Published: 1 Oct 2024

We’re now into Spring and the pace seems to be constant. Advocating to state governments has been at the top of our list this quarter, with the recent Northern Territory Election and Queensland Election soon to come.

Northern Territory 

The Northern Territory Election has delivered a change of government from Labor to the Country Liberal Party. We worked hard in the lead up to secure another four years of Aboriginal Ranger Grants funding, a $12M program we advocated to establish back in 2016 which is still running.

This modest but valuable funding program has distributed around $3M per year each year in the NT that goes to projects and practical additional equipment that Indigenous Ranger groups need for their work. This could include items such as quad bikes and all-terrain vehicles, four wheel drives for rough conditions, spray packs for weeds, worksheds, and other useful operational gear and infrastructure. The program also supports project work to enhance control of feral animals, better manage fire, and other vital projects. 

We were pleased to secure commitments from NT Labor during the election campaign, and then CLP Shadow Minister for Parks and now Treasurer Bill Yan MLA who was quoted in the local media in response to our petition saying, “The CLP remains committed to the Aboriginal Ranger Grants Program, and if elected, we will fully fund the program with $12 million over four years.”

This does not happen without the help of our many Territory-based partners and friends and the help of thousands of supporters who sign our online actions. Please remember - your support counts, it does make a difference and working together we can secure better conditions for Indigenous Rangers and their work caring for Country. Now we need to make sure the pollies follow through on their commitments. 

Queensland

In Queensland we were in parliament earlier this year engaging with politicians from all parties.  As with any election, we never favour or encourage a vote for or against any party or candidate, but we do ask all pollies to do better in supporting Indigenous land and sea management, and the work of Indigenous Rangers.

We are now running our QLD online action so if you are a Queenslander please have a look at the action page and with a simple click or two you can send a message in support of Indigenous Rangers to your local member or candidate.  

At this stage we have an early response from the QLD Liberal National Party, but stay tuned as we will bring you updates from other parties also.

We have a lot of supporters in Queensland, but we need a lot more to be active if we are to get the best results we can, so right now is a great time to share our online petition on social media if you can.

IPA Planning

Our work doesn’t all happen in parliaments and online though, in fact it mostly happens out on the ground. These past few months we’ve been busy with visits to Yindjibarndi Country in the Pilbara to discuss the exciting plans to develop their new Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs). Yindjibarndi along with Nyamal Corporation were the first Pilbara groups to successfully apply for IPA funding and along with Esperance Tjaltraak, were three Western Australian groups which were successful in securing funding for a new Indigenous Protected Area recently. They join seven new IPAs and two expanding IPAs announced. This growth in the IPA network is also a direct result of our advocacy to get more money flowing to Traditional Owners who are keen to manage their land and sea. Yindjibarndi will be consulting with Traditional Owners of Country over the coming year.

We’ve also been out talking to long term partners Banbai Rangers working out of Guyra near Armidale in NSW, connecting with South East Arnhem Sea Country IPA, doing more planning with Gamay Rangers in Botany Bay, as well as supporting the good efforts of Tumut/Brungle Land Council in the Snowy Mountains to name just a few.

There’s too much to cover here, but for a small team, be assured we are keeping busy supporting Indigenous land and sea management Australia-wide.  Thanks for your support and interest, it’s definitely appreciated by our team, after all we are all stronger when we work together. 

-Paddy O'Leary, CEO, Country Needs People.