Third Quarter 2009 (pdf 9.1 mb) - Australia`s Northern Territory

Karen
Sheldon
T H I R D Q UA RT E R 0 9
Welcome to
the third quarter
edition of Territory Q
for 2009. It’s our own
quarterly business
and investment
magazine.
Acknowledgements
Territory Q is published by the
Department of the Chief Minister,
Northern Territory Government.
Correspondence should be directed to
the Department of the Chief Minister,
Major Projects, Asian Relations and Trade,
GPO Box 4396,
Darwin, NT 0801,
Australia
Telephone 08 8999 7171
Email majorprojects.info@nt.gov.au
Writers
Territory Q promotes business and investment
opportunities across the Territory by profiling
the people and organisations that make the
economy work. The magazine connects us
with national and international audiences,
and keeps Territorians abreast of what’s
happening in our own backyard.
Dennis Schulz
Stephen Garnett
Samantha McCue
Photographics
Dennis Schulz
Darwin Reef and Wrecks
Fish Darwin
ShoreLands Group
Paspaley Pearls
Footprint Films
RANms
Kim Heng
Aerosail
Tentworx
Our lead story takes readers inside one of
the Territory’s iconic companies—Paspaley
Pearls—where we meet the next generation
of the Paspaley family leaders.
Then we’re off to Truscott Air Base where
Darwin company ShoreLands operates a
facility aimed at servicing the growing
offshore oil and gas industry.
Territory Q carries a message that has never
been clearer: the Northern Territory is a great
place to live and make a living—and a place
of unlimited opportunity.
Design/layout
Adzu, Darwin
ShoreLands' Truscott hub
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Paspaley Pearls: All in the family
9
Territory real estate: Defying the downturn
15
Planning the new-look Frances Bay
18
Territory films strike critical gold
20
An old gas field done a new way
24
Expanding the Darwin Business Park:
A conversation with John Coleman
26
Fishing Darwin Harbour
30
Bawinanga Corporation:
Keeping the dollar in the community
34
Servicing offshore gas and oil
38
Mary River Houseboats: Looking after the locals
40
NT Architecture Awards go Troppo
42
Krafty promotions
45
Darwin Festival: 18 days that matter
46
Five-star homegrown tents
50
Telling Territory tales
51
REGULAR FEATURES:
Tall Poppy: Karen Sheldon
12
Fast Facts: The Territory economy
55
Stephen Garnett on the knowledge economy
Celebrating Charles Darwin
Paul Henderson
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
Paddock to Plate
Year of the snake
page40
The Northern Territory Government respects
Indigenous cultures and has attempted to
ensure no material has been included in
Territory Q that is offensive to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples.
52
Cover > Photo by Dennis Schulz
Parting Shots!
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© Northern Territory Government 2009
While all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure
that the information contained in this publication is
correct, the information covered is subject to change.
The Northern Territory Government does not assume and
hereby disclaims any express or implied liability whatsoever
to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors
or omissions, whether these errors or omissions result
from negligence, accident or any other cause. Opinions
expressed in Territory Q do not necessarily reflect those of
the Northern Territory Government. Requests and inquiries
concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed
to Communications and Marketing, Department of the
Chief Minister, Northern Territory Government. All images
appearing in Territory Q are protected by copyright.
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Image below > A Truscott crew change. These rig workers are headed for leave via Darwin.
cover story:
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Few Territorians and
even fewer interstaters
have ever heard of the
Mungalalu Truscott
Airport facility, possibly
because of its location on
the mega-remote north
Kimberley coast 500km
west of Darwin. But if
you happen to be in the
oil and gas industry you
would be well acquainted
with the airfield. It is a
facility that is integral to
the supply of the Timor Sea’s
offshore production facilities,
plus the region’s exploration
drilling rigs, as well as the
Australian Government’s
surveillance of the northern
coastline. It will also become
increasingly important with
the upcoming US$20 billion
INPEX gas project's Ichthys
field sited offshore in an
isolated locale just miles
from Truscott.
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Over the past decade, the Truscott connection
has quietly turned Darwin into a major
hub for the northern offshore oil and gas
industry. The airfield is leased and operated
by ShoreAir, which is managed by the
ShoreLands Group of Darwin and ShoreBarge
ferrying supplies and bulk fuel between
Darwin and Truscott. Over 4 million litres of
jet fuel a year are pumped into aircraft that
has made it a busier airport than Darwin.
Image below > ShoreBarge services Truscott,
delivering large quantities of fuel.
Middle image > ShoreLands Group's Arthur Hamilton
with a model of a Liberator bomber, the aircraft that
flew out of Truscott during World War II.
Bottom right > Bluey Male, Truscott's last surviving
digger in the wreckage of the crashed Liberator
bomber where 11 airmen died.
Truscott supports the Jabiru, Challis, Montara,
Laminaria and Puffin oilfields, and played
a pivotal role in the recent oil spill at PTTEP
Australiasia’s West Atlas rig. The air field served
as a transfer point for crews evacuated from
the stricken platform, as well as the launching
point for Hercules aircraft charged with
controlling the spill.
The base also provides services for
exploration drilling, plus a contract with
Surveillance Australia with a 10 year contract
for Dash 8 Coastwatch flights and crew
change support for the Paspaley Pearl farms.
Truscott is state-of- the art aircraft and
logistic technology in the bush. “We have
always had the strategy that if you want to
control the sea—control the sky,” explains
ShoreLands Group managing director
Arthur Hamilton. “We wanted to make
sure that our supply base in Darwin had an
edge over all competitors, so we’re the only
logistical support company who can do the
whole gamut: fixed wing, helicopters, airfield
and supply base. There’s no other company in
Australia that can do that.”
Nearly 500 aircraft movements a month
make this the busiest heliport in Australia
with offshore crews (that work two weeks
on and two weeks off) ferried out to their
Timor Sea facilities in Super Puma helicopters.
Those going on leave are taken from the rigs
back to Truscott where they board Air North,
Pearl or Vincent fixed wing planes bound for
Darwin. From Darwin they catch aircraft to
every corner of Australia, and many others
overseas. Truscott supports about 1100
offshore workers, including exploration
drillers and trades people.
The Truscott connection with Darwin
contributes millions each year in business
revenue. Not only are crews moving in and
out, often overnighting in Darwin hotels,
but a myriad of supplies are sourced and
purchased in the Territory capital, especially
fuel. Oil rigs consume about 3000 litres of
diesel a day for power generation, and each
floating rig tender will go through about
11,000 litres a day. ShoreLands Group sells
about 68 million litres of diesel to those
companies from its base in Darwin.
Truscott, however, started out as a top secret
military base in the latter days of World War II.
The base was originally created for Mitchell
and Liberator bombers to bomb Japanese
fuel installations and military targets in Timor
in 1944 and 45. Developed in total secrecy to
avoid bombing, the base was once a rugged
home to 3000 Australian servicemen.
Only one of those servicemen is left,
and Lynton ‘Bluey’ Male recently visited
the base he served in for 18 months.
He remembers the day a Japanese Mitsubishi
Dinah spotter plane was shot down by
Spitfires before they could report the base’s
position to their imperial masters. Bluey was
there the day an Aussie Liberator bomber
crashed killing all 11 crew on board. “When
it came down the earth shook,” he recalls.
The twisted wreckage of the Liberator still lies
in the scrub near the airbase. He remembers
the day they received the message that
the Japanese had surrendered, sparking a
celebration that went on for days.
Following the war the base saw some activity
in the 1980s supporting offshore drilling,
but it wasn’t until 1999 that ShoreAir bought
the lease for a dollar. They signed a 40 year
lease with Wunambal Gaambera Aboriginal
Corporation and the Kalumburu community.
When they first took it over ShoreAir used
between 1500 and 2000 litres of fuel per
month. Now they pump between 8000 to
10,000 litres of jet fuel a day.
ShoreLands Group has also seen incredible
growth, creating an offshore supply industry
that is set to grow even larger. “We’ve been
in business for 20 years this month,” sighs
Hamilton. “We started off with one
12 tonne crane with my wife and my
partner. Now we turn over in the range
of $90 million a year with 170 employees.”
We operate the Blacktip construction camp
for Monadelphous at Wadeye, who are
contracted to Eni, the Italian gas and oil giant.
Truscott is a specialist in getting crews on and
off the oil and gas rigs in the Timor Sea, a
fact recognised when an emergency occurred
at sea earlier this year. A boatload of Afghan
asylum seekers was detained by the Navy
as an explosion occurred onboard killing
five while inflicting 35 others with severe
burns. The injured were initially taken to the
Front Puffin facility for first aid, but Defence
decided to evacuate them to Truscott.
The Truscott helicopter crews working for
CHC and Bristow began ferrying the injured
from the site to Truscott where the main
hangar was converted into a triage unit
with three areas for the different categories
of patients. An electrician on site wired up
their respirators. The barge that arrived
that morning was placed at anchor so the
barge crew could work as stretcher bearers.
The chefs and chamber maids made
sandwiches and food. They pumped 48,000
litres of fuel that day and started ferrying in
people from the Front Puffin facility.
The injured were held and stabilised at
Truscott. Two Hercules transport planes
arrived and flew them to Darwin and
Perth. “We also had NT Aeromed and the
Royal Flying Doctor Service—as many as
25 aircraft in a six hour period of evacuation,”
states Hamilton. “It was a very moving, very
stressful time for the men and women at
Truscott but they did it wholeheartedly and
efficiently.” It was an operation that earned
the gratitude of the Australian Defence Force.
The future for the logistical operation at
Truscott could not get much brighter.
INPEX’s Ichthys gas field is in the Browse Basin
not far from Truscott. The company has used
Truscott for medivac and cyclone evacuations
early in the project’s development, and the
airport’s location places it in an important
position for future involvement. “The Maret
Islands are 64 nautical miles from Truscott,”
says Hamilton. “The pipeline [to Darwin]
will go right by Truscott and we will be able
to service 85 per cent of the construction
from there. We have the capability for any
company bidding on that work to operate
out of Truscott.”
While all Territorians eagerly await INPEX’s
final investment decision, the smart money
says Australia’s busiest heliport is about to
get much busier.
“It was a very moving,
very stressful time for
the men and women
at Truscott but they
did it wholeheartedly
and efficiently.”
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Left image > James Paspaley in Darwin showroom.
Bottom image > The purpose-built Paspaley Pearl
fleet off the Kimberley coast.
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Paspaley is first and
foremost a family
business, and what an
extraordinary family
and business it is. With
Darwin as the location
of their head office, the
company remains the
world’s leading producer
of Australian South Sea
pearls, employing a flotilla
of purpose-built ships
and a fleet of aircraft to
support that industry.
They also operate an
impressive group of aircraft
companies including Pearl
Aviation, which operates
the Northern Territory
Aeromedical Service and
AeroRescue which operates
the Aerial Search and Rescue
contract Australia-wide for
the Australian Maritime
Safety Authority.
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Image below > The waters of a remote Paspaley pearl farm off the north Australian coast.
Top middle image > South Sea pearl oysters being placed back in the water at a pearl farm.
Bottom middle and top right images > South Sea pearls.
Bottom right image > The pearl fleet is supported by Grumman Mallard flying boats.
It is a family group whose board of directors is
comprised of Paspaley family members, so it
is no surprise that when times get tough, and
with the world economic downturn, they pull
together as a family. At 32, James Paspaley,
an executive director, plays an increasingly
active role in his family’s business. He has
participated in many sides of the pearling
operation from working with wild caught
shell at sea and in the wholesale trade, while
later moving into the operation of the retail
trade, the aviation business, the company’s
commercial properties and rural properties.
Until recently James Paspaley ran various
areas within the group, except the core pearl
production side. “In the last few months
we restructured the group and I’m now
responsible for the pearl production business
as well,” he says. “But that’s not to say I run
it all, because there’s simply too much for
any one person to do, so I do that with the
support of a very good executive team.
The group’s run by our board of directors
which is comprised of our shareholders:
my aunt Marilynne, my aunt Ros, my father,
myself and a few of my cousins. We sit on
the board and my father is still the executive
chairman and I report to him.”
James is a part of the company’s new
generation, along with cousins Michael
and Peter Bracher who are now responsible
for wholesale pearl sales. His sister Clare is
general manager of marketing, cousin Chris,
based in Hong Kong, is business development
manager for retail , while cousin Christine
runs VIP client relations. Cousin Nick spent nine
years in the business before embarking on his
own business, Nimble Homes (see TQ #14).
He still sits on the Paspaley board.
Together the family is charged with weathering
the worldwide economic downturn, which has
wreaked havoc on all luxury product industries,
including pearls. James Paspaley believes it
has been the single most difficult period of
time the pearling industry has endured in the
modern era. Many retailers are reportedly
down 30 to 40 per cent. While Paspaley has
noticed a downturn in particular markets,
they are confident the numbers are
manageable. “I’ve only been working with
our retail business for the last five years
but we were achieving 15 to 20 per cent
improvements year on year, five or six years in
a row,” recalls Paspaley. “So if you come off
20 per cent, then you’re back in 2006—and
in 2006 business was good.”
The company has seen industry disruption
before, albeit not as acute. After the 9/11
attacks and during the SARS epidemic, which
struck the wholesale pearl industry in Asia,
pearl sales slumped. That encouraged the
company to expand their retail activities as
a hedge against disruption in the wholesale
market. They already operated retail shops in
Darwin, Broome and Sydney, before opening
five splendid new shops in the UAE and
building their flagship Sydney showroom at
2 Martin Place. “We’ve got overheads and the
one thing that doesn’t stop for us is our costs,”
explains Paspaley. “So when sales stop, we
have to think about what our business needs
as far as distribution is concerned, to give it
greater security. Retail was part of the answer.”
To understand the other measures the
company has taken to create efficiencies in
their pearl production sector, you need to
know how the cultured pearl is produced.
From the Darwin base, purpose-built ships ferry
dive crews to search for wild Pinctada maxima
oysters, principally on the 80 Mile Beach off the
West Australian coast. They fish for wild oysters
using hookah dive gear, along the same lines as
helmeted divers did a century ago.
“If the market returns to normal I think we’ll find ourselves in the best
position we’ve been in yet. Hard times make you sharpen the pencil and
we think now we’re pretty lean and pretty sharp.”
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Wild oysters are taken on board operations
vessels, where they are presented to the
technical team who inserts a small nucleus
into the right area. The oyster is then
replaced on the ocean floor. At the dive
season’s end they transport the oysters to
pearl farm sites where the oysters spend
two years being cared for by hand before
the pearl is harvested. Paspaley operates a
string of 22 pearl farms from the Cobourg
Peninsula in Arnhem Land in the east,
to the Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia.
Of the company’s 1500 employees across
the group, a great number are fly-in,
fly-out workers on those pearl farms.
It was James's father Nick who revolutionised
the industry by perfecting the production
process. “He believes every step in the
process has an impact on what you get in
the end,” explains James Paspaley. “From
the moment we pick up the wild oysters to
the moment we harvest, 24 months later,
if you haven’t maintained the utmost level
of care, when you get to the end you won’t
have a beautiful product. Lots of people and
countries can produce poor quality pearls
but we must produce beauty, and we always
strive to produce the finest quality pearls,
as our cost structure is not the same as our
international competitors.”
Dornier dispatched to track the signal using
sophisticated military grade equipment on
board—day or night.
In order to deal with the economic
climate, the pearling industry has reduced
production. The whole industry has fished
less than half of what it is licensed to fish
this year. They have consolidated on the
coast increasing the size of some farms,
decreasing the size of others, aiming to gain
efficiencies. “Thanks to the philosophies of
my father and grandfather—we have very
low debt,” says Paspaley. “When you come
to a time like this, most of the money we’re
spending is our own money, as opposed to
the bank's or other people’s money, which
is always far more expensive.”
AeroPearl, a separate company, conducts
the intricate flight calibrations for instrument
landings in all Australian airports. Yet another
Paspaley company, Pearl Aviation, has been
operating the Northern Territory Aeromedical
Service since the 1980s as well as fly-in fly-out
contracts for numerous mining companies.
The company continues to respond to the
financial crisis from its Darwin headquarters,
where they also operate their aviation
businesses. They conduct all offshore special
missions in Dornier aircraft as part of the
national Australian Search and Rescue
contract with AMSA, from bases in Darwin,
Cairns, Brisbane, Essendon and Perth.
Every EPIRB distress signal at sea sees a
Like everyone, James is hopeful that we
have seen the worst of this world crisis and
that, from here, we can head back towards a
normal business environment. “If the market
returns to normal I think we’ll find ourselves
in the best position we’ve been in yet,”
he says. “Hard times make you sharpen the
pencil and we think now we’re pretty lean
and pretty sharp.”
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regular feature:
Decades of business
success have given Territory
catering queen
Karen Sheldon the
freedom to use her hardwon expertise to enhance
the lives of others. Sheldon
enjoys Territory-wide
hospitality notoriety from
her award-winning
Dolly Pot restaurants in
Tennant Creek and
Darwin, her plethora of
Karen’s Kitchen franchises,
and her company’s special
events catering operation.
But now, instead of
retiring, her greatest
satisfaction comes from
training Indigenous
jobseekers into the
industry. “It’s the best
thing I’ve ever done,”
says Sheldon. “I want
to focus on Indigenous
issues and make a bit of a
difference. I want to help
close the gap.”
TALL POPPY
Karen Sheldon Enterprises has become
an RTO (Registered Training
Organisation) with a newly-developed
four week pre-employment hospitality
and lifeskills program for Indigenous
trainees that the company operates out
of its base at Kantillas in TIO Stadium.
The company is part of the new
Australian Government Indigenous
Employment Panel and has the
opportunity to road test new initiatives
in Indigenous training. “McDonalds have
been trying to engage Indigenous staff for
some years with limited success,” explains
Sheldon. “But we’ve had moderate
wins at getting Indigenous workers into
McDonalds. Now we are also working
with Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin
Turf Club and SkyCity.” The first program
included 25 Indigenous trainees, and
there are now 88 people on the case list.
Sheldon’s interest in Indigenous training
is hardly an overnight occurrence. It is an
idea that goes back to the day in 1970
when the girl from the Benalla district
in Victoria stepped off the bus at the
sun-splashed Barrow Creek Roadhouse.
She had just landed a cooking job there,
280km north of Alice Springs, even
though she had never cooked for anyone
before. She had never met an Aboriginal
person either, but soon interacted daily
with tribal people who lived next to the
roadhouse. Five years at Barrow Creek
would make a lasting impression on
Sheldon’s life.
Her cooking education was a sink or swim
experience, but she had an unquenchable
passion to learn. The roadhouse menu
could best be described as ‘limited’,
so young Sheldon subscribed to TimeLife’s Foods of the World to encourage
variety. That meant every month visitors
were treated to food from a different
country. Cattle station people from the
area showed Sheldon how to choose
a killer, make the proper kill, bone out
the carcass and hang the meat. A Dutch
baker on a road gang taught her to
make flourless cakes and make her own
yeast out of sourdough. “I had the best
apprenticeship that you could possibly
have,” Sheldon recalls. “None of my
apprentices after that—and I’ve trained
more than 100 apprentices—ever got
that kind of practical experience.”
She married the boss and, after they sold
the roadhouse in 1982, the couple moved
to greener pastures in Tennant Creek.
While her husband opened a diesel
generating business, her brother Richard
came up from Victoria and together the
siblings hatched a bizarre idea for a new
business: build a combination squash
court and restaurant, because the town
needed both.
They went to work building the facility
that they named the Dolly Pot, after
the mortar and pestle-style mining tool
Tennant’s miners used to ‘dolly-up’
samples of ore. The venue became not
only a set of squash courts but it also
served as the town’s community centre
where you could take dance or aerobics
classes, play ‘Dolly Volley’—indoor
volleyball—or throw private parties.
The restaurant became widely known as
the only
y place along ‘the Track’ you could
get fresh
h home-cooked food featuring
locally grown herbs and salads.
Then providence intervened. A writer
for W magazine (and a personal friend
of Nancy Reagan) in the USA was doing
a story about restaurants in Australia.
He popped into town in his private aircraft
and ordered the Dolly Pot’s homemade
veal parmagiana. He wrote that the best
meal he ate in Australia was in the squash
courts in Tennant Creek. “I didn’t know
anything about it until radio announcers
from Adelaide and Sydney started ringing
me saying we had just been named the
best restaurant in Australia,” remembers
Sheldon. “I thought it must have been
an April Fools joke. But after that we
had people coming to the Territory with
Kakadu, Ayers Rock and the Dolly Pot on
their itinerary.”
It was a million dollars worth of
advertising and made the Dolly Pot an
instant success. A host of gold plate
awards and a Bulletin magazine award
later, the restaurant traded on the adage,
‘fresh is king’ during the town’s boom
years. Sheldon, meanwhile, separated
from her partner and went into business
with her brother, buying the town’s
BP service station. She decided she needed
proper training herself so she did a
chef’s course at NT University in Darwin
through Recognition of Prior Learning.
Fifteen years ago Sheldon and her
brother Richard went into business in
Tennant Creek with Julalikari Council
Aboriginal Corporation. Together they
developed the BP Complex and recently
added an extensive fast food complex.
“The reason we put the Red Rooster in
there is because they are Australian,
have a fresh fast food offer, and have
such a good training system,” Sheldon
says. “Our plan is to get the whole place
run by local Indigenous staff—not just
owned by them. I want to help them
build up their own businesses in the
region.” Training others has always
been Karen Sheldon’s goal. She uses
her businesses as the vehicle to assist
people into work.
Moving to Darwin in the 90s, Sheldon
opened a second Dolly Pot in Fannie Bay,
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“I didn’t know anything about it until radio announcers from
Adelaide and Sydney started ringing me saying we had just
been named the best restaurant in Australia.”
in effect owning two restaurants
1000km apart. With the spatial logistics
impossible to manage, Sheldon and her
brother sold the Tennant Creek Dolly Pot,
which has since been refurbished and
reopened as Fernanda’s.
The Darwin Dolly Pot lasted four years
before it was sold and Sheldon went into
function and airline catering, building
a business based at Kantillas kitchen
from 1998. Then two ex-Tennant Creek
staff members returned from overseas
adventures (Julie Calvert and Sarah Hickey)
and they worked together so well
with Sheldon that, together with
Amanda Swift, a Pommie from Liverpool,
they gave birth to Karen Sheldon
Catering. The business flourished,
both in catering and major events,
and in developing 11 Karen’s Kitchens
from Darwin to Tennant Creek.
Sheldon, however, was getting more
interested in other areas, and went back
to school at Charles Darwin University to
complete her Certificate in Training and
Assessment. “We became involved in an
NT Government Business Development
program and spent 12 months restructuring
our business, deciding that developing
a franchise was too hard, especially with
forecasts of a tightening economy.”
The group then divested itself of most of
the Karen’s Kitchens, to concentrate on
upgrading its Speaker’s Corner Café in
Parliament House. “We’re going to make
Speaker’s Corner our signature café and
make it really good. It’ll also have a focus
on Indigenous training,” she explains.
The Darwin V8 weekend and the
Kimberley Moon Experience Dinner
event in Kununurra will still have
that Karen Sheldon flair, but more
training programs with the Australian
Government’s Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace Relations
are on the horizon. “It’s a long-term
thing and we have had our share of
disappointments,” reflects Sheldon.
“But we’re working with disadvantaged
people, some of which were long-grassers
in Katherine and now they’re productive
hamburger flippers at McDonalds, and
we’ve got them doing literacy and
numeracy. Once you get them into a
job, that’s just the start. We want to
give them a vision for the future.”
Today the Karen Sheldon group is also
concentrating its efforts on catering
for events and developing the RTO.
This image > Darwin city looking back from Cullen Bay.
In its June quarter figures, the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory (REINT)
reports that the Territory market continues to show strong increases in recorded sales
and median prices. Reflecting the Territory’s buoyant economy, rising population
and low unemployment rates, the 2008–09 total value of house sales has broken
the $1 billion mark, totalling a record $1,063,381,204. “Median house prices for the
quarter increased in all areas of the NT except for inner Darwin,” states the REINT
report, “with Darwin overall increasing by a whopping 19.0 per cent for the quarter
and the northern suburbs produced a staggering increase of 20.4 per cent for the
quarter. Median house prices in Alice Springs increased by 2.2 per cent for the quarter,
and 20.4 per cent over the year.”
Image above > Karen's Kitchen operates the new-look Speaker's Corner Café in Parliament House.
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Far Left and image above > Alice Springs homes.
Top middle image > Darwin units for sale.
Left image > Sturt's Desert Pea in flower in Alice Springs.
All areas in the Territory reported a
reduction in recorded sales in units except
for Alice Springs. The median prices for vacant
land sales increased significantly for all areas in
the NT. In comparison, markets in the southern
capitals have declined and continue to remain
flat. “In some markets the volumes are down
as much as 40 per cent and their prices
are down 20 to 40 per cent,” observes REINT
president David Loy. “We haven’t experienced
that up here because we’ve had good
population growth, nearly full employment,
our tourism market is still fair, and everything
that drives the economy is going well.”
The Darwin market is still quite buoyant in
certain price areas, especially the $400,000
to $600,000 market. As sellers get above
that level, purchasers show signs of hesitancy
to buy. People are more cautious about the
extent of their mortgages and banks are more
prudent in how they lend. “The middle range
of the market is still very active, and it would
be fair to say that every real estate agent in
town has problems with getting the stock
at the right value,” says Tony Pickering,
director of KG Young and Associates.
“If anything, the prices are starting to edge
up a bit in that price range. The cheapest
house we’ve sold would be somewhere
between $400,000 to $450,000.”
attract skilled workers in many employment
sectors. Their problems are compounded
once they employ a worker interstate and
cannot find affordable accommodation for
them in Darwin. “Coupled with the INPEX
development you’ve got strong economic
showings from defence, and the mining
sector,” explains REINT’s Morgan Shearer.
“But I can see a problem for us, like the
rest of the country, and that’s getting skilled
workers and being able to house them.
We’re seeing contractors buying blocks of
flats to keep their workers in.”
Darwin’s housing stock has, in fact, not kept
up with demand. While unemployment
grew nationally in the last quarter,
Territory employers are still working to
While accommodation of all types is currently
under construction, industry experts believe
it is not enough. The Darwin vacancy
rate stands at 1 per cent, so for every
100 rental properties there’s only one
available. They believe that figure must be
up to about 4 per cent to have a healthy
availability to operate in.
Loy contends that we should be building
1700 houses or units a year to keep up with
the rise in population, and currently we
are building 1000. “There’s still plenty of
investors that want to build developments,”
explains Loy. “There’s still plenty of home
builders out there striving for land so they
can build more house/land packages.
The workforce is a stable and the population’s
growing. We need to build between 700 and
1200 properties a year, at least, to match our
population growth.”
Alice Springs is also experiencing market
growth within a stable population.
Real estate agents’ great difficulty is finding
homes to put on the market. “People seem
to be holding on to their houses,” says
David Forrest from Frampton’s First National
Real Estate in Alice Springs. “There might
be an element of caution due to the world
economic situation, but employment in
Alice Springs is strong. Interest rates are
at an all-time low so there’s no financial
pressures for people to sell or trade down.”
Land release issues in Alice Springs are
currently being addressed. There is no
shortage of buyers with all of recently
released land sold even before titles were
issued. Alice, has a vacancy rate of 0.1 per cent,
the Territory’s lowest. With a balanced rate at
about 3 per cent, investors can be confident
of quick rentals.
Statistics show that outside influences like
SARS, the pilots strike, and the economic
downturn had little effect on the market.
“The figures show that Alice Springs doesn’t
react strongly to national and international
economic trends, but it does to localised
influences,” reports Forrest. “Anyone looking
to invest here can be assured of continuous
growth. In general terms, I’d say anyone
owning real estate in Alice Springs would
have to be a pretty happy person.”
“There might be an element of caution due to the world economic
situation, but employment in Alice Springs is strong.”
16
p
p
17
Standing behind the
‘Duck Pond’, the protected
anchorage for the Territory
fishing fleet, Ziko Ilic looks
at the Darwin cityscape
rising like a backdrop
to the armada before
him. His vantage point is
the barren 5ha block of
reclaimed land nicknamed
the ‘Gobi Desert’, an area
the Territory Government
has designated for
development.
18
p
The owner-operator of the Darwin Fish
Market is just one of the parties interested
in getting involved with that development.
His dream is to build a seafood centre
featuring markets and al fresco dining,
flanked by this stunning view. “It looks like
a miniature Hong Kong,” Ilic says, entranced
with the idea. “Imagine sitting here in a
fine restaurant that serves only Territory
seafood—the best in the world. People
would stop in Darwin just to taste
our seafood in this fantastic setting.”
Ilic’s dream could one day, in the not-toodistant future, become a reality. It is just
one of many ideas currently being floated
during the public consultation phase of
the proposed development of the entire
Frances Bay precinct bordering Darwin
Harbour. It’s an area where many of the land
parcels were progressively filled in without
any overall guiding development plan.
Landfill materials are, for the most part,
unknown, dating back to before Cyclone
Tracy wreaked havoc on the city. Many of
the lots remain partially below sea level to
provide for ship ways and barge landings.
The Frances Bay Area Plan will create an
opportunity to redevelop these properties in a
mixed-use development that will complement
the spectacular Waterfront Development
nearby. It’s a plan that will rival other seaside
developments such as the V&A in Capetown,
the Fremantle Waterfront, Melbourne’s
Docklands and Mackay’s Waterfront, which is
more on the Frances Bay scale.
The government’s draft area plan was
prepared in consultation with the Marine
Industry Working Group, which consists of
the Department of Business and Employment,
the Land Development Corporation,
the Darwin Waterfront, the Darwin Port
Corporation and the Department of Planning
and Infrastructure. Frances Bay landowners
and other stakeholders were also canvassed.
The public had a 28-day consultation period
to discuss the plan that includes an expansion
of the Duck Pond by between 40 and
50 per cent as well as a mixed-use development
that includes residential components. The
marina development of the Gobi Desert will
spark the area aesthetically, and the expansion
of the mooring basin will create additional
locked marina berths, as well as a transport
hub for ferry services and charter boats.
The project will not limit existing
development rights, but provides a blueprint
for future development for landowners to
take initiatives of their own. The area plan
calls for the construction of a ‘fill line’ that
will see the existing land extended into
Frances Bay. It will end in a sea wall, creating
a usable interface between the land and the
sea. The Gobi Desert section will not only see
the expansion of the Duck Pond, but will also
see a further 6.5ha added to the Frances Bay
side and used for mixed development.
The proposed development will open the
door to current landowners who wish to
extend their land parcels through ordered
land reclamation. The plan also calls for
the dredging of a new channel adjacent to
the current Fisherman’s Wharf, paving the
way for the building of a Frances Bay Ferry
Terminal. The terminal will provide a CBD
ferry stop for cross harbour passengers.
The area plan provides guidelines for
development, but that development will be,
for the most part, left to the private sector
and entrepreneurs like Ziko Ilic. Like the
Waterfront Development before it, the plan
lays the groundwork for development that
will see exciting new amenities rise from a
tired seaside industrial area.
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strikeCR
It was fitting that the
premier of Balibo was
held at Darwin’s outdoor
Deckchair Cinema,
celebrating the bond
between the film and the
city where much of the
film was shot. Director
Robert Connolly was on
hand along with lead
actor Anthony LaPaglia
to thank all the people of
e
Darwin who helped in th
at
production of the film th
chronicles the murder of
in
six Australian journalists
East Timor. LaPaglia played
ed
Roger East, who discover
the truth about the deaths
of five other journalists
in the isolated village of
Balibo in 1975.
win's Deckchair Cinema.
ctor Robert Connolly at Dar
Right image > Balibo dire
st Roger East.
y LaPaglia portrays journali
Far right from top > Anthon
g Shackleton.
Gre
alist
joun
TV
as
> Damon Gameau
and Delilah.
son
Sam
ting
> Warwick Thornton shoo
Delilah.
and
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20
p
p
21
Since that showing, critics across
Australia have lavished the film
with praise. “It is rare, indeed, for
an Australian film to dare prick the
national conscience. It is rarer still for
one to do so with the power, conviction
and immediacy of Balibo,” stated
the Melbourne Age. “Compelling,
provocative and unashamedly political,
this extraordinary film offers a searing
account of the 1975 invasion of East
Timor by Indonesia during which five
Australian TV journalists were killed.”
This is the second Territory-based
feature that has won resounding critical
acclaim this year, the other being
Samson and Delilah, a film shot, written
and directed by Alice Springs-based
director Warwick Thornton. Premiering
in Alice Springs, Thornton’s film went
on to a screening at the Cannes Film
Festival where it won the Camera
d’Or award. It has become the highest
grossing Australian movie of the year,
earning over $3.5 million nationally.
“There are two different
kinds of films that are
made in the Territory—
there are films that use
the place as a location,
then there are films
that use the Territory
as an experience.”
ABC TV film reviewers David Stratton and
Margaret Pomeranz both gave the film
five stars, the first time for an Australian
movie in their long running association.
Stratton wrote in The Australian
newspaper: “Anyone who cares about
Australian cinema should see this film.
I’d go further and suggest that anyone
who cares about Australia should see it.
Samson and Delilah is, quite simply, one of
the finest films ever made in this country.”
The Northern Territory is not only the
location for both films, but plays a strong
part, especially in Samson and Delilah.
“There are two different kinds of films
that are made in the Territory—there
are films that use the place as a location,
then there are films that use the Territory
as an experience,” contends Thornton.
“Ten Canoes, Samson and Delilah and
Yolngu Boy used the Territory as a
lifestyle and an existence that come from
the core of what Territorians are. Those
films were developed here. There’s others
like [Baz Luhrmann’s] Australia [that]
used it as a great backdrop.”
22
p
Though the success of Samson and Delilah
has elevated Thornton’s directorial stature
within the international film industry,
(and he also won the 2009 AWGIE – the
Australian Writers Guild Award) he has
no plans to relocate from Alice Springs.
He is currently shooting and directing
an ABC TV series called Art and Soul,
examining Indigenous art around
the country, and particularly in the
backblocks of the western desert and the
Kimberley where he and his crew and
presenter Hetti Perkins camped under
the stars and cooked over the open fire
for much of the shoot.
He likes the fact that the Territory is slowly
growing its own film industry, having
located its Film Office in Alice Springs.
He has a host of project ideas that will
see him once again behind the camera
in Central Australia. “Alice is two hours
from anywhere so it’s the perfect place
to be. Two hours to Darwin, two hours
to Sydney, 2.5 hours from Perth. Alice
is really important to me. All my family
are here and all my memories are here,”
explains Thornton.
Connolly was also pleased with the
experience of filming in the Territory.
I always wanted to shoot the film
here because it’s set here,” Connolly
told Territory Q. “Roger East was
here in Darwin in 1975 working with
the reconstruction authority on the
rebuilding of Darwin after Cyclone
Tracy. Young Ramos Horta came
through after meeting Gough Whitlam
and invited Roger to run the East Timor
news agency. So not only is Darwin a
perfect place to film but it’s historically
correct as well.”
Thornton with
From the top > Warwick
Creek setting.
Jay
his lead actors at the
Marissa Gibson
and
ra
ama
McN
an
> Row
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as Samson and Deli
nalists flee
> The five Australian jour
army.
an
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the on-coming Indo
er East searches
Rog
as
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LaPa
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hon
> Ant
alists' fate.
joun
the
for the truth about
Connolly was aided by the Territory
Government’s Film Office in Alice Springs.
Film Office director Penelope McDonald
helped the filmmakers administratively
and logistically as well as securing some
financial assistance. Over half the film
was shot in and around the Darwin area.
“We shot at Florence Falls In Litchfield
National Park, we shot on Perkins’
Wharf, we filmed in the Botanic
Gardens, we built Balibo town near
the airport,” recalls Connolly. “I love
location shooting. We only brought
a very small crew up here so we had
locals in every department of the film,
particularly the art department, building
sets. We dubbed the film into Tetum for
East Timor audiences using all Darwin
Timorese actors.”
Thornton used his local knowledge
to secure the setting and the cast
for Samson and Delilah. He shot the
film at Jay Creek, in the MacDonnell
Ranges 45km west of Alice Springs, an
abandoned government settlement
built for Indigenous Australians in the
late 1920s and early 30s. Thornton
wrote the film with that place in mind
knowing he didn’t have to build or rent
a whole community. He leased it for six
weeks from the traditional owners.
The casting of the film was inspired.
He drew heart wrenching performances
from lead actors Rowan McNamara
and Marissa Gibson, both Alice Springs
locals. “We decided to cast kids from
Central Australia who grew up seeing
Samson and Delilahs all the time, people
who’ve lived those life experiences and
emotions,” says Thornton. “I cast Rowan
and Marissa on their energy level they
gave when they first walked in the door.
They were 14 at the time and they had
been literally rehearsing the roles of
Samson and Delilah for 14 years.”
Thornton’s training and filmmaking
apprenticeship came from Alice Springs.
He began doing cinematography
at CAAMA (the Central Australian
Aboriginal Media Association), working
with local crews before going on to
work for a host of directors in Sydney
and Melbourne. Samson and Delilah was
his first feature. “I grew up when there
wasn’t an industry in the Territory—but
there is an industry today,” he says.
“The fact that we have the NT Film
Office is terrific and hopefully some
day they’ll be able to compete with
the other states in funding.”
p
23
The press gathered in the offices of the Chief Minister on
the fifth floor of Darwin’s Parliament House to hear the
news and quiz the players. Australian oil and gas producer
Santos had just announced it had formed a joint venture
with French LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) giant GDF SUEZ
to develop the Petrel, Tern and Frigate gas fields in the
Joseph Bonaparte Gulf. Santos agreed to sell a 60 per cent
interest in the fields to GDF SUEZ who would develop and
operate the offshore processing facility possibly for 20 years.
The fields were the first discovered in the region and have
taken over 40 years to be developed.
The project developers met with Chief
Minister Paul Henderson, who expressed
his support for the project to the media.
“For the Northern Territory the project does
present significant ongoing opportunities,”
stated the Chief Minister. “It’s about
developing Darwin as a service and supply
base for all of the offshore platforms to be
developed in this region. There’ll be many
job opportunities for Territorians working
on this field and huge business opportunities
in terms of ongoing service, supply and
maintenance of these platforms.”
The media questions centred on the floating
LNG (FLNG) technology—producing LNG
offshore—its ground-breaking nature and the
lack of benefits arising for downstream onshore
production facilities like the existing Darwin
LNG plant. But Shammi Herai, GDF SUEZ’s chief
business developer, explained that the FLNG
concept was the difference between advancing
the development of the fields or leaving them
stranded as they have been for decades. The
Petrel, Tern and Frigate fields contain substantial
“It’s about building
Darwin as a service
and supply centre of
engineering excellence,
port excellence, supply
excellence and a
home for the labour
market to operate all
of these fields.”
24
p
Left image > (Starting from left) John Anderson from Santos,
Cheif Minister Paul Henderson, Shammi Herai and
Christophe Wagner from GDF SUEZ meet the press.
Right image > Santos' holdings in the Timor Sea.
gas resources, but are not large enough to justify
the capital investment required to bring the gas
on shore for conventional LNG production.
Another reason for developing a floating
LNG capacity is the distance from shore
and the absence of liquids in the fields.
Stripping off liquids like condensate in a gas
development can often pay for the project’s
initial infrastructure costs—the pipeline, set-up,
construction—like ConocoPhillips did with its
Bayu-Undan development. “The flipside to not
having liquids is that it simplifies the technology
aspects.” explains Herai.
Floating LNG is a technology that will be
developed for smaller fields.
GDF SUEZ has joined Shell, among others,
in developing the engineering necessary for
floating technology. The company has made a
major investment in floating LNG technology,
but they stress they are not attempting to
be the first off the mark, as much as getting
the technology right. “There has been a
monumental increase in confidence in the last
12 months,” explains Santos vice president
John Anderson. “Certainly for us, GDF SUEZ is
a very well-known engineering capability—a
global player. They built the Suez Canal.
They have engineered around 25 LNG
terminals around the world. The fact they are
heavily involved in floating re-gasification has
certainly given Santos the confidence that we
have exactly the right partner to take forward
the challenges of this technology.”
Speaking for Santos, which also remains
the second largest equity holder in the
Darwin LNG and a holder of equity in the
Evans Shoals and the Barossa/Caldita fields
in the Timor Sea, Anderson said he hoped
all of those developments could eventually
become land based solutions. The company
supports the Darwin production option for
Sunrise over floating LNG.
The developers agree that the project will
produce strong benefits to the Top End
economy through the expanding offshore
service and supply industry. “There is huge
marine support needed, as well as helicopter
support,” says Herai. “There will be some
opportunities, like developing marine support
services that would not have come with
an onshore development. You open a new
front for business, maintenance, and support
services. There are lots of synergies with
Darwin because we will be accessing services
from close by.”
With offshore supply already earning Territory
businesses around $150 million a year,
government and industry are looking at the
possibilities of building an offshore supply
base at the East Arm Port. “Darwin LNG will
continue to grow, and INPEX is almost here,
and we are on the map as an LNG producer,”
observes the Chief Minister. “But that’s not
the only story. It’s about building Darwin as
a service and supply centre of engineering
excellence, port excellence, supply excellence
and a home for the labour market to operate
all of these fields.”
p
25
26
p
This image > An aerial view of the Darwin Business Park.
–aCONVERSATION
withJOHNCOLEMAN
It was not long ago the
Darwin Business Park,
situated just outside the
gates of the East Arm Port,
was a 100 hectare barren
patch of landscaping,
inhabited by just one
tenant—Toll Holdings.
But today, two years later,
the sprawling park is
nearly full of purpose-built
large scale industrial
facilities, and expanding
to meet further demand.
It is a development
that mirrors Darwin’s
remarkable growth.
p
27
Far left > Business Park warehouse facilities
back onto the railway terminus.
Left image > John Coleman in a new
development area.
The man who has overseen that extraordinary
growth is the Land Development Corporation’s
general manager, John Coleman. Since taking
over the Business Park two years ago the
park has attracted a host of local, national
and international companies associated with
the adjacent East Arm Port and the railway.
Territory Q went on a driving tour of the
Business Park with Coleman and recorded
this interview.
TQ – Who are the latest tenants to move
into the Business Park?
JC – We have just recently signed contracts
with Simon’s National Carriers, Northern
Transportables, Acacia Glass, MCD Moving
and Norbuilt. The likes of Simons and
Northern Transportables are up-sizing, having
outgrown their current sites. Norbuilt are
intending to complete a development here,
along the railfront, which will see TNT and
another tenant take up occupancy within a year.
Across the road we have the construction of
the new offices of the Arnhem Land Progress
Association next to the huge Independent
Grocers complex, then Amcor packaging,
28
p
Bluescope Steel and ConocoPhillips have
moved into a previously built warehouse
to use it as their offshore supply base.
Global Freight Connect is just about
ready to move into their new facility and
Top Class Fruits have started work on their
development, which will see the importing
and exporting of fresh produce. Gwelo is
developing a factory for the pre-assembly of
their bathroom modules for the buildings in
the city and the Finocchiaro family has just
recently finished these three warehouses, at
the end of O’Sullivan Circuit, for distributors
who don’t necessarily want to build their
own infrastructure. ShoreLands Group are
also in the midst of negotiating the purchase
of a large parcel of land.
TQ – So there couldn’t be much space left.
JC – There are only two blocks that are not
under active negotiation at the moment,
in this area of the Business Park and works
have recently started on our next subdivision
which will see the release of 18 strategic
industrial blocks to the market. All blocks are
over one hectare in size, and will be released
to the market in two stages. The first
10 blocks are expected to be released to the
market, off the plan, early next year with the
balance expected to be released late 2010.
The corporation has more names on blocks
than what’s actually available for the first
release to the market.
This subdivision, known as Darwin Business
Park South, will pave the way for the next
subdivision, Darwin Business Park North,
which will see the creation of another
11 strategic industrial lots. It’s all programmed
under a 10 year strategic plan that sets out
how we develop, when we develop, and
who for. That plan shows us what inputs and
outputs we have to have, and what returns
there are over an extended period of time.
TQ – The growth in the Park has been
rapid in the last couple years. What do
you put that down to?
JC – To be fair, there were some processes in
the pipeline before I took over and they have
come to fruition as well in the last two years.
The team here are good at bringing things to
reality, and helped bring them to a close.
We’ve got a small team of very good people
that has the opportunity to see developments
are done correctly, and does its utmost to see
there is minimal impact on Darwin Harbour.
We have planners, an estate manager,
financial manager, and a technical officer
acting in an engineering role. There are
administrative staff and a lawyer. We’ve now
got an environmental officer who performs a
key role in ensuring the corporation's projects
adhere to all environmental regulations.
One of our most recent projects has included
the introduction of humeceptors, which are a
big device that capture all the run-off from a
parcel of land and filters that run off to prevent
any pollution into our harbour. We have good
connections and good relationships with all
government agencies to be able to deliver back
information to our clients.
If I’m meeting with a new developer, say a
mineral storage area in the Business Park,
I’ll bring in an engineer, perhaps a lawyer,
our planner and an estate officer into the
meeting. Then at that meeting we can all
understand what that developer is wanting.
So we can answer questions from, not only a
legal perspective, but a technical perspective.
TQ – Why have you rebranded the Land
Development Corporation?
JC – When I took over the Land Development
Corporation, I set a lot of new policies, a new
way of operating, wanting to sell ourselves as
being different from the previous operation.
We wanted a new fresh look and feel.
TQ – What other new initiatives are
happening at the Business Park?
JC – We have five smaller blocks that back
onto the new boat ramp that we’re markettesting at the moment. We’re talking to
marine-oriented businesses—boat repairs, fuel,
bait sales, and other businesses connected to
recreational boating. We’re suggesting these
blocks near the boat ramp may suit them.
People could pick up the supplies that they
need as they head for the boat ramp.
The Common User Area is an exciting
new development. It was an idea that
was born from the Chamber of Commerce,
the Manufacturers Council, and others.
They wanted government to develop a facility
similar to what’s being done in Fremantle,
Western Australia. It’s a big assembly yard,
a big shed where they can build modules
under cover, with sea frontage so modules
can be moved out on barges.
For us to attract that sort of business,
we decided we actually had to build
something. Our solution to that issue was
to start at basics. We decided that Land
Corp will provide the land and we’ll go to
government to get money to put in a new
road and some sealed areas, and fix up the
drainage. So we’ve started that.
TQ – Is there a demand for it?
JC – We think there will be a demand for
it. The important thing about the Business
Park is we don’t see ourselves as being
isolated from things that are happening
around us. We work closely with the
Darwin Port Corporation and vice versa.
Whatever they do with goods coming
over the port, invariably they’ll need some
business in the Business Park, whether it’s
storage, or distribution of goods that’s here.
Their business is our business.
TQ – How far along is the Common
User Area?
JC – We spent nearly half a million dollars
in putting a road into it last financial year,
there’s a $1.7 million contract underway
now and Land Development Corporation has
over $2 million to provide additional storage
areas and an amenity this year. I think it’ll
be attractive because people will be able to
get in do a project and get out. They don’t
have to stay there. The first stages should be
completed before Christmas this year.
TQ – Is it a coincidence that it’ll be done just
before INPEX is due to begin construction?
JC – (wryly) No. But remember we’re not
just focused on INPEX. Our colleagues at
Port Corporation might need somewhere
to store containers or any other companies
that are looking around for space might
want to take advantage of it. If we didn’t
have it there, our local manufacturers would
be disadvantaged. We want to make sure
we do the best we can to help our local
manufacturers have somewhere to pull
something together and win contracts.
p
29
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30
p
It’s 6am and sunrise is still
an hour away, but the
Cullen Bay Ferry Terminal is
buzzing with anticipation.
The jetty is jammed with
expectant fishermen,
hands sunk deep in their
pockets in the morning
chill, waiting for their
booked tour boats to
arrive. Most will be going
out on half-day excursions
in Darwin Harbour, while
some will join an overnight
trip that will take them
further afield to the waters
off the Tiwi Islands or even
Arnhem Land. Suddenly
the boats arrive and the
fishermen shuffle onboard,
their minds focused on a
day spent hauling in a feed
of golden snapper, Spanish
mackerel, black jewfish,
giant trevally or an iconic
Territory barramundi.
p
31
TThey have all spent thousands on boats and
eequipment like depth sounders, GPS and
rradar to deliver a competitive edge and a
quality fishing experience. Tony Clementson,
q
tthe general manager of Tourism Top End,
ssays no second-rate operators are
ccontaminating the market because all know
tthat one bad experience can ruin an industry.
“These guys are really polished,” he says.
“
“The quality of operators in the Darwin
“
Harbour market is incredible. They take the
H
ssupply of equipment and maintenance very
sseriously, and the standard of technology
aand safety is first-class.”
FFishing charters add a new dimension to
Darwin tourism and, to explore that industry
D
ffurther, Territory Q joined two of the industry’s
32
p
top operators for half-day tours on Darwin
Harbour: Fish Darwin and Darwin Reef
and Wrecks. Both moor their boats inside
Cullen Bay but are looking for space
elsewhere. Both have made sizeable
investments in equipment and boat
modification to suit their operations, which
concentrate on half-day Darwin Harbour trips,
while offering extended charters further afield.
Darwin Reef and Wrecks (DRW) is a family
business operated by Jim and Vicki Bancroft
and their son Travis. Jim Bancroft has been
involved in the Top End tourism industry
for over 30 years, having also operated
backpacker hostels and 4WD tours to Kakadu
National Park. He operates half-day trips on
the harbour, competing with Shaun Uden
of Fish Darwin. Both found that it was the
serious fishermen who booked the overnight
tours while visitors to Darwin just want
a taste of fishing and some time on the
harbour. “We didn’t want to make a holiday
of it,” says Bruce Hallan of Ku-ring-gai,
New South Wales, on a DRW tour, “but we
wanted to be able to say we gave it a bash.”
Both operators limit their tours to 12
passengers per trip, with three trips per day
in the Dry Season, and fewer in the Wet.
Both charge $130 per person for four hours,
which includes all bait, rods and reels, nibbles
and a lunch. “With this sort of business you
have to work in volume,” explains Bancroft.
“It’s still a struggle, but it’s a much easier
struggle than 4WD trips to Kakadu.”
Fish Darwin operates two boats, the
Northern Exile and the Dolphin Diver.
Uden, 33, has been operating for three
years but has spent plenty of time in
Territory waters as a commercial diver and
a skipper beforehand. Since making the
move to fishing tourism with wife Lori,
a marketing specialist, he believes he’s
onto a good thing. “The whole idea of doing
half-day charters in the harbour has really
taken off,” states Uden. “We had a good
July and it picked up even better in August
with forward bookings looking great.”
Bancroft also runs two boats, the Scubafish
and Reefmaster, having just re-powered the
Scubafish motors (at a cost of $84,000) in
order to pick up speed that gives fishermen
more time on the water. He kicked off
the half-day market on the harbour over
twice the size of Sydney Harbour in March
of 2006 and, like Uden, has seen great
growth. “The number of people we carry
is growing at a rate of about 25 per cent
a year,” says Bancroft. “After our first year
we rose 50 per cent, but since then lots of
others have gotten into it.”
Uden utilises
his kknowledge
Ud
ili
hi
l d off the
h area’s
’
history and his experience of diving on
Darwin’s 30 harbour wrecks, including
World War II aircraft. Many of those
wrecks double as artificial reefs and as
a result make prime fishing spots. Both
operators use their electronic equipment
to scan the harbour’s reefs and wrecks for
movement, while keeping close watch on
the harbour’s massive tides, strong indicators
of changes in fish feeding behaviour.
Both Bancroft and Uden owe much of their
success to aggressive marketing. Hotels and
agents book half-day trips in Darwin but
Uden’s Fish Darwin relies on the internet
for most extended trips. Wife Lori operates
an informative, attractive website profiling
all aspects of their charters, along with the
slogan, ‘Let the Adventure Begin’.
Under their slogan, ‘Stop Wishing—Come
Fishing’, Darwin Reef and Wrecks is doing
so well in this competitive market that they
plan on expanding. “We’re one of Darwin’s
busiest charter companies because we
smashed ’em with our branding,” says a
smiling Bancroft. “Our slogan and our
TV commercials really work for us. If I’m
down to $2—I’ll spend it on marketing.”
Top left image > Co
ral trout
and a red emperor,
caught
on a Darwin Reef
and
Wrecks two day live
-aboard
trip to Flat Top Ban
ks.
Bottom left image
>
Tye Edgcombe dis
plays
an estuarine cod.
Top middle image
>
Electronic hardware
aboard
Fish Darwin's Nothe
rn Exile.
Bottom middle lef
t>
Jim Bancroft of Da
rwin
Reef Wrecks.
Bottom middle rig
ht >
Darwin Reef and Wr
ecks'
two tour boats.
Image above > Sha
un Uden
and fishermen enj
oy a
Darwin Harbour sun
set.
D
Darwin
has a national reputation as a prime
fishing destination, so it is no surprise that
within the past few years a large number
w
of fishing charters have sprung up in the
o
TTerritory capital. The tours have become
highly competitive with operators advertising
h
iin both print and electronic media. Equinox,
Arafura Blue Water Charters, Barramundi
A
FFishing Charters, Darren’s Northern Territory
Barra Safaris, Untamed Fishing Adventures,
B
Red Devil Charters, Obsession Fishing Safaris
R
aand others are competing for the sport
fisherman’s dollar.
“The quality of
operators in the Darwin
Harbour market is
incredible. They take
the supply of equipment
and maintenance
very seriously, and the
standard of technology
and safety is first-class.”
p
33
The sleek Stabicraft boat,
powered by a gutsy
115 horsepower motor,
bounces over the deep
swells in the Liverpool River,
its occupants casting a
keen eye over the water.
At the wheel is Djelk Sea
Ranger Samuel Gulwa
aided by fellow rangers
Alfie Galaminda and
William Dennis, their
surveillance effort funded
by Australian Customs and
AQIS. These Arnhem Land
traditional owners have
an uncanny ability to spot
activity that can elude
non-Aborigines. In the past
18 months the rangers
have detected and
reported more than
20 foreign fishing boats
off the region’s coastline.
34
p
This image > The Djelk Rangers on patrol.
p
35
"It was undeniable that the rangers were incredibly good at their jobs.
Even better than Customs.”
Today, while still keeping an eye out
for illegal fishermen and asylum seekers,
the rangers are more concerned with
watching for commercial fishing in prohibited
waters and retrieving floating ghost nets
jettisoned by offshore fishermen. Those nets
capture and strangle wildlife from dolphins
to sea turtles. “It’s an enterprise-based
agreement,” explains Djelk Sea Ranger
coordinator Shaun Ansell. “The Bawinanga
Rangers were able to lobby the Federal
Government to fund their work because
it was undeniable that the rangers were
incredibly good at their jobs. Even better
than Customs.”
The Djelk (‘Caring for Country’) Rangers— both
men’s and women’s divisions— are an initiative
of the Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation (BAC)
of Maningrida, a community of 2000 located
400km east of Darwin. It is an organisation
dedicated to putting local people to work
while creating business opportunities in and
around their community. BAC was incorporated
in 1979 and over the past 30 years it has
developed a portfolio of services in support
of Maningrida plus 800 people living on
32 outstations, in an area of approximately
10,000 sq km.
BAC operates a CDEP (work for the dole)
program employing 550 workers and employs
a further 55 salaried staff. While starting out
as an outstation resource centre, BAC today
operates the local supermarket, takeaway,
a commercial wildlife utilisation section,
a recycled machine workshop, a mudbrick
making plant, an outdoor supply shop,
a thriving tourism enterprise, and
internationally renowned Indigenous art
centre, among others. “We’re picking up
tendering in contracts in an open market and
being recognised as being the best provider
in services for the area,” states Len Kiely,
BAC’s acting CEO. “Our annual turnover is
approximately $35 million an year which puts
us among some of the larger locally-owned
companies in the Territory.”
Recognising the unique tourism
opportunities to be experienced in a visit
to Arnhem Land, the Bawinanga board
initiated a niche tourism venture. Centred in
Maningrida, the Arnhem Land Eco-Cultural
Tours take visitors out bush to collect bush
tucker, go bird watching in an area known
as a ‘birdo’s paradise’, and a day exploring
ancient rock art and cultural sites. Jobs are
created as tour guides and drivers, as well
as CDEP wages paid to ladies from the
Women’s Centre recruited to undertake
housekeeping in the splendid Djinkarr
bush tourist bungalows. The spacious
accommodation overlooks the rugged
Tomkinson floodplains, the walls made from
the community’s sturdy mudbrick factory.
The tours stop in at the Bawinanga-operated
Maningrida Arts and Culture—the art centre
enjoying an international reputation for fine
art, paintings on bark, traditional weaving and
sculpture. Over 800 artists contribute to the
art centre output, many of whom create their
work from their homelands deep in the bush.
The centre is of growing interest to specialist
cruise ships anchoring offshore: earlier this year
one stopped with the visitors spending nearly
$120,000 in one day at the art centre.
Next door to Maningrida Arts is the
Women’s Centre, where local women of
all ages create fabrics and garments bearing
their own original designs. Using their skills
as screen printers, the women produce
designs that are sold around the Territory—
and here in Maningrida as well.
An innovative aspect to Bawinanga’s drive for
employment is attempting to create businesses
that suit the natural talents and expertise of
local Aborigines. Trading on their ability for
hunting and gathering, the BAC hired biologist
Ben Corey to coordinate their sustainable use of
wildlife unit. Local people collect crocodile eggs,
which are incubated and the hatchlings sold to
Territory croc farms. Long-necked turtle eggs
are also gathered by locals, with the hatchlings
sold to the pet trade in Darwin.
But perhaps the most interesting wildlife
product is not a reptile but an arachnid—
and it all came about by accident. A few years
ago, Maningrida School pupils were given a
scientific assignment to go out in the bush and
catch as many spiders as they could. After a
weekend of hunting and gathering, the kids
returned with a host of species, many of which
did not match the ones in the spider books.
The teacher contacted arachnid specialists in
Queensland University and the Queensland
Museum and, to their amazement, the students
had discovered 46 new species of spider.
The obvious king among them is an as yet
unnamed species of tarantula, unlike any
spider found previously in the Territory.
“The local people think it’s mildly dangerous,”
explains Corey, “but we haven’t screened the
venom yet. Tarantulas have a venom that’s
suited to the production of pain relief drugs,
and biodegradable insecticides, but these
are totally new to science so we have a lot
to learn.” They are hoping to learn to milk
the spiders to extract the venom as another
business opportunity.
Bawinanga continues to seek out new ways
of creating employment from a remote area
where jobs are at a premium. “There’s no lack
of enthusiasm here,” says Kiely. “Maningrida is
a go-ahead community and nothing will stop
people from making a living from their land.”
Far left image > Woven artefacts and burial poles await shipment at the Maningrida Art Centre.
Left image > The newly discovered Arnhem Land tarantula.
Bottom left image > Fabric printing at the Bawinanga Women's Centre.
Image below > Local women change the bedding at the Djinkarr bush tourism bungalow.
Right image > A long-necked breeding turtle.
Bottom right image > A woven mat at the art centre.
36
p
p
37
An offshore gas and oil support industry is quietly
expanding in the industrial parks of Darwin,
creating a level of expertise and capability that,
only a decade and a half ago, was simply not
available. Companies like Darwin Offshore Logistics
Base (DOLB), Toll Energy, Clough Amec, RANms
Wood and others compete with the founders of the
local industry, the ShoreLands Group, for lucrative
offshore logistics and maintenance work.
“Having been here
for 10 years already,
we are committed
to Darwin.”
an
es
vic a.
r
se r Se
o
ms
,
AN Tim s Tan
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e
a
>
h
e in t om ase
ov
h
B
ab orm > T tics
r.
e
f
g lat age gis age
a
o
n
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Im re p
m
a
i
e lm
o
ht
or
fsh rig ffsh nera
of Far
e
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g
in
rw
Da
38
p
While Toll Energy supplies ConocoPhillips’
Bayu-Undan offshore gas facility and
ShoreLands the logistics for Eni’s Blacktip
gas project, new contracts have been won
by DOLB and the RANms Wood Group.
RANms Wood has the Blacktip Global
Services Maintenance contract and the
DOLB has won the contract to supply the
Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation
exploration effort in the Timor Sea. “We’re
very honoured to provide logistic support
for their drilling campaign,” says DOLB
managing director Thomas Tan. “Our role
will be in supply base services, providing
logistics, procurement, the supply of fuel
and water to vessels, the rental of oil field
equipment, offshore waste management,
chartering of vessels, marine transportation
as well as customs and quarantine clearance
services—across the board.”
DOLB is part of the Kim Heng Group of
Companies, operating out of Singapore.
The group bought BHP Transport’s offshore
supply business in Darwin about 10 years
ago this year, before winning the contract
to provide supply base services and vessels
to Saipem in building the 500km pipeline
from Bayu-Undan to the Darwin LNG plant.
The company is looking for a site to expand
its Darwin operations to be able to compete
for work in the upcoming INPEX project
“Having been here for 10 years already,
we are committed to Darwin,” Tan told
Territory Q. “We see more and more potential.
The Northern Territory will be the last frontier
of oil and gas in Australia. The north-west
shelf and other parts of Australia are already
well developed now. There is opportunity for
us to grow the business in Darwin.”
RANms started as a joint venture of local trades
companies, offering contractors in Defence,
construction, gas and oil a wide range of skills
under the umbrella of one management centre.
They tendered for a number of contracts,
Eni being one of them. As they went though
that negotiation phase, RANms and the
Wood Group, a Scotland-based energy
services company employing more than
28,000 people worldwide and operating in
46 countries, agreed on a trade sale.
RANms is one of three companies purchased
by the Wood Group in Australia recently that
will amalgamate to become Wood Group
Production Facilities Australia in October,
boasting a combined staff of about 550.
“Being in Darwin is part of Wood Group’s
regional development strategy,” explains
Darwin general manager Paul Mahoney.
“We know the fields and projects that exist
and are likely to emerge in the region over
the coming years—we see Darwin and its
ability to support these projects as critical to
our company’s growth ambitions in the region.
There were a number of methods that could
have been adopted to enter the market here
but our preference is to always leverage off
local skills and knowledge wherever possible”.
p
39
Top image > One of Nobby's overnight
self-contained houseboats.
Middle image > A lotus lily in flower.
Bottom left > Nobby Muhsam at his
boat dock at the Corroboree Billabong.
Bottom middle image > Fishing
photos displayed, sent to Nobby
by satisfied customers.
Image below > A Mary River local.
Bottom right image > A sea eagle
follows the houseboat down river.
Nobby Muhsam never
gets tired of the sound
of the returning tourist.
“Ohhh Nobby, that was just
wonnnn-derful. It’s the best
thing we’ve done in the
whole Top End,” said the
woman from New South
Wales who is visiting her son
and his family in Darwin.
“Don’t tell me about it,”
says Nobby with a smile as
wide as a bend in the river.
“Tell all your friends back at
your bowls club.”
“But every day brings something different on Corroboree
and I’ll remember every one of them.”
40
p
The family and their Dry Season visitor have
just returned from an overnight trip on the
Mary River, where grandson Josh caught
a 70cm barramundi, while everyone else
was gobsmacked by the proliferation of
Top End wildlife seen around them: a pair
of elegant jabiru storks striding through
the shallows, hordes of plumed whistling
ducks competing with giant egrets for food
among the lilies, sea eagles that followed
their houseboat down the river, and the
crocodiles—small ones, freshwater ones,
and giant 4m saltwater monsters.
And all without having to put up with
anyone telling them where to go or how
to spend their day. Nobby’s clients drive
themselves, restricted only by their slow
motors and their sense of adventure.
“I never liked going out on tour boats with
40 other people,” says Nobby. “I like to
take my time. If I want to watch a group of
birds for an hour, I’ll do it. I don’t want to
do the whole world in one hour. And that’s
what prompted me to start the drive-hire
business. You can do it by yourself.”
He offers a boat for every size small group.
There are six and eight berth houseboats
designed to meander through the wetlands
and stay overnight. One deluxe version
features two separate bedrooms, showers,
a barbecue and fridge. There are ‘party boats’
of various sizes to fit small or large groups,
designed for day trips and barbecues, as well
as leisure boats and dinghies for couples or
single fishermen. They were all hand-built by
Nobby Muhsam, a one-time carpenter who
accidentally opened the Corroboree Billabong
entrance to the Mary River to tourism.
Back in 1987, he and wife Jenny, a registered
nurse, tossed around the idea of Nobby
building two houseboats that he could hire
out to local Darwinites and turn it into a
business. After designing the boats they
went ahead and had them built, but then
had to find a place to put them in the water
and operate from. On weekends the couple
visited all the different waterways around
Darwin. They needed to find somewhere that
was right, and Corroboree, just an hour and
a half’s drive from Darwin, turned out to be
the perfect location. It was on pastoral land,
free of restrictions.
The launching spot was connected to the
Arnhem Highway by a rough two-wheeled
bush track, only used by local fishermen
and the station crew. “If you saw three
boats on the river, it was a lot,” recalls
Nobby. “The road was bad, but when the
fishing was good—it was excellent. It had
a reputation among local fishermen as the
place to go for barra.”
To work out an access deal the couple
went to the Marrakai Station owner at the
time, now Gulf Transport owner, Jim Cooper.
They found him atop a grader on the dirt
road. Could they have access to operate
tourist boat business at Corroboree? “Go for
it,” said Cooper, “I don’t have time to worry
about it.” Though the ownership of Marrakai
Station has changed, Mary River Houseboats
still operates on that handshake deal today,
24 years later.
Since then, every year Nobby has built a
new boat during the Wet Season, when the
monsoonal rains transform the river into
an inland sea, making access impossible.
He designs the boats to the needs of his
clients, most of whom remain locals.
“We designed the first boats and had them
built, but they didn’t turn out like I wanted,”
he remembers. “Then I thought I could
go out and buy some machines, stuff up a
couple of sheets of aluminum, and build the
bloody things myself. So that’s what I did.”
Darwinites began hiring the houseboats
as the word spread about the stunning
experience to be had just a short drive from
town. Then when family or friends visited
during the Dry Season (as they are wont
to do) the first place they would be taken
was out to the Mary River for a day trip or
overnight. The business grew every year,
and today bookings for the overnight
houseboats must be made well in advance.
It is not uncommon for 100 vehicles to be
parked on the flat behind the landing, a fact
recognised by the NT Government, which has
added toilets and will upgrade the parking lot
and access road later this year.
But with the years catching up with them,
the Muhsams are starting to consider retiring
and joining the ranks of the grey nomads
criss-crossing the continent, their caravans in
tow. They decided a couple years ago that
they had two choices: get bigger and hire
staff, or stay small and eventually turn the
business over to someone younger and fitter.
They chose the latter. “It’s not easy working
every day for six months straight because
there’s no such thing as a day off out here,”
says Nobby. “But every day brings something
different on Corroboree and I’ll remember
every one of them.”
p
41
The 2009 Northern Territory Architecture Awards
were dominated by strikingly creative structures,
one designed as the signature feature of the billion
dollar Darwin Waterfront development, and the other
a housing development designed specifically for
Darwin’s tropical environment. The Tracy Memorial
Award for the best building of the year and the
Reverend John Flynn Award for public architecture
went to Hassel in association with Crawford Architects
for their imposing Darwin Convention Centre.
“Lots of landscape means you can reduce the temperature and
regulate the climate using shade. The fundamental approach was
to create buildings inside a landscape.”
Midd
.
n Parap
suburba
d
ories in
n
ct
a
je
ra
a
a
Tr
am
rban
reg McN
bove > U
age > G
office.
Image a
Troppo
Right im
in
rw
a
.
D
e
th
t
te
a
ex riors
li
ctories'
Lena Ya
an Traje
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rb
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>
s'
e
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Image b
Urban T
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im
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The judges were lavish in their praise for this
landmark edifice, a key to the much-needed
redevelopment of the Darwin waterfront.
They stated: “The success of the Darwin
Convention Centre lies in its well defined
context—a comprehensive masterplan for
the development of the Darwin waterfront.
This plan has provided a set of rigorously
founded, rational siting parameters to
which the architects have responded with
enthusiasm and creative integrity.”
No less remarkable is Troppo Architects’
Urban Trajectories development in the
inner Darwin suburb of Parap that won the
Award for Residential Architecture – Houses,
and the Ken Frey Award for Residential
Architecture – Multiple Housing. On the
site of what was once a much-loved lawn
bowls club, the architects were rewarded
for designing a benchmark contemporary
tropical house and a developer-driven
private development for 17 houses.
Urban Trajectories is not based on star ratings
for energy efficiency, which Troppo believe
promote the design of energy consuming
buildings. It is low energy demand housing
designed for the Top End climate.
Troppo is a long-standing innovator in tropical
design, operated today by Greg McNamara
42
p
and Lena Yali, a couple passionately dedicated
to producing designs that are compatible with
Darwin’s environment and character. They
point to places in Europe like Glasgow and
Edinborough in Scotland and Sydney with its
sandstone, where local materials used in the
building process created the city’s character.
They seek to produce structures which suggest
or attempt to recognise a Darwin character.
Urban Trajectories is just the latest
innovative development designed by
Troppo Architects. It was Troppo that turned
Top End architecture on its head in the
1980s and 1990s when Phil Harris and
Adrian Welke took the innovative approach
of working with the climate as a reaction
to the inappropriate housing being
constructed post-Tracy, and drawing on
Darwin’s design heritage to produce
structures that were liveable responses to
the specific demands of a tropical climate.
When Defence moved its forces and their
families to Darwin, it was Troppo that
created the designs for their housing in
Larrakeyah and Berrimah. Because the
Larrakeyah homes are today locked behind
Defence gates, Yali and McNamara had to
organise a bus trip for officials to view them
so they could develop an understanding of
what Troppo were trying to accomplish with
the Trajectories development.
p
43
Top left > The Darwin Entertainment Centre's new veranda.
Left image > The Darwin Entertainment Centre redeveloped.
Image above > The Darwin Entertainment Centre roof support.
Far left image > The Darwin Convention Centre, winner of the
Tracy Memorial Award for best building of the year.
Urban Trajectories began as a competition
inspired by former Chief Minister
Clare Martin in 2004, the Year of the Built
Environment. It was to be developed for
sustainable medium density housing, and
a third of the space would be retained as
public park. They had to enlist the talents
of a like-minded developer who would build
their designs. They found just the one in
Gus Matarazzo of Lacuna Developments.
“The developer took a high risk in departing
from the mainstream development approach”
Yali said. ”The risk was that the homes were
designed to not rely on air conditioning,
the living spaces remaining un-sealed.”
Real estate agents tasked to sell the homes
however argued and won the right to install
air conditioning in the bedrooms because
they said the units wouldn’t sell otherwise.
New and innovative design, the Trajectories
homes presented real problems for valuers
and those enlisted to sell them. “On paper,
the valuers had no idea where to price
these things in terms of borrowing money
before the project even started,” explains
McNamara. “They had huge trouble putting
a figure on what they are worth. They had
nothing to compare them with.”
44
p
The Trajectories will be 17 mainly duplexes
and stand-alone houses in a space that
could have seen them build 25. It is
substantially undeveloped in order to
create sustainability. “They are houses in
a landscape and we really wanted the
landscapes to dominate,” says McNamara.
“Lots of landscape means you can reduce
the temperature and regulate the climate
using shade. The fundamental approach
was to create buildings inside a landscape.”
Situated on Ross Smith Avenue where the
north-west sea breeze rolls up the street,
the structures are all orientated in such
a way to pick up that breeze. They are
staggered to allow the breeze through
to the dwellings in the back. “That also
benefits the privacy aspect to medium
density living. From the verandas you
are completely private to your next door
neighbour. We want veranda spaces to
be greater living spaces,” says McNamara.
Troppo had also won last year’s Architecture
Award, but that one for Public Architecture
was for their Darwin Entertainment Centre
redevelopment that featured the original 13
panel weaving of artists Melba Gunjarrwanga
and James Iyuna from Mamuka outstation
near Maningrida. The weaving was translated
to copper wire, which was hand-woven
by the artists.
The main problem with the Entertainment
Centre was its lack of foyer space and
overcrowding. Troppo’s design more than
doubled the foyer space of the centre without
adding a single air conditioner by building
veranda space and pushing the foyer outside.
McNamara and Yali took over the business
in 2003 after Harris left to set up an
Adelaide Troppo and Welke a Perth base.
Today there’s also a practice in Townsville
and Byron Bay. They are all independent
businesses but have the ability to join
together to work on larger projects.
Today Troppo are now involved in new public
housing projects and house extensions, but
please don’t ask for a house design that looks
like those imported from southern suburbs.
Troppo will be the first to announce—they
don’t do air conditioned boxes.
The guests at Alice Springs’
Overlanders Steakhouse
are in full flight. Joined by
the staff (and supplied with
‘wobble boards’ for quasimusical accompaniment) the
diners are wobbling their
way through an energised
version of Give Me A Home
Among The Gum Trees.
Within their rhythmical midst
is the Overlanders’ ebullient
owner Wayne Kraft (or
‘Krafty’ as he prefers) belting
out “a cockatoo and a
kangaroo”. It is Krafty’s lofty
ambition that every person
who enters his establishment
should leave a happier
person for the experience.
This is his twentieth year of producing
high times at the Overlanders Steakhouse,
featuring Australian cuisine such as the
‘Drover’s Blowout’, kangaroo mignon,
the Jurassic lamb shank (of camel), and the
ambitious ‘Ringer’s Reward’—a 2kg Rump
Steak. Vegetarians beware!
And when Krafty is not welcoming guests
to his restaurant he is interstate or overseas
talking up the Territory. “Our industry’s got
to market Australia first, Northern Territory
second, central Australia third, Alice Springs
fourth—and at the bottom of the list is the
Overlanders Steakhouse,” he says. “It’s got
to be in that order because you’ve got to get
people to the Alice first and hopefully when
they get here our marketing will lead them
to the steakhouse.”
He has just returned from a few days on
the road near Kings Canyon, pressing the
flesh, ear to the ground, telling people about
the Overlanders and the Alice. Next week
he’ll drive 1500km to Darwin, stopping along
the way in places like Wauchope and Daly
Waters to “say G’day” and spread the word.
It is a practice recognised by Tourism NT.
He is one of the great Ambassadors for
Alice Springs and puts a lot of effort into
selling the town,” states Tourism NT’s
Jo-Ann Harkin. “Krafty has a range of
contacts in the media world and uses them
to sell what a wonderful place Alice is.”
Meanwhile, Krafty is planning another
interstate evening he calls ‘Alice’s Blowout’.
Held in Adelaide or Melbourne, the event
sees him leading groups of Alice Springs
tourism operators, supported by Tourism NT,
who dig into their own pockets to put on
an evening designed to get people excited
about coming to the Territory for a holiday.
“A traditional networking event is having
some bloody cold beer, some fine red and
white wine, some real Territory barramundi,
and some serious steak,” explains Krafty.
“When our operators are rubbing shoulders
with people who have never been to the
Territory, it makes for one lovely evening and
it’s cost-effective. The operators are genuinely
enthusiastic—and that’s contagious.”
It is difficult to quantify the success of such
events, but people keep passing through the
Overlanders doors year after year, from every
capital city and across the globe. But keeping
up the quality of the food and service is what
keeps the local clientele coming back.
“You’ve got to look after the locals,” states
Krafty. “That’s fundamental to the success of
any establishment. In a place like Alice Springs
you really need quantum numbers of locals
who will then preach the gospel. Word of
mouth in a small community is so important.”
Wayne Kraft is a firm believer in individual
operators taking responsibility for some of
their own marketing, rather than leaving it
all to others. He knows that extra personal
effort produces financial rewards.
“Every Thursday when I cash my wages
check at the bank for my staff, if it doesn’t
have to be referred to the bank manager,
I think I’m in heaven,” he says. “And when
I pay the tax man—I know I’m in heaven.”
Left image > 'Krafty' in the Overlanders wine cellar.
Image below > The Overlanders Beef Chop (rib-eye on the bone).
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This image > The Neo join with the Garrangali Band from East Arnhem Land to kick off this year's Darwin Festival.
46
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Latecomers missed the
highlight of the show.
Kicking off the Santos
Opening Concert, local
band The Neo teamed
up with the Garrangali
Band from East Arnhem
Land for a rollicking
rock ’n’ roll corroboree.
It was the traditional
free show that marks
the opening of the
Darwin Festival, and
it had the Dry Season
Amphitheatre audience,
already numbering in
the thousands, up and
jumpin’. The Neo’s driving
guitars were underscored
by Garrangali’s pulsating
didj and calypso harmonies.
For the hundreds of
tourists in the audience,
who came to enjoy
country music headliner
Troy Cassar-Daley, the
whitefella-blackfella jam
was a bonus only Darwin
could deliver.
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47
The Santos Concert is the festival’s way
of announcing, ‘we’re here and we’re
open for business.’ Over the next 18 days
dozens of acts, events and productions
made their way to Darwin’s stages and
venues. Opera, theatre, dance, music
and specialty acts from Australia, the
region and around the world excited
Territory capital city audiences. Special
events like the Indigenous Music awards,
and Telstra’s National Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
(NATSIAA) coincide with the festival.
This year’s $40,000 NATSIAA award
went to Queensland artist Danie Mellor
for his controversial work Rite to Ritual,
stretching the limits of Indigenous art.
The festival staff work closely with
the Telstra Art Award coordinators
and Tourism NT to promote the
August festival as featuring the best in
Indigenous visual arts and Indigenous
performing arts all at one time.
Over the past four years the Darwin
Festival has gone from a $1 million
funded and sponsored event to a
$2 million festival and from a staff of
one to five full-time people year round
with 50 people during the operation
of the festival. Over that period, the
event has been under the guidance
of general manager Anne Dunn, the
former program manager with the Perth
International Arts Festival, and assistant
producer with the Sydney Opera House.
She was attracted to Darwin because
it was an event punching well above
its weight. “It’s smaller in scale than
other capital city events but the impact
it makes is high,” she says. “Statistically,
we have the highest per capita uptake
of attendances of all capital city festivals.
helping performers professionalise their
presentations and work with interstate
contacts to get them broader national
exposure. They work with 43 Territory
arts and cultural organisations.
Last year we had 76,000 people attend
the festival. This event matters to
people’s lives up here.”
While funded by the Northern Territory
Government and the Darwin City
Council, the festival manages to attract
more people every year, generating
revenue that is ploughed back into the
business, and used to produce more
presentations for the following year’s
event. They operate on tight financial
margins, but strive to maximise the
size and scale of the program, as well
as the quality of the work. This year’s
bill included Oz Opera Company’s
production of Madame Butterfly, pop
music’s The Audreys, Augie March, and
a triple bill from the Australian Ballet.
The African Choir, a group of local
Liberian refugees, was paired with
Indigenous singer Shelley Morris, creating
a show called Liberty Songs. A women’s
shared experience, the presentation is a
collaboration of African refugees and an
Indigenous woman in search of her family.
The show has since played in Sydney as a
showcase performance to national festival
directors, and now has funding from the
Perth, Brisbane and Sydney festivals to
undergo a further stage of development.
In order to quantify the economic impact
of the event on Darwin business, the
festival conducted a study in 2007 in
conjunction with Territory Treasury and
Charles Darwin University. The results
demonstrated that the festival attracts
money into the community in terms of
visitation of people coming specifically for
the festival from interstate and overseas,
often extending their stay while the
festival is on, positively affecting hotel
accommodation, restaurants, cabs and cafés.
Organisers ensure their program is a
balance of edgier work and touring
artists that Territory audiences are not
often given a chance to see, balanced
with programs that will appeal to
visitors, such as Indigenous shows.
The festival is also a strong promoter
of Territory talent, often showcasing
performers for the first time.
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
performed his first solo concert at the
festival two years ago and has since
gone on to win major industry awards,
produce a top selling CD and perform
tours overseas. The singer returned to
the festival this year to headline the
Indigenous Music Awards with singer,
Jessica Mauboy, another Darwin talent
who has achieved national recognition.
The festival organisers have created a
position designed to foster local talent,
Top left and image above > Lorrae Coffin sings... and plays rhythm guitar.
Middle left and far left image > The Garrangali boys from Yilpara take
to the stage with The Neo.
Bottom left image > Anne Dunn, Darwin Festival general manager.
Top right image > Troy Cassar-Daley entertains the opening night crowd.
Image below > Over 5000 welcome the performers.
Sponsorship is an important element
of festival business, drawing valuable
funding from corporate sponsors in
order to attract quality performers, while
allowing sponsors to associate their names
with a popular community event like the
Darwin Festival. Sponsorship is sold on a
tier basis with major corporate sponsors
being oil and gas producers ConocoPhillips
and Santos. “It’s a means of forming
a relationship with corporate partners
that give them an opportunity to align
to something that’s very much enjoyed
by a cross-section of the community,”
explains Dunn. “It gives us an opportunity
to demonstrate that the arts have a very
material role in our society. We offer our
corporate sponsors a very cost-effective
marketing and brand penetration.”
The Santos Opening Concert is a case
in point. The Santos name has become
synonymous with the event. People ask,
‘who’s playing at the Santos Concert?’
“They are associated with a concert that’s
provided free that people enjoy and go
to every year,” says Dunn. “The festival is
small but what we really focus on is finding
a Darwin voice—a Territory voice. And we
believe that voice is unique and special.”
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Image below > Aerosail's James Taylor with his
computerised cutting table.
Bottom image > One of Safari Trek's tents erected at
Andrew Ettinghausen's Groote Eylandt fishing lodge.
A local shade structure manufacturer has joined forces
with a local deluxe tent exporter to create a new
Territory-manufactured export product. Specialist shade
structure manufacturer-exporter Aerosail will produce
the upmarket Safari Trek tents, currently being sold
worldwide. Safari Trek CEO David Gyles had been
producing his tents in South Africa and importing them
to the Territory. “He was looking to get a good quality
product and he wasn’t getting that in South Africa so he
came to us,” states Aerosail’s James Taylor. “We sat down
and basically redesigned the thing from the ground up.
We engineered it and now we’re manufacturing it.”
Previously, Gyles had to import his tents
from South Africa, often taking four months
for delivery after an order was taken.
Aerosail will supply clients in just two weeks,
creating a big advantage for buyers in
adventure tourism who do not want to miss
out on providing accommodation during
a tourist season. Tentworx always keeps
a supply of products on hand so buyers can
be certain of a short-term delivery.
Aerosail has become an Australian export
leader in the production of canvas shade
structures over its past 14 years of operation.
It started exporting in 2000 after a downturn
stalled the Darwin market. Taylor saw a future
to Darwin’s north. “The Asian countries are
quite happy to pay international prices for
quality products,” he recalls, having started off
exporting to the Philippines, Guam and Brunei.
He expanded that distribution to the USA and
today employs 14 when busy—with most in
the fabrication and erection area.
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Aerosail had previously produced tents
of its own but found that manufacturing
individual or small numbers of products
was not economically viable. “The difference
is now we make hundreds of the same
product so we get efficiencies in terms of
purchasing and cutting,” says Taylor. “We’re
not cutting one tent, we’re cutting 50,
so we’re getting a production line going.
That assists us in becoming competitive.”
“We’re taking the
current tent and making
a better quality and
greener product.”
Tentworx cannot produce the entire tent
in Darwin, importing some materials from
overseas. Each tent is cut with Aerosail’s
computerised cutting equipment, then
bundled it up and sent overseas where it’s
made up into modules—partial walls and
partial doors. “Then we do the final assembly
here to order,” explains Taylor. “The tents
are a great product because we can use our
production capacity when we’re otherwise
quiet. If we are quiet in other areas this time
of year, I can have people making tents.”
Those are the words of Rob Hirst, the
former drummer for Midnight Oil, in his
foreward to the new edition of Strict Rules,
Andrew McMillan’s 1980s account of the
memorable Midnight Oil-Warumpi Band
tour that struck a lasting impression on
bush audiences and performers alike.
Now the book has hit the shelves again
to enrich the lives of a new generation
of readers in search of musical substance.
The man behind the Strict Rules reprint
is Darwin-based publisher Simon Niblock,
whose Niblock Publishing has re-packaged
a number of Territory classics and published
the new book by entertainer and former
Territory Administrator, Ted Egan. That
follows hot on the heels of Niblock’s
re-publishing of Andrew McMillan’s
informative An Intruder’s Guide to East
Arnhem Land, a book that is ‘must reading’
for public servants working in remote areas
or anyone working in Indigenous affairs.
Niblock comes to publishing after working
for five years in the East Arnhem community
of Elcho Island, where he became fascinated
Above
im
ag
e
> Publisher
Simon Nib
lock.
The two companies formed a new venture
designed to operate outside the parent
companies. Tentworx will manufacture
the new product and Safari Trek will
supply them domestically and for export.
“We’re taking the current tent and making
a better quality and greener product,”
says Gyles. “We’re using better materials
and producing some with roofs that include
skylights and solar panels.”
“One day turns into the
next out here. Big city
words like ‘reconciliation’
and ‘intervention’ get
sucked up in willy-willies
and spun around and
around, before getting
snagged in the branches of
a poverty bush, or impaled
upon spinifex needles.”
with Indigenous languages. So interested
was he that he took up a masters degree
course in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Studies at Charles Darwin University. “I got
a real sense of how fragile languages were,
and how there was a real need to promote
the continued use of Indigenous languages,”
he says.
Having a history in the publishing industry,
Niblock’s first foray into his own publishing
business was in 2006 when he re-published
and re-packaged the out-of-print local title
The Darwin Gardener’s Gourmet Guide as
the Tropical Gardener’s Gourmet Guide.
“One bookseller told me it would be hard
to sell more than 300, “he recalls. “I printed
1000 and they all sold in five months.
”The book is about to be re-printed for
the third time in as many years.
Niblock’s first original published work is
Ted Egan’s nonfiction work, Due Inheritance.
It is Egan’s passionate look at the situation
in which Indigenous people find themselves
in 2009 and Egan’s views on how Australian
society can go about setting things right.
In it, the Alice Springs-based singer-songwriter
controversially calls for the establishment of an
inheritance fund—like the Future Fund—set
up for Aboriginal people and a representative
body to provide health, education and
training, rather than mainstreaming.
Due Inheritance is selling well in the
Territory and is gaining traction in southern
capitals, but Niblock admits it’s a tough
business to get ahead in. But as long as the
books keep selling, he’ll seek out new titles.
“If the accountant says ‘yes’ then there’s
lots of new Territory books to publish,”
he says. “Plus there are lots of great books
that need to be reprinted.”
www.niblock.com.au
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51
These images > Charles Darwin portrayed
in different stages of his life: (L) as a young
man in a bust outside the Darwin City Council
offices, and (R) in later years in the 1883
painting by John Collier.
Charles Darwin, born
200 years ago this year,
would be astonished
to see his influence in
the Northern Territory.
Not that he came
here—his friend
John Lort Stokes named
Darwin Harbour after
him 170 years ago when
surveyed the coast in
the Beagle.
52
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But it was not until 20 years later that
Darwin published the book that made
him famous, On the Origin of Species
by Means of Natural Selection. And it is
because of this that he is being celebrated
with a three-day conference at the Darwin
Convention Centre: Charles Darwin:
Shaping our Science, Society and Future on
22 to 24 September. “Whatever you might
think of his ideas, it is important to know
what they were,” says Charles Darwin
University’s Professor Keith Christian,
who is one of the instigators of the
symposium. “I really urge people to
listen to Tim Berra on the first night if
they want to get a good overview of
the impact of Darwin on our society.”
“Darwin’s ideas influence almost
everything we do,” says the University’s
Professor Bob Wasson, who chairs the
organising panel. “Frankly the world would
be a different place if he had not published
his ideas 150 years ago.” For instance we
might understand far less about disease.
Nobel Prize winner Professor Peter Doherty
will describe the constant evolution of our
immune system in response to even faster
evolving diseases like swine flu. Disease
control is underpinned by understanding
natural selection.
We also know that the basis of evolution
is the genetic code—a field moving at
extraordinary speed, as the University
of Queensland’s Professor John Mattick
will explain. Managing evolution of the
genetic code is fundamental to modern
primary industries, with Darwin one of
the first to recognise the importance of
selection in breed improvement.
Another well-known speaker will be
Sarah Hrdy who studies the evolution
of primates, including humans.
Her research shows that mothers
balance care for their children with
their own needs—a mother’s maternal
instinct is tempered by a need to survive.
But crude interpretations of Darwin’s
ideas have also been misused to reinforce
racial prejudice. Several Indigenous
academics look at how this had a
profound effect on how Aboriginal
people were treated in Australia.
But it is the clash between evolutionary
theory and religious beliefs about the
origins of life that have reverberated for
a century and a half. Theologians and
scientists will discuss how evolutionary
science and religion interact—latest
theories suggest there may even have
been selection for religious beliefs to
help early human societies stick together.
regulaar feature:
u
For the city of Darwin symposia like
this are not just a contribution to local
knowledge, they are a key part of the
knowledge economy. This symposium,
which is bringing people from around the
country and from overseas, will contribute
substantially to local business. “Other
societies are meeting both before and after
the main event,” says Professor Christian,
“and of course many of delegates will stay
on to explore the Territory. For this year at
least Darwin has a competitive advantage
over other cities for events like this.”
And it is also leading to new links
with the rest of the world. As a result
of a common interest in Darwin the
university has recently begun work with
the Charles Darwin Foundation based
in the Galapagos while Darwin city is
discussing a sister city relationship with
the Galapagos town of Puerto Ayora.
Meanwhile Darwin City Council recently
acknowledged Darwin’s legacy with a
bust of Charles as a young man at the
centre of a sweep of bells and parrots
in Civic Square. Sculptor Anton Hassell’s
Beagle Ship Bell Chime can be played by
a remote keyboard.
“Ultimately economies are built on
competition between ideas,” says
Professor Wasson. “In that respect the
theory of evolution is one of the most
successful ideas in history. The economic
benefits that Darwin city will derive from
the seminar in Charles Darwin’s honour
are a fraction of those that flow from
understanding how life evolved.”
The conference is free.
Visit www.cdu.edu.au/cdss2009/
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53
ECONOMIC GROWTH
Developing Our Future Together
In the 2009–10 Northern Territory Government Budget Papers,
the Northern Territory Treasury forecasts economic growth to
increase by 4.1% in 2008–09 and by 2.0% in 2009–10.
4th Indigenous Economic Development Forum
6 & 7 October Alice Springs Northern Territory
Are you an Indigenous business person in business
or considering starting a business?
GSP
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09e
2009–10f
% Change
6.5%
5.2%
3.9%
4.1%
2.0%
• In the year to March 2009 the
Northern Territory’s State Final
Demand, a measure of the
demand for goods and services
in the economy, increased
by 9.4%, compared to an
increase of 3.3% nationally.
Do you work in Indigenous
economic development?
or
Want to get involved in Indigenous
business opportunities?
• Consumption expenditure rose
by 3.2%to $11.4 billion, while
total investment expenditure
increased by 24.9% to a near
record level of $5.48 billion.
•
THEN REGISTER NOW!
Other Forum Features
An opportunity to:
Break out sessions:
• Network with Indigenous business people
• Network with people working in Indigenous Economic
Development
• Find out about current Territory policies, programs and services
• Find out about potential business investment opportunities
•
•
•
•
•
Getting Started in Business
Developing Small to Medium Business
Business on Country
Commercial Partnership Opportunities
Working in Indigenous Economic Development
Business Panel discussions
Hear high profile keynote speakers including:
• Joe Ross, Chairman of the Prime Ministers Northern Australia
Land and Water Taskforce
• Chief Clarence Louie, CEO of the Osoyoos Indian Band Centre
and National Aboriginal Economic Development Board Chair,
Canada
• Bob Beadman, Coordinator General for Remote Services
• Terri Janke, Indigenous arts lawyer, published author and
consultant, of Terri Janke and Company Pty Ltd
• Michael McLeod, CEO and founder of the Message Stick Group
A Territory Government initiative
Indigenous Business Expo
Forum Dinner ‘Under the Stars’ at the Alice Springs
Desert Park with entertainment and a presentation from
Andrew Forrest CEO of Fortescue Metals Group Ltd
and founder of the Australian Employment Covenant
Contact: Agentur on 08 8981 2010
email: iedforum@agentur.com.au or download your
registration form at: www.nt.gov.au/iedforum
•
In the year to March 2009,
inflation adjusted total
construction work done
increased by 52.8% to
$2.86 billion, remaining near
historically high levels.
In 2008–09, the number of
residential building approvals
in the Territory decreased by
15.9% to 986. The decline
was predominantly due to
a 57.3% fall in new private
sector apartment approvals.
Partly offsetting the decline
in overall approvals was a
24% increase in private sector
house approvals.
eeeconomy
econo
economy
omy
o
y
EMPLOYMENT
AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS
• In the year to July 2009, employment in
the Territory increased by 4.3% to 116,762.
• In 2008–09, Average Weekly Earnings per
full-time adult employee in the Territory
increased by 4.1% to $1179.50 compared
with a national average increase of 5.1%
to $1241.30.
• In July 2009 the trend unemployment
rate was unchanged at 4.2%.
• In July 2009, the trend participation rate
was 75.1%, the highest of the jurisdictions.
• The ANZ Job Advertisement Series reports
that the number of job vacancies in the
Territory, in seasonally adjusted terms,
decreased by 29.8% over the year to July
2009. Nationally they declined by 48.4%.
POPULATION
• As at 31 December 2008, the Northern
Territory’s population was estimated to
be 221,682.
• The annual rate of increase was estimated
to be 2%, above the national growth
rate of 1.9%.
INFLATION
• In annual terms, growth in Darwin’s
Consumer Price Index moderated to
2.5% in the June quarter 2009. Nationally,
growth in the annual inflation rate
moderated to 1.5%.
• Over the same period, the Territory’s
Wage Price Index rose by 4.5%, compared
to 4% nationally.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
• In 2008–09, Northern Territory goods
exports grew by 38.7% to $6305 million
primarily driven by higher prices and
production of liquefied natural gas from
the Wickham Point plant.
• Imports increased by 68.6% to
$4352 million, giving a balance of trade
surplus of $1953 million.
RETAIL TRADE
• In 2008–09, inflation adjusted retail
turnover increased by 9.2% in the Territory
compared to a 1.4% increase nationally.
• In 2008–09, total sales of new motor
vehicles decreased by 10.4% to 9380 in
the Territory while decreasing by 13.4%
at the national level over the same period.
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55
by S
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After a few tough years, the Top
op End
End-grown
grown snake bean is finally
finally on the
comeback trail. Also known as the yard-long bean, asparagus bean or long bean,
‘the snake’ has a tumultuous history as a commercial crop for the Territory.
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Back in the early noughties, it seemed
the snake bean was an ideal vegetable
to grow in the Darwin region. Thought
to have originated in south China, the
legume loves heat and humidity and
hates the cool weather in which French
beans thrive. Even better, snake beans
could be grown year-round here, allowing
the Territory crop to fetch good prices
at southern markets when Queensland’s
snake beans are out of season.
took the disease with them—and in
2006 production was down again.”
sponsored by Horticulture Australia in
the first quarter of 2009.
An Tran, who has been growing snake
beans and winter melons on his 8 hectare
Acacia Hills property since 2004, has
experienced the ups and downs.
The department is hoping to disseminate
information and grafting skills to
more growers and potential growers
through workshops and field days
in the coming months.
For a while snake beans were stars
among the Territory’s Asian vegetable
production. In 2000 growers in
the Darwin region produced some
450 tonnes, the bulk of which was sent
to markets in Melbourne and Sydney,
with a total value of $1.2 million. Then
disaster struck, in the form of fusarium,
a soil-borne fungus that causes plants
to wilt and collapse within as little as
24 hours. Production fell to 113 tonnes
with a value of just $456,000 in 2004.
Salvation came in the form of grafting
trials, the first stage of which was
developed by the NT Government and
trialled on farms from 2004 to 2006.
The grafting technique uses a fusariumresistant cowpea as the root stock for the
bean plants. These trials were conducted
on several farms including Tran’s. With
the exception of Tran, the majority of
other farmers removed the plants during
the trial’s progression because they
thought the plants looked weak.
“The next year was better, as new
growers entered the market and some
producers moved to new land,” says
Barry Condé, senior plant pathologist
at the Department of Regional
Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries
and Resources. “Unfortunately, some
“Tran’s plants survived and he saw the
potential,” says Condé. “He’s a very
astute grower.”
Condé swears by his wife Devi’s Indian-style
snake beans with mustard seeds, while
grower Tran likes them raw or par-boiled
and then fried with beef and tomatoes.
Condé together with Mark Traynor
commenced the second phase of the
grafting trials with more growers
Either way, their work seems set to secure
the snake bean as a valuable crop for the
Territory well into the future.
“The first year was very good because
I had new soil,” he says. “After that year,
I started to get fusarium in the soil.
It was bad and bad every year.”
If the success continues and word
continues to spread, the markets
of Sydney and Melbourne will be
well-supplied with Territory snake beans—
to the delight of southern consumers.
Although many people prefer the taste
and texture of French beans, the snake
bean is nevertheless a much-loved
vegetable. It’s widely used throughout
south-east Asia, where it can be found in
Thai fish cakes and curries, Chinese-style stir
fries and an Indonesian side-dish known as
sambal goreng buncis. It’s also a common
ingredient in Caribbean cooking.
Snake beans are
Kaffir Lime Leaf Stir-Fried
Prawns with Snake Beans
an integral part of
many of head chef
Vong Simmalavong’s
recipes at Darwin’s
Thailicious restaurant
in Mitchell Street.
His Kaffir Lime Leaf
Stir-Fried Prawns with
Snake Beans is one of
Ingedients:
5 fresh snake beans,
cut in short lengths
One tablespoon Prik Khing
curry paste
One tablespoon oyster sauce
8 fresh prawns
1 large chilli
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
One tablespoon sugar
the restaurant’s most
popular dishes.
Top middle > An Tran's 8 hectare Acacia Hills property.
Right image > Snake beans freshly picked.
Middle and top right image > Head chef
Vong Simmalavong of Darwin's Thailicious
restaurant serves his Kaffir Lime
Stir-Fried Prawns with Snake Beans.
METHOD: Heat oil and fry curry paste, lime
leaves and chilli, stirring until aromatic.
Add prawns and stir until cooked.
Add snake beans and stir until cooked.
Serves two with white jasmine rice.
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regular feature:
next
This image > Tumulangini, the Tiwi acquisition by the British Museum.
The 15th annual South East Asia
Offshore Conference (SEAAOC)
was held at the Darwin Convention
Centre, bringing together major
players from both the mining and
offshore oil and gas around the
world to discuss developments
in the region, build relationships
and do business. Representatives
from energy companies like
INPEX, ConocoPhillips and Eni,
were joined by those from mining
companies Rio Tinto, BHP and ERA.
Officially opened by Chief Minister
Paul Henderson, SEAAOC featured
speakers including Alfredo Pires,
Secretary of State from the
Democratic Republic of
Timor-Leste, Joe Marushack,
President, ConocoPhillips Australia,
and John Anderson, NT and WA
Vice President of Santos.
Jean Baptiste Apuatimi, one of 93 pre-selected artists in this
year’s 26th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Art Award, returned to the Tiwi Islands from the UK where she
had her first international solo exhibition.
The significance of the exhibition was recognised by the British Museum, with
the acquisition of one of Apuatimi's pieces, Tumulangini, in natural pigments on
paper. The exhibition, Tapalinga (star), opened at the Rebecca Hossack Gallery in
London with Apuatimi welcoming the audience to the exhibition opening, which
included the Australian Indigenous cricket team, with her traditional Tiwi dance.
Apuatimi is the mother of 11 children and widow of the famous artist,
Declan Apuatimi. She has held numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout
Australia with a number of pieces acquired by state and national galleries.
Crocodile Gold, which is
owned by Canadian merchant
bank Forbes Manhattan, has
purchased the assets of former
Territory gold miner GBS Gold.
Crocodile Gold has submitted mining
management plans for the reopening
of a number of the closed GBS mines.
58
p
Initially the company will focus on the
reopening of two underground mines,
Brock’s Creek and Tom’s Gully, with
gold processing at Tom’s Gully. The
reopening of these mines will create
about 200 jobs, many in the Pine Creek
area. Crocodile then propose to
develop the Cosmo Deeps at the old
Cosmo Howley mine by 2010.
In a first for SEAAOC, the event
was co-located with the highly
regarded Mining the Territory
Conference to form NT Resources
Week. This is particularly significant
for the Territory as the petroleum
and mining sectors are estimated
to account for about 28 per cent
of our economic activity.
The ReDot gallery in Singapore
held an exhibition of a host
of stunning works of the
Warlukurlangu Artists’ Aboriginal
Association, from Yuendumu,
300km northwest of Alice Springs.
The exhibition showcased the
works of world renowned artists
Judy Napangardi Watson, Liddy
Napanangka Walker, Shorty Jangala
Robertson, Paddy Japanangka Lewis
and Bessie Nakamarra Sims to
name but a few, along with some
new and exciting debutants on the
international Aboriginal art scene.
...flows to Darwin
GETTING READY
FOR THE NEW ERA
A month of inspirational business events
Anh Do
The Renegade Mindset
How to Prosper in
Uncertain Times
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Eco-ef¿ciency
Makes Good
Business Cents
Don’t miss these keynote speakers and more!
David
de Garis
Julie
Sloan
Financial Resilience - Tools for Workplace
Planing for the Upturn Upskilling
Martin
Grunstein
How to Get Ahead
of Your Competition
Book online at www.nt.gov.au/obm
60
p
Dr Adam
Fraser
Rick
Allert AO
SCTV Breakfast Seminar Commerce and Culture
with Dr Adam Fraser