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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-09-09 Daily Xml
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APY Lands

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation. Can the minister advise the council of his most recent visit to the APY lands?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:13): Like the last question, that is a very good question, but I will not be found as wanting as I was when the Hon. Andrew McLachlan asked the last question. I thank the honourable member for his question.

I have only recently returned from a 10-day trip to the APY lands. Over the last decade or so, I have been to the APY lands quite a few times. This is my second visit as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation and it has also been the longest amount of time I have been fortunate enough to spend on the lands at one time.

On this occasion, I took the opportunity to drive from Adelaide, through Coober Pedy, Marla, Umuwa, and then on to Pipalyatjara for my first stop. For members who are not familiar with Pipalyatjara, it is a community about 200 kilometres south-west of Uluru, set amongst the Musgrave, Mann and Tomkinson mountain ranges. It is an exceptionally picturesque community that is only about 15 kilometres from Surveyor-General's Corner, where the borders of SA, NT and WA meet.

In Pipalyatjara, I enjoyed a welcome to the community by the children from the school on the first morning and was taken on a tour of the school facilities, which are undergoing some landscaping and upgrading, and I am sure it will look very smart once it is completed. I thank the principal, Ngaire Benfell, for her hospitality and showing me what the school is doing.

I then had a look and visited the newly completed TAFE facilities in Pipalyatjara and it was great to hear from the lecturer, Janet Ashby, about how pleased she and the community are with the new building and some of the successful programs they are running at the TAFE such as the learner driver education, family wellbeing, first aid, and a variety of certificate and diplomas, being delivered right across the APY lands, like conservation and land management, kitchen operations, aged care and interpreting.

The following day we visited Maku Valley, which is near Kalka, accompanied by members of the APY Land Management Group. They showed us some of their pest controls and warru (rock wallaby) conservation projects. I must admit that rock hopping through that valley was not easy and I cannot imagine climbing to the top of some of those mountains in the middle of summer weighed down with glycosphate tanks for weed control or feral cat traps would be at all easy, so I pay tribute to the members of that land management team who do that.

I also had the opportunity later on the trip to see the warru conservation project near Pukatja, and it is clearly something that is taken very seriously on the APY lands. My congratulations go out to people like Ethan Dagg and other members like Nina and Catherine from the land management conservation team for the work that they do.

I visited Kalka, which is just around the mountains from Pipalyatjara, about a 15-minute car ride, and I was fortunate enough to have my first opportunity to taste maku, which is witchetty grub. I kind of thank Josephine Mick for cooking the witchetty grub and presenting it to me in front of the whole arts centre and giving me no option at all but to eat it. It was not as bad as I thought it might be—a bit like smoky scrambled eggs.

An honourable member: It wasn't live?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: No, it wasn't live, it was cooked, I am very pleased to report.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Well done?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Medium well done. Whilst in Kalka I also spent some time with Mrs Paddy, who continues to grow in her role as the first female to be elected chair of the APY Executive. Also in Pipalyatjara I attended the service providers meeting, ably chaired by Nugget Ngatai, which gave me the chance to hear firsthand from many of those dedicated workers on the ground, both government and NGOs, as well as senior Anangu, to listen to current and ongoing opportunities and some of the challenges that are faced by those who provide services to communities on the APY lands, and how those service providers are helping each other to achieve some of the best outcomes.

That evening there was a community barbecue in Pipalyatjara which was a good opportunity to meet many of the community members that I had not had a chance to meet yet, and I think I met every single person. Making the hamburgers at the end, everyone was my best friend for that night as I was handing out the hamburgers. On Wednesday of that week, we hit the road and left Pipalyatjara to visit a number of small communities on the way to Pukatja. At Kanpi I met with the chair of the Kanpi Aboriginal Community Council and APY Executive member Anton Baker.

Also on the way from Pipalyatjara to Umuwa, I toured the Tjungu Palya Arts Centre in Nyapari, which is at the base of the Mann Ranges. Tjungu Palya translates to 'good together' and is an Aboriginal owned and operated enterprise which supports artists from Kanpi and Waturru and other small communities. From there I travelled towards Amata and had the privilege of visiting Owen Burton's homeland, who is also a member of the APY Executive and a former chair of the APY Executive.

Then on to Umuwa and Pukatja. I have been to Pukatja a number of times and it was good again to have the opportunity to see firsthand some of the cultural, anthropological, pastoral and land management activities happening in the area. This included seeing the newly constructed road from Pukatja to the Pukatja airstrip and the road making process. This important road project is a joint initiative from the commonwealth and state government, a $106 million investment to improve road infrastructure in the APY lands, going right from the highway through to Pukatja.

During the morning I spent looking at different elements of the new road building project, I was impressed by what I saw and by the anthropologists obviously having a great deal of respect for the elders they work with. It was interesting to watch firsthand some of the discussions about important sites and how those sites are being respected with the construction of the new road. I have to say the portion of the new road out near the airstrip was very smooth and very impressive. The thing I was probably most impressed about was I am told that the 30 per cent Anangu employment target is easily being met at the moment.

Once again, I enjoyed in Umuwa a community barbecue which also included members of the APY staff. A highlight of that night was a rendition of Waltzing Matilda sung in Pitjantjatjara by famed country music artist and APY Executive member Trevor Adamson. I know the Hon. Rob Lucas isn't here, but one of the things that I was most impressed with was, as Waltzing Matilda was being sung, one of the kids in the crowd had some new lyrics for Waltzing Matilda. I overheard someone singing 'Waltzing Matilda, I hate St Kilda,' which was an interesting take on that song.

I visited Ernabella Arts Centre, as I have done numerous times, and was exceptionally privileged to spend some time with Gordon Ingkatji at the arts centre, then, the next afternoon, spend quite a bit of time at his homeland at David's Well. Gordon is one of the most senior men on the APY lands. Now about 85 years old, he has an exceptional memory of what happened in his childhood. Gordon was eight years old when he and his family first encountered whitefellas. He remembers helping build the Ernabella mission as a very, very young person, constructing the mud bricks that built the mission, and so many things that have happened since then.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order, Mr President. As interesting as the travelogue is, the minister has been on his feet for over eight minutes and is restricting the opportunity for other members to have questions.

The PRESIDENT: Look, the minister was asked a question about his recent trip to the APY lands, and he is giving an extensive review so, minister, go ahead.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Just concentrate on the speech. Go on.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Thank you. One of the highlights was attending—

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Start again.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I can start again if it's required. One of the highlights was attending the Far North West Sports League presentation night, including a barbecue and presenting awards for the minor around of the Far North West Sports League softball and football competitions, which are played across the APY lands.

I see the Hon. John Dawkins is very interested in my answer, so I will make sure I keep it interesting. I had a bit of a kick with some of the kids, and I didn't last long having a kick because, when you are outmarked and outkicked by six year olds, you sit down pretty quickly.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: With bare feet?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I certainly wasn't, but—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Yes, I had to have my witchetty grubs cooked and I couldn't play without shoes on. But I did note one of the kids earlier in the trip having quite a large nail removed from his foot which kind of scared me off playing football with bare feet.

The next day, though, I was even more fortunate to attend the first round of the football and softball finals, and I have got to say, in this community, football is not the main thing when their finals are on, it's the only thing that happens in the community. Both football and softball are taken very, very seriously.

On the Saturday, there were a couple of matches. The first final was a battle of the east. The Mimili Blues just got up over the Indulkana Tigers in a very spirited and fast and furious performance where, every time the ball went up, there was a lot of high marking and very long kicking. It was followed by the western derby: the Pipalyatjara Lions versus the Amata Bombers.

On my final visit on my way leaving the lands, I spent time with Yami Lester at Wallatinna in his homeland and spoke about many things affecting Anangu living on the lands and, of course, particularly about football and his beloved Melbourne Demons. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many Anangu and other people for their always warm welcome, their generosity and time.

Taking this longer trip allowed me to visit some of the communities that I hadn't been to before, which was a great privilege. I also came back with a whole list of things that we need to look at and that people want us to have a look at. I look forward to visiting the APY lands again soon. I would like to acknowledge many people, both living in the lands and others, who made the trip so smooth and organised.

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