Ngarrindjeri Photography Project

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Will the minister tell the council about the recent launch of the Ngarrindjeri Photography Project?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for his question, his interest and his very longstanding stewardship of the Aboriginal Lands Parliamentary Standing Committee, which evidences his strong interest in Aboriginal affairs generally.

I am very pleased to answer this question about my recent attendance at the launch of the Ngarrindjeri Photographic Project, Keeping Culture Project Alive, that was launched a few weeks ago in Murray Bridge. I am particularly pleased because I can remember being involved at the very start of this project.

It would have been six something years ago, I was travelling to Murray Bridge and my parents were travelling up from Mount Gambier and, as we do sometimes, we met at Camp Coorong to have a cup of coffee to get together with Aunty Ellen Trevorrow. At that meeting, a bit over six years ago, there were a number of senior Ngarrindjeri women sitting down with a number of academics from Swinburne University going through hundreds and hundreds of old photos in shoeboxes.

Over a discussion, just over six years ago, while we were there, they were asking for any thoughts about ways these could be preserved for the longer term. I remember having a discussion about the Ara Iritja software that is used on the APY lands. I think at that time I had only just recently returned from the APY lands. I also let them know about the community grant Stolen Generations Reparation Scheme that they might apply for funding, should they wish to do that. I had actually forgotten about that meeting six years ago before going to the launch of this event and was reminded of it at the opening of the Ngarrindjeri Photography Project.

The project focuses on something critically important: remembering and keeping alive the past. In particular, it works to create an archive of photographs to help people better access photographs of their family and their ancestors. The project brings together photographs Ngarrindjeri people have taken and kept in their own collections and utilises the Ara Iritja software 'Keeping Culture'.

Ara Iritja means 'stories from long ago' in the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara languages. The organisation has been working for many years to bring together historic and cultural items in a digital form for the benefit of Anangu. Ara Iritja was formally established in 1994 by Anangu elders Mr P. Nyaningu, Mr C. Tjapiya, Pitjantjatjara Council anthropologist the late Ushma Scales and also archival consultant John Dallwitz as a project of the Pitjantjara Council Aboriginal Corporation back in the mid-1990s.

Ara Iritja is now overseen by APY and is an important cultural resource for many Anangu who I have had the privilege of being involved with a number of times. It allows appropriate access to Anangu based on different levels of access to what is culturally appropriate. I have been very fortunate and privileged to have been able to see more and more of the collection over recent years.

The software provided by this project now also underpins the Ngarrindjeri Photography Project, which is something I think is going to be of great benefit to Ngarrindjeri. The launch of the project was a well-attended event at Ngarrindjeri Regional Empowered Community Centre in Murray Bridge, just over the other side of the river from Adelaide.

Attendees were welcomed by an impassioned Welcome to Country by Harley Hall and we heard from Aunty Ellen Trevorrow, Aunty Lyn Lovegrow, Aunty Dot Shaw and Sonya Newchurch. There were many Ngarrindjeri elders and community members in attendance and I won't try to name many of them because I will miss people out but it was great to catch up with so many Ngarrindjeri elders—who I have known for a long period of time—in the one day.

The project was a collaboration between the Ngarrindjeri Photography Project, Moorundi Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service, the Ngarrindjeri Regional Empowered Communities, along with Swinburne University, Adelaide University and the South Australian Museum. It's a critically important way for Ngarrindjeri to connect with history and particularly those affected by the stolen generations.

I am particularly proud to have seen something that I was involved in many years ago, last time I was in government, come to fruition now. I pay particular tribute to those involved, particularly Aunty Ellen Trevorrow, who has been the linchpin of this project.