Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Good afternoon everybody
and firstly thank you very much Peter for that introduction and
I'd like to acknowledge my fellow presenters for this panel session.
As the Chairperson of the Indigenous Land Corporation
it is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon
and I'd also like to thank the organisers
because this is the first time that the Indigenous Land Corporation has
been invited - and it's an honour to be here. I was raised
in the Merchison/Gascoigne area of Western Australia
and I'm a descendent - one part of my family are
from the Yamaji people. So, I'd just like to acknowledge who's country
we're on. My presentation today will focus on
the ILC's efforts to encourage and support
indigenous economic development through participation in the live
export trade - and provide case studies of how this
is happening on the ground. But first I'd just like to do a little snap
shot of what is the ILC. We were, um ...
formed by the Australian Government as an independent
statutory authority back in 1995 and
this was due to the fallout of the Mabo legislation
on native title. And, we were created to
provide social, cultural, economic and environmental
benefits to indigenous people by assisting them to
purchase land or acquire land - and also to manage
indigenous held land. We receive an
annual income of $45million, which comes out of a
realised real return from an account
we call the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander
Land Account. This account at the moment sits at around
$1.8billion; so we have a draw down from
that, as I said, of $45million minimum per year.
So we are not a ... we don't receive, um
any ongoing funding from the Australian Government - through the
normal budgetary process.
So in general terms our land management
programme assists in the development of indigenous owned land
- including bringing it into production.
In doing so we aim to facilitate the focus of job
focused training in creating sustainable jobs
and to keep and help develop that ...
viable and sustainable land based enterprises.
To these ends we have targetted the agricultural
pastural and tourism industries as best placed to achieve
these objectives. Some indigenous landowners
have approached the ILC asking us to lease their land in return
for the ILC developing their land through
infrastructure, capital, helping build
individual and organisational capacity, property and business
planning and to facilitate collaboration with industry partners.
This is what the ILC has done in two of my case studies
- at Gumballanyah and Minyeri in the Northern Territory.
We also collaborate with others
to provide land management advice at regional
level. Many of you may have heard of the Kimberley
Indigenous Management Support Services in Western Australia and the
Indigenous Pastural Programme in the Northern Territory. Both of those
I will return to later. But firstly, um ...
I'd just like to talk about the fact that we ourselves - the ILC -
has established thirteen pastural businesses across Australia
- ranging from lamb and fine wool merinho production to
farm cattle in northern Australia. So in accordance with
our Act that established the ILC, these businesses are
run as commercial enterprises using sound
business principles. Each of these businesses
incorporates modern residential training
facilities, where indigenous trainees can obtain accredited
industry focused pastural training while earning award
wages.
The ILC is now a major player in the live export industry and is
currently in the Top 20 cattle producers with a herd of over
90 000 head. All of the ILC
operated cattle stations, bar one, are north of the Tropic of Capricorn
in savvanah environments, where brahm cattle are best
suited for production. The most viable and logical
market is the live export trade - and
there are significant indigenous populations in the vicinity of all our
properties. Last financial year I also operated
businesses and employed over 390 indigenous staff
and trainees. As a Board, we
believe that the live export industry is important because it provides
a diversity of real training opportunites and sustainable employment
which are often not available to regional and
remote indigenous communities. My case studies
today focus on the socio-economics and benefits
being delivered through long term projects, which are developing
sustainable businesses in the remote indigenous communities of
Gumballanyah and Minyeri in the Top End - and through regional
approaches, such as the Roebuck Export Depot in the Kimberley
and the Indigenous Pastural Programmes across the Northern Territory.
Gumballanyah. At Gumballanyah, also known as
Owenpilly in remote western Arnhem Land,
320km east of Darwin, the ILC is
working with an existing indigenous business to create
new live export jobs and at the same time improve the
supply of fresh, more affordable to the nearby communities
In agreement with the Gumballanyah Meat Supply Pty Ltd
and the Northern Land Council
the ILC will spend approximately $3.1million
over 15 years to upgrade and manage the community owned meat
works business ... And the flood plain
will be developed as a grazing enterprise at Gumballanyah.
The enterprise will be managed by the ILC as Gumballanyah
Meats and Gumballanyah Station under a 15 year lease
which holds a 20 year land use agreement.
And that is the Gumballanyah Meat Supply Pty Ltd
own the land use agreement. The injection of our
funds will see the Gumballanyah cattle herd grow from
1000 to 7000 head, employment increase from
eight to 28 pastural and abbatoir jobs, and
activate involvement by the Gumballanyah community to live export cattle trade
for the first time. Prior to our involvement
the station had around 75 square kilometres of
fencing and holding a capacity of about 3000 head
of cattle. Under this new arrangement we have
significantly funded for building and infrastructure work
which have occured, including construction of a larger
modern abbatoir, accommodation quarters, new water
infrastructure and hundreds of kilometres of new fencing. And that's
already been achieved. So, with our assistance
over a total of 800 square kilometres of land has been fenced
- including some of the, um
fantastic black soil flood plain in this area.
Young stock will be sourced from other indigenous properties
- Strangeways and Warragumbu -
and grown and finished at Gumballanyah. Much of this stock
will be sold for live export and abbatoir production will increase
approximately 25 beefs, 15 cattle and ten buffalo
per week to fill local demand. Believe it or not there's a huge
demand for buffalo meat - not just in the Territory but, um ...
particularly down in Melbourne. So that is just going to
increase. So the positive outcomes of this project
for the community extend far beyond the
profits generated from the commercial business. The Gumballanyah
pastural and meatworks operations will provide job ready
training for local and will, at full capacity, employ
28 indigenous people. So just think of the flow-on effect
of 28 people that were previously not employed on full
salaries and the economic and social impact
that has on the community - just with that 28. And of course
then you've got the flow-on effect of those that are in the cattle industry as well.
So, with the input and development from the ILC
it will take on an even more important function
as a centre for indigenous employment and training for decades to come.
That's just been our involvement in ...
less than two years in this area.