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CEO MESSAGE 25 MARCH 2020
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RESPONSE TO COVID 19
(CORONAVIRUS)
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The current pandemic emergency has of course seriously disrupted TLaWC’s ability to get on with its normal activities. Commencing Tuesday 24 March, both the Broadford and the Alexandra offices are closed until further notice, with all permanent staff working from home.
We are committed to doing all we can to maintain progress in these extremely difficult times, but we are unlikely to be able to proceed in the coming weeks with any of the planned activities that require getting people together – cultural camps, treaty consultations, Elders’ meetings, Baan Ganalina meetings, Tanderrum preparations etc. We will use video meetings where possible – for instance, for meetings of the Board. We expect all field work to cease in the coming weeks and are therefore making a special one-off payment to regular field workers to tide them over until such time as Centrelink payments become available.
We expect the impact of the virus to be prolonged and will be providing further updates through the newsletters and via social media as circumstances change.
Chris Marshall
General Manager,
Administration & Corporate Development
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NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Our NRM team have been up at Mt Buller this past couple of weeks, working on weed control, revegetation, weed mapping and monitoring of our Pygmy Possums.
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CULTURAL HERITAGE
Our Cultural Heritage teams continue to work hard to protect our heritage.
March has proven to be a busy month (as January and February were), for both our office staff and fieldworkers.
CHMP assessment works continued to be undertaken:
Shepparton Line upgrade: The focus is now in the Tallarook area, where the significant places that have been detected during the standard assessment are currently being tested to evaluate their extent and subsurface degree of preservation.
Bright: Our field workers started the standard assessment for the Great Valley Trail project. A walkover was also undertaken for a camping and caravan park to be developed near Nagambie.
Kilmore: The second phase of the complex assessment phase for the Ryans Creek Reserve CHMP has been finalised.
Outside of the CHMP process and development triggers, preliminary field inspections took place along the Moonlight Spur and Mt Terrible and Old Tolmie Road in anticipation of future planned burns by DELWP.
These inspections highlighted, once again, the need for a systematic revision of all the registered places on Taungurung Country, as well as of Preliminary Reports – potential places and Cultural Heritage components which are still to be registered.
We were also provided the opportunity by DELWP to inspect some of the fire containment lines that were put in place during the 7 February Kinglake fire and provide advice concerning its imminent rehabilitation. Cultural Heritage was detected during the inspections and the data is being processed for adequate registration.
In the scope of the current negotiation with government agencies for the implementation of postfire surveys, an analysis was undertaken of the area affected by the Abbeyard/Mt.Buffalo fires, so that an adequate estimation of the number of potential areas and total kms to be surveyed can be presented to the recovery agencies.
Advice has also been provided to Vicforests concerning some of the coupes planned for the Tallarook State Forest and an inspection for the Zinger area, in Toolangi, is currently being negotiated.
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WATER POLICY
Catchment Management Authorities across the state have been working closely with our Water Officer to develop projects for the next four years of work on our rivers, wetlands and floodplains. Waterways management is funded by the Environmental Contributions funding, which comes directly from a levy in the water bills.
Every four years, Authorities have to apply for the necessary funding to continue the works on the different catchments. This process must take into account and integrate the Traditional Owners' values and objectives.
For this reason we will continue working with CMAs within Taungurung Biik to secure funding for projects on rivers and wetlands, which will integrate cultural and ecological objectives.
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SEASONAL WATERING PROPOSALS 2020-23
Every year, environmental water managers have to engage with Taungurung to progress the elaboration of the Seasonal Watering Proposals. These are the plans that Catchment Management Authorities develop to manage the environmental water deliveries for the next financial year.
It is our right to be informed and participate in the development of such documents. These proposals will be finalised in the following months and need to be approved by the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) before the end of the financial year.
Since last year Baan Ganalina and our Water Officer have been providing assistance and guidance to incorporate traditional knowledge into the plans. This year, we have secured the 150ML of water to fill in the Horseshoe Lagoon near Trawool next winter, river flows have been set up to meet community needs but also to secure the integrity of our main rivers and reduce the impacts of river flow regulation.
Besides, we will contribute to protecting our rivers and the habitats of animals, plants and fish by transforming our consumptive water (39ML) into an environmental flow to be released in the following weeks. The water will contribute to improving the conditions of the river during low flows.
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Sherryn Antonopoulos
General Manager, Operations
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TAUNGURUNG NGAM MON
(TAUNGURUNG TOWARDS HEALING)
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In 2017 a series of meetings were held with many of the Taungurung families with the help of Right People for Country (RPfC) for the Taungurung Family Engagement Project.
Family meeting feedback about barriers and solutions to participation and engagement were set out under a series of themes, including:
- Social, cultural and emotional issues
- Conflict and lateral violence
Past conflicts over issues of family identity, cultural competence, clan affiliation and other issues have left significant scars of trauma and there is a need for TLaWC to implement healing initiatives as a priority.
Violence and a history of conflict amongst Taungurung people, often accompanied by drug and alcohol abuse, was raised at just about every family meeting, as a barrier to involvement.
This kind of violence is often referred to as ‘lateral violence’.
TLaWC are committed to addressing the issues that were raised at the family group meetings – and, in particular, the issues around intergenerational trauma and lateral violence.
We are planning on holding some healing workshops, facilitated by experts in this field, to address the issues of intergenerational trauma and lateral violence on our journey towards healing.
These workshops were to be held at Camp Jungai over the weekend of 22 to 24 May, but recent Government instructions in relation to the Coronavirus have made it necessary to postpone the camp indefinitely.
We may, however, get some information from our experts to you in the coming weeks, so that you can give these matters some thought before we actually get everyone together at Camp Jungai.
Sharon Briggs (Senior Project Officer) &
Joanne Honeysett (Community Engagement Co-ordinator)
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SIGNIFICANT WELCOME
ON TAUNGURUNG COUNTRY
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On Wednesday 11 March, Joanne Honeysett gave a welcome to 7,000 people gathered in Bright for a special Katy Perry concert to say thanks to firefighters and to express solidarity with those who had lost property in the recent bushfires.
Joanne was very well received by the crowd and it was a great opportunity to perform a Welcome on our beautiful high country traditional lands.
We are all very proud of the excellent job Joanne did to take a stand for the Taungurung people at the invitation of the organisers and Katy Perry’s team.
Always was, always will be Taungurung land!
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NAIDOC WEEK 2020 POSTPONED
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Last week an important update was posted by the National NAIDOC Committee who have decided to postpone NAIDOC Week 2020 (5 July – 12 July) in the interest of safety for our communities.
The National NAIDOC Committee have taken on-board advice from the Federal Government, health experts, key partners and from leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations.
“We all believe that an escalating COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis, as we head into winter, would have disastrous impacts on our mob - especially for our elders and those in our communities with chronic health issues.”
The National NAIDOC Awards scheduled for Saturday 11 July in Alice Springs will not go ahead as planned.
There has been a suspension of the nomination process for the National NAIDOC Awards 2020 and announcement of the winner of the poster competition until further notice. The 2020 NAIDOC Local Grants Round has also been closed until further notice.
The National Committee are in the process of finalising a new date for NAIDOC Week 2020 - towards the end of the year - and they will continue to work closely with the National Indigenous Australians Agency and their partners for NAIDOC Week 2020.
We will keep you updated.
Sharon Briggs
Senior Project Officer
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To all Mob.
I have been awaiting news regarding the 2020 Tanderrum.
That news has been received today (25 March) and I can now advise that this year’s Tanderrum has been cancelled due to the Covid 19 virus.
This is sad news, but we will make sure next year’s 2021 Tanderrum is an amazing cultural event – a celebration of our survival and of our cultural pride.
Until then please be safe and we will provide more information in the coming months as it comes to hand.
Joanne Honeysett
Community Engagement Coordinator
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Taungurung Ngam Mon
22 - 24 May, 2020
Camp Jungai
POSTPONED
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NAIDOC Week 2020 - POSTPONED
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Tanderrum 2020 - CANCELLED
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