P e o p l e w o r k ing w ith tec hn ol ogy in remot e c ommun iti e s

Number 35

BUSHLIGHT INSTALLATION AT IPOLERA

THE BIG WOMBAT l WHO HAS THE KEYS TO THE SHED?

NEW MAPOON FAMILY PLACE PROJECT l A HAT FULL OF SEEDS

BUSH TECH: how to make a solar cooker

Number 35 ISSN: 1325–7684

Our Place Magazine

is printed on a 55%
recycled paper and
Bush Techs are printed
on a certified green
paper. Printed by
Colmans Printing using a
chemical free plate
process and vegetable
based inks.

The
3 bushlife

Big
the big wombat
The Scotdesco community on the west coast of South Australia have
built a big wombat to encourage people travelling across the Nullarbor to
come and experience their arts, crafts and great coffee.

5 NEWS Our Place is published three times a

Wombat
year by the Centre for Appropriate
Technology, an Indigenous science and
6 livelihoods technology organisation, which seeks to
Bushlight installation at Ipolera secure sustainable livelihoods through
Bushlight are working with the community at Ipolera by providing them appropriate technology.
with access to reliable energy with the installation of a new Bushlight
renewable energy system and provision of a range of Bushlight support Subscriptions:
services, so the community's business and homeland aspirations can Free to people living or working in
flourish. Story by BEN WALL/MARTEENA MCKENZIE Indigenous communities.
Tel: (08) 8951 4311
If you are driving across the Nullarbor, or along the
10 opinion
Email: ourplace@icat.org.au West Coast of South Australia, look for a community
WHO HAS THE KEYS TO THE SHED? Opinions expressed in Our Place called Scotdesco where you can stop and have a break from
In the Northern Territory, the new local government structure
celebrated its first year of operation on 1 July 2009. This article
are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of the CAT driving with a great cup of espresso coffee
reviews some of the changes. Story by RUTH ELVIN Board or staff.
and a view of the Big Wombat.

S
Bush tech lift-out WARNING: This magazine contains
• How to make a solar cooker by Deliah Naughton
images of Indigenous and non-Indigenous
cotdesco is situated on a property called Tjilkaba, about
people. Caution should be exercised while
reading this magazine, as some of these 100 kilometres west of Ceduna on the Great Australian
12 projects images may be of deceased persons. Bight (SA). The name and incorporation of Scotdesco
the new mapoon family place project
The community of New Mapoon have been involved in designing Our Place Number 35, August 2009 means descendents of Jimmy and Myrtle Scott. About
their own unique community park. Story by ANDRE GRANT © Centre for Appropriate Technology Inc. 55 people live at Scotdesco today.
32 Priest Street, Alice Springs NT 0870 The first person recorded on the West Coast with
15 international Print Post: 545270/00016
the Scott name was George Scott. He was a station worker and
A hat full of seeds Production/design: Colleen Danzic kangaroo shooter. The Scott family lived at Eucla and Mundrabilla
In Malawi, Australian Volunteers International work on a project based
around women and livelihoods. Story by MAUREEN BOYLE
Editing: Metta Young, Peter Taylor before moving east to White Well, Fowlers Bay and Koonibba in
the late 1920s.
The production of Our Place is
18 movie review funded by the Department of Families, The Scott family settled at White Well near the Head of the
Sampson and delilah Housing, Community Services and Bight in the 1930s. The second generation headed by Jimmy
Review by ELLIE RENNIE, courtesy of crikey.com.au
Indigenous Affairs. Scott worked there and moved around different bores and
camping areas whilst they worked. In 1994, the Scott family
prepared a community plan to try and get funds to buy Tjilkaba.
Bobby Larking and Trevor Scott.
continues page 4 >

OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

3

Cherie Scott and Bobby Larking at Scotdesco Espresso.
“The community have been thinking about
different and creative ways to get jobs for the
community and to diversify into business areas”
A community plan was put into
operation and the ‘fruits’ of this are
evident today.
Tjilkaba means Black Prickle
Bush. The property is 25,000 acres
with 7,000 acres arable. It is marginal
cropping country and today sheep
are the main commodity although the
community is considering cropping
again. Wheat isn’t a reliable crop in
this area depending a lot on rainfall
and the market to get a good return.
The countryside and surrounds
consist mainly of grasslands and
Mallee scrub — ideal for hunting
kangaroo (marlu), wombat (wardu)
and sleepy lizard (gulda).
Essential services and maintenance
is ongoing at Scotdesco including
4 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35
sheds, fences, repairs and upgrading
to old and new buildings and the
community area.
Various activities are available
including silk painting, jewellery making
and beautiful Aboriginal art. Some
products are available for sale in this
setting and other works of art are sold
at the Ceduna Arts and Culture Centre.
The community have been thinking
about different and creative ways to
get jobs for the community and to
diversify into business areas. They
have a comprehensive business plan
which incorporates their pastoral
activities and new ideas about how to
make a living.
The highway from Ceduna to
Perth and Kalgoorlie runs right across
the front of the Tjilkaba property.
The community thought ‘if we can
get those cars that are passing to
stop (about 500 a day), that would
supplement our farm income.’
The community decided to build a
Big Wombat as an attraction because
Tjilkaba is wombat country and was
part of the Wirangu people’s staple
diet. Scotdesco Espresso Café was set
up — serving the best coffee on the
West Coast and excellent light meals
as well as catering for workshops.
They are a regular feature at festivals
and events in Ceduna. The community
bought a coffee machine and a
number of people undertook barista
training at Ceduna TAFE.
Many of the women at Scotdesco
undertake leadership roles in the
community, supported through the
Ceduna TAFE campus at Scotdesco.
The women are leading projects that
build life skills in their community.
There is a community lunch program
which incorporates vegetables from
the thriving community garden.
Scotdesco is also about to embark on
a horticultural activity. Family based
activities are a also strong feature at
Scotdesco.
The community’s water supply is
quite unique. There is a new rainwater
harvesting area with water pumped
into an adjacent dam to service each
household.
The Wirangu language is captured
in a couple of excellent books —
available for sale at Scotdesco. There
are still two fluent speakers of wirangu
language — Doreen and Gladys Miller
who have been working with UniSA to
keep this ancient language alive.
Scotdesco Community conducts
camps and cultural tours for local
school students. These have been
very successful and more are planned.
Whilst this has involved local schools,
the community will be seeking to
develop partnership so that students
in Adelaide can attend.
Look out for Scotdesco — you will
see the signs on the highway. n
Desert Peoples
Centre leases
Audrey Kitson (Centre), accompanied by her finalised
son receives her Diploma of Interpreting
B
from Chancellor Professor Yvonne Cadet- atchelor Institute for Indigenous Tertiary
James at the 2009 Graduation ceremony at
Batchelor campus on June 4. Education (BIITE) and the Centre
for Appropriate Technology (CAT) have
Indigenous students celebrate partnered together to create the Desert
Peoples Centre (DPC).
achievement and success The DPC will be located at the Desert
Knowledge Precinct on the Stuart Highway
and both organisations will be moving onto
O ver 140 students from Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary
Education graduated at the 2009 Graduation ceremony at the main
campus in Batchelor, 100km south of Darwin on Thursday June 4.
the premises in September 2009.
On the 22 June 2009 the sublease and
underlease were signed by DPC and Desert
The students received their qualifications in a wide range of study Knowledge Australia (DKA). The Underlease
programs from VET certificates in Spoken and Written English, provides a 75 plus 75 year lease for the DPC
Carpentry and Media Studies to degrees in Teaching, Nursing and Land within the Desert Knowledge Precinct.
Management. The DPC partners (BIITE and CAT)
Batchelor Institute Acting Vice-Chancellor, Dr Tony Mordini said ‘We have spent the last 10 years planning and
are particularly thrilled that the 2009 ceremony includes the first three building for this day which provides a
graduate from our new Nursing degree that commenced in 2006’. unique opportunity to invest in the future of
‘The Institute continues to work with both the Federal and NT Indigenous education and training as desert
Education and Training departments to develop and deliver additional peoples confront significant change.
study programs that will assist Indigenous Australians to be qualified to The leases were signed by Harold Furber
take on more key leadership roles in their communities, especially in the and James Bray for the DPC and John
important areas of the delivery of health and education services. Huigen for DKA.
‘Batchelor Institute has a proud history going back over 30 years of
delivering training and education programs especially tailored under our CAT contact details at the DPC.
both-ways philosophy to successfully bring together western academic To contact CAT staff after 21 September
principles with traditional knowledge systems,’ Dr Mordini said. 2009 phone: 08 8959 6100.
The One Mob dancers from Darwin Correctional Services led the
Academic parade at the beginning of the ceremony and all graduates,
their families and friends and VIP guests shared in an afternoon tea
Bushlight wins another
under the trees at the Graduation area after the ceremony. industry award
A
For more information t the recent Alternative Technology
on the education Retailers Association of Australia (ATRAA)
and training courses
available at the
conference Bushlight and Ogden Electrical
Institute freecall won the >5kW Stand-alone Renewable Energy
1800 677 095 and System excellence award. The accolade was
talk to an Academic awarded by an independent panel of judges
Advisor. for Bushlight's Ulpanyali community energy
The One Mob Correctional Services dancers project. The award confirms Bushlight's
lead the Academic parade at the start of the continued leadership in the design and
ceremony.
installation of off-grid RE systems.
5
 Bushlight
installation
at Ipolera

A
ccess to reliable energy services is an important part of life for people living in both urban and remote
areas. In towns and cities, reliable electricity is often taken for granted. Residents of many remote
communities rely on diesel generators for power which can be expensive to operate and maintain, and Mavis Malbunka
pollute the environment with greenhouse gases.
In May 2009, a new Bushlight renewable energy system was commissioned at Ipolera outstation, 3
hours west of Alice Springs. The completion of the Bushlight system was an exciting development in
the community, and was the result of many months of meetings and planning. This article tells the Bushlight story
and their work with the residents of Ipolera community.
MAVIS MALBUNKA TALKS ABOUT
Reliable energy services are central to community’s wellbeing and livelihood and it can enhance people’s health IPOLERA, TOURISM BUSINESS AND
through refrigeration of food and medicine. It allows people to use washing machines and use medical equipment like THE BUSHLIGHT SYSTEM
nebulisers. Social networks and education can be supported through access to internet, radio and television. Lighting

at night improves people’s safety and choice of evening activities, including educational and social options. Energy
services are needed to conduct business and build local industries to support employment and community growth.
Energy is everywhere and behind everything we do.
Without reliable and affordable energy services in remote Indigenous communities, it is difficult for them to be
Bushlight is a project of the Centre for Appropriate
Technology that has been working with outstation
communities since 2002. Bushlight has now installed
124 Bushlight renewable energy systems and maintain
another 94 non-Bushlight solar systems on outstation communities
throughout Central and Northern Australia.
Bushlight works to improve community’s energy options through
community consultations, education, mapping, design, installation and
maintenance of reliable renewable energy systems. Bushlight works
within a sustainable livelihood framework to build renewable energy
systems that are:
• demand-led by the community rather than technology driven;
• robust enough for local weather conditions;
• flexible and scalable to meet changing needs of the community;
• promote community and stakeholder participation in design,
construction and maintenance of the system;
• sustainable in the installation, maintenance and financing
of the system.
“W
e first moved back to Ipolera 29 years
ago. We started off running the stock
business. Until 1982 Ipolera was
owned by the missionaries. They left cattle here,
and it was never made clear by the missionaries
flourish. The provision of reliable and affordable
who should be the owners of the cattle. Aboriginal
energy allows people to maintain and strengthen people were learning how to run the cattle business.
the connections to homelands, families, culture Herman, my husband, was the fourth traditional
and to build on these assets to create a sustainable owner that moved back here from Hermannsburg.
livelihood for themselves and their community. He was the first one who was told he could run the
Bushlight first visited the Ipolera community in cattle that was still owned by the missionaries at
March 2006, when they conducted an audit of that time. We had cattle and horses that were left
here when the land was given back to Aboriginal
the available energy services. Ipolera is a vibrant
people. We also had a bore with water, a stock yard
community of around 30 people, who are pursuing that was built by the missionaries, and young people
a diverse range of activities including; operating a were trained to build those stock yards. Herman
tourism business, participating in art and cultural already had experience doing the stock work and
Top to bottom: Pictured from left — Jill Robinson (Bushlight), Herman
Malbunka (Traditional Owner), Mavis Malbunka, Terrance Malthouse, Maxine running cattle on a cattle station previously.
Malbunka and Marteena McKenzie (Bushlight). We also had experience from when we helped
Continues page 8 >
some of the children at Ipolera — Delisha, Gavin and April; set up a vegie garden at one outstation and helped
Sally Ward (Bushlight) and Mavis Malbunka in an early Community Energy some people who had been on sorry business who
Plan meeting. were having trouble moving back to their outstation.
Herman helped them to put in a water pipe. We
BELOW: The new Bushlight renewable energy system installed at Ipolera.
also built a vegie garden there, and we learned
and practised on other outstations how to run our
businesses. The tourism came later.
We also did a bit of work fixing up bores around
our area where stock were still around, and fixing up
the stock yard in case we could catch some of the
stock. There was a bit of struggle with other families
who also wanted to run a cattle business. We went
quiet for a while and didn’t do any businesses.
The idea for a tourism business came from the
idea we got of making friends with white people, and
so we can practise English and bring English and our
language, Arrernte, together. We want to practise to
speak in both languages.
In 1986 Herman thought maybe we can try doing
Continues page 8 >

6 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

7
a tourism business. So first we got the family together and talked
about it. And all the family agreed that we should do this, as no one
else wanted to do it. So we felt safe and strong about how we can
run our tourism business.
We talked to some tourism people through Ngurratjuta and
the message went out that there was an Aboriginal tourism
organisation out here. CAATIA (Central Australia Aboriginal Tourism
Association) became involved to help do the promoting and do the
bookings for us. Ngurratjuta was also doing a bit of work for us with
the financial side.
We first taught our young people how to clear the area where
we have a camp ground. So this would be our tourism area where
the tourists can camp here in this area. And what else can we do?
We can speak English and we can translate our language to English.
No one else could do this. Then we thought that maybe camping
is not enough for tourists to enjoy, so then we thought we would
talk to them about our law, culture and our sacred area. We also
brought them into our community and told them about our plans
to train our young people in our community about their culture and
looking after their community.
The first tourists came in 1987 to 1995, then we stopped for
sometime. We were one of the first Aboriginal tour operators in our
area. We still had cattle but they were getting fewer, as the other
family were wanting the cattle for meat. We want to get cattle
again. We are now trying to get rid of some of the horses, and just
keep a few as stock horses to work with the cattle.
My people didn’t know how to save money. They weren’t told
about the future, about how when you run a business, where that
money should go. But we keep our money for our safe keeping, for
later on. We can keep that money for our business, for infrastructure
and for tourism. We taught ourselves how to save that money.
We started our Tourism again last year. People from the
tourism commission came and asked ‘how would you like to
start your tourism business again?’. We said we need more
communication and help from you if you really want to see Aboriginal
people running tourism businesses on their homeland.
I want to be a role model to other Aboriginal people to be tour
operators. We have tour operator companies that want to bring their
groups here and they hand over to us and we do the talking. They do
the cooking and invite us to come and have a feed with the tourists.
That’s the good communication that Aboriginal people will learn, to
learn to work with white people. It’s good reconciliation. When people
talk about reconciliation, how really are we going to get together to
be reconciled? What we are doing now is a good system for that.
I think the Bushlight system will help our tourism business.
Before we had a generator and solar power, but they didn’t work
very well. We didn’t have power for the tourists in the toilet or
shower. They had to use their torches. So the Bushlight supply
will give the tourists light in the toilet and shower. We can get a
computer, to record everything we have in our community, we can
get the Internet so we can contact service people easily, and it can
help us promote our tourism business around the world.
When I first met the Bushlight group I did the training for the
community. We got an award for our tourism business in the late
80’s, early 90s. I got an award for being a mentor for training up
my young people here in the community for tourism and for the
community.
Not only am I going to be doing work for myself but I am going
to be out there talking to my young people and explain that you
need to learn to be strong to continue. This is your future, that this
community is yours, not just mine. The old people must be strong
to pass on all we have learned. What we are passing on is our
culture. Herman and I still keep working and talking to our young
people ‘please come and learn’. [Our] Bushlight [system] will
help them to realise that we will have good power systems in our
community’. n
8 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35
Community member Terrance Malthouse practises operating the bushlight
system with Marteena McKenzie.
Continued from page 6 >
activities, being actively involved in conservation of
local fauna and flora. The residents knew of CAT’s
work, having completed various training courses at
CAT in Alice Springs, and expressed a desire to work
with Bushlight to improve their energy services.
When Bushlight first met with Ipolera residents,
they had an existing hybrid power system with wind,
solar and diesel generator components. This was
installed in the 1990’s and was in poor condition and
not meeting the daily energy needs of the community.
The community was mainly relying on the diesel
generator to provide power. This was a difficult
situation for residents, as they could not afford to run
the generator more than four hours a day and the
nearest supply of fuel was a 120km round trip away.
This resulted in several issues for the community:
power was not available to the tourist camping
facilities, which limited their use and potential;
perishable food could not be adequately stored which
led to high wastage costs and lower nutritional values;
and the community office could not function properly,
because faxes and computers were needed to run the
small business and maintain adequate communications.
In short, the lack of reliable, 24 hour energy was
diminishing Ipolera’s potential and future aspirations.
In early 2008, Bushlight began working with Ipolera
community using its Community Energy Planning
Model (CEPM). This model describes the way that
Bushlight works with communities to ensure residents
are well equipped to articulate their energy needs and
to make choices about their energy options. The CEP
process consists of a series of community meetings
between Bushlight staff and residents to determine the
energy needs of the community.
CEP meetings are typically a very vibrant affair, with the majority
of the residents present, discussing topics central to the successful
functioning of their community. The meetings involve an active two-
way exchange of information regarding energy supply options and
their benefits and limitations. Residents inform Bushlight of their
current energy usage, appliance types, patterns of movement, future
plans, and anything else connected to energy. Bushlight then brings all
this information together into a document that informs the eventual
design of the RE system. The CEP process can contribute to the
community’s own planning sessions as residents must think about,
discuss and map numerous variables affecting their community.
During the CEP meetings, Bushlight works with residents to
determine which buildings should be prioritised to be connected to
the new system. All five permanently occupied houses were allocated
individual ‘energy budgets’ relative to the resident’s needs and
aspirations. These energy budgets allow for use of ‘solar friendly’
appliances, such as fridges, freezers, lights and televisions. Reliable
power was also provided for the nebuliser machine, which is essential
for community residents who suffer from severe asthma. For larger
energy hungry appliances, like air conditioners, welders and power
tools, the residents are required to use the back-up generator power.
As well as the households in the community, residents told
Bushlight that access to energy services for the tourist facilities
was very important. As such, several additional buildings were
included in the system design, including the bough shelter, ablution
block, shower/laundries buildings and the community office. Two
new streetlights and numerous external energy efficient floodlights
attached to the houses were also installed. The art shed and
CDEP training workshop were also connected to the new system.
Energy saving measures were incorporated into each building in
the community, including energy efficient globes, timers and some
appliance replacements.
On the 5th June 2009, Ipolera’s new Bushlight system was
commissioned. It comprises of 55 solar panels, 60 gel batteries and
a back-up diesel generator. Training residents in system operation,
troubleshooting and maintenance began at this time, and will
continue every three months for the first year in the operation and
maintenance of their new system.
Ipolera now has reliable, 24 hour electricity available to all its
residents for their activities today and in the future. The system is
fully supported by a regular maintenance regime and is designed
to be flexible to the communities needs with capacity for further
expansion. Ipolera residents already have plans to expand their tourist Top to bottom: April Spencer;
enterprise to cater for the ‘self-drive’ market. With a reliable energy Community members and Bushlight staff get together
supply now established in the community, residents can look forward for lunch under the bough shelter that is used by
tourists when visiting Ipolera;
to a community that supports more permanent residents and their the new amenities for tourists;
livelihood activities in the future. n Marteena McKenzie explains aspects of the
Bushlight System using the manual designed for the
community’s reference.
Ben wall, marteena mckenzie
BELOW: Ipolera Community.
Bushlight, Alice Springs
9
Who has the

NT SHIRE COUNCILS AND MUNICIPALITIES

local level. Rather than a community election
for council representatives who are immediately
available, the elections for Shire Councils

keys to the shed

are more complicated and more removed. A
complicated voting system has been introduced,
a system that appears only to be used in the NT,
which involves ‘exhaustive preferential voting in
multimember constituencies’ and is difficult for
A year of local government reform in the Northern Territory anybody to understand, much less explain. Local
government staff had the hard task of trying to
‘Local government reform’ is a phrase that can cause communities to shiver even in the middle convey the new system, and did what they could.
of summer, as it heralds change, both positive and negative. It can mean change at the most The results, however, were also hard to explain,
as it appeared that the most popular people were
immediate levels of government as it affects us in our daily lives — Who represents us on
often not elected. A study is being done of how
council, who collects the rubbish, who collects rates, who fixes the roads, who has the keys this particular electoral system can distort the
to the machine shed? In recent years, local government changes have affected Queensland, vote so that the larger communities may get more
Western Australia and the Northern Territory. They are having a profound effect on how remote representatives (see www.anu.edu.au/caepr/
Indigenous communities are operating when it comes to housing, services and representation. system/files/Seminars/presentations/Sanders_
Electoral.pdf).
In the Northern Territory, the new local government structure celebrated its first year of
In the meantime, Shires and residents have
operation on 1 July 2009. This article reviews some of the changes that have occurred. learned that their elected representatives on the
Shire Council represent the ward in which they

T
he reform of local
government in the Northern
Territory was announced
in October 2006 by
then Minister for Local
Government and Housing,
The Hon. Elliot McAdam. Reasons
for reform included the burden of
increasing administrative expectations
on poorly resourced councils and the
problems that were already emerging
as councils struggled to cope, as well
as the enormous turnover in council
staff, particularly chief executive
officers, which was expensive and
disruptive.
By 1 July 2008, all Aboriginal
Community Councils in the NT were
abolished and replaced by ‘super Shires’
to be governed initially by Shire Managers
on advice from Shire Council Committees
representing the affected communities
and after October 2008 by elected
Shire Councils. The shape of the new
local government system is as follows:
eight large Shires —McDonnell, Central
Desert, Barkly, Victoria River-Daly, Roper
Gulf, Tiwi Islands, East Arnhem, West
Arnhem; three small Shires replacing
community government councils for
Wagait, Coomalie, and Belyuen in the
Top End; and five municipal shires
of Alice Springs, Darwin, Palmerston,
Litchfield and Katherine.
The reform process was overlapped
and at times overtaken in the NT by
the Northern Territory Emergency
Response (NTER or ‘Intervention’),
which began on 21 June 2007.
Shire Transition Committees, which
represented the communities being
affected, were asking as many questions
of the Australian Government as they
were of the NT Government, and
the responsibilities of reform were
being confused in the process. The
Intervention affected the Shires’
initial plans for a workforce based
on CDEP by beginning to abolish it.
Responsibility for housing repairs and
maintenance became muddled with
the presence of Intervention teams,
with some community-based Housing
Managers at the time not knowing who
was responsible for what or who should
be fixing what and, as a result, little
happened at all. The roll-out of income
management was also a complex
process affecting community residents’
daily lives; amid the clanking and rustle
of new four wheel drives and Centrelink
paperwork, it was difficult for NT local
government officers to be heard.
The speed of the reforms combined
with the Intervention meant that
many residents of Northern Territory
communities were unsure of the new
arrangements. It appears to have taken
much of the first year of the Shires for
the shape of those arrangements to
become clear and better understood.
In brief, the new Shires are governed
by a Shire Council, which is composed
of representatives from ‘wards’, not
specific communities. The Councils can
have up to 12 members, including the
President. In all Shires except the Barkly
Shire, the Council president is elected by
the Council. In the Barkly, the President
is elected by all voters in the Shire, a
process agreed to by Shire residents.
The Shire Councils are advised by
Local Boards in each community. The
Boards are voluntary, unpaid positions.
They are expected to advise the Shire
Council on Shire matters, such as the
Shire’s service delivery and specific
Council projects. Housing allocation,
which in many cases had been done
by the previous Community Council,
is not done by Local Boards, but will
be administered by Territory Housing,
on advice from what are known as
Housing Reference Groups (HRG).
The composition of the HRGs is not
necessarily the same as the Local
Boards. Indeed, housing reform and
a shift in tenancy arrangements from
community to public housing terms has
been a parallel process to restructuring
local government, and another source of
confusion about responsibilities.
Most large communities have
become ‘Shire Service Centres’,
administered by a Shire Services
Manager who is accountable to the
central Shire office and Council,
and not to the Local Board. This is a
reflection of one of the underlying
principles of the local government
reform, which was to centralise
administration of services to
increase efficiencies and decrease
costs across a region.
In its first year, there have been
what have been politely called
‘teething problems’. The process
of transition has been an enormous
one, with changes in practices and
processes combining with lack of
staffing resources both in central
and community offices leading to
gaps in services.
The size of the task, particularly
in central Australia, where the
distances are formidable, has
meant that services, such as
repairs and maintenance, septic
pumpouts or garbage collection,
can be interrupted by events as
simple as an overworked person
in the central office forgetting to
pay a bill. The consequences of
overstretching limited resources
can have a direct impact on
community health and well-
being. The community walk out
by residents of Ampilatwatja in
July 2009, tired of raw sewage on
their floors, may have occurred
as a result of not knowing who
to turn to — local government,
Territory Housing or the Australian
Government — or frustration at
the delays experienced in getting
such property repairs attended to.
Centralisation has also
meant that it was unclear in
the transitional stages who held
responsibility for community
buildings and assets, so that
activities such as training were
interrupted as the logistics of who
had control of what buildings were
clarified, ie establishing who had
‘the keys to the shed’ .
Beyond the issue of assets
and financial responsibilities,
representation of people’s interests
have changed significantly at the
are elected, not just their communities. Thus,
although the Shire councils may appear powerful
due to the areas they cover, there is a potential
loss of family and community voice, as neither
are now specifically represented on decision-
making bodies. On the other hand, because the
Shire councils cover large areas, populations and
assets, and are predominantly Indigenous, they do
have significant potential to establish better and
more appropriate service delivery systems to their
communities.
The picture painted in this article of a year of
local government reform is largely coloured by
the confusion of multiple and parallel reforms and
associated communication difficulties. However,
it is also evident that the new Councils, their staff
and the communities are adapting and ‘making
the journey together’, as Barkly Shire President
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks has often said.
Whether or not the centralisation of assets
and representation is a better model of local
government is yet to be seen in the NT context —
it will take another election cycle, maybe two, and
some policy stability at all levels before everyone
understands and accepts who has the keys to the
shed and why. n
Ruth Elvin
Centre for Appropriate Technology
Alice Springs
REFERENCES:
McAdam E, The Hon. 2006. ‘Minister’s Speech’ as Minister for Lo-
cal Government, Local Government Association of the Northern Ter-
ritory (LGANT) Conference, 11 October 2006, Alice Springs, http://
www.localgovernment.nt.gov.au/new/minister/ministers_speech,
(accessed 1 May 2008).

10 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

11
 Mandingnou Apudthama Apang
New Mapoon Family
Place Project
New Mapoon community design their Landscape
Neville and Nandy working with the model.
S
ince February this year
the community of New
Mapoon (one of five
Indigenous communities
at the very tip of Cape
York Queensland) have
been involved in designing their own
very unique community park and
12
Marg Nandy Neville and Karen after a hard
couple of hours of design consultation.
‘all abilities playground’. Funded
principally by Disability Services
from the Queensland Department of
Communities, the project is part of the
Queensland All Abilities Playground
Project (QAAPP) — enabling
participation in play. In September
2007, the Department provided $4.6
Deep in discussion with Nai Beguta
Agama’s day care centre staff.
million to 16 local councils across
the state to develop all abilities play
spaces in collaboration with their local
communities. New Mapoon is the only
Indigenous community to be funded
under the program . Due to the Centre
for Appropriate Technology’s (CAT)
experience in participatory design and
development the CAT Cairns regional
office was invited to project manage
the design and construction of the
park.
Principal Program Officer, Lisa
Hand, who leads the Disability
Services Project Team, said the project
applies a unique design framework
which encourages user participation
in all stages of the design, in an effort
to remove barriers to play and to
create spaces that genuinely reflect
communities’ needs.
‘The New Mapoon Community
Park and All Abilities Play Space is
a project centred on developing a
“ More than a playground or a regular community park, the resulting
design includes an emphasis on depicting the unique local history and
culture in the landscape through the use of mosaic art work.
community place created by local
people, for local people,’ Lisa said.
Since February CAT has facilitated
a range of design trips to New Mapoon
to engage a group of around 40 local
people including a couple of classes
of school children and a steering
committee of local residents to make
the final call on decisions.
Steering committee member
Leonie Ishmail praised the project,
saying: ‘Being involved in this project
has given me and other members of
the community a great opportunity to
contribute to our children’s future’.
CAT staff Sonja Peter and Andre
Grant have used a variety of methods
to engage the community, draw out
ideas and build ownership in the
project. These participatory design
tools have been used primarily in
small focus group sessions and have
involved model building, flashcards
and design workbooks, interviews
and surveys. However critical to the
success of the project has been the
relationship and support of a highly
The playground site.
”
successful local NGO — Nai Beguta of enabling community members to
Agama —which runs the Childcare have a say in the design of their own
centre and a range of community recreational space was of fundamental
based family services. The result after importance.
six months of community participation ‘By engaging people sooner rather
is a working design the community later, we’re ensuring that their ideas
stands behind and recognises as their and visions form the very foundation
own. of the design,’ Ms Peter said.
The principal designer of the park, More than a playground or a
Sonja Peter from CAT’s head Office regular community park the resulting
in Alice Springs, said the process design includes an emphasis on
Continues page 14 >
OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35
13
 INTERNATIONAL

Feedback session with the ladies at the Leonie gets some input from a future play- Key decisions and issues are debated by
Council office. ground user — her daughter Kytana. the steering committee.

depicting the unique local history
and culture in the landscape through
the use of mosaic art work. The
arts components of the project have
become central to the design with
the use of traditional children’s
stories within the landscape as
a potentially powerful tool for
developmental learning. Furthermore
New Mapoon’s unique history,
including the community’s forced
relocation from the Western Cape,
has lead to a desire to depict and
represent the past with a view to
healing old wounds and bringing
the community closer together. The
emphasis on the innovative use of
project, Neville Reys, project founder
and steering committee member has
been insistent about the need for the
community to control and maximise
involvement in the construction.
‘This project can build on the
work we did ourselves years ago when
we landscaped an adjacent area of
parkland’ Neville said, ‘we did this
ourselves and it has been a source of
pride for our community ever since —
so it will be important that this flows
on to this project creating a deeper
sense of pride in our community
through the involvement of our people
in construction — especially younger
people’.
local shire has no spare funds for such
activities, adding additional pressure
to the outcomes of the project and
need to raise additional funds.
‘It’s a bit of a chicken and egg
scenario — it’s impossible to know
exactly what funding is required
until the design is completed — yet
you don’t want to constrain the
community and the design process by
not knowing what funding we have
available.’ Said Andre Grant project
manager at CAT’s Cairns office.
Under instruction from the
community and steering committee
a major funding application has been
prepared and submitted to local

A HAT FULL OF SEEDS

mosaic art in the landscape has not
gone unnoticed; the project has
successfully attracted an additional
$50,000 from a highly competitive
Arts Queensland grant program for
public art installations. This funding
will enable the involvement of a
renowned Queensland mosaic artist to
It is anticipated that the park
is likely to be built primarily using
local labour as a special initiative of
the local Community Development
Employment Projects Scheme
provider.
With any participatory design,
the challenge is in balancing what
mining trust to build the park to
the specifications of the community.
Several other funding avenues are also
being explored by the local council
and CAT. With widespread support In a traditional rural village of Malawi, Maureen Boyle worked
from a range of government and non
government agencies and significant
with Australian Volunteers International on a project
funding already secured, we look based around women and livelihoods.

work with the community to identify
the messages and images to be built
into the park.
The biggest challenge for this
project however still lays ahead
— construction. With the sense of
ownership in the design comes a
desire to own the construction as
well. From the beginning of this
the community wants with what is
possible with available funds. A key
challenge with this project has been
the lack of financial resources available
to the local council. Other councils in
Queensland involved in the state wide
program have a solid rates base from
which they can add funds to their
projects — but a remote Indigenous
L
forward to the opening of this exciting
and unique development in New ast year, I lived and worked in a traditional
Mapoon. n rural village of Malawi called Mua Mission for
a period of seven months through Australian
Andre Grant Volunteers International. Mua is located in the
Centre for Appropriate Technology central region of Malawi and the closest town
Cairns of Salima is located 60km away. The project
was based around livelihoods and focused on women. Much
work had been done with the men in the community over
time, with skills such as wood carving taught from the
Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art. Funding was granted to
the centre to do some work with the women as the money
being earned by men in the community from carvings, was
not necessarily going to the family.
Malawi is a small landlocked country in Southern Africa
that boasts one of the largest inland freshwater lakes in the
world, Lake Malawi (previously named Lake Nyasa). The
official languages are Chichewa and English, although there
are several other languages across the country. Agriculture
is the predominant contributor to the economy with 90% of
export revenues coming from this sector. Tobacco accounts
for more than half of this export.
One of Malawi’s most pressing environmental issues is
deforestation. The mostly rural population of approximately
14,300 people relies almost solely on biomass from forests
for their energy needs. The majority of the country is
not electrified, with the exception of the major towns of
Lilongwe, Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu. Even in the towns
of Malawi, traditional cooking is still practised using wood
or charcoal which is rapidly depleting the forest reserves.
The other significant environmental issue is water
pollution from agricultural waste, sewage and industrial
waste. Most toilets in Malawi are pit toilets; however
composting toilets are becoming more widespread and are
being accepted by communities throughout the country.
Water Aid in Malawi has been instrumental in gaining the
acceptance of composting toilets in communities. >

14 OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35

15
 November to March in Malawi is known as the ‘hunger
season’ or njala in Chichewa. This occurs because maize
is planted at the first rains in November for harvesting
in March and stores of maize from the previous season
are starting to run low. Malawians rely almost solely on
nsima (cooked maize flour with water) to fulfil their
dietary needs. There is a lack of diversity in food crops
which lead to this ‘hunger’ each year. Other foods that
are commonly eaten in Malawi are goat, chambo (a type
of fish from the lake), pumpkin leaves, and other greens
with tomato relish.
Everywhere you go in Malawi, in a good crop year,
maize can be seen growing in the fields. Maize occupies
around 78% of cultivated land in Malawi. There is literally
no food waste as being a subsistence way of life, food is
completely utilised. In the village of Mua, there is no store
as we know it, although there is a market, selling a limited
variety of fresh fruit and vegetables and some ‘shops’
selling the basics such as salt, sugar, cooking oil, soap and
mobile phone credit.
Clearly there is a need in Malawi to diversify crops
and the challenge was to know where to start, given the
different cultural context and language barriers. It was
necessary as a first step to discuss with the women what
their priorities were. The organisation I worked with had
a very strong art focus however I was not sure that this
was the best place to start for a livelihoods project.
There were reasons behind my reluctance to launch
into art projects. Firstly the market in Malawi was flooded
with artwork with limited buyers. There is desperation
for survival in Malawi that is apparent almost everywhere
you go. Unlike Australia, there is no welfare and on every
street corner in the towns there is someone trying to sell
something. All your shopping can be done sitting on the
minibus and I have a list as long as your arm about the
array of goods that walk past the windows on any given
day at the bus station in Lilongwe, toothbrushes and
mirrors included. Secondly, it was obvious that food was
quite a big priority in these women’s lives and the need
to diversify apparent. The women in the village were the
farmers; they were also the collectors of firewood and
water amongst other important work for survival.
16
The women I worked with were not used to someone
asking them what they wanted. One of the first things I
admitted to the women when I met with them was that
I did not have the answers; that they were the ones who
already knew what needed to be done in their community.
My role was to work with them to discover what this was
and to assist them anyway I could to work towards it.
But it is a long process and seven months is not enough
time to really understand a culture, learn a language and
do something of value. I asked my counterpart (a woman
from the village of Mua), who I worked closely with over
the seven months in Malawi, what would improve her life.
Her response was running water and electricity, two basics
that many Australians take for granted.
“
What are good livelihood options for
places like Malawi? A livelihood has various
definitions, but essentially it is the means
needed to support life. CAT defines a
sustainable livelihood ‘as the range of
activities that support improved well being
through work, enterprise and trading and
”
that can be maintained into the future.
What do we need for a good, healthy and happy life?
Clean water, food, basic needs, family, culture and a sense
of belonging. Fire was essential for cooking and having
light. Finding wood was an issue, so a livelihood option
that we looked at was that of briquettes. Briquettes
can be made very simply, by hand and without a press
from waste paper and some agricultural waste. There
were other places in Malawi that implemented briquette
making projects. These projects also targeted women
as the main beneficiaries; however as an income earner
it met with limited success where production levels
and profits were small. In addition raw materials were
not always easy to come by, hence a transport subsidy
was offered for the provision of raw materials, which
UNITED REPUBLIC OF
TANZANIA
ZAMBIA
MOZAMBIQUE
MALAWI
MOZAMBIQUE
ZIMBABWE
ultimately undermined the viability of the
briquettes as a business.
Another approach to the issue of limited firewood
and deforestation came to me one day as I took a walk to
a beautiful red mahogany forest near the village. I went
there with the intention of collecting seed capsules for art
projects, as art work was still a part of the project. As I
was walking to the forest, it was being chopped down with
chainsaws to be sold off by the forestry department for
export as apparently this particular forest was ready for
‘harvesting’. Red Mahogany trees or mbawa in Chichewa
have uses for firewood and timber, the large trees can
be used for dugout canoes and they offer much needed
shade. These were 100 year old majestic trees, so I was
not entirely enthused about this new development.
I came across five Malawian children while I was in
the forest and they could see that I was visibly upset.
They asked me in Chichewa if someone in my family
had died. No, I told them, I was upset about the forest
being chopped down and I needed to collect the seeds.
They nodded in what appeared to be some sort of
understanding at this strange azungu (white person)
crying in the forest. One boy then parted the leaves on
the ground and started picking up the seeds. Then we all
followed his lead, me and these five
Malawian children picking up the
seeds from the ground. We filled my
hat with seeds and I walked away from
that experience with enormous amounts
of hope and a hat full of seeds.
We then started a tree nursery at the
centre. I gave the women a scenario of
having to walk further and further for firewood
and asked them two questions; what was causing
the problem and what could they do to resolve the
problem? The women knew exactly what was causing
the problem, which was the uncontrolled use of wood for
cooking and charcoal. One of the main solutions that all
the women gave to help the situation was to plant various
species of trees for firewood, mbawa being one of these.
This is just one example of an approach to livelihood
options for Malawi, but there are many more, including
the use of Permaculture in villages and schools as a way
to diversify crops. The Permaculture Network of Malawi
is one organisation, consisting of a few very dedicated
people working towards the goal of achieving food security
for all Malawians. Ultimately the success of any livelihood
projects in Malawi will come down to the individual
community, the people in that community and how self
sufficient they can be in their own villages and towns.
Women will also continue to play a vital role, given their
responsibilities as farmers and primary caretakers of the
family. n
Maureen Boyle
The Centre for Appropriate Technology
Alice Springs
Reference: CIA World Factbook — Malawi, www.cia.gov/library/publications/
the-world-factbook/geos/mi.html, Accessed 28 May 2009.
OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35
17

T
he Alice Springs screening
of Warwick Thornton’s
Samson and Delilah took
place under the stars at the
Telegraph Station, curtained only
by the Todd River embankment. I
was amongst the 4000 people who
went to see the film that night (April
17), many of them travelling from
remote communities. We formed
a jumbling, cramped silhouette,
lying across each others’ swags
and blankets by necessity. A group
of little kids, tchi-tchi, sat up the
front, their necks craned backwards
and glued to the screen. From out
of this mass of people there were
two audible audiences, laughing
at different moments, yet all in it
together. It was an appropriate
setting for an extraordinary film — a
film that expresses so much about
the communication gap at the heart
of this country.
Reviews of Samson and Delilah
are appearing thick and fast. The
public debate has so far centred
on the negative portrayal of
race relations and life in remote
Indigenous communities. Thornton’s
film has achieved an important
feat — and that’s aside from its
18
Samson
and
Delilah,
under the stars
in Alice Springs
impressive aesthetic and narrative
elements. However, there is another,
more positive, aspect to this film
that deserves some attention:
communication and media in
Indigenous communities.
I had coincidentally met Warwick
Thornton prior to the Alice Springs
public screening during a lunch
at CAAMA, the Central Australian
Aboriginal Media Association.
Warwick used to be a DJ on CAAMA
radio, Australia’s first full-time
Aboriginal radio station, with a show
called Green Bush (he made a short
film with the same name in 2005).
Now an esteemed film director, he
stood there at lunch in his big hat,
laughing with the other DJs about
his experiences at the station. I
observed how the staff admired his
having made it onto the national
stage and Warwick’s obvious respect
for the organisation. He has skillfully
woven that media experience into
his debut feature film.
Interestingly, although the theme
of communication is at the heart of
the film, the two protagonists barely
speak. Samson (Rowan McNamara)
and Delilah (Marissa Gibson)
are teenagers living in a remote
Indigenous community. Their home
town is nothing more than a couple
of bare concrete houses, a health
clinic and a shop. Samson is dealing
with boredom through mischievous
behaviour and petrol sniffing. He
gets around on a wheelchair for fun,
symbolising his self-inflicted teenage
dysfunction, or possibly a joke
on the disadvantage of living in a
remote community. By the film’s end
the wheelchair has become a more
serious sign of rehabilitation where
their only chance is each other.
Delilah is different; she cares
for her Nana (Mitjili Napanangka
Gibson), helping the old woman
create artwork and taking her to
the health clinic. Samson is in love
with the responsible Delilah. He gets
out his black marker pen, sniffs it,
then writes ‘S 4 D onley ones’ (sic)
on the wall. She is drawn to him
and yet keeps him at a distance,
throwing his mattress over the
fence when he tries to move in. Her
grandmother approves of the union,
cheekily referring to Samson as ‘your
husband’ and laughing hysterically at
Delilah’s shyness.
The teenagers communicate
in Indigenous sign language and
through their actions. Samson throws
stones in Delilah’s direction to get her
attention. She throws stones at him
too, implying ‘Go away’, or ‘Not yet’. A
public phone is ringing at the start of
the film, but nobody bothers to answer
it. The voiceless communication of the
characters makes their relationship
more compelling.
When things take a turn for the
worse, the two are united in their
need to leave the community. The
film becomes seriously bleak in Alice
Springs where poverty, violence and
addiction take over. The teenagers’
silence stands in contrast to their
new friend, an urban Aboriginal
tramp. Gonzo (played by Scott
Thornton) talks and sings incessantly,
including the Tom Waits lyrics:
‘Lord, I’ve been so good, except for
drinking, but I knew that I would’.
He implores them to say something
if they are going to accept his
hospitality under the bridge, in the
dry Todd River bed. Samson finally
says his name out loud, a surprising
moment which makes you rethink his
character entirely.
This exquisite exploration of
interpersonal communication
sits alongside a parallel theme
involving remote Indigenous
media technologies.
I recognised the phone
at the start of the film
as one of the community
telephones constructed by
the Centre for Appropriate
Technology. The tough silver
case encloses a cheap,
easily replaceable receiver,
designed to overcome desert
conditions and solve billing and
maintenance issues.
The day before the Alice
film screening, Senator Conroy
announced 300 new public phones
for remote communities. In his
Ministerial press release, he stated
that the phones will ‘improve
connections to health, education,
safety, business and other services
as well as provide social and family
contact’. When life turns seriously
bad for Delilah in Alice Springs she
tries to call home but the phone rings
out again. The telephone is a symbol
of avoidance, an impossible cry for
help in a world that has become too
hard. Technological solutions alone
are not enough.
Intermittently throughout the
film we find Samson listening to an
Aboriginal radio station, hugging
the receiver close to his body. Many
non-Indigenous Australians will
not know that an extensive system
of Aboriginal radio and television
exists across the outback, Top End,
the Kimberley and Cape York. Eight
remote media associations (CAAMA
is one) produce radio and video
content, much of it in language.
The DJs and video-makers are often
trained in their own communities
and produce programs on basic
equipment, linked via satellite
networks. Towards the end of the
film, Samson receives a message
from home via a DJ dedication,
which causes him to squeal with
delight. Radio — an obvious passion
for Thornton — is depicted as an
essential and positive element of life
in remote Australia.
That night, under the stars,
Samson and Delilah was itself an
example of the importance of media
that reflects the lives and culture of
Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal
families had come from all over to
see themselves represented, maybe
with nowhere to stay afterwards
(due to the shortage of temporary
accommodation in Alice), just like
the two protagonists. The film’s
message is that country and family
matter most — but that music and
media are essential, particularly for
young people. As a non-Indigenous
viewer, one of the film’s great
achievements is that it shows
Australia through the eyes of remote
people.
And with not one useless or
insincere word.
Samson and Delilah won the
Audience Award at the 2009
Adelaide Film Festival [and the
Camera D'Or award for best first
feature film at the 62nd Cannes Film
Festival held in May.]
Written and Directed by Warwick
Thornton. [Warwick won the Blue
Angel Award for Best Director in
the Feature Competition at the 17th
Art Film Fest Trenčianske Teplice–
Trenčín.] n
Ellie Rennie
Research Fellow at the Institute for Social
Research, Swinburne University.
Article first published by Crikey. Reprinted
with permission. www.crikey.com.au
OUR PLACE MAGAZINE 35
19
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CONTACT
THE CENTRE FOR APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
TEL: (08) 8951 4311 FAX: (08) 8951 4333
INFO@ICAT.ORG.AU WWW.ICAT.ORG.AU
The CAT Fire Trailer was developed with the support of the
Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. Copyright and
intellectual property contained in this material is the property
of Centre for Appropriate Technology Inc (CAT), 32 Priest Street
Alice Springs Northern Territory 0870. It may not be reproduced
or used for any purpose without written consent of CAT.