Riverland Rangers Program

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (15:07): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about the thriving Riverland Rangers Program?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:07): I thank the member for his question and his very ongoing and significant interest in all matters to do with the Riverland. I was delighted to hear—

An honourable member interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I was delighted to hear that the dedicated River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation ranger team within the Riverland Rangers program recently celebrated its first anniversary of operation after a busy 12 months across the Riverland. The Riverland Rangers Program commenced in 2010 as an initiative of the then South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board. The program set out to boost the involvement of Aboriginal people in the management of natural and cultural resources as well as Aboriginal heritage and to ensure that local Aboriginal people have a voice and meaningful role in their surrounds.

In March 2022 a dedicated ranger team of traditional owners was created. The rangers' work spans the vast area covered by the Indigenous land use agreement for the River Murray and Mallee people, extending from Morgan across to the New South Wales border. The rangers work to take care of cultural heritage throughout the Riverland, monitoring Indigenous burial sites and cultural sites of significance as well as repairing fencing and attending to trees and wildlife. During the recent flood events across the Murray River, rangers played a critical role in monitoring and mapping cultural sites and undertaking a great many site visits.

Members of the team, who span from junior rangers through to seniors, have shared the value they get out of this work. Junior rangers Anton Motto and Cloe Zielke remarked how their roles have helped them feel like they are part of something and that their confidence has increased significantly since undertaking this work. Ranger Susie Cook has highlighted that the role has developed her understanding of her own cultural heritage, and she looks forward to sharing that knowledge with the younger rangers.

I was also pleased to see that the commonwealth Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon. Linda Burney, also celebrated the fantastic achievements of this group. I think Minister Burney sums it up best when she says, 'When we empower Indigenous Australians and share in the over 65,000 years of continuous culture, all of us can have a better future.'

I congratulate the dedicated ranger team on a highly successful first year of operation and look forward to the important work they will undertake in years to come.