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ABC News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Halt on all environmental water flows in NSW angers land managers
A former director at the Murray-Darling Basin Authority says Australia is failing its international obligations after the federal government halted environmental water flows in New South Wales. On Monday, the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, Simon Banks, announced a pause on all environmental water flows in the state, citing uncertainty about a recent shift in how various NSW water-sharing and policy frameworks interpreted held environmental water. In a statement, Mr Banks said the decision was separate to one made earlier this month by the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator to order work to stop at Toorale National Park for not recording environmental water releases. Owen Whyman, a Barkindji community leader in Wilcannia, said he attended a meeting in Orange last week with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. He said it brought together about 62 nations over a three-day event and there was no indication that this announcement was about to be made. "We would have thought the government would have advised them about what's going on. Surely we would expect to get that notice at the meeting," he said. "I'm pissed off. It's unacceptable. "They bring us altogether — all the different nations to try and better manage water — and that's vital information that they failed to give us." Rick Townsend, the treasurer of the Walgett-based Aboriginal group Dharriwaa Elders, said he was absolutely shocked by the news. "Water's life, you know? To have a healthy river, the river has to flow all the time," he said. "Once the rivers empty, that kills everything in that river, everything." Bill Johnson, a member of the Macquarie Environmental Water Advisory Group, said Australia had international obligations to follow through on planned water releases at the Ramsar-listed Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve. In 2007, the Australian government notified Ramsar about adverse changes at the site because of years of over-extraction of water. Mr Johnson said an upcoming environmental water release on September 1 was part of a long-term plan. Cattle grazier and irrigator Garry Hall echoed Mr Johnson's concerns, saying the situation for the Macquarie Marshes was "dire". "The Macquarie Marsh is in absolute free fall trying to recover from years and years of relocation in the Macquarie," he said. Mr Hall and his wife Leanne are also private Ramsar wetland managers, and are obliged to report any changes to the wetland's natural environment. "We take that responsibility very seriously. We graze on the site under the wise use principle," he said. "I've written to Simon Banks … expressing my concerns about the position we'll be put in as private Ramsar managers if this release doesn't go ahead." Mr Johnson alleges a long-running campaign by the irrigation industry to limit environmental water use may have contributed to Dr Banks's decision to stop environmental watering. Dr Banks previously made a submission to a 2023 review of the NSW non-urban metering framework issues and options papers, highlighting the emphasis on irrigation water delivery over environmental outcomes. "It is critical that these issues are carefully considered and resolved," he wrote at the time. Dr Banks pointed out that existing environmental metering practices were unclear under a new metering framework. Mr Johnson says Dr Banks's comments were never addressed, and then the framework was given effect with the passing of the Water Management (General) Amendment (Metering) Regulation 2018 bill, which came into effect on March 7 this year. He believes Dr Banks has ordered environmental flows to stop because it cannot use those methods. "The laws that were initially designed to protect the environment have been weaponised against the environment," he said. A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said it had discovered a technical issue in the way the NSW Water Management Act was drafted, which it is working to resolve.
ABC News
12-08-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Third Mutawintji Cultural Festival brings traditional owners from across the country
The Mutawintji Cultural Festival in far west New South Wales has come to an end for its third year with more than 600 people in attendance and 15 First Nations dance groups performing. The event takes place at the Mutawintji National Park, home to 300 recorded Aboriginal sites and located a two-hour drive from Broken Hill. The park was handed back to the traditional owners in the late 1990s, with the Barkindji, Malyangapa, and Wilyakalii peoples all holding ties to the land. The festival's first iteration was in 2022, and this year received $150,000 in funding from the federal government. For those attending the festival the event was about bringing together culture through dance, song and art and looking ahead to the next generation. Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) What are you looking at? (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Dozens of children performed throughout the festival. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Unique tradition, culture and language is weaved into each performance. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) A young girl imitates a kangaroo. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) The Aboriginal flag flew proudly throughout the festival. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Dancers step into the circle to perform. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Two boomerangs are better than one. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) A group of young men wait for their time to perform. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Some final touches of body paint. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) A young boy re-enacts a hunt. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Embracing culture is at the heart of the festival. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) Mutawintji Cultural Festival 2025 ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) A group from Queensland performs at the festival. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde) 'A special feeling' Malyangapa-Barkindji man Jordan Spencer has been coming out to Mutawintji National Park since he was about 12 years old. Before then, generations of his family walked on its red dust practising culture and meeting with others. "It didn't happen for a good 130 years until this festival started again," he said. "It's a very special feeling to have all these different mobs from all over the country come to share their culture with us and we can share ours with them." It was Barkindji/Ngiyampaa woman Shantelle Thompson and Mildura group Kiilalaana Foundation's third year at the festival. ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Dancers from as far as Cairns and southern South Australia travelled to attend and perform. Ngarrindjeri elder Major "Moogy" Sumner travelled with a group of 25 dancers from near Adelaide to attend. "It's an honour to come here and be a part of this. We're having conversations with different groups and being a part of the ceremony itself," he said. "This is what we have done for thousands of years, getting together and sharing our culture and our dances. Why not do it today?" Ngarrindjeri elder Moogy Sumner (centre) among a group of performers from NSW. ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) 'Join us when we dance' Malyangapa man Mark Sutton sits on the Mutawintji National Park Board and spent the weekend conducting tours of the park. He says it's hugely important that the next generation take part in the weekend. "It's all about cultural enrichment, and particularly trying to get our young people to engage in culture," Mr Sutton said. "We struggle to get them to engage. "They can come to a culturally safe event like this and engage in boomerang making or clapstick making and basket weaving." Young girls from SA were all smiles before their performance. ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Mr Sumner agrees, saying the exchange of culture was as much about engaging the younger generation as it was educating others. "They're from all different parts of society, they're different nations, and they want to dance," he said. "A lot of them are growing up learning about Western culture, even some of the dancers are non-Aboriginal, but they want to learn who we are. "The best way to learn is to come join us when we dance." Moogy Sumner says participants from all parts of society and different nations come to dance. ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Darren Greco, a Nukunu and Barngarla man, travelled with the Tal-Kin-Jeri dance mob from South Australia and was attending the event for the first time. "It makes me feel really good to see my children getting involved in culture and to actually perform because they're our future, the next generation of leaders," he said. He believes events like the Mutawintji Cultural Festival could be the key to rebuilding cultural ties. "We all need to look further into culture. Doesn't matter who you are. Whether you're white, black, yellow, green, or purple, it doesn't matter," Mr Greco said. "We all need to come together to be able to work together, to cleanse and rebuild." Darren Greco and his family danced together for the first time as part of the group. ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) 'A full wrecker' on the cards As campers pack up their tents and the travellers get ready to make their journeys back home, organisers are looking ahead to next year's event. There's an air of hope that more could be done in the space. "There's not a great deal of these Aboriginal cultural festivals down here," Mr Sutton said. "Of course there's the Barunga and the Garma festivals, there's plenty of those up in the north, but I think we're starved a little bit for cultural festivals." Organisers are planing for over 1,000 people next year. ( ABC News: Bill Ormonde ) Next year's Mutawintji Cultural Festival is set to be even bigger. "We're gonna have our hands full with a wrecker," Mr Spencer said. "There will be up over 1,000 people next year."
Miami Herald
30-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
‘Pint-sized' predator declared locally extinct in Australia. It's making comeback
Just before sundown in the Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary of Australia, smoke filled the sky. Representatives of the Barkindji people were conducting a smoking ceremony to prepare the sanctuary for the milestone return of a fearsome predator — 93 'pint-sized' phascogales. Red-tailed phascogales, known locally as bulku in the Barkindji language, are tiny carnivorous marsupials that have been considered locally extinct in New South Wales since 2016, according to a May 29 news release from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Driven to extinction in the region by the introduction of invasive species like cats and foxes, the phascogales have been kept alive through captive breeding programs, according to the conservancy. The last phascogale seen in the Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary was recorded in 1866, the organization said, but that just changed. A total of 56 females and 37 males have now been reintroduced into the wild from a breeding program at the Adelaide Zoo, following health checks, the conservancy said. The bulku were packed into cars and driven seven hours from the zoo to the sanctuary, where they were met by local representatives, according to the release. 'According to AWC ecologists and Adelaide zookeepers, most of the phascogales slept soundly throughout the journey,' the conservancy said. Once the animals arrived, they 'were awoken shortly after sundown, and one-by-one they were released into AWC's Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary's (19,768-acre) feral predator-free fenced area — one of the largest feral-free areas on mainland Australia.' About a third of the animals, 26, were collared with tracking transmitters before their release, allowing wildlife officials to track their movements and how well they survive in the first six to eight weeks in the wild. 'Arriving in May, means the Red-tailed phascogales will be settled and ready to start mating during the July breeding season,' AWC ecologist Rachel Ladd said in the release. 'We're expecting to see some juveniles running around in the second half of the year, unfortunately though, as a Dasyuridae species, this also means all of the males will drop off from the stress of breeding activities.' In a unique breeding strategy, males of the species die immediately after the breeding cycle, the conservancy said. Research suggests the die-off, called semelparity, is caused by a combination of stressors from the physiological changes during mating season that leads to gastrointestinal ulcers, immune suppression, infections and death, according to Bush Heritage Australia. If all goes to plan, wildlife officials said there could be as many as 1,400 phascogales living in the wild of the sanctuary in the next decade, according to the release. Bulku are nocturnal and typically live in trees, but can move along the ground during the day when looking for something to eat, according to Bush Heritage Australia. They eat insects, spiders and even small birds. They are incredibly small, measuring about 4 inches long and weighing about the same as a chicken egg, according to Bush Heritage Australia. They are also capable of jumping significant distances from tree to tree, more than 6 feet in a single leap. 'It's incredibly rewarding to see red-tailed phascogales back in the wild in Scotia after more than a century,' Mark Smith, the conservation manager at Zoos South Australia, said in the release. 'This release is the culmination of years of dedicated work by the Zoos SA team to breed this remarkable species for conservation. Working with the AWC has allowed us to take that next vital step — moving animals from behind-the-scenes care into wild landscapes where they belong.' Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary is in western New South Wales in southeastern Australia, about a 330-mile drive northeast from Adelaide.
Perth Now
14-05-2025
- Health
- Perth Now
Decolonising health to provide better care for patients
The way forward in health is respecting Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing through a holistic and decolonised approach to care, researchers say. University of Adelaide senior researcher Kim O'Donnell said there's currently an emphasis on a biomedical approach to health care, which treats individual parts rather than a person as a whole. Dr O'Donnell said decolonising health care means a more holistic approach, led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing. "Decolonised healthcare looks like what Aboriginal Community Controlled Health organisations were established for in the first place in the early 70s," the Malyangapa and Barkindji woman told AAP. "That is to provide a suite of healthcare in the one place that's led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. "That makes the journey much better and much safer for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and comes from the place of health being delivered in a holistic way." University of Adelaide and Flinders University researchers worked with five Aboriginal primary health care services across Australia, on the seven-year project, funded by the National Health and Medicine Research Council. The resulting report, presents key findings from the project about the effect and limitations of dominant health models for Indigenous people, and makes recommendations to decolonise care. Dr O'Donnell said the dominant system was not developed and structured to include Indigenous people, and continuous poor health outcomes have led to First Nations people losing trust in this system. "There's still the assumptions that people have, that deficit view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that we've all got chronic diseases, we can't manage our lives," she said. The report said decolonising practice can only be founded on a strong Aboriginal work force, recommending support for recruitment, retention and professional development of Aboriginal primary health care practitioners. Also among the recommendations are ensuring funding models for Aboriginal primary health care are flexible enough to respond to community needs, respecting Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing in policy, and promoting strengths-based approaches to care. "It's important to ensure primary health care is delivered in decolonising ways, delivered in a way that gives voice to our own organisations and these ways of working are protected and supported by policymakers," Dr O'Donnell said.
Scoop
29-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
A New ‘Fishheart' Project Is Combining Science, Community & Indigenous Art To Restore Life In The Baaka-Darling River
Article – The Conversation The rivers health has been suffering, with a number of harrowing mass fish deaths events taking place in recent years. A new state-of-the-art tube fishway technology called the 'Fishheart' has been launched at Menindee Lakes, located on the Baaka-Darling River, New South Wales. The technology – part of the NSW government's Restoring the Darling-Baaka program – will allow native fish to move past large barriers, such as dams, weirs and regulators, when they need to. It's hoped this will help the fish reproduce and survive, and reduce the risk of mass fish deaths in the Baaka. At the same time, meaningful policy reform and implementation can't be achieved without input from First Nations communities. So how do we do this? One creative collaboration on the Fishheart project suggests art may have a big role to play. Distressing images Several deeply distressing mass fish death events have occurred in the river since 2018, with millions of native fish, including golden perch, silver perch and Murray cod, dying due to insufficient oxygen in the water. These events are the outcome of compounding challenges in managing the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's largest inland river system. The basin, which stretches from Southern Queensland to South Australia, is a water source for some three million people. But the construction of infrastructure such as dams, weirs and regulators has profoundly disrupted the natural processes that once sustained healthy river systems. This disruption has been made worse by ineffective and conflict-ridden governance. The Baaka is a source of life and wellbeing for numerous communities. It should be cared for with the same urgency and coordination as a critically ill patient. If too many doctors or nurses are involved without a clear shared treatment plan, the patient suffers. Likewise, when multiple agencies attempt to manage a sick river, the system can break down. So how can better care be achieved? For Barkindji Elder David Doyle the answer lies in doing it together. Seeking and listening to Aboriginal community Aboriginal peoples have been explaining the importance of Australia's inland rivers for generations. The Aboriginal community at Menindee held protests about the health of the Baaka two years before the first mass fish deaths. Yet their voices and cultural knowledges have not reconfigured river policy. A report by the NSW Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer into the March 2023 mass fish deaths on the Lower Baaka identified the importance of including Aboriginal cultural knowledges in strategies for fish species regeneration and management. However, according to Barkindji Ngnukuu elder Barbara Quayle, the community's experience of 'consultation' has been a tick-box activity. She says there is no trust that cultural knowledges or community perspectives will actually be listened to. The power of the arts Traditional cultural knowledges are often held and expressed through various artforms, from story, to dance, to gallery arts. Within rural and remote communities, the arts and art-making create conditions that can help people work together to address complex issues. In fact, there's a long history of the arts being used to address social conflict. Can the Fishheart help prevent fish kills? We don't know. But the Barkindji community's artistic input in the project is enabling a more integrated approach to finding out. Elders and community members have come together with regional arts organisation, The Cad Factory, and the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's Fisheries branch, to design traditional knowledge-inspired art for the Fishheart pipes. The project has brough together Barkindji Elders and community members, regional arts workers, state department employees and members of the team behind the Fishheart technology. Vic McEwan, Author provided (no reuse) This art was painted onto the pipes by members of Barkindji community over the past month. Other community art, including collaborations with the local school, was also placed around the site. Making the art gave everyone involved the time, space and tools to consider and discuss the project. We learned how the Fishheart technology is inspired by the human heart, with tubes resembling 'veins' and 'arteries' that can take fish in and 'pump' them over barriers through a siphon effect, letting them circulate throughout the river. We discussed important details on how this technology works, which includes using artificial intelligence used to detect fish in the pipes and collect real-time data and photos of the migration. We also considered how we might further care for the river, by potentially allowing the removal of invasive species, or monitoring for diseases. The project also provided fisheries managers with the opportunity to hear community concerns, such as whether the installation of fishways might be perceived in ways associated with colonisation, or eventually lead to fish removal from the waterways. Most importantly, seeing the pipes visually transformed by Barkindji art connected the Fishheart to place and Country. The art provides a tangible expression of uninterrupted Barkindji custodianship for the river and the species that depend on it. With art, there is hope for creating policy together – policy that might promote the health of the river as a whole, rather than treating the symptoms of the problem. Disclosure statement Claire Hooker receives funding from the NHMRC, MRFF, ARC, and University of Sydney. She is affiliated with Arts Health Network NSW/ACT. Barbara Quayle is the Vice-president of the Menindee Aboriginal Elders Council, sits on the Barkindji Native Title Board and NSW Aboriginal Water Strategy Board and is a founding guide of Barkindji cultural immersion tour group, Wontanella Tours. Dave Doyle is a member of the Menindee Aboriginal Elders Council, a previous member of the Barkindji Native Title Board, sits on the NSW Aboriginal Water Strategy Board and is a founding guide of Barkindji cultural immersion tour group, Wontanella Tours.
