Central Land Council

Cows find a home and some decent tucker on Aboriginal Land Trusts

30 May 2005

Aboriginal Land Trusts (ALTs) are proving to be a lifesaver for thousands of cattle across Central Australia.

The Central Land Council says that it is experiencing an unprecedented demand for grazing licences on the Land Trusts, and for musters and other types of support on Aboriginal land.

CLC Director David Ross said that several factors have led to the high level of activity this year.

"The drought is hitting Central Australia 's pastoralists pretty hard but fortunately many Aboriginal properties still have plenty of feed on them. We have negotiated a number of grazing licences for both other Aboriginal pastoralists and non-Aboriginal pastoralists on these land trusts.

The CLC is currently:

• Negotiating a grazing licence on Hooker Creek Aboriginal Land Trust to allow cattle from the nearby Riveren station to be moved there. The ILC are assisting with infrastructure funding with DBIRD providing technical advice and support
• Negotiating a grazing licence on Angarapa ALT for a nearby pastoral property
• Investigating the viability of Willowra as a property to agist cattle on
• Investigating options for pastoral development for the Haasts Bluff ALT and Mungkarta ALT through the Indigenous Pastoral Program (CLC/ILC/DBIRD)
• With funding from the ILC and the assistance of DBIRD's Indigenous Pastoral Officer , Mungalawurru community is developing a cattle enterprise near Tennant Creek with the purchase of 64 heifers from Aboriginal owned Tanami Downs and two bulls to form the basis of a breeding herd
• Preparing to assist Yuendumu in a muster of horses and scrub bulls
• Providing ongoing support for the movement of cattle from Aboriginal-owned Loves Creek station, east of Alice Springs , to the Kunturlpara Aboriginal Cattle Corporation in the Barkly under an agreement negotiated by the CLC between the two Aboriginal interests.

Mr Ross said that a partnership between the CLC and the NT Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development was proving to be of enormous assistance to Aboriginal pastoralists.

"We are finding that Aboriginal people are increasingly keen to run cattle and with this sort of help we are able to devote more resources into helping Aboriginal pastoralists manage their properties," Mr Ross said

The CLC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Northern Territory Government and the Indigenous Land Corporation in 2003 to develop the Aboriginal pastoral industry through the Indigenous Pastoral Program.

"The partnership with DBIRD gives us access to some skilled personnel with valuable experience in the NT pastoral industry. It has enabled us to kickstart a few more projects and build some good relationships with pastoralists all over the NT.

"The CLC's region is immense - it covers the entire southern portion of the NT - so we do have to prioritise the more viable properties. However, we are assisting as many of our constituents as we are able with fencing, bores, feral animal control and mustering.