Wine, not climb

By ERWIN CHLANDA Sixty five thousand years. The world’s oldest living culture. One of the things that make Australia great. Aboriginal people and the tourism industry are clearly made for each other. Well, no.

Danial Rochford (pictured), CEO of Tourism Central Australia, says the industry lobby is looking at options for greater involvement of Aboriginal people, possibly through entrepreneurship as well as CDEP-style initiatives with government support. However, these moves are in an early phase. Mr Rochford estimates "roughly about 10%" of the region's tourism operators are Indigenous owned. Meanwhile the current relationship between Indigenous people and tourism seems more hostile than cooperative. In October 2019 traditional owners banned climbing The Rock, a favourite adventure for millions of Australians and visitors since the 1930s. The mountain range between Heavitree Gap and Honeymoon Gap, or Mt Gillen, was declared a registered sacred site in December 2020. The range was a favourite walking area in the immediate vicinity of the town. Its southern flank features about a dozen magnificent gullies, the nearest one just 20 minutes walk from the tourism precinct. “Custodians have asked that the site not be climbed,” the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority states. The long-planned mountain bike track in the Aboriginal-owned West MacDonnells national park has still not received the traditional owners' approval. And the elephant in the room is the secretive Centrecorp Aboriginal Investment Corporation Pty Ltd, owned by the Central Land Council (three shares) as well as the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress and Tangentyere Council (two shares each). It has investments estimated in hundreds of millions of dollars, but little or none in tourism. Its website says in the early 1980s the Central Land Council was considering an investment corporation "that would allow Aboriginal people to participate commercially in the inevitable resource and tourism development projects ... rather than simply observing this development take place around them." Yes, tourism. According to its website, Centrecorp’s principal investments are in: Peter Kittle Motor Company, Yeperenye Shopping Centre and other properties, LJ Hooker Alice Springs, Milner Road Foodtown, Mercure Alice Springs Resort (according to Mr Rochford that is no longer current), Alice Springs Memorial Club property (currently being developed by Congress as a "health hub"), Properties at 75 and 82 Hartley Street Alice Springs, and Hertz Commercial Vehicle franchises in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. "Centrecorp does not receive any operational grants or royalties," claims the company on its website. This is an interesting statement: Centrecorp may not but Aboriginal royalty associations do, including from the Tanami mine, owned by Newmont, the world's biggest gold miner. It is understood the associations elect to invest the royalties through Centrecorp. We were unable to get replies from Centrecorp to these questions: What is the total value of Centrecorp assets? What percentage of this is in tourism assets in Central Australia? What are the main ones? Is Centrecorp planning to invest in further Central Australian tourism assets? If so when? Costing how much? What assets (e.g. Wilderness Lodges in the MacDonnell Ranges)? Mr Rochford says: "Tourists are looking for the culture, the histories and the stories and to immerse themselves in understanding that 65,000 years of culture." NEWS: Generally speaking, they are not getting it directly from the Indigenous people. Why not? ROCHFORD: We're on a journey. It has started, it is fair to say, with a small number of Indigenous tourism businesses. We're working with a lot of micro to medium size businesses. He says these include Standley Chasm, Ormiston Gorge, Finke River Adventures and KARKKE at Kings Canyon. ROCHFORD: Visitors want to hear indigenous cultural stories and hear firsthand from traditional owners but we now need to think how we can meet that demand. We know there are many interested in tourism, it is something new for most who have not worked in tourism before, many who are not in the industry don't really understand the industry very well. That's the challenges for agencies like ours. NEWS: You say the tourism's brand has been immeasurably damaged by some elements speaking out loud in national media about the worsening youth crime rate in Alice Springs, now often featuring aggravated assaults at knifepoint. Taking a broad view of Aboriginal influence on tourism, let's not kid ourselves, behind every eight or 15 year old offender are Aboriginal parents neglecting their children. ROCHFORD: We have to face the reality that we have to, as an agency, work with our industry, work with government and partners to try and reverse the damage to our brand. NEWS: Who actually goes out into the Aboriginal camps and says, where is Johnny? Is he still in trouble? What can we do? ROCHFORD: In my four years here I've seen agencies working more closely with one another. All relevant agencies. The community expects it. NEWS: What is Tourism Central Australia itself doing to reduce crime, something your members' future in business depends on? ROCHFORD: Whoever is committing a crime must face the full force of the law. NEWS: More law, more police? It's not working, is it? ROCHFORD: If someone is breaking into an 80 years old person's house, the full force of the law should be applied. NEWS: Could crime not be prevented? ROCHFORD: That dovetails into two points. We have been very long and loud talking about preventative policing. Having enough boots on the ground to ensure crime doesn't occur in the first place. That will have a flow-on effect that fewer young people don't get into the justice system and then into prisons. We need to focus on housing, health and poverty issues, economic empowerment. Traditionally that has been the role of the CDEP programming in remote parts. Tourism plays an absolutely important opportunity. NEWS: How many Aborigines does the local tourism industry employ? ROCHFORD: I've never seen that statistic broken down. In a recent review of the CDEP program we stated tourism could be a jobs factory for Indigneous Australians. NEWS: How will that work? ROCHFORD: There needs to be some form of support to encourage Indigenous Australians into opportunities to work for Indigenous and non-Indigenous tourism businesses. NEWS: Is there anything stopping this? ROCHFORD: There are cultural reasons. NEWS: Define those, please. ROCHFORD: Tourism does bring with it a bit of rigidity. If you have a nine o'clock tour there is a need for someone to turn up at 9am. Other regions have realised the challenges of cultural sensitivities. I've seen other regions using Indigenous owned labour hire firms. If somebody can't turn up for that 9 o'clock tour they make sure someone does turns up. NEWS: Should people being offered a job have their dole terminated? ROCHFORD: A lot of people talk about the employment issues. I like to talk about entrepreneurship. I want to see more Indigenous tourism entrepreneurs. NEWS: How would you encourage them? ROCHFORD: The first thing is finding out who is interested in getting into tourism and I would openly encourage anyone to reach out to Tourism Central Australia and other agencies. There are a lot of support packages from governments and NGOs. PHOTO Instagram.