyakwa land council are gathered on the traditional lands of the Bagala (Jawoyn) group at Barunga, south-east of Katherine. Land council members signed the Declaration and a copy was then presented to the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Linda Burney MP.
The 2023 Barunga Voice Declaration calls “for the recognition of our peoples in our still young constitution by enshrining our voice to the parliament and executive government, never to be rendered silent with the stroke of a pen again”.
It invites all Australians to “right the wrongs of the past and deal with the serious issues impacting First Nations peoples…and unite our country”.
Together, the land council members speak with the authority as the elected representatives of tens of thousands of grass roots residents of remote communities, town camps and towns across the Territory.
Quotes from land council chairs
Northern Land Council chair, Samuel Bush-Blanasi: “I am very proud the NLC is hosting this historic meeting at Barunga. We are standing strong together as we continue our long struggle. We speak for our clans, communities and our families, asking all Australians to support us and vote ‘Yes’ so we can finally be respected as equals.”
Central Land Council chair, Matthew Palmer: “Most Aboriginal people, not just here in the Territory, want a voice to power. Please don’t let the nay-sayers in Canberra confuse you and support us by voting ‘yes’.”
Anindilyakwa deputy chair, Thomas Amagula: “The call for constitutional recognition and a voice to parliament is about respect and coming together as a country to build a future we can all be proud of. This is what those old leaders started back in 1988 and we stand here today to carry on the spirit of their legacy.”
Tiwi Land Council chair, Gibson Farmer Illortaminni: “Through the proposed referendum and the establishment of a voice to parliament, we, the Tiwi people, want to be at the table when decisions are made that affect our land, culture, and future. I urge all Australians to join us in embracing this opportunity for positive change and vote ‘Yes’ to ensure our voices are heard and respected when important decisions are being made that affect us.”
The Declaration honours past leaders and the 1988 Barunga Statement that called for the recognition of Aboriginal rights and culture, that was presented to former prime minister Bob Hawke by NLC chair Yunupingu and CLC chair Wenten Rubuntja 35 years ago.
The Barunga Declaration
We, members of the four Northern Territory Aboriginal land councils, acknowledging our elders and old people, have gathered again at Barunga, the site of the historic Barunga Statement in 1988 and the Barunga Agreement in 2018, with pride in our own laws, cultures and ceremonies, looking to the future.
We, who have been dispossessed and subjected to punitive controls by governments, who have never ceded sovereignty over our lands and waters, resolve with one heart our determined support for the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
We must right the wrongs of the past and deal with the serious issues impacting First Nations peoples, empower First Nations peoples and unite our country.
We call for the recognition of First Nations peoples in our still young constitution by enshrining our voice to the parliament and executive government, never to be rendered silent with the stroke of a pen again.
We need to be heard and urge our fellow Australians to stand with us and vote ‘yes’ in the forthcoming referendum, for the sake of a better future for all of us.
The declaration pays homage to the original Barunga Statement design and honours the cultural leaders who created it in 1988 (listed below), including sole survivor, pre-eminent artist Mr Djambawa Marawilli AM
- 1988 Barunga Statement artwork created by:
- Yunupingu AM, 1948-2023, Gumatj
- M Marawili, c.1937-2018, Madarrpa
- B Marawili, 1944-2002, Madarrpa
- D Marawili AM, 1953, Madarrpa
- D Ngurruwuthun, 1936-2001, Munyuku
- D Ngurruwuthun, c. 1940-2001, Munyuku
- W Rubuntja AM, c. 1926-2005, Arrernte
- L Turner Jampijinpa, 1951-2009, Warlpiri
- D Williams Japanangka, 1948-2013, Warlpiri
Contact: NLC Francine Chinn 0427 031 382 l CLC Elke Wiesmann 0417 877 579
The Australian National Audit Office’s performance audit of the Central Land Council provides independent proof of the effectiveness of the CLC’s governance arrangements.
“The audit shows that our governance is strong and allows us to effectively represent our people and protect and advocate for their rights and interests,” said CLC chief executive Les Turner.
“We are accountable and transparent and welcome the audit office’s findings.”
The intensive year-long audit started last April and found that the CLC’s governance arrangements are “largely effective” under the relevant laws.
The CLC must comply with the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (ALRA), the Native Title Act 1993, and the Public Governance, Performance, and Accountability Act 2013. The ANAO interviewed CLC staff, accessed CLC records and observed council, executive committee and exploration and mining meetings with traditional owners.
It rated the CLC’s arrangements to promote the proper use and management of resources under the PGPA Act as “largely appropriate”.
“It highlighted two matters with inadequate arrangements which we will address by investing further in risk management systems,” Mr Turner said “For each of the ANAO’s 11 recommendations we will apply targeted measures to continuously improve our governance.”
The CLC will publish a six-monthly update on progress on the implementation of these measures and welcomes any follow-up by the ANAO.
See the CLC response to the ANAO report and the ANAO report.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
A meeting of the Northern Land Council and Central Land Council has passed a resolution with overwhelming support endorsing a call to all Australians to support a Voice to Parliament.
It is expected a declaration will be signed by more than 200 representatives of the four Northern Territory Aboriginal land councils at a gathering this week on the traditional lands of the Bagala (Jawoyn) group at Barunga, south-west of Katherine.
Together, the land council members speak with the authority as the elected representatives of tens of thousands of grass roots residents of remote communities, town camps and towns across the Territory.
The text of a declaration will be released after it has been formally presented to the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Linda Burney MP, following the Minister’s address to the gathering on Friday morning.
Contact: NLC Francine Chinn 0427 031 382 l CLC Elke Wiesmann 0417 877 579
The twice-rejected Western Davenport water allocation plan unmasks the Northern Territory government’s disregard for Aboriginal rights and sites and lacks social licence, Central Land Council chief executive Les Turner said.
He said the plan follows pretend-consultations with traditional owners, disrespects their concerns about site protection, their rights and interests in water and is opposed by the government’s own water advisory committee for the region.
The so-called consultation process consisted of two misleading presentations by government water planners who spruiked out-of-date information. Traditional owners may as well have stayed away.
“That’s our country. We should be involved. What’s going to happen to our sacred trees?” said Alekarenge community leader Graham Beasley.
Mr Beasley said traditional owners “will get sick” if they can’t protect their water sites. “That’s our culture – we can’t give it away.
They have already taken everything. What more do they want?”
The NT’s latest water allocation plan ignores sacred site protection while the government pretends on the international stage to respect their cultural and ecological knowledge.
“Minister Lauren Moss’ address to the United Nations General Assembly last month was at odds with the government’s continued and complete contempt for Aboriginal cultural and environmental values when it comes to water planning,” Mr Turner said.
“The draft Western Davenport water allocation plan it has released for public comment offers no protection for our sites and the environment.”
“Traditional owners might as well have stayed away since the plan only pays lip service to the concerns they raised.
“The government has failed to seek their prior informed consent and share decision-making – principles it promised to uphold under the Closing the Gap reforms and in the international arena.”
Water advisory committees, such as the committee for the Western Davenport region north-east of Alice Springs, are the main avenue for the public to try to influence water governance in the NT.
The CLC, along with most of the committee members, rejected two earlier iterations of the plan, but continued to work with the government in good faith.
Committee members include Andrew Johnson, Paul Burke, Roy Chisholm, Annette D’Emden, Jade Kudrenko, Paul McLaughlin, Steve Morton, Barbara Shaw, Michael Liddle and Nicholas Ashburner.
The committee unanimously advised the government that its estimate of how much water can be sustainably extracted is too high.
Traditional owners fear the draft plan puts their sites, plants and animals at great risk.
One of the objectives of the old plan was to protect Aboriginal cultural values.
Under the new draft they merely need to be “considered” as one set of values amongst many others when issuing water licences.
“This is unacceptable because many sacred sites and practices in the region depend on groundwater and the ecosystems it sustains,” said Mr Turner.
“Any drop in the water table risks irreversible damage to sacred springs, soakages and trees. Our country and culture will be sacrificed if water extraction is not carefully managed and limited.”
“The plan has now been rejected for the second time and has no social license,” he said.
“The government has released it because its process of box-ticking has finally hit a brick wall.”
The water plan for the Western Davenport region also ignores land rights and sacred site protection laws.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
The Central Land Council’s 90 members said Senator Price neither speaks for them nor listens to them.
“She needs to stop pretending we are her people,” said CLC deputy chair Warren Williams, from Yuendumu.
Meeting this week at Spotted Tiger, near Atitjere (Harts Range), council members said they are community leaders and senior cultural men and women who speak for the communities that elected them.
The members are sick of Senator Price’s continued attacks on land councils and other peak Aboriginal organisations in the Northern Territory.
“We are tired of her playing politics with the grass roots organisations our old people have built to advocate for our rights and interests,” Mr Williams said.
“Her people are the non-Aboriginal conservatives and the Canberra elite to which she wants to belong.”
“She should tell us what her grievances with the CLC are, and if she can really and truly listen to us she is welcome to attend our next council meeting.”
The council is well aware of the scale of the challenges its members and their families face and welcomes anyone who is willing and able to work with them.
“We have many good men and women who are trying hard to make our communities better places, who are desperate to be heard, and Senator Price’s divisive approach isn’t helping,” Mr Williams said.
He said by generalising about Aboriginal people without any evidence and authority, Senator Price is hurting Aboriginal people.
“Our kids are the apples of our eyes,” Mr Williams said. “We are not abusers. We love our children. We’d like to know where she got her information from. It is mandatory to report such evidence to the authorities.
“We can do without self-appointed lone crusaders who are unable to bring people of good will together.”
There are many better qualified Aboriginal people, with decades of experience, who have been putting forward solutions for the care, protection and education of children who need a strong voice in Canberra.
Lajamanu community leader Valerie Patterson said Senator Price was misrepresenting the support for the voice in remote communities.
“I am a Warlpiri woman and I will vote yes because I believe that having the right to be heard by the parliament and the government will open a door for our children,” Ms Patterson said.
“Senator Price should support us, not tell lies about us.”
“The voice comes from the people,” Mr Williams said. “It’s a big opportunity for us. It opens everything up for us.
“There’s a lot of people who think the same thing. We want to go ahead with it. We will probably never have that chance again.”
Mr Williams said Senator Price needs to educate herself about the views of Yapa [Warlpiri for Aboriginal people].
“We’ve never seen her on communities. She needs to get down to the grass roots and find out the truth, not just speak with to the few people who will talk to her.”
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
The Central Land Council is flying the Aboriginal flag at half-mast as its members and staff mourn the loss of one of the nation’s greatest Aboriginal leaders, Mr Yunupingu.
“Mr Yunupingu devoted his life to fighting for our land rights and our right to determine our own affairs,” Central Land Council chair Matthew Palmer said.
“Our hearts go out to his family, the Gumatj clan, to Yolngu and all his friends and admirers.”
Mr Palmer said the former long-term chair of the Northern Land Council was a strong advocate for the Voice to Parliament.
“Mr Yunupingu chaired the Northern Land Council when he, my predecessor Wenten Rubuntja, and other leaders presented the prime minister with a bark painting that became famous as the Barunga Statement,” Mr Palmer said.
The statement called on the commonwealth parliament to “negotiate with us a treaty recognising our prior ownership, continued occupation and sovereignty, and affirming our human rights and freedom”.
Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised that he would work to conclude a treaty with Aboriginal Australia by 1990 and lived to regret breaking that promise.
“Later this year we have an opportunity to right this wrong and take a significant step towards Mr Yunupingu’s vision.
“Let’s honour him by not wasting this once-in-a lifetime chance,” Mr Palmer said.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
Karinga Lakes native title holders are about to receive recognition of their right to protect their sacred sites from more damage from mining and exploration.
The Anangu [ARR – na – ngu] native title holders of the Karinga Lakes area, approximately 250 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs, will celebrate a native title consent determination on the morning of 5 April.
Judge Mordecai Bromberg of the Federal Court will hand down a determination covering more than 10,000 square kilometres of pastoral lease land including Warltunta [WAL – tun – ta], or Erldunda Station, Maratjura [MAH– rah – joo – rah], or Lyndavale Station, and Tjulu [JOO – loo], or Curtin Springs Station.
The native title holders asked the Central Land Council in 2016 to lodge the Karinga Lakes claim because they want to protect the culturally and environmentally sensitive salt lakes from potash mining by Verdant Minerals, who hold exploration licences overlapping the lakes.
Some of the songlines that traverse and create the lake system are part of a major men’s tjukurpa [JOO – koor – pah], or dreaming.
Senior native title holder David Wongaway said the lakes are sacred.
“The whole lake is important to old people. It is sacred to men and women.”
Anangu have cared for the area since time immemorial.
“I was born on the land ancestors slept on,” native title holder Cyril McKenziec, said.
“Aboriginal people, Anganu, look after the land. Salt lake is older than tjukurpa. Elders tell us this is where tjkurpa is. Follow tjukurpa.
Anangu and Lyndavale pastoralists brought damage to the lakes following substantial drilling and trench excavation to the attention of the CLC in 2013.
Following extensive anthropological and legal research, the land council helped the native title holders to file the claim in 2020.
The native title holders would like Verdant Minerals to respect their rights as nguraritja [NGOO – rah – rit – jah], or traditional owners, and leave the lakes alone.
“We want no more digging holes on the land,” Mr Wongaway said.
”Salt lake is damaged over the years with mining. Now we can say protect the land. It is part of the tjukurpa. It is connected,” Mr McKenzie added.
The native title holders are disappointed that the National Native Title Tribunal has to date failed to protect the lakes.
CLC native title manager Francine McCarthy said native title rights differ from land rights.
“The determination allows the native title holders to hunt, gather, conduct cultural activities and ceremonies in the area, as well as sell resources and negotiate commercial agreements, but unlike under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act they have no veto right.”
The native title holders will present Justice Bromberg with a clay vase created by native title holder Derek Thompson, of Ernabella Arts, which depicts wanampi [WA – nam – bee], meaning water snake or rainbow serpent. Wanampi is an important dreaming totem for the Karinga Lakes.
After the legal ceremony the native title holders will share a cake featuring a map of the lake systems with the pastoral lease holder families and the court staff, and take them on a visit to the edge of one of the lakes.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
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APO NT and its member organisations acknowledge the tragic passing of a 20-year-old employee of the Airport Tavern BWS store in Jingili on Sunday night.
We send our sincere condolences to the family and friends of the young man, and repeat the strong messages that have come from leadership and community across the Northern Territory: we condemn all violence against anyone, anywhere.
We at APO NT commit to working with the broader NT community and decision makers to ensure this never happens again. However, we urge the Government to avoid knee jerk reactions and rushed reform.
“We know the impact that hastily applied bail reform can have.
It happened here in the Territory in 2021 when bail law reform for young people occurred, and yet we didn’t see any reductions to offending,” said Dr John Paterson, acting CEO of NAAJA. “We at APO NT call for a calm and measured response- one that is well considered and based on evidence- to ensure community safety across the Territory.”
“We know law reform as proposed by the Chief Minister this morning will disproportionately impact Aboriginal people. We urge the Northern Territory Government to work with Aboriginal leaders and communities to address the systemic and broader causes of this serious incident and build together long-lasting, high-impact solutions,” said Nick Espie, Principal Legal Officer, NAAJA.
“We know what is needed in the NT to enable safer communities- the expansion of appropriate bail support services across the NT, and investment in programs that address problem behaviour and cycles of reoffending. We need to invest in mediation and conflict resolution programs, as well as alcohol support and rehabilitation programs.” said Mr Espie.
“We understand the community sentiment of anger and anguish. And rightly so. But quick fixes will not, and cannot, prevent crime. And filling up jails is not the answer,” said Dr Paterson.
“Aboriginal communities already have the solutions, but not the funding and resources to proactively address these issues. Our leaders are seeking to partner with the Northern Territory Government to share decision making on a path forward that improves community safety for all Territorians,” said Dr John Paterson.
“The outcomes we want to see can be achieved. So, we’re asking all levels of government to honour their commitments to the NT community, and work with us to prevent and address the causes of violent crime,” said Mr Espie.
ENDS
About APO NT: The Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory is a formal alliance that, through its membership, represents the majority of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
The alliance was formed to provide a more effective response to key issues of joint interest and concern affecting Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, including working in genuine partnership with governments to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal Territorians.
The alliance comprises the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), Central Land Council (CLC), Northern Land Council (NLC), Tiwi Land Council (TLC), Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC), Aboriginal Housing NT (AHNT) and the Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network (NT IBN).
Contact: Interviews with spokespeople can be organised by contacting Seranie Gamble, APO NT manager, 0473 423 806
The members and staff of the Central Land Council congratulate CLC executive member and former CLC deputy chair Barbara Shaw on her election as the inaugural chair of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Investment Corporation.
“Ms Shaw is the right woman to lead the organisation that will bring the Aboriginals Benefit Account under the control of Aboriginal Territorians at last,” CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
“She is a passionate advocate for our people and has a track record as a long-term member of the old ABA advisory committee and as interim co-chair of the new corporation since 2022.
“She has long campaigned for the ABA to be controlled by the people whose land generates its income, and not by a federal minister.”
Ms Shaw, a youth worker from the Mount Nancy town camp in Alice Springs, took part in all the joint NT land council meetings over the past seven years that led to the establishment of the new corporation.
Last month, CLC delegates elected Dianne Stokes, from the Mangalawarra outstation, and Jimmy Frank, from Tennant Creek, to join the corporation’s grants committee.
The corporation’s grants program is set to deliver up to $60 million a year in funding to NT Aboriginal corporations for projects supporting culture, country, communities and business.
The corporation is replacing the former federal government-managed ABA grants program with its own process.
Ms Shaw will oversee the development of the process by the board, which has a majority of representatives from the four NT land councils.
The land councils have fought for more than 30 years to bring the $1.4 billion ABA under Aboriginal control.
“With the last federal government-run ABA grants round now closed, the end of this long journey towards self-determination is in sight,” Mr Turner said.
The Central Land Council’s ranger camp will answer questions of Aboriginal rangers from Central Australia and beyond about the voice referendum.
A discussion about the referendum about the voice to parliament will kick off the week-long professional development and networking event on Monday, 20 March, at Ross River near Alice Springs.
Dr. Josie Douglas, executive manager policy and governance at the CLC and a member of the national referendum engagement group, and Jade Ritchie from the Yes23 campaign will present about the voice and answer the rangers’ questions.
They will be joined by Warumungu artist and CLC delegate from Tennant Creek, Jimmy Frank.
“Remote community residents have lots of questions about the referendum,” CLC chief executive Les Turner said.
“Our rangers want to know how the voice will help them to better look after country and improve the lives of their families.”
“I look forward to the discussions and hope it will inform the referendum campaign in remote communities,” said Mr Turner, who is also a member the referendum engagement group.
In line with the event’s peer-to-peer learning ethos, some rangers will learn to use their smartphones and tablets to produce short videos about what the voice means to them.
He said the location of this year’s CLC ranger camp, an hour’s drive east of Alice Springs, is highly symbolic.
“It’s where we held the Ross River Regional Dialogue in 2017, one of 13 such events across the country in the lead-up to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
“Six years ago, at the same camp ground, more than 100 local Aboriginal people chose Central Australia’s delegates for the national constitutional convention at Uluru that called for voice, treaty and truth,” he said.
At this year’s camp around 140 rangers from 20 ranger groups from the southern half of the Northern Territory, as well as from South Australia and Western Australia, will also listen to each other’s voices.
The groups will give presentations about their work and hear from guest speakers such as Joe Morrison from the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.
The camp features workshops and accredited training ranging from tracking animals to catching live venomous snakes, operating heavy machinery and burning country.
An awards ceremony with the Bachelor Institute for Indigenous Training and Education and NintiOne will celebrate the rangers’ education and training achievements.
More than a dozen rangers will receive certificates in conservation and land management.
Contact: Sophia Willcocks | 0488 984 885| media@clc.org.au
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Warlpiri elders and expert trackers are leading a program in northern Australia to teach younger generations how to read Country.
In June 2022, some of the most respected elders of the Warlpiri nation gathered for a workshop in Lajamanu, a remote town in the northern Tanami Desert, south of Kalkarindji. It was one of the largest such gatherings in recent years and, were it not for the flies, it could have been the Roman senate: here were the elders of the nation, gathered to discuss the great issues of the day. One minute they were talking about complex matters of law and ceremony and custom. The next they debated the intricacies of Warlpiri language and stories of the past.
Any resemblance to the ancient Romans was truly ended by the fact of women being at the heart of this gathering; they wore beanies and cast-off clothes. There was much laughter, mobile phones rang often, and arguments erupted over such topics as which species of snake had left behind tracks across the red sand nearby. This was especially significant, for the elders in attendance were also the Warlpiri’s kuyu pungu, or master trackers.
Many, perhaps even most, of those present grew up in the desert or out bush. There, they learnt to read the tracks of the animals: which animal left the tracks, where it was travelling, and how long ago it passed by. The kuyu pungu at the Lajamanu workshop were from a long line of Warlpiri people who grew up learning how to read the country. Over time, they entered into an intimacy with the land that went to every aspect of their lives – kinship, ceremony, survival. The current kuyu pungu, those gathered at Lajamanu, were the last in that long line.
By the time that most of the workshop’s participants had reached adolescence, their desert lives were if not lost then much curtailed. Travelling between missions, cattle stations and cities, they worked as drovers and domestic help, if at all, returning to country whenever they could. Aside from rare exceptions, their children and grandchildren had little opportunity to learn the old ways. Torn between the lure of the cities and the obligations of the past, the young Warlpiri returned to country at weekends, if they were lucky, where they picked up fragments.
This is why the Warlpiri elders gathered in Lajamanu. Part of an ongoing project known as Yitaki Mani (“Reading the Country”), the aim of the workshop was to find a way to bridge that gap between generations, to address the possibility that some knowledge may soon be lost forever, and to find new ways to teach a people who no longer grow up on country. Run by the Central Land Council, the program and the workshop – and other workshops like it across Warlpiri country – faced the most daunting of tasks: to distil thousands of years of lived knowledge into teaching materials and techniques that could work in a classroom.
Witnessing the sessions – which ran under the guidance of Warlpiri elders, pastor Jerry Jangala and Myra Herbert Nungarrayi and others, assisted by linguists and anthropologists – was like watching an encyclopaedia unfold in real time. Flow charts emerged, the frequent use of photos maintained the visual essence of the experience, and field trips – to Emu Rockhole or the track to Tennant Creek – kept things practical. There were times when momentum seemed to unravel. On one of the excursions, a goanna had the misfortune to appear close by. Consequently, much of the day was “lost” as everyone shared a goanna feast around an impromptu fire. But like other seeming distractions – a sudden recitation of a Dreaming story, or an unplanned detour down a side track to honour a cultural obligation – these moments deepened the stories and the ability of these kuyu pungu to tell them.
“We have to make sure we all have all the knowledge, that knowledge of how to read the country. And that knowledge comes in many ways,” says Jangala. “We need this knowledge if we are to get back the old Warlpiri ways.”
The establishment of the Yitaki Mani program reflects changes in Australia regarding First Nations peoples, and builds on those defining points in the process of reconciliation. Recognition of citizenship in 1967, the development of land rights in the 1970s and the outstation movement in the 1980s all represented the move away from the nation’s integrationist impulse.
Yitaki Mani builds on this process, drawing from another nation-shifting development: Indigenous ranger programs. Running for more than 15 years, the establishment of these initiatives has expanded across the country, and there are now around 130 federally funded ranger programs, with additional state-funded groups. Most of them operate on Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs).
So successful have ranger programs become that their funding became a campaign issue during the 2022 federal election. The Morrison government promised to double the funding for Indigenous rangers, to $686 million over eight years. Labor matched this commitment and added $10 million per year to expand the programs.
From a conservation perspective, every now and then work undertaken through the ranger program makes headlines, and is credited with significant successes. Indigenous ranger groups have, for example, been central to the discovery of new night parrot populations across Western Australia.
Stephen van Leeuwen, the Indigenous chair of biodiversity and environmental science at Curtin University in Perth, says ranger programs have enabled conservation activities to operate on a much broader scale than would be possible through scientific programs working alone. “You can’t have an IPA without a ranger program. And you can’t have an IPA ranger program without a healthy country plan. You’ve got a workforce and people who want to be there.”
Van Leeuwen recognises the importance of elder knowledge in the process of engaging the younger rangers. “Yes, you want to empower [First Nations peoples] by giving them meaningful work. But the elders in the communities want to manage the country, and that commitment quickly flows on to the younger people in the community. They want to look after their country … Lots of the threatened species that are still extant are on the Indigenous conservation estate in the deserts and in northern Australia, so there must be something good happening there.”
The ranger program is also driving a wider re-evaluation of traditional forms of knowledge and storytelling. Successes like that of the night parrot “demonstrate the power of proper two-way science”, says Steve Murphy, an ecologist who has worked extensively with traditional owners. “Indigenous people were highly attuned and acutely aware of all aspects of the environment that they were living in over millennia. So the observational-based science that they built up was incredibly detailed. In many cases, people aren’t living 24/7 on country and aren’t needing to get their whole subsistence from these landscapes. It’s pedalled back a little – it’s more a knowledge about place and landscape. But it’s still there, and it’s better than any [geographic information system] and remote-sensing analyst can give us.”
Much has also been lost, Murphy acknowledges. “Historically, a lot of that ecological knowledge would have been held by people, but it’s gone. We have to acknowledge that it has gone from so many places. And that is another very important and often overlooked role of two-way science – rekindling and rebuilding that knowledge.”
It is with this backdrop of loss and renewal that the Yitaki Mani project carries such potential. If it is successful, its organisers hope benefits won’t be restricted to the Warlpiri. The conceptual frameworks and teaching materials will become available to other communities, enabling them to tap into their own deep wells of knowledge.
It is, as ever, a race against time, something of which the elders at the Lajamanu workshop are keenly aware. “Some of the young ones are interested, and want to learn more,” says Jerry Jangala. “But some are losing their culture, their ceremony, everything. It’s not good for our people. It’s not good for Australia. Our country will be lost. That’s why we’re here. To teach them another way to learn. After all, one day I won’t be here with you.”
Article written by Anthony Ham and published in The Monthly.
The Central Land Council is deeply disappointed with the Alice Springs Town Council’s decision to lock the community competition out of the town’s sporting fields.
“It is a backward step for the council to ban the teams, players and supporters from our remote communities from the best fields in Central Australia, where they have played for many years,” Central Land Council chief executive Les Turner said.
“Footy helps create positive social outcomes and unites our town at a time when we all need to pull together “The Alice Springs town council is understandably concerned about bad behaviour at games and resulting social issues “But instead of being divisive, the council should work with the AFLNT and governments to improve the infrastructure and facilities in our communities.
“AFL football is one of the few joys for our community members. It is a pathway to a healthy life and future opportunities,” said Mr Turner.
“Our kids should not be locked out of Alice Springs.”
Contact: Elke Wiesmann | 0417 877 579| media@clc.org.au
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Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APO NT) is calling for the Commonwealth and Territory governments to honour their commitments made in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and set up formal arrangements with Aboriginal representatives in Alice Springs and across the Northern Territory to negotiate and agree the way forward on alcohol management plans and other supports and services needed in our communities.
The measures proposed in the private members bill do nothing more than what has already been agreed to be implemented by the Prime Minister and Chief Minister.
Mr Les Turner, APO NT spokesperson and CEO of the Central Land Council in Alice Springs said the time has come to put the intervention era to an end. “We need to move past politicians in Canberra and Darwin making decisions for our communities alone.
Senator Price’s proposed private members bill is just another example of politicians coming in over the top of our people. We are fed up with it, we have had enough of the political posturing and we have seen time and time again that it doesn’t work for our communities,” Mr Turner said.
“The recent commitment to provide resources in response to the crisis in Alice Springs is welcome as a necessary step to acknowledge that more investment is needed in our Northern Territory communities.
Dr John Paterson, APO NT spokesperson and Acting CEO of the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency added, “We support urgent investment in Alice Springs. But we need to see more urgent investment across the Northern Territory. The National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment is coming to an end and now is the time to build a new approach for future investment, based on a formal partnership between governments, APO NT and Northern Territory communities, and in line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.”
ENDS
About APO NT: The Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory is a formal alliance that, through its membership, represents the majority of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
The alliance was formed to provide a more effective response to key issues of joint interest and concern affecting Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, including working in genuine partnership with governments to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal Territorians.
The alliance comprises the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), Central Land Council (CLC), Northern Land Council (NLC), Tiwi Land Council (TLC), Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC), Aboriginal Housing NT (AHNT) and the Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network (NT IBN).
MEDIA: Interviews with spokespeople can be organised by contacting Seranie Gamble, APO NT Manager 0473 423 806 manager@apont.org.au
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The ignorance expressed about the voice is only surpassed by the lack of knowledge about the rigorous process that led us to it.
I wonder who Senator Jacinta Price is referring to when she talks of “my people”.
She can’t mean the people I work for – 90 democratically elected Aboriginal men and women from the towns, remote communities and hundreds of tiny homelands of the southern half of the Northern Territory. People aged between 20 and 80, who are elected for three-year terms, meet three times a year out bush and who, for the past five years, have consistently expressed their strong support for the constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament the senator opposes.
A voice that allows local representatives to be heard about laws and policies that affect them and offer solutions informed by their unique knowledge and lived experience. What could be more practical? What could be fairer, more modest and unifying?
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The Aboriginal Peak Organisations of the Northern Territory (APO NT) is calling on the federal government to enter a genuine partnership to achieve improved outcomes for Aboriginal people in the NT, amid the crisis in Alice Springs.
APO NT is seeking a commitment from the federal government to enter negotiations about the future of the National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment and to agree future policies, programs and funding through a three-way formal agreement between the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments and APO NT.
Dr John Paterson, APO NT spokesperson and CEO of the Aboriginal Medical Alliance Northern Territory said the time has come to put the intervention era and knee jerk responses to an end.
“What we need is for the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments to sit down with the organisations controlled by our communities and negotiate a formal agreement on new policies, programs and funding to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people right across the Territory.
With the National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment coming to an end there is an opportunity to build a new approach, based on a formal partnership between governments and APO NT and our communities,” Dr Paterson said.
Mr Jerome Cubillo, APO NT spokesperson and CEO of the Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network added, “We need a significantly different policy and program focus based on the priorities of Aboriginal people, that supports the sustainability of communities and responds to the underlying social and economic issues.”
“There needs to be a greater Territory wide focus on critical priorities like youth support and community safety. Importantly, we also need to start backing Aboriginal led economies, business and jobs on Aboriginal Land.
We need governments to sit down with APO NT members and negotiate and agree a new investment package together. This is what will help make lasting change for our communities and put the yo-yo interventionist approach to an end,” Mr Cubillo said.
“A new funding package, on its own, delivered through existing arrangements with the Northern Territory government or through another Commonwealth intervention, will unlikely receive the buy-in on the ground needed to achieve improved outcomes for our communities.
“We also need governments and Oppositions to stop thinking about Alice Springs in isolation. We need a whole of Territory response, one that sees the connection between regional towns, like Alice Springs, and our communities,” Dr Paterson said.
“With the legacy of failed approaches, APO NT is ready to work with the federal and NT governments to move on from the Intervention era and urgently get the settings right to improve the life outcomes of Aboriginal Territorians.
APO NT has put its proposal to both governments and we are waiting on a response.”
ENDS
About APO NT: The Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory is a formal alliance that, through its membership, represents the majority of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.
The alliance was formed to provide a more effective response to key issues of joint interest and concern affecting Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, including working in genuine partnership with governments to achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal Territorians.
The alliance comprises the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT), North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), Central Land Council (CLC), Northern Land Council (NLC), Tiwi Land Council (TLC), Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC), Aboriginal Housing NT (AHNT) and the Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network (NT IBN).
Contact: Interviews with spokespeople can be organised by contacting Theresa Roe 0429 991 765, theresa.roe@apont.org.au
The members and staff of the Central Land Council are in shock after CLC chair Kunmanara Hoosan passed away unexpectedly in Darwin overnight.
CLC chief executive Les Turner said he was deeply saddened by the news.
“We offer heartfelt condolences to his family, community and colleagues,” Mr Turner said.
“He was a well-loved and highly respected man who has made an enormous contribution with his strength of character, wisdom and leadership.
“His compassion extended to all he worked with, be they members or staff.
“He advocated strongly for the raising of the age of criminal responsibility and against violence against women.”
Mr Hoosan had been associated with the CLC for many years, before his election to Chair this year. He had been a member of the CLC executive committee since 2019 and had been a delegate when he was
younger.
He was known for his care and concern for vulnerable members of the community, especially young people and anyone affected by violence.
Mr Hoosan was also a board member of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority and was attending a meeting of the organisation in Darwin at the time of his passing.
He was a youth worker and had also been employed as a CLC field officer, police officer, health worker and chaired the NT Uniting Church.
He was a member of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council’s Watiku (men’s violence prevention) group and the prescribed body corporate of native title holders in his home
community of Aputula (Finke).
“I love to listen to people and try to guide them, and I need them to guide me too,” he said upon his election as chair in April 2022.
A federal plan to protect threatened species has neglected almost all of central Australia and will not stop extinctions, wildlife advocates say.
The 10-year Threatened Species Action Plan was released last month, highlighting 20 important natural places and 110 national species of concern to be prioritised for protection.
Central Australia’s only priority area
Through the Northern Territory’s Central Land Council, traditional owners co-manage the MacDonnell Ranges National Park, which is the only priority area in central Australia listed in the federal plan.
Eastern Arrente man and land council chief executive Les Turner said rangers were poorly funded and unable to adequately manage the millions of hectares they were responsible for.
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Ninety years after Pitjantjatjara man Yukun was killed by police and his remains sent to museums in Adelaide, he is finally laid to rest.
On the day Yukun was returned to Uluru, his descendants leapt into the deep, narrow grave to help ease him to rest as their elders looked on, weeping.
The ceremony, at the base of the rock on an unusually cold and rainy morning, helped ease the pain of almost 90 years of unfinished business that began with a Northern Territory police shooting in 1934.
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