Australia Day 2012 - Territory Stories: Home · Australia Day 2012 February 2012 Vol 4 No 3 ... ia Day Ambassador Gary Dawson OAM and his wife ... cil NSW for arranging the

Australia Day 2012

February 2012 Vol 4 No 3

YOUR FREECommunityNewsletter

news lifestyle events youth news community notices arts & craft sport culture

Don’t Miss: LocaL GovernMent eLection noMinations open February 10

WHAT’S INSIDE:Tidy Towns Win ...

AMRRIC Campdog Tales ...................

Mardbalk Arts .....

Wetlands Day ......

Basketball Finals .

Junior Bushratz ...

Schools Feature ..

Thursday January 26 saw residents gather to com-memorate Australia Day. This year the region was privileged to host Austral-ia Day Ambassador Gary Dawson OAM and his wife Michelle, courtesy of a na-tional program sponsored by Woolworths that sends selected Ambassadors to re-mote and regional commu-nities to share Australia Day with local residents.

Gary is an accomplished golfer and has an extensive record of fundraising for a variety of charitable and civ-ic causes over many years. He has raised around $5 mil-lion while completing some remarkable marathon golf-ing endeavours, covering

over 10,000km while play-ing more than 11,000 holes. In 2005 Gary was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for his contribution to Sport and Community Service.

Gary and Michelle made an early flight to Warruwi on Australia Day where they enjoyed a tour of the very windy island hosted by Council’s Shire Services Manager, Nathan McIvor. Gary took the opportunity to present Nathan with a spe-cial low-cost, hardy laptop from the One Laptop One Child program with which he is associated, for use by the community. Thanks also to Council staff Andrew Bates and Tori Dobell who

West Arnhem Shire : Gunbalanya : Jabiru : Maningrida : Minjilang : Warruwi

Australia Day 2012Photos thanks to Penny Cameron.

opened the Mardbalk Arts and Craft Centre for inspec-tion and spoke to the visiting party about the island’s his-tory.

Meanwhile, elderly resi-dents in Gunbalanya were enjoying an Australia Day

lunch prepared by Home and Community Care Team Leader Pauline Cannon and staff. The lunch was finished with a special cake bearing the Australian and Aborigi-nal flags side by side, kindly prepared by local resident Amanda Russell.

Amanda Russell’s amazing Australia Day cake.

Australia Day Ambassador Gary Dawson and wife Michelle.

Young Citizen Aaron Winderlich Highly Commended: John Bray

Willing volunteers kept the BBQ ticking over.

Thong throwing attracted competitors of all ages.

Australia Day 2012

West Arnhem Shire Council thanks the fol-lowing supporters who made the event possible: • Woolworths for their sponsorship of the national Australia Day Ambassador program and Woolworths Darwin store manager Br-odie Little for donating a voucher for BBQ supplies;• The Australia Day Coun-cil NSW for arranging the Ambassador visit;• The Australia Day Coun-cil NT, particularly Katrina Fong Lim, for providing funding and logistical as-sistance for events through-out West Arnhem Shire;• Foodland Jabiru for mak-

ing a very generous dona-tion of BBQ supplies;• Rob, Michael and the team at the Jabiru Golf Club for hosting the event;• Local businesses who do-nated prizes and vouchers for the games: AAA Char-ter, Aurora Kakadu Lodge, BP Jabiru, ERA Communi-ty Relations team, Gagud-ju Crocodile Holiday Inn, Kakadu Bakery;• Council staff and Jabiru residents for contribut-ing time to run games and cook the BBQ: Rebekka Atz, Ian Lindsay, Penny Cameron, Natasha Motley, Alleisha Woodward, Adam Seiler and John Bray.


Top and Above: The SAO biscuit challenge tested the competitors’ knowledge of Australian geography.

Mayor Ralph F Blyth presents Australia Day Ambassador Gary Dawson with a commemorative lapel pin.

The afternoon saw Gary and Michelle attend a formal Australia Day ceremony in Jabiru, held this year for the first time at the Golf Club. After standing for the na-tional anthem, the assembled families heard an address from Ambassador Dawson in which he talked about Australia Day being a shared occasion for all Australians. Mayor Ralph F Blyth and Gary then presented Austral-ia Day awards recognising outstanding achievements during 2011.

A strong field of nomina-tions were received this year, congratulations to the following winners:• Young Citizen of the

Year: Aaron Winderlich

• Citizen of the Year: Katrina Bangay

• Community Event of the Year: Alligator Fishing Club Challenge 2011

• Highly Commended Event: West Arnhem College / Alligator En-ergy Community Fun-draising Day and Troy Cassar-Daley Concert

The week’s wet weather cleared for the afternoon, allowing the large crowd to spill outside after the for-malities for a variety of Aus-sie games, including thong throwing, lamington mak-ing, egg catching and the tricky challenge of nibbling a SAO biscuit into a map of Australia. After a massive community BBQ, the event

culminated in the ever-popu-lar True Blue food challenge which involves the con-sumption of a dry Weetbix, a Mars bar, and a warm ginger beer as quickly as possible.

West Arnhem College Di-rector John Bray outclassed a big field to take out the challenge for the second

year running.

An enjoyable day was had by all and thanks must go to Gary and Michelle Daw-son for donating their time to share Australia Day with West Arnhem Shire commu-nities, and particularly for their good-natured participa-tion in the games.

The second annual Jabiru’s Got Talent afternoon held in association with the Jabiru Jam was held at the Golf Club to much acclaim.

A wide variety of talent was on show ranging from magic to dancing to music to recit-als. Steve started proceed-ings with his amazing ability to split an apple in half with just one finger.

Why this was not awarded better scores by the judges is a mystery and an appeal will probably be lodged. Anne followed with more magic and left the audience scratching there heads try-ing to work out how she did what she did.

Chloe then astounded the crowd with a display of Acro showing amazing flexibility. The judges decided that she had to be made of rubber to do the tricks that she did. Chloe then backed up with Siobhan and Keiley who formed the group SKC and entertained us all with some shuffle.

We were then entertained by that great mystic sage Rich-ard all the way from Mel-bourne who recited poetry from the Book of Poems: Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore, and then sections from the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Rich-ard’s ability to recite such large sections of verse and text from memory amazed

everybody.

Siobhan then followed up with the animal noises song and was joined by the rest of SKC (Chloe and Keiley) who gave us a few tunes.

Then, as usual with Jabiru’s Got Talent, a complete sur-prise turns up. Just as we were packing up for the day Brodie Carroll back for a return visit and Stephen Flo-res visiting from Katherine joined in with a couple of songs.

While all the acts were great and enjoyed by all the end results were:

• First Chloe for her Acro and other contributions with SKC. Chloe won the set of Bongo Drums donated by Cool Bananas Music from Stuart Park• Siobhan and Keiley both won prizes donated by the Jabiru Golf Club for their performances. The prizes were $50 gift vouchers for Cool Banana s Music• Stephen Flores received a selection of CDs donated by John from Casuarina Sounds

Special mention was given to Richard, Anne and Brodie for their contributions.

Steve got absolutely nothing which was an absolute joke. Apparently he is now talk-ing to his lawyer and think-ing about challenging the judge’s decision.


Thanks to Steve Winderlich and Anne O’Dea for the story.

Brodie doing a number from ‘Hair’.

Siobhan receiving her prize from Steve Winderlich.

Chloe proud winner of the main prize.

Jabiru’s Got Talent


World Wetlands Day: Wetland Art WinnersStory and photos thanks to Anne O’Dea.

Three teenagers from Gun-balanya have won prizes in the Australia-wide Wet-landCare Australia National Art and Photography Com-petition 2012, announced for World Wetlands Day on February 2.

Prize winners are:Delane Badari – 1st prize In-digenous Youth Section Francianna Yates – 3rd prize Indigenous Youth Section Bridgette Gumurdal – merit award

This is the fourth year that West Arnhem residents have won prizes. In 2010 Abra-ham Dakglalwuy won sec-ond prize in the Open Art category. In 2008 Abraham’s son Jimmy Dakglalwuy took out first prize in the chil-dren’s senior art section of the same competition with Mark (Junior) Djandjomer and Kamahl Hunter receiv-ing merit awards. In 2009 Ernest Goodman won sec-ond prize and Ayasha Alder-son and Ashlee Christopher-son received Merit Awards in the Children’s Art Senior category.

The winners were announced on February 1 at the Award Ceremony and Exhibition at the CSIRO Discovery Cen-tre in Canberra, where the artworks will be on display until February 10. They will then go on to regional exhibi-tions, which you can follow on Facebook and the Wet-landCare Australia website: www.wetlandcare.com.au.

The winning works will be displayed in an online gal-lery from March 2012. Wet-

landCare Australia will also reproduce and incorporate the winning artwork in prod-ucts to fundraise and pro-mote their organisation.

Accomplished local tradi-tional artists Jimmy Kalar-riya and Don Namandja took time to assist young art-ists keen to learn traditional painting skills. The annual painting event is run by Kakadu National Park with other activities to help cel-ebrate World Wetlands Day.

WetlandCare Australia would like to thank every-one who entered the compe-tition this year. Competition Coordinator Liz Hajenko said, “Each year we look forward to getting the entries from Kakadu, to see what the artists have produced. The works are always so im-pressive.”

Ms Hajenko added that the competition was very com-petitive, and it was a credit to all award winners that their works were selected by judges. “But its impor-tant to remember that all entrants are valued, and we encourage everyone to enjoy their environment, art and photography throughout the year, and to enter new works in next year’s competition,” Ms Hajenko said.

Competition organiser, Wet-landCare Australia, is a not for profit group dedicated to conserving and restoring Australian wetlands.

Visit www.ramsar.org for more information.

Name The Boat Competition

To mark World Wetlands Day, ERA is once again run-ning a competition to ‘Name the Boat’, giving entrants a chance to give a name of ten characters or less to a boat used on Magela Creek to collect water samples for testing.

Students from both the Gun-balanya and Jabiru campus-es of West Arnhem College, and Jabiru Childcare are eli-

gible to enter. Entries close at 3.30pm on February 17.

Entry forms are available from West Arnhem Col-lege, the ERA Community Relations office, or can be downloaded from the Com-munity Events page at www.westarnhem.nt.gov.au.

Email [email protected] for more infor-mation.

World Wetlands DayA day in the life of our boat

The boat which you will be naming has a very important job.

The water management team test the quality of the water around the area of the Ranger mine regularly.

They use the boat on Magela Creek so they can take samples of water in sample bottles.

Then they take the sample bottles back to the mine so it can be tested. The water in the sample bottles gives the workers information so they know that the water is healthy.

This is very important because ERA must always make sure that the mine does not harm the environment.

Living in Jabiru you are lucky to be surrounded by some of the most beautiful wetlands in the world.

Please have a think about a name that ERA will give this boat that plays a big part in making sure the wetlands stay healthy.


West Arnhem Shire Wins Again at Territory Tidy Towns AwardsWest Arnhem Shire Council celebrated a continuing run of success at the 30th Terri-tory Tidy Towns award cere-mony at Government House.

Jabiru was named ‘Best Large Community’ for an outstanding fourth year in a row, while Council’s Jabiru recycling program received the ‘Best Resource Recov-ery and Recycling’ award.

Jabiru Coordinator Works Ian Lindsay was presented with the awards by outgo-ing NT Administrator and Patron of the Tidy Towns Awards, His Honour Mr Tom Pauling.

Ian is a familiar face at the awards ceremony, having been presented with numer-ous community and indi-vidual honours in previous years.

Keep Australia Beautiful Council NT CEO Heimo Schober said that the recy-cling award won by Ian’s Jabiru initiative recognised a scheme as comprehensive as any in Australia.

Heimo also visited Jabiru recently to present Council Maintenance Officer Geoff Dudley with a personal award recognising his com-mitment to recycling in the community.

Geoff single-handedly pro-cesses the domestic waste collected in Jabiru to ensure that every recyclable item is removed from rubbish des-tined for landfill.

Ian Lindsay said that Geoff’s efforts were a significant contributing factor to Jabiru receiving the ‘Best Resource Recovery and Recycling Program’ award and making Jabiru a more environmen-tally friendly community.

“We’re always looking to re-duce the impact of our waste management programs in Jabiru, particularly given the town’s location in the heart of Kakadu,” Ian said.

When pressed by the Wire, Ian would not be drawn on the town’s chances at a fifth straight ‘Best Large Com-munity’ win, but did concede that he expected competition will be tougher this year as more Shires and communi-ties join the competition.

“We’ll have to wait and see how we go,” he said with a grin. “But I’ll be putting the awards presentation date in my diary for sure.”

Ian Lindsay and Keep Australia Beautiful NT CEO Heimo Schober congratulate Maintenance Office Geoff Dudley on his Citizen award.

His Honour Mr Tom Pauling presents Jabiru Coordinator Works Ian Lindsay with the Resource Recovery award.

Minjilang Keep Australia Beautiful Rangers Congratulated


In other Territory Tidy Towns news, Keep Australia Beautiful Council NT CEO Heimo Schober has kindly given permission for the Wire to reprint a letter he sent to Mamaruni School Middle Year Students in Minjilang congratulating them on their entry into the ‘Territory’s Best School’ competition.

Heimo said, “please reprint the Minjilang School Stu-dents letter as my newly ap-pointed KAB Rangers are just doing a fantastic job and we all strongly believe in giving recognition and acknowledgment for a job well done. They are our fu-ture and I’m proud of their continual efforts and I’d like to support and encourage my Rangers as much as pos-sible – it’s all about keeping the land, sea, air and people beautiful.”

Good Morning Mamaruni School Middle Year Stu-dents,

I’d like to say “Thank you very much” to Olivia, Kourtney, Jillian, Tiani, Ar-thur, Daron, Maggie, Bry-son, Trerina, Norma and your Teacher Ms Cecys for the entry into the ‘Territory’s Best School’ competition.

I would like to officially make each and every one of you all “Keep Australia Beautiful Rangers” – you have the skills, determina-tion and heart of a KAB Ranger.

Please do not apologise for your community’s dry grass as the dry season means dry grass and the wet season re-sults in green grass. What this tells me is that your community is in harmony

with the seasons and that the community is not wast-ing the precious resource of water.

Croker Island is a very beautiful Island, with beau-tiful beaches, bush, swamps, wild ponies and most impor-tantly, beautiful people.

I last visited your school two years ago and even then it was a very tidy school with very clean school grounds and classrooms. I am so proud to hear that the Mamaruni School is still as tidy and clean, that students put their rubbish into bins and that you all participate in regular clean-ups. Like Daron stated in his letter “it helps to keep your com-munity tidy and free from disease”.

I’m also very proud to read

in Maggie’s letter that you are all “trying very hard to keep the whole community clean”, I couldn’t ask for more than that.

I think that Croker Island is a very special and lucky Island to have such wonder-ful caring children and stu-dents. This indicates to me a very happy future ahead of you all and especially for Minjilang – a clean free sharing caring community with a wonderful society filled with great care and pride.

“KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK STUDENTS and newly appointed KEEP AUSTRALIA BEAUTIFUL RANGERS.”

NT Thunder Captain Cam-eron Ilett took time out from preparations for his side’s participation in last season’s North East Australian Foot-ball League finals series to visit Warruwi to conduct clinics with local children and talk football with the sports mad community.

Cameron enjoyed a kick of footy with the kids and dis-tributed Thunder memora-bilia to the many local fans of the team.

His stay on South Goulburn Island obviously agreed with him; the Thunder went on to win both their conference and cross conference Prem-ierships for the first time, with Cameron awarded the Andrew Ireland medal as best on ground in the grand final win over Ainslie.

The Thunder’s campaign to win back to back flags kicks off on March 24 when the side takes on Morningside Panthers at Darwin’s TIO Stadium.

Photo thanks to Roger Ilett.

NT Thunder Captain visits Warruwi


The BEAT depression project in Gunbalanya – stories of strength and wellbeingReport and photos thanks to Valerie Thompson.

The BEAT depression pro-ject is from AIMhi – the Ab-original and Islander Mental health initiative at Menzies.

It is about catching people’s worries and sadness early and working out the best way to treat worries before they become too big.

The project is also about keeping people strong –

strong in culture and wellbe-ing.

We listen to people’s stories about their strengths and worries and support changes they want to make.

We use lots of pictures to help us do this.

This project will work with local services and commu-

nity based workers to test whether our new talking treatment, that focuses on what you want and what you do best, helps your wellbe-ing.

You will see us in Gunbalan-ya over the next three years so come along and talk to us about the project.

Above: Gunbalanya commu-nity project workers Frank and Cheryl Nadjalaburn-burn.

Left (L-R): Menzies AIMhi staff Carolyn Griffin, Luke Mayo and Valerie Thomp-son.

Students, staff, sponsors and friends of Jabiru’s Clontarf Academy gathered together for a meet and greet, a BBQ and to unveil a new Honour Board.

After a BBQ catered by the Culture First class, the as-sembled group heard Acad-emy staff Brad Copeland and Jason Roe outline the progress made by the pro-gram, which uses Australian Rules football as a vehicle to encourage young students to raise their school attendance and academic success levels.

Brad thanked the many sup-porters of the Clontarf pro-gram in Jabiru, including West Arnhem College Di-rector John Bray and Jabiru Principal Phil Maunder;

Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Cor-poration; ERA; ESS NAAD; Gagudju Cooinda; Jabiru Sports and Social Club; and contractor Shane Beaumont.

Jason made special men-tion of the healthy rivalry that has developed between the Clontarf Academies in Jabiru and Gunbalanya, one that is set aside when stu-dents from each campus join forces to participate in big competitions.

Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation CEO Justin O’Brien unveiled the honour board which will be used to record outstanding achieve-ments by Academy students, remarking that the program was helping many local Mir-rar children to develop their

fitness and confidence, while being one of the “best ways to get the boys out of bed in the morning.”

Clontarf Honour Board

Below (L-R): Brad Copeland, Justin O’Brien, John Bray and Jason Roe unveil the new Clontarf honour board.

East Arnhem Shire Coun-cil held their second annual conference in Darwin with the theme of ‘Strong Com-munities, Strong Futures’.

Delegates from across the NT gathered to share ex-periences and ideas about how the process of com-munity development can be furthered, and the role local government can play.

Forums on topics such as remote participation and employment, building local and community governance, partnerships and facilitation, and building strong social business models saw partici-pants pose a variety of ques-tions for panel members.

The conference was at-

tended by a number of West Arnhem Shire Councillors and staff who enjoyed the opportunity to network with colleagues and peers from other Shires.

West Arnhem Shire Council Mayor, Ralph F Blyth, par-ticipated in the Mayors and Presidents forum alongside East Arnhem Shire President Banambi Wunungmurra and Tiwi Islands Shire Mayor Lynette De Santis.

Mayor Blyth agreed with his panel colleagues that more needed to be done to create employment opportunities for Indigenous people and that parents should be pe-nalised for not ensuring that their children attend school every day.

Delegates were enthralled by afternoon keynote speak-er Dr Jeff McMullen who spoke passionately about the need to reconsider our current worldview in light of changing ecological and social realities.

An equally inspirational troupe of Indigenous danc-ers, named ‘One Mob, Dif-ferent Country’, who enthu-siastically share their culture as part of their rehabilitation while serving sentences in Berrimah prison rounded out the day, before President Wunungmurra invited repre-sentatives from each Shire to come to the stage to farewell

delegates and thank the Lar-rakia people for hosting the gathering on their traditional lands.

East Arnhem Shire Council also released the organisa-tion’s Reconciliation Action Plan on the eve of the con-ference, becoming the first stand alone organisation in the NT to do so.

“We are a region of survi-vors,” said President Wun-ungmurra.

“This Reconciliation Ac-tion Plan is the first step in a bigger picture of a better future.”

Strong Communities – Strong Futures

West Arnhem Shire Councillor Helen Williams inspects one of the many informative displays.

The inspirational ‘One Mob, Different Country’ dancers.

Above: East Arnhem Shire Council CEO Ian Bodill welcomes delegates to the conference.

Below: Displays informed about Council programs.


Thanks to the Jabiru Golf Club, another well appreci-ated addition to the commu-nity’s Social Calender was made with the Jabiru Bush Dance being held for the second year in a row.

The Top End Bush Band with their wealth of experi-ence and talent lead every-one on a merry dance (or several dances actually) and a great night was had by all.

Dance caller Sue Ross was instrumental in leading people through the various dances and keeping things on track.

The evening started with a kids bush dance which as you can see from the photos had a lot of willing partici-pants.

This was followed by the main event where both kids and adults danced the night away.

The best costume award went to Shelby Douglass who won a $50 voucher at BP Jabiru.

The Jabiru Golf Club put on a free sausage sizzle to help keep the dancers fuelled up.

Thanks to the Golf Club for putting on this free event and thanks to BP Jabiru and Jabiru Foodland for their support as well.

Thanks also to Stu Whitby for doing the sound and the West Arnhem College Jabiru campus for the loan of their sound equipment.


Top End Bush Band Gets Jabiru Jumping Thanks to Steve Winderlich and Damien Hart for the story and photos.

Students from the Year 12 class from the Jabiru Cam-pus of the West Arnhem Col-lege who headed to Cambo-dia at the end of the year to work on some community projects used the occasion to raise some funds with a raf-fle.

The funds went to an or-phanage the kids worked with in Cambodia and the prize, which was a scenic flight donated by Kakadu Air, was won by Bob Palmer of Bob’s Bobcat Hire from Humpty Doo.

Thanks to Kakadu Air for their support of this project.

If you didn’t come along

you certainly missed a good night. For those who came along and enjoyed it have a word to Rob, Michael or any one of the Golf Club staff or committee and let them know that you want it to be an annual event.

Mardbalk Arts and Craft Centre receives a new coat of paint

Warruwi’s Mardbalk Arts and Craft Centre received a new coat of paint recently, thanks to the hard work and talented efforts of the lo-cal Community Develop-ment Employment Projects (CDEP) team. The work was completed to a high standard and included fixing damaged walls, cleaning, repainting walls and trimmings, sign writing and assisting with

the mural designs.

The community are terribly proud of how great the arts centre looks and that each year it is just getting strong-er and stronger. Thanks to the Association of North-ern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists Inc. (AN-KAAA), and the Aboriginals Benefit Account for assis-tance with the project.

Story and photos thanks to Belinda Carlson.

MARDBALK ARTS & CRAFT CENTRE is located on South

Goulburn Island, in west Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Mardbalk Arts supports artists from the communities of Warruwi

(Goulburn Island) and Minjilang (Croker Island)

who are proud Salt Water people. Their artworks consist of

beautiful pandanus fibre art, timber carvings, shell jewellery and

both traditional and contemporary canvas and bark paintings all

inspired by the saltwater scenery and wildlife found around these untouched islands.

www.mardbalkarts.com.au

West Arnhem Sports Carnival Receives Healthy Community AwardThe West Arnhem Sports Carnival, held for the sec-ond year in September 2011, was recognised by the Heart Foundation at the annual Healthy Community Awards ceremony in Darwin, receiv-ing a ‘Highly Commended’ award.

The awards are presented annually to local govern-ment initiatives that focus on delivering positive health outcomes to communities, particularly programs or events that are aimed at spe-cific target groups within communities and are sup-ported by participants and stakeholders.

The Carnival was competing against entries from metro-politan Councils with great-er populations and levels of resources, making the com-mendation even more of an achievement.

Carnival organiser Ian Dou-glass said that the award was a welcome surprise and a great testament to the effort he and his team put in to the event.

“I’m honoured and excited to have received this ac-knowledgement after the hard work we have put in to establish the Carnival,” Ian said.


West Arnhem Shire Council Director Corporate and Com-munity Services, Marc Gardner, congratulates Coordinator Sport and Recreation Ian Douglass on receiving the award.

“The success of last year’s event showed that the newly renamed Gurrung Festival will be an important feature of the sporting calendar in

the region, contributing to healthy outcomes for the predominantly Indigenous participants.”

Turtles Rescued From Ghost Nets on South Goulburn Island

West Arnhem Shire Coun-cil Warruwi Shire Services Manager, Nathan McIvor, conducted a turtle rescue on South Goulburn island recently when two turtles became entangled in a large amount of discarded netting that had washed onto the is-land.

The net was strangling the larger turtle and its flippers were slightly damaged, how-ever it made it to the ocean quite quickly. The smaller turtle was upside down and did not initially appear to be alive, but was also quick to move into the water once freed.

Another net was located fur-ther up the beach but noth-ing was found in it. The nets were pulled to higher ground awaiting collection to be de-stroyed.

In related news, Coun-cil’s Warruwi Team Leader CDEP, Andrew Bates, has received a certificate com-mending him on his efforts after retrieving five Ghost Nets during the last three years. Ghost Nets, so called because they drift through the ocean after becoming detached from fishing ves-sels can be kilometres long and pose a huge danger for marine life and sea birds. Andrew said he often dis-covered the nets while out fishing and plotted their lo-cation to allow Police and Rangers to retrieve the nets, which can weigh a great deal.

The Ghost Nets Australia 2010 annual report reveals that 1601 nets were removed from 690km of coastline across northern Australia.

Thanks to Nathan McIvor for the report and photo.

Above: The certificate awarded to Andrew Bates.Below: One of the turtles being freed from the net.


West Arnhem Sports Carnival Finds A New NameStory and photo thanks to Alex Madden

An Garre Ga Dokme TeacherJabiru Campus, West Arnhem College

Following the 2011 West Arnhem Sports Carnival, a competition was announced in the West Arnhem Wire, in-viting local residents to sub-mit a new and original name for the Sports Carnival, held annually during the Mahbilil Festival.

Rather than remaining the ‘Sports Carnival’, West Arn-hem Shire Council believed a name that better encapsu-lated the spirit of the people, place and ethos of the carni-val was in order - and that’s where the senior Culture First students saw an oppor-tunity!

As part of their ‘Informa-tion, Processing and Pub-lishing’ subject, the students analysed the competition advertisement and began to brainstorm possible ideas. Immediately it became ap-parent that they had a desire to select a name that was typically ‘local’ and one that represented either the Gun-djeihmi or Kunwinjku lan-guages.

The brainstorming ideas were fantastic, with a diver-sity of responses as rich as

the natural landscape we live in! Some of the class sug-gestions included the names of the flora and fauna seen throughout the park during the month of the carnival, while others focused on the different ways in language to express the ‘evening’ or ‘twilight’ time of day.

The entire exercise of how to analyse a text, identify im-portant information, brain-storm possible responses and finally, email their sug-gestions to Ian Douglass, the competition organiser, was a fantastic demonstration of how the IPP subject can promote young people to be agents of change in our local community.

When the competition win-ner was finally announced, as a class we realised the winning entry was perfect in its simplicity, local in its content and was truly de-serving in its success – and therefore I would like to an-nounce that Karen Buliwana from the senior An Garre Ga Dokme class as the winner with her entry of The Gur-rung Festival.

As many of you know, ac-cording to the Bininj calen-dar the year can be split into six distinct seasons, with the Gurrung extending from mid-August to mid-October. This is a season that is typi-cally hot and dry - a time when bamurru (magpie geese) are hunted along with file snakes and long-necked turtles.

The ‘Six Seasons’ has been utilised extensively through-out the Culture First program

as a ‘curriculum window’ through which literacy and numeracy outcomes have been viewed and respond-ed to. This has essentially placed our students’ culture at the forefront of their stud-ies and thus creating a class-room brimming with exper-tise on any given activity! Therefore, Karen’s idea to re-name the sports carnival after the season in which it occurs was as insightful as it was fitting. Congratulations Karen!!!

Karen Buliwana with her prize of a new iPod Touch

Kakadu Storm Rugby League Club Resumes Training

After a successful inaugural season in 2011, the Kakadu Storm Rugby League Club has commenced training for the 2012 season.

Training is held at Jabi-ru’s home of rugby, Ma-gela Field, from 7.15pm on Thursdays.

Jabiru Auskick had its last outing for 2011 at Magela Field in conjunction with the traditional start to the senior Aussie rules season which is the over 30’s vs. under 30’s challenge match.

The Auskickers of 2011 put on a display for their fam-ily and friends showing how much fun Auskick is, and how much they had learnt for the year.

A good time was had by all and after the games there was a presentation of me-dallions to all Auskickers by Shane Reeves, Manager Plant Operations from ERA, the program’s long term ma-jor sponsor.

After the presentations Aus-kickers were treated to a free BBQ donated by Kakadu Culture Camp and ESS-NAAD.

Apart from the Auskick kids and parents the program would not be possible with-out the help of a dedicated team of volunteers. A big thank you to all who helped in whatever capacity in par-ticular Ian Douglass, Andy Davies, Phil Maunder, Sam Godden, and Jardine Ker-nell.

Other senior students from the West Arnhem College and Clontarf also assisted on occasions.

The Auskick program would also not be possible without the valuable support of sev-eral sponsors.

ERA is the major spon-

sor and has supported the program for several years. ERA’s support enables the cost of registrations to be halved enabling greater par-ticipation from the kids of Jabiru and the surrounding area, and also funds the me-dallions presented at the end of each program.

This year ERA also pro-vided prizes for weekly en-couragement awards as did the Jabiru Sports and Social Club (free kids meal and drink for the third year), and West Arnhem Shire Council, another long term sponsor who provided free pool en-try.

The West Arnhem College and its staff have also been long term supporters provid-ing among other things criti-cal administrative support.

Thanks on the night to:• Kakadu Culture Camp & ESSNAAD for providing meat, bread and salads for the evening BBQ. • The Jabiru Bombers who did all the behind the scenes organising and running the kiosk and BBQ on the night.• West Arnhem Shire Coun-cil for kindly waiving hire fees for the venue for this important community func-tion that focuses on the ar-ea’s kids.

The support from these sponsors and supporters in making this community pro-gram available to the kids of Jabiru is very much appreci-ated.

So that’s it for another year. The organisers and coaches


Jabiru Auskick Winds Up For 2011Report and photos thanks to Steve Winderlich.

look forward to seeing plen-ty of kids and parents in 2012. Remember if you are a parent whose child enjoys Auskick your help would be

appreciated to ensure that the program can continue, so please offer your help when the program starts again.

Above: Shane Reeves, Manager Plant Operations for major sponsor ERA presenting medallions.

After a season of quality bas-ketball, Maningrida turned out in force to witness two tough, close games for the men’s and women’s grand finals. A crowd of more than 400 cheered their sides on, in a welcome return to posi-tive community spirit after some unrest during the semi-finals.

West Arnhem Shire Council Acting Shire Services Man-ager, Peter van Heusden, said that Council’s Tenancy Management Officer Garth Doolan and Maningrida Government Business Man-ager Chris Davies were the driving force that overcame any residual negativity and brought the basketball to a fine conclusion.

The men’s final was par-ticularly close, with Mango meeting Rivers. After a tight tussle, the final score saw Mango 16 go down to Riv-ers 17.

The ladies’ final was also a hard and fast game, with Marnba 27 defeating NT Ti-gers 20.

Peter van Heusden acted as official scorer for the even-ing and said that he was amazed at the skill levels on display from both male and female players. Trophies and medallions organised by Council’s Coordinator Sport and Recreation Ian Douglass were presented to the teams by Peter and Maningrida Traditional Owner Reggie Wurridjol.


Maningrida Basketball Grand FinalsThanks go to the following people and organisations that helped bring the bas-ketball season to a success-ful conclusion:

• Garth Doolan – coordination, umpiring

• Dale Pascoe – umpiring

• Albert Djoltjanu – umpiring

• Tim Delphine – umpiring

• Dave Hamilton – scoring, time keeping, sausage sizzle

• Quincy Gaykamangu – time keeping

• Kingsley Murphy - DJ• Csaba Boja –

Community Engage-ment Police Officer

• Bawinanga Aboriginal

Corporation – BBQ sausages and crowd control courtesy of Night Patrol Officers

• Maningrida Pro-gress Association – leaf blower, sausages

• Maningrida School – PA system

• Ceah Raymond – leaf blower

• Michael Lodge – leaf blower

• Mango, Gerry and Juan Darwin - sausage sizzle.

• West Arnhem Shire Council – trophies, medallions and BBQ

Peter also noted the work done to improve the bas-ketball court lights in time for the final.

Story and photos thanks to Peter van Heusden and Shannon Davies.

Eileen Fletcher, AMRRIC’s newest employee was re-cently privileged to join Dr Jude Mulholland and vet-erinary nurse Cath McAdie on their biannual dog health visit to Warruwi and Min-jilang. Dr Jude, who has been visiting both islands for the last 5 years and has seen great improvements in dog health over that time, was keen to talk to students at the schools on both islands to promote dog health and welfare.

Eileen, who holds a Cer-tificate IV in Companion Animal Training, in between transporting dogs back and forward from the ‘surgery’, talking to owners and worm-ing dogs, spent some time at both Warruwi school and Mamaruni School in Min-jilang talking about happy, healthy dogs.

At Warruwi pupils were invited to come along af-ter school with their dogs to have a bit of fun and do some dog training. About 10 students turned up with a variety of dogs of differ-ent shapes, sizes, ages and abilities. Students were sup-plied with food treats to en-courage their dogs to start learning to sit. Particularly adept was Trixie, a small campdog, who won an AM-RRIC collar for best dog in class. Students were also shown how to examine their dogs to make sure they were healthy.

At Mamaruni School Dr Jude and Eileen were invited by Principal Fiona Spiers to

talk to the students about dogs’ needs. The senior students were particularly knowledgeable and had spent some time on the AM-RRIC website and watching the AMRRIC video prior to the visit and so knew the four basics of good food, clean water, a place to sleep and companionship. Some time was then spent talk-ing about how to stay safe around dogs, how to interact with “cheeky” dogs to avoid being bitten, and why it is important to train your dog.

Concern was raised by Dr Jude at a community meet-ing as to the welfare of the horses on Warruwi. Due to the absence of permanent water in the dry season, the horses come into town and dig up pipes and break down fences in search of water. West Arnhem Shire Council has agreed to ensure that a water trough on the outskirts


of the community is kept filled. However this does not address all the welfare issues; as the inset photo shows, overpopulation and a lack of feed has led to some of the horses being in quite poor condition. The com-munity needs to address this issue of increasing signifi-cance.

It is hoped that a repeat visit can be organised next time Dr Jude visits and the school students can come along and see Dr Jude in action desex-

ing dogs. Statistics for the visits were: Warruwi – 7 dogs desexed, 1 cat desexed, 3 cats euthanased. Lots of dogs treated for parasites, school goat wormed. Min-jilang – 14 dogs desexed, one eye surgery, one stitch up for a dog that took on a pig and one dog euthanased at the owner’s request, and again many dogs treated for parasites. Thanks to West Arnhem Shire Council staff at Warruwi for help in liais-ing with community mem-bers.

AMRRIC Campdog TalesAnimal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities

Dr Judith Mulholland and vet nurse Cathy McAdie in action.

Report thanks to Eileen Fletcher, AMRRIC. Photos thanks to Cathy McAdie, Vet Nurse.


Members of the Gun-balanya Community Safety team were recognised at an awards evening recently.

Gunbaladj Nabegeyo was named the community’s best Community Safety officer for 2011 with the runner up Mirriwayn Nabegeyo.

Kelvin Buliwana received the award for the most im-proved Community Safety officer for 2011.

Terrence Brown was the best junior Community Safety officer and Dallas Thomp-son was named the best Youth Diversion officer for the year.

The Community Safety team also presented some certificates to community organisations and individu-als, thanking them for their assistance during the year.

Certificates were presented

to the school, NT Police, Gunbalanya Sports and So-cial Club, the community’s clinic, and to Government Business Manager Bill Ivo-ry.

Four community members were also awarded cer-tificates, recognising their efforts assisting the Com-munity Safety team during difficult situations.

The evening was a huge suc-cess with more than 60 com-munity members attending the awards ceremony.

Thanks to all Community Safety team members for working professionally, of-ten under trying conditions, to provide a Night Patrol service to their community.

Thank you also to West Arn-hem Shire Council Coor-dinator Community Safety Nathan McIvor for arrang-ing the certificates.

Gunbalanya Community Safety

Awards

PUBLIC NOTICES

Thanks to Greg Sheldon for the story and photos.

Members from the Gunbalanya Community Safety team receiving certificates.

2012.Community Partnership Fund.

Energy Resources of Australia Ltd’s Community Partnership Fund aims to contribute to the development of a healthy and positive community in the Alligator Rivers region.

Applications dates for 2012 are as follows; Round One:

2 January - Applications open 16 March - Applciations close

Round Two:

30 April - Applications open 13 July - Applications close

Round Three:

3 September - Applications open 16 November - Applications close

For further information visit www.energyres.com.au

INTERESTED IN REPRESENTING YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY ON COUNCIL?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT IS INVOLVED?

COME ALONG TO AN INFORMATION SESSION AND FIND OUT

COUNCIL OFFICE 15th FEBRUARY 2012

5.30pm

With presentations from: Local Government Association of the Northern Territory

Tony Tapsell, Chief Executive Officer

Department Housing, Local Government & Regional Services Canice Kinnane, Local Government Liaison Officer

Northern Territory Electoral Commission Regional Officers

NORTHERN TERRITORY LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS SATURDAY 24 MARCH 2012


West Arnhem Schools Recognised For Excellence

NT Smart Schools Awards

NAB Schools First Program

Schools from West Arnhem Shire were recognised with a number of awards at presentations towards the end of last year, and continue to receive positive coverage about a range of initiatives. In this feature the Wire takes a look at some of the highlights:

West Arnhem College took out the Chief Executive’s Award at the 2011 NT Smart Schools Awards, winning $20,000 worth of equipment and technical support to de-velop an education story to be produced and recorded by students using innovative iPhone technology.

The college also received $5,000 after being highly

commended in the ‘Excel-lence in Partnering’ catego-ry.

Warruwi school received prizes totalling $20,000 at the same ceremony, win-ning the ‘Excellence in Im-proving School Attendance’ award, and Maningrida school was named best in the ‘Excellence in Early Childhood’ category.

West Arnhem College re-ceived further recognition with the presentation of a cheque for $50,000 from the NAB Schools First program, which rewards the establish-ment of effective school-community partnerships.

Presenting the cheque at a school assembly, NAB rep-resentative Kallista Harvey said that she hoped more NT schools would follow in West Arnhem College’s footsteps.

ERA Manager Community

Relations, Natascha Spark, said that the award was wel-come acknowledgement of the partnership between the college and ERA which aims to provide students in Jabiru and Gunbalanya with en-hanced educational and em-ployment opportunities.

“Everything in life begins with a good education,” Na-tascha said.

Students from Jabiru and Gunbalanya spoke of expe-riences undertaking school based apprenticeships.

James Mardday from Gun-balanya, who is working as a station hand on the cattle property near Gunbalanya while also completing study modules, said that his school based apprenticeship was hard work but worthwhile because it allowed him to buy food for his family and save money in the bank.

Chief Executive of the De-partment of Education and Training, Gary Barnes, con-gratulated college Direc-tor John Bray and the staff, teachers and students who

had all worked with ERA to make the partnership a suc-cess, saying, “West Arnhem College is going places.”

John Bray paid tribute to ERA and to the staff of both schools for the way that they have combined to work for the benefit of the entire col-lege community.

Gunbalanya School Prin-cipal Esther Djayhgurmga agreed, saying that, “to-gether we will achieve great things in the future.”

West Arnhem College won the Chief Executive’s Award.

Maningrida School won the Early Childhood category.Warruwi celebrates winning the Attendence Award.


West Arnhem College was awarded $50,000 by NAB.

Above and below: Gunbalanya students happy to be back.

The Wire was recently in-vited to visit Gunbalanya School to observe how an-other initiative has been de-veloped to combat high ab-sentee rates among students at certain times of the year.

Realising that student ab-sences were high during the dry season when roads are open and many families leave the community to visit relatives, stay at outstations or participate in cultural ac-tivities, West Arnhem Col-lege Director John Bray teamed up with school Prin-cipals Esther Djayhgurmga and Sue Trimble to work on making school terms more flexible to suit community needs.

As a result, classes resumed three weeks early this Janu-ary to take advantage of the fact that most residents stay in the community while it is isolated during the wet season. Students will enjoy an extended break during the dry to allow families to travel and undertake other business.

Department of Education and Training Chief Execu-tive Gary Barnes described the initiative as an Austral-ian first and congratulated the college director and co-principals for bringing a community idea to fruition.

“The community came up with the idea, we were happy to support it and the govern-ment was happy to support it,” Gary said.

Co-Principals Sue Trimble and Esther Djayhgurmga

agree.

“The idea has come from people in the community,” Sue said, pointing out that the teachers at the school have also embraced the con-cept. “All teachers opted to be here to make a differ-ence,” she said. “They all think this makes sense.”

For Esther the move is some-thing that has been talked about for a long time. She sees the change as a triumph for common sense.

“The flexibility makes sense,” Esther said. “I think this is the right time for our school to commence at this time of year.”

College Director John Bray says that the initiative could not have succeeded without the cooperative efforts of the Department, teachers, unions and families in the community.

He sees the flexible school terms as another strategy in the campaign to ensure that all students at West Arnhem College graduate either to further training, education or paid employment.

In Gunbalanya that strategy includes an holistic approach to education that encom-passes programs such as the ‘Families as First Teachers’ scheme for children aged up to three years and their par-ents; sending teachers to ed-ucate students living at out-stations; and ongoing liaison with community residents to get kids to school for at least 180 days of the year.

West Arnhem Schools Recognised For ExcellenceGunbalanya Early Term


New housing in Maningrida provides a sense of optimism

Residents of one of northern Australia’s largest Aborigi-nal communities are buzzing with anticipation at moving into new houses built under the National Partnership Agreement for Remote In-digenous Housing (NPAR-IH).

More than 60 houses have been built at Maningrida so far and another 41 are un-derway. Fifty-eight houses have also been refurbished or rebuilt.

NPARIH is a joint hous-ing program between the Australian and Northern Territory governments and incorporates the Strate-gic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) that will deliver 750 new houses, 230 rebuilds of existing houses and 2500 refurbishments across 73 In-digenous communities in the Northern Territory.

Maningrida locals have helped build the houses and are largely responsible for landscaping and applying the final touches to a new subdivision near the airport.

According to Bernadette Nethercott, a senior Abo-riginal interpreter who helps keep local people informed of developments with new housing and assists with the tenancy agreements, a feel-ing of optimism has spread through the community.

“They are seeing more and more new houses,” Berna-dette said. “They are excited and waiting for them to be finished. They know every-

thing will be a lot different (from the past) and it will be better for the future.”

Community Housing Offic-er, Garth Doolan said over-crowding was an enormous problem in Maningrida.

“If we can stop overcrowd-ing it will help the commu-nity,” Garth said. “Younger people with families of their own will be able to live their lives. They don’t have to live with their mum and dad. They can have their own place and be responsible for their own house.

“They are pretty excited and want to know when they can move in.”

Garth said there were 150 applicants for the 109 hous-es to be built at the commu-nity. Although some people missed out on new homes, much of the established housing was rebuilt or refur-bished.

Noni Eather, a Preventa-tive Educations Officer and daughter of traditional owner Helen Williams, said Maningrida had changed suddenly.

“It’s very freaky,” Noni said. “I cannot really explain it. Maningrida changes every week. I go for a walk and there is a whole new com-munity (springing up).

“So far we have had a lot of changes in positive ways such as people being em-ployed – our people are in-volved with construction, landscaping and other areas.

Thanks to Linda Kenny, Remote Housing NT for the report and photos.

It is a positive impact and I expect it is going to be so much better than it currently is. There will be less over-crowding and it’s going to get better.”

Noni, who works closely with Police, the Health Clin-ic, Night Patrol and youth, says a lot of young people were at risk of getting into trouble but she expected new housing to improve their situation.

“One of the big points is when there are a lot of dis-putes going on and there are a lot of angry people,” Noni said. “Most of the time kids are exposed to it at a critical time of their development.

“Children need routine and structure (in their lives). They need their own space, good food and lots of sleep. It’s hard if you are sharing a kitchen and bathroom with three families. They are ex-posed to things like drugs and alcohol.

“There are kids everywhere and we have to keep a close

eye on them. This (new housing) will help a lot. It’s going to create ownership for people – they will have their own space, gardens and bedrooms.

“Families will be able to structure themselves prop-erly,” Noni said. “They will be able to develop their own routine. They will be able to limit people using drugs and alcohol in their house and they will be able to look af-ter themselves in their own space.”

Leisa Murray is a member of the landscaping crew that has planted trees and lawn in the yards of new houses. The Maningrida landscaping crew is part of Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation (BAC), the major service provider to the Maningrida community and 32 outsta-tions.

“It’s good up there (at the subdivision),” Leisa said. “They are building the walk-ways and putting bitumen on the roads. It’s a lot different to the old part of town.”

Landscaping crew members Natasha Campion and Alycia Campion selecting plants from the Bawinanga Nursery for the subdivision.


Junior Bushratz take the fieldSaturday February 4 saw the return of Junior Bush-ratz Rugby when the mighty U10’s took on a star stud-ded (and current NTJRU Premiers) Casuarina as the curtain raiser for the Su-per Rugby Trial between the Brumbies and Western Force played at Rugby Park in Darwin.

The team had six Jabiru based kids and the remain-der were sourced from Dar-win. In what could only be classed as a very high paced and action packed game, the teams ended up extremely close with a three tries to two win for the experienced Casuarina Cougars team.

Stand out players for the

Bushratz were Callum, Jaryd and Eddie while young Kee-ly made a strong start to her rugby career.

The game was a first of what is hoped to be many for a Junior U10’s team from Jabiru. If the interest is there then we will try our hardest to get a few more games, both in Darwin and at home in Jabiru.

Special thanks for support should go to ERA and the Jabiru Sports and Social Club for assisting with the purchase of Junior Rugby kit for the kids to play in.

Thanks to Drew and Fiona Weaver for the story and photos.

Leisa and fellow landscap-ers Josie Rostron, Alycia Campion and Natasha Cam-pion have helped plant over 300 trees.

“There are 15 trees per house and we have so far planted more than 20 yards,” Leisa said. “There are no coconut trees because they are dan-gerous for the kids.”

Leisa said she and her fellow workers wanted to show the community and other people they could complete the job.

“There were people saying we could not do the work,” Leisa said. “It is hot but we love working outdoors. We are doing the job (well) and everyone is getting proud of us now. They are all going

to get a big shock when the lawns and trees are estab-lished.”

Bernadette Nethercott of the Aboriginal Interpreter Ser-vice said nine different lan-guages are spoken at Man-ingrida and the interpreters have been working closely with tenants to ensure every-one understands their rights and responsibilities as well as the landlord’s rights and responsibilities before they move into new, rebuilt or re-furbished houses.

“We make them understand they have to keep places tidy and don’t break anything,” Bernadette said. “We ex-plain that if they do break anything intentionally the cost of the damage comes

out of their money.”

Bernadette said it takes about one and half hours to go through and explain the tenancy agreement to ten-ants and make sure they sign correctly and fully under-stand the agreement before they sign so there are no misunderstandings.

“They feel happy I am there as a person they know very well,” Bernadette said. “They feel very secure and we don’t miss anything.

“People seem happy with the conditions. There is no resistance. Everyone is hap-py and they are all looking forward to it.”

Preventative Educations Officer, Noni Eather.

New housing in Maningrida provides a sense of optimism


Positions VacantVisit www.westarnhem.nt.gov.au for Position Descriptions

Live & work in the stunning Kakadu & Arnhem land region

6 Weeks annual leave 12 % Superannuation

Assistant Customer Service Officer - Centrelink

Warruwi – Part Time $34,844 - $40,205 p.a pro rata

(Plus Locality Allowance)

Responsible for providing quality customer service to Centrelink clients including appropriate advice, information, assistance and support regarding Centrelink services

Further details: Jill French – Regional Coordinator CDEP

PH (08) 8982 9519 or email: [email protected]

Applications for this position close on Friday, 17 February, 2012.

Position descriptions can be obtained from www.westarnhem.nt.gov.au or from Linda Veugen-Yong on (08) 8982 9522.

Written applications addressing the selection criteria should be addressed to: Alex Douglas, Acting Chief Executive Officer, and marked “Confidential” Application for Employment. GPO Box 4246, Darwin NT, 0801 or emailed to: [email protected].


6 Weeks Annual Leave 12 % Superannuation

Senior Mechanical Workshop Officer Jabiru – Full Time - Readvertised

$59,342 - $63,230 p.a

(Plus Accommodation & Profit-share incentive) Responsible for the maintenance of Shire vehicles, plant and equipment within Jabiru together with all ordering, record keeping and recommendations for fleet management. The position will also be required to service and repair private vehicles, providing the opportunity for the successful applicant to develop a mechanical service and repair business in Jabiru based on a profit-share arrangement. (Previous applicants need not reapply.)

Further details: Ian Menzies – Fleet Management Specialist PH : 0428 792 009 or email: [email protected]


Position descriptions can be obtained from www.westarnhem.nt.gov.au or from Linda Veugen-Yong on (08) 8982 9522. Written applications addressing the selection criteria should be addressed to: Alex Douglas, Acting Chief Executive Officer, and marked “Confidential” Application for Employment. GPO Box 4246, Darwin NT, 0801 or emailed to: [email protected].



Team Leader Community Safety Gunbalanya – Full Time

$50,559 - $54,056 p.a (Plus Accommodation & Locality Allowance)

Responsible for leading the community safety team and services including patrolling town community areas, intervening in incidents of unsafe behaviour, transporting people away from unsafe situations and supporting the community is a way that respects culture and human rights to create a safer community.

Further details: Nathan McIvor – Regional Coordinator Community Safety Mob: 0427 340 034 or PH : 8979 0211 or email: [email protected]






Pool Officer Jabiru – Part Time

$34,844 - $40,205 p.a Pro rata

Responsible for assisting in the provision of quality aquatic and sport and recreation services, ensuring safe and healthy swimming and recreation outcomes for the community.

Further details: Ian Douglass – Regional Coordinator Sport & Recreation

Mob: 0459 821 960 or PH (08) 8979 9456 or

email: [email protected]

Expressions of interest are now being accepted.




Pool Officer Jabiru – Casual

$22.04 - $25.44 per hour

Responsible for assisting in the provision of quality aquatic and sport and recreation services, ensuring safe and healthy swimming and recreation outcomes for the community.

Further details: Ian Douglass – Regional Coordinator Sport & Recreation

Mob: 0459 821 960 or PH (08) 8979 9456 or

email: [email protected]

Expressions of interest are now being accepted.



For information on living and working in West Arnhem Shire, download the

‘Welcome to West Arnhem Shire’ handbook from the Positions Vacant page of Council’s

website at www.westarnhem.nt.gov.au

West Arnhem Shire Council Elected Members

Kakadu WardMayor Ralph F Blyth

Councillor Stephen BaldwinCouncillor David Norton

Gunbalanya WardCouncillor Otto Dann

Councillor Davison Nawirridj

Maningrida WardCouncillor Helen WilliamsCouncillor Matthew Ryan

Councillor Jonathon Williams

Barrah WardCouncillor Mary YarmirrCouncillor Phillip Wasaga

JABIRU COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTREClinic Opening Hours - Phone 8979 2018

Doctors & Nursing StaffMonday & Wednesday 9am - 12 midday & 1pm-4pm

Tuesday & Friday 8am - 12 midday & 1pm-4pmThursday 8am - 12 midday Afternoon CLOSED

Nursing StaffSaturday & Sunday Emergency Service Only

PharmacyPhone 8979 2193

Monday to Friday 9am - 12 midday & 1pm-4pmCLOSED Thursday afternoon

*Please Note* After hours calls are for Emergency Service Only

MINJILANG COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTREClinic Opening Hours - Phone 8979 0229

Doctors & Nursing StaffMonday to Friday 8am - 12 midday & 1pm-5pm

After Hours Emergency Service Only

GUNBALANYA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTREClinic Opening Hours - Phone 8979 0178


CLOSED Thursday afternoonAfter Hours Emergency Service Only

MANINGRIDA COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTREClinic Opening Hours - Phone 8979 5930

Doctors & Nursing StaffMonday to Friday 9am - 4pmCLOSED Thursday afternoon

After Hours Emergency Service Only

WARRUWI COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTREClinic Opening Hours - Phone 8979 0500


CLOSED Thursday afternoonAfter Hours Emergency Service Only

Jabiru Church Service TimesUniting Church Worship

2nd, 4th & 5th Sundays @ 10amRoman Catholic Mass

1st & 3rd Sundays @ 9am

Further information please contact:Rev Lindsay Parkhill on 08 8979 2250

or 0458 289 956

EMERGENCY CONTACTSJabiru: Police: 8979 2122 Fire: 8979 2502 Council: 8979 9444 Maningrida: Police: 8979 5939 Council: 8979 6600Gunbalanya: Police: 8979 0180

Council: 8979 0170Minjilang: Police: 8979 0632

Council: 8979 0299Warruwi: Police: 8979 0631

Council: 8979 0211

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTREHOURS & CONTACT DETAILS

Thanks to West Arnhem Shire Council Shire Services Managers Cam Watts and Nathan McIvor for sending in these photos of storm damage from Cyclone Grant to the commu-nities of Minjilang and Warruwi respectively.

Cyclone grant


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Australia Day 2012 - Territory Stories: Home · Australia Day 2012 February 2012 Vol 4 No 3 ... ia Day Ambassador Gary Dawson OAM and his wife ... cil NSW for arranging the