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Garma Festival,
Friday 7 to Tuesday 11 August 2009
[DAY 1] [DAY 2] [DAY 3] [DAY 4] [DAY 5]
Day 5 , Tuesday 11 August
A workshop on remote Australia
An important workshop to discuss governance and good public policy development for remote Australia took place today.
Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA), a supporter of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, conducted the workshop – remoteFOCUS: revitalising Remote Australia – and DKA Chair Fred Chaney opened proceedings.
.jpg) He outlined the reasons that systematic and structural policy change in governing remote Australia were a matter of urgency. DKA is seeking to create a national conversation on the economic and social crisis facing the vast arid and tropical regions that make up 85 per cent of the continent; and to develop a series of alternative models to ensure efficient governance and service delivery in remote and regional Australia.
It is currently involved in raising support and resources for a major community engagement process.
A final colourful traditional bunggul ended the festival. The Chief Justice of the Northern Territory and his family dropped in to Garma to view the final bunggul.
Safe and secure
One of the most visible uniforms at Garma was the red “Safety and Security” shirt of the security team, part of a security training initiative sponsored by Intelligent Risks, a Sydney-based international security strategy company, and led by two of the Intelligent Risks staff. It is one of the many employment and training programs run in conjunction with Garma.
The Yolngu involved learnt valuable skills and provided a major element of the festival’s security.
Stargazing
One of the popular evening activities was an astronomy program presented by Gove Amateur Astronomers, A 40,000-year history in the stars. Ian Maclean presented Yolngu stories of the Milky Way and history of Gulkula and the space race of the 1960s.
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