Paul Toohey; 22/9/08
The effort to turn the rundown Hodgson Downs station into a working cattle property has been so rapid, and so intense, that the Aboriginal land owners cannot quite believe that the so-often grindingly slow hand of bureaucracy has moved so fast to change their lives. It was only two years ago that the Indigenous Land Corporation had identified a strong will among the Alawa people from Hodgson Downs, 500km southeast of Darwin, to get their property working. Now they have a 6500-strong Brahmin herd, some 500km of fencing, bores, new paddocks, quarters for ringers and managers, and some 20 workers on full-time wages. Hodgson Downs, which was granted to the Alawa people under the Land Rights Act in 1995, is now called Waliburru. The project marks a changing commitment from the ILC, which traditionally took the role of acquiring land for traditional owners for cultural purposes.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24381802-5013404,00.html
Australia, Aboriginal, Workers
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Workers