Far West Mojo

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:24): My question is my first to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Can the minister tell the house about projects such as Far West Mojo and how they are assisting Aboriginal communities on the Far West Coast?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:25): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in all things Far West Coast and I note that he and other members of the Aboriginal lands standing committee will next week be visiting communities in that area.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: And I plead with the Hon. Terry Stephens to be gentle with me as I am answering this question, unlike his treatment of other ministers today.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: Brutal!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Brutal! While in Ceduna and on communities on the Far West Coast last week, I had the opportunity to visit the Ceduna Youth Hub. The Ceduna Youth Hub has partnered with the Red Cross to deliver a digital journalism program called Far West Mojo. This program received the highest number of votes from the community during the recent Far West Coast community cabinet Fund My Idea program. As members may know, the Fund My Idea program supports projects up to the value of $50,000. From the West Coast community cabinet there were 22 proposals generated by the community and over 1,100 votes were cast. This is per se a very good example of local involvement in decision making.

The Far West Mojo project received $26,000 from the Fund My Idea program. The Far West Mojo project provides an avenue for members of Aboriginal communities to become involved in journalism and to tell their stories and the stories of their communities. This project offers skills that can lead to recognition and commissioned work by the mainstream media. Some of the content that has already been produced covers topics such as education in Oak Valley, razor fish farming in Denial Bay, and interviews with elders and health care workers in Yalata. All these videos are available online and I encourage members to have a look at the great work that has been produced by this project.

As was explained to me while I was there, this project is the world's oldest living culture utilising the newest technologies to tell their stories and to gain new skills. I would like to thank and pay tribute to Peter Jericho from the Ceduna Youth Hub and Nikki Edwards from the Australian Red Cross for showing me around this innovative facility.

My trip to the West Coast also allowed me to pay a visit to the Koonibba Aboriginal community. Koonibba is a small community about half an hour's drive north-west of Ceduna, and I thank Corey McLennan for taking the time to meet with me and to let me know what was happening in the community. I had last visited Koonibba over a decade ago, and it was immediately apparent the improvements that have taken place since my last visit. While there are many challenges still before the community, many strides have been taken forward. I also had the opportunity to visit the Maralinga Tjarutja (MT) offices in Ceduna where it was great to speak to the general manager about some of the challenges and opportunities facing MT.

The venture Maralinga Tjarutja have created around niche tourism through the Maralinga atomic testing grounds is an initiative that is starting to deliver benefits for the local community. I also met with a number of service providers at the transitional accommodation facility known as Tank Camp. The services are now assisted by the position of the Ceduna Services Reform Manager, and it is a role that is bringing key government agencies together to improve service coordination. Most of the people in Ceduna have very good things to say about how that is going.

A central focus of my time on the West Coast was to hear directly from Aboriginal representatives and leaders about what issues were important to them. I was pleased to meet with a number of leaders from numerous Aboriginal groups, including the Yalata community, the Munda and Wanna Mar community, the Far West Coast Association, the Dinahline community, Ceduna Aboriginal Association, the Yarilena community, the Munda Munda Watu Tjina community, the Scotdesco community, the Oak Valley Community Council, the Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation and the Aboriginal Lands Trust.

While I was able to get a real sense of some of the issues that the communities were facing, there are still big challenges, and I look forward to working together with many of these communities and other communities in remote and regional South Australia.