Host: DAFWA Aboriginal Business Development Project
Location: Western Australia
The Aboriginal Business Development (ABD) project is run by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA). Aboriginal Business Development, you say? Or is it the Indigenous Landholder Service, or is it Aboriginal Agricultural Management? Yes. We have been around for a long time and have had many names, so much that most people who work for the department don’t even know what to call us anymore (including myself).
My name is Daisy Goodwin and I’m one of seven people who work on the project. Others include, project manager, Mark Chimlshjkuhwqa (Chmielewski, yes this is a word and no, we don’t know how to pronounce it), Kim Carter (began working on the project the year before I was born = walking ABD encyclopaedia), Kelly Fluggee (a wealth of knowledge of all things Indigenous and South West), Tony Gray (genius and skilled crispy skin salmon chef) along with other lovely people who I have not met yet and thus cannot joke at their expense. The project focuses on indigenous run properties across the state with people working from Broome, Geraldton, Perth, Esperance and Albany. Most of the properties are pastoral however these properties are diversifying and beginning to produce other products such as honey, oranges and native indigenous vegetables.
In Western Australia, there are sixty pastoral leases held by culturally and geographically diverse communities with 40 indigenous managed properties in the northern region. ABD is currently working with six properties in the north and others in the mid-west and south with the help of various partners such as the Northern Beef Futures (NBF) project and the Northern Indigenous Pastoral Enterprises (NIPE). Many of these properties are isolated and have varying skills in relation to animal husbandry, business operation and so forth. The project aims to build relationships with properties and provide support in the form of business mentoring, training and in-situ skills development.
Our blog posts will shed some light on what we’ve achieved over the years, the lessons we’ve learnt along the way and of course, some funny stories (well…. we think we’re funny anyway!).
Kim Carter (right) with Beemurra Aboriginal Corporation chairperson, Kevin Barron and farm manager, Lexi Barron.
Lamboo Station manager Robin Yeeda and Haydn Sale, of Yougawalla Services, at Lamboo Station.
Lamboo Station manager Robin Yeeda with Mark Chmielewski, manager of the Department of Agriculture and Food’s Indigenous Landholder Service.
Life & Times at Lamboo Station
Host: DAFWA Aboriginal Business Development Project Written by Robin Yeeda This blog was written by Robin Yeeda. Robin is one of the creators of the ‘Ngunjiwirri Aboriginal Corporation’, one of the indigenous groups the ABD project works with. Lamboo Station is roughly 50km west of Halls Creek town, along the Great Northern Highway and the place I […]
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Beef backgrounding with the Barron’s
Host: DAFWA Aboriginal Business Development Project Written by Lexine Mourambine This blog was written by Lexine Mourambine. Lexine is the future manager of one of the properties the ABD project works with “Yallalie Farm”. My Grandfather, Kevin Barron, was the driving force behind acquiring our family a 1200Ha farm in Dandaragan, 263km north of Perth in […]
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Education beyond the gate
Host: DAFWA Aboriginal Business Development Project Written by Daisy Goodwin To some, it may seem obvious what happens when cattle leave the farm. To the general person, well, our beef comes from the grocery store so we really have no idea. When you are new to pastoralism (well… new in terms of cattle production, and that […]
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Gold Coast -> Outback -> Perth -> Dongara -> Broome
Host: DAFWA Aboriginal Business Development Project Written by Daisy Goodwin When you live on the Gold Coast, you don’t have to go far for anything. Shops? 15 minutes. Beach? 15 minutes. Work? 15 minutes. New job in Perth? 46 hours. At the beginning of this year, I was offered a job working as a development officer […]
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Grocery list: Onions, carrots, kulyus, youlks, sandalwood nuts…?
Host: DAFWA Aboriginal Business Development Project Written by Daisy Goodwin Ever wanted to diversify your property but you didn’t know where to start? What can you grow? Will it be worth it? How much land will I need? Well this is just too hard. But there may be a new solution for some, particularly indigenous […]
