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ABC News
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Alice Springs residents celebrate friendship at 2025 Bangtail Muster
Alice Springs residents have celebrated the warmth, openness and diversity of their community at the annual Bangtail Muster event. About 1,500 spectators lined the Todd Mall today to cheer as 28 community groups danced, drove and marched in a colourful parade. The Alice Springs Rotary Club organised the event and said this year's theme was "the magic of friendship". These preschool kids had fun being part of the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) About 1,500 people watched the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis ) "I've only been here two years and one of the things I love about it is how quickly you make good friends and lasting friends," Rotary member Helen Perry said. "People have that sense that you're here, you may as well be open — what have you got to lose?" Helen Perry dressed up as Chuckles the Clown for the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) A band of marauding pirates made a swashbuckling appearance. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) "Today you'll see there'll be 50 nationalities up the mall at least, people from all over the world, which is what Alice is amazing for," she said. A crew of "popcorn princesses" graced the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) History of the muster The first Bangtail Muster was held in 1959 and was originally a cattle muster that involved stock workers cutting off the hairy ends of cattle's tails so they could be counted. Since then the event has evolved into a community-led fundraiser. Alice Springs Rotary Club president Neil Ross said enthusiasm for the event remained strong after more than 65 years. The crowd packed into the Todd Mall to support their community. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) Neil Ross has been attending the event since he was a youngster. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) "Anyone who's ever lived in Alice Springs for any length of time … will have participated in at least one Bangtail Muster," he said. "I was four years old when I had my first Bangtail Muster, I was at Ida Standley kindergarten. "I still remember that and I've been in plenty since, too. " It's just a celebration of our community and makes us feel good about who we are and what we represent. " People of all ages enjoy the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis ) Skateboarders carved it up during the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) Where will the money go? The roughly $1,700 donated at this year's Bangtail Muster will go towards palliative care services in Central Australia. Palliative care nurse Cathy Reid said the service was "a beautiful space for families to come and spend quality time when time is short". "I get goosebumps every time I talk about it," she said. " It gives families the chance to give time with their loved one without the burden of having to be their carer at the same time. " Palliative care nurse Cathy Reid says friendship is "everything" in an isolated town such as Alice Springs. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) A hoard of Vikings joined the parade. ( ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin ) Ms Reid said friendship was "everything". "Alice Springs is such a remote area and many of us are here without extended family, so your friends become your family," she said. "I've been in town 29 years now and I have some amazing friends who I've met here and we are family to each other. " You wouldn't survive in Alice Springs without good friends. "
ABC News
05-05-2025
- Science
- ABC News
How Glen's Oliver palm discovery in central Australia is now a hit in California
Glen Oliver could not look more at home as he walked through neat rows of date palms towering like giant spiky umbrellas under the clear blue central Australian sky. "One, two, three, four," he said, as he pointed out a few of the palms he grew from tissue culture in the plantation at the Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI) in Alice Springs. Mr Oliver, a skilled horticulturalist, has nurtured a huge number of plants and species in the nearly 20 years he has worked at the research farm. The Mitakoodi man from Western Queensland has tended rockmelons, planted garlic, watered jujubes, and trialled almonds — but the highlight of his career was discovering a new variety of date palm. Mr Oliver with the Oliver palm. ( ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis ) "It didn't look like any of our male palm trees," he said. "I hit the flower and all this pollen came off. That's when I realised we needed this for our pollen research we were doing at the time. " We took the offshoot off and sent it away for DNA testing and it came back unknown, so I put my name on it. " Mr Oliver believes the palm was planted years ago by someone who did not realise it was a new, unclassified and undocumented variety of date palm. A global phenomenon Mr Oliver said it was the only male palm tree that flowered three times in one season. Mr Oliver hopes to inspire other Indigenous people to work in agriculture. ( ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis ) Since its discovery in 2015, the Oliver palm has been grown in many countries around the world, from Indonesia to the United States. Mr Oliver said the Oliver palm was so popular in California the US state was aiming to grow "15 to 17 million Oliver palms". He said discovering the new variety was "amazing" and he was proud to give the palm his name. "It's great. My name is all around the world," he said. "It means that if you put your heart and mind to it you can do anything you want. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do in life, you can achieve a lot." Mr Oliver has worked at AZRI for nearly 20 years. ( ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis ) Aboriginal achievements in agriculture Yuin man Rueben Bolt, the deputy vice-chancellor at Charles Darwin University — where Mr Oliver completed his Certificate III in Horticulture back when the institute was called Centralian College — echoed the sentiment. "Anyone can do this. There's opportunity for anyone to do this," he said. Mr Oliver is a role model for young people. ( ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis ) Professor Bolt said more stories like Mr Oliver's needed to be celebrated. "What you usually hear in a lot of the media is not necessarily the positive stories about Aboriginal people," he said. Photo shows A man stands with children dressed in blue shirts and hats around a blue tub filled with dirt covered garlic bulbs. An Indigenous community harvesting Australia's earliest commercial garlic crop is hoping to pass on farming skills to improve the lives of future generations. "In Glen's case, this is about the date palm and how it was named after him. That's something to be celebrated. "That then automatically elevates Glen up into this role model which says to the younger generations 'this is something that can be done'." Mr Oliver said he hoped other Indigenous people in central Australia would follow his lead. He said Centrefarm, near Ali Curung, was another example of Aboriginal people doing great things in agriculture. "I'm so proud of them, what they're doing up there with their garlic," he said. ABC Rural RoundUp newsletter Stories from farms and country towns across Australia, delivered each Friday. Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
ABC News
02-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Arrernte street signs keeping language strong for traditional owners of Alice Springs
Before dawn on a cool April morning, Alice Springs residents woke to find dozens of new street signs glinting in the sunrise. Painted in brown and white, the signs weren't there the day before. Each one bore a name in Arrernte, the traditional language of the area, and was installed just below the original street name. Eastern Arrernte woman Camille Dobson, one of the project's organisers, said seeing her language on street corners filled her with pride. "It's not just for our Arrernte people. We want to include everybody, and we want to give people the opportunity to learn more about how wonderful our culture is," she said. Camille Dobson works with the Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics. ( ABC Alice Springs: Chris Murrkarany Fitzpatrick ) The original signs remain untouched — the new ones sit alongside as cultural guides. Each includes a QR code linking to audio of the correct pronunciation and background on the name's meaning. "Everyone can hear how to say it properly, know what it means, and see that we do write in our language — it keeps the language strong," Ms Dobson said. These Arrernte street signs were all installed in just one day. ( Supplied: Caddie Brain/Indigimoji ) Many Alice Springs streets already carried Arrernte names, often from local plants, animals or landmarks, but the spellings were inconsistent or incorrect. In the 1970s, when many of the town's streets were first named, officials often guessed the spellings phonetically using English letters, which resulted in signs Arrernte speakers could barely recognise. Arrernte linguist Joel Liddle has long been frustrated by the errors. "They're just kind of nonsensical utterances," he said. Joel Liddle is an Eastern Arrernte man. ( ABC Alice Springs: Chris Murrkarany Fitzpatrick ) "Tmara Mara Street [is] Apmere Mwerre Street … Erumba Street [is] Yerrampe Street … Gnoilya Street is Akngwelye Street." He said representing the correct language was important for Aboriginal peoples, as it "instils pride in Indigenous people and it builds cultural strength". Durida circuit is a misspelling of nturrerte, the Arrernte word for spinifex pigeon. ( Supplied: Caddie Brain ) Safeguard for the future Elder and linguist Veronica Perrule Dobson, who wrote the Arrernte dictionary, said the project was about pride and visibility. "The land still belongs to our people," she said. "We don't seem to have any rights to have things written in languages our people can understand. "We prefer to have the proper names written up, so people can learn it and know where these streets are." Eastern Arrernte elder Veronica Perrule Dobson wrote the Arrernte dictionary. ( ABC Alice Springs: Chris Murrkarany Fitzpatrick ) The signs were installed without Alice Springs Town Council's approval, and while the council as a whole has not taken a formal position on the signs, none have been removed. Mayor Matt Patterson said he had no problem with the signs. "I've said we should do this for a long time," Mr Patterson said. "I think this is a small step in what could be a big picture of celebrating our history — and it's educational to everyone." Alice Springs mayor Matt Patterson says he has no problems with the signs. ( Supplied: Matt Paterson ) Mr Liddle hopes the project continues to grow. "We wanted to bring the names on the signs to life," he said. " Languages of Central Australia are really important, and writing them using the proper orthography is a great way to safeguard them for future generations. "
