The Kimberley

The Kimberley and the Pilbara regions of north Western Australia have beautiful, rugged, magical locations scattered with relatively few, wonderful, colourful and sweet people calling home far flung towns and outposts. I went to the north hoping to discover something of the people and the country: with this and more I returned, excited by the limitless opportunities in the north and the implications and possibilities for state development.

Over the past week I have had the most amazing adventure in the north of Western Australia, travelling in remote areas through the Pilbara and the Kimberley. As part of the referendum for daylight saving, I was privileged to be a Mobile Polling Place Manager covering a number of remote communities flung across the Great Sandy and Gibson Deserts, near Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, and up the Gibb River Road.

The view from the original Well 33 on the Canning Stock Route is simply stunning.

The highlight for me was meeting and speaking with the wonderful people I met in the remote communities I visited at Punmu, Kunawarritju (near Well 33) and Kiwirrkurra in the northern Pilbara, and Balgo Hill, Ringers Soak, Yiyili, Mt Barnett, Mt House station and Imintji in the Kimberley. Note to anyone in a position of influence that Imintji can do with more money for necessary projects and another project officer would be helpful.

Yiyili is a disparate community with more than the usual share of problems including a multiplicity of small, unviable communities that should be merged into one, central township with shared services. Aside from this anomaly, due to the process whereby the system of grants favour small Aboriginal corporations, I saw plenty of evidence for close and loving family relationships. Mums and dads, their children and parents in the one community, sharing the happiness of a simple life absent the modern amenities we take for granted.

As mobile polling manager, I issued ballots at most of these locations when Ron, with whom I was travelling, moved on to other sites. I found the indigineous people to be warm and friendly, responsive to conversation and respect. At a couple of spots I kicked around a footy with some of the guys who were looking forward to attending sporting carnivals or travelling to play in matches.

Polling place in the great outdoors at Yihili community

This article is something like a collection of travel notes with a few yarns together with speculation and commentary on my part, rather than a proper travelogue. So let's get cracking with our flight out of Broome with my flying from the right hand seat in the Twin Comanche. We headed south east and Ron, the Returning Officer for the Kimberley, dropped me off at Punmu for my first time as a polling manager and my experience in a remote community. Ron flew on to another community while I undertook the poll and later returned to fetch me.

Ron with a bunch of the local kids making good use of the voting pencils at Kunawarritju, the community near Well 33.

We proceeded on to Well33 which we handled together and then Kiwirrkurra, near the Northern Territory border. A cute bunch of aboriginal children took a shine to the pencils and paper, drawing up a storm while listening to their favourite music on a cell phone.

The lack of economic, social and strategic viability of several remote communities is apparent on a (literally) flying visit. Locals and other visitors who know a heckuva lot more than I do about the social and historical context are happy when asked to make suggestions about opportunities in these communities.

The development of local businesses is a familiar and reasonable suggestion. From camels hunted for food and captured for sale to the Middle East, from whence they came, now suffering from disease, there is an enormous number of untamed beasts including horses and cattle, also domestic cattle, which can be raised and marketed in a sustainable way. Clearly substantial mentoring and business leadership will be needed but the locals are ready to take a grip on their own futures.

I have written elsewhere about the idea of a combined gas-water pipeline however there are a number of other viable options for opening up the north-west and mid-west of Western Australia to economic development. In addition to coastal and inland pipeline options, it has been suggested to redirect the Fitzroy River inland with a levee to fill the massive series of disconnected lakes into a contiguous river system flush with water to irrigate the Kimberley and the Pilbara.

State and federal governments must continue to improve the physical and social environments in remote communities by investing in infrastructure, continuing to improve health and educational outcomes, and directing greater leadership into those areas. At all leadership levels including executive, project and community officers, teachers and health workers, and other workers who contribute to community life, the most important resource is the people who put in their hearts and souls into improving the lives of the local inhabitants.

The strategic value of the remote communities increases as trade, tourism and transport grow in importance across the state. The Gibb River Road is a major tourist attraction giving the Imintji store significant importance for travellers; likewise for those exploring the Canning Stock Route, communities and stores at Well 33 and other stops are extremely important.

With the current absence of significant development in these remote areas many of the remote communities have a limited future and offer few if any employment options for the indigenous locals, beyond limited opportunities offered as part of the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP). While local business development will create jobs and enhance the economic and social sustainability of many communities, large-scale state development will make the strategic importance of these locations paramount.

An inland pipeline could entirely change the physical and metaphorical landscape, at the same time as demonstrating to ourselves and the rest of the world that we have the gumption and foresight to make some far-reaching decisions.