Kimberley Appropriate Economics Interim Report - Australian ...

SUMMARY
OF WHAT HAPPENED
AT THE ROUNDTABLE
This section gives an outline of what happened
at the Roundtable. It mentions the speeches and
presentations given by all the different people.
A full copy of most of these presentations and
speeches is included at the back of this report,
after the page marked Appendix A.
The big group sessions were aimed at giving
information to people. The small group
workshops were to let people have their say
about things. These workshops were the main
hard working part of the Roundtable.
Day One
First Big Group Session
Opening speeches
The Roundtable started with a welcome
to country from Gooniyandi elder Neville
Sharpe. Then Joe Ross, a Bunuba traditional
owner and community leader, made an
opening speech.
Next, Wayne Bergmann, Kimberley Land
Council Executive Director gave a keynote
speech, to set the tone for the Roundtable.
He was followed by Don Henry, the Director
of the Australian Conservation Foundation,
who thanked all the organisations and
people that had provided funding and other
assistance for the Roundtable.
After that, presentations were made by
representatives from the three Roundtable
organisers - KLC Chairperson Tom Birch,
ACF President Ian Lowe, and EK founding
member and Secretary Pat Lowe. They
all spoke about the partnership between
their organisations, and the reasons for
supporting the idea of the Roundtable.
Presentations
After a break for morning tea, people were
given presentations on the work of three
research projects being done by scientists
and Kimberley people working together.
Dr Andrew Storey from the University of
WA gave an outline of the research findings
that have been gathered on the natural and
cultural values of the Fitzroy River area.
That was followed by Ismahl Croft and Terry
Murray, Walmajarri traditional owners, and
Dr David Morgan from Murdoch University,
who outlined the fish research projects
being undertaken along the Fitzroy River
and elsewhere in the Kimberley. In that
research, traditional owners and scientists
have been working closely together.
Tanya Vernes, from World Wildlife Fund-
Australia, and Desmond Hill, representing
the Miriuwung Gajerrong people of the
Ord Valley, joined Scott Goodson from the
Department of the Environment, to look at
the East Kimberley, especially the impact
of agricultural development on the natural
and cultural values of the Ord Valley. They
finished by telling us about the partnerships
that are being developed between the
Aboriginal community and government
agencies, working to restore and manage
natural resources in the Ord Valley.
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