I rise to congratulate Tangentyere Council in Alice Springs on their 40th anniversary celebrations. Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation has been part of Alice Springs for 40 years, delivering services, creating jobs and advocating for improved housing, safety and respectful partnerships with town campers and the wider community. The organisation was formed by town campers for town campers, born out of the struggle for land rights in the 1970s. Town camps have been part of Alice Springs since the early years, before the town was gazetted as Stuart in 1888. As Aboriginal people around Central Australia were driven off their lands, many settled around Stuart, then Alice Springs. The fringe camps served as ration stations, labour camps and access to what limited services were available in the frontier town. The policy of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families also contributed to the growth of the town camps. Families followed their children into the township, where the stolen children were housed in a facility called the Bungalow. The families set up camps on the fringes of the settlement to try and maintain a connection with their children.
During the 1900s the official government policy was to rid Alice Springs of the camps, but town campers resisted and persisted. Strong leaders emerged to work and advocate for an improvement to living conditionsfor basic rights such as shelter, clean water and access to services the rest of the town took for granted. They were families such as the Rubuntjas, with the two strong brothers who were founders of Tangentyere, the Armstrongs, the Campbells, the Williams, the Stevens, the Furbers, thes Hayes, the Hamptons, the Liddles, the McCormacks, the Lynches, the Smiths, the Forresters, the Malbunkasand so many more whose families today continue as proud town campers.
They are families such as the Shaws. Geoffrey Shaw OAM was the first general manager of Tangentyere and today serves as president. His son Walter Shaw, the CEO of Tangentyere, is a strong and vocal supporter of town campers and their rights. Geoff's daughter Barb Shaw has played many roles in the organisation and was pivotal, along with Geoff's wife, Eileen Hoosan, in establishing many of the services for women and families run by Tangentyere. The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these founders are proud town campers today, raising their families and contributing to their community.
In the mid-1970s town campers began organising into individual associations and corporations, negotiating with governments to gain legal status and security of land tenure over the town camps. A group called Tunkatjira was formed in 1974 to support town campers in getting land, shelter, services, transport, firewood and garbage collection. At the same time, the Aboriginal Land Rights Commissioner recommended that leases be granted for town camp areas. The first town camps were granted special purpose leases by the government in 1976. Tunkatjira was officially incorporated in 1979 and the spelling changed to Tangentyere, an Arrernte word meaning 'all speaking together'.
Each town camp comprises a largely distinct Indigenous community based on language and kinship groups. Town camp residents often have strong links with remote communities and the geographic location of many camps reflect these links. The conservative service population estimates for the 16 town camps is between 1,950 and 3,300 people. The population fluctuates according to the time of year and events in town and outbush. Through the 1980s Tangentyere continued to work towards securing leases, building houses, developing employment programs and delivering services, often in the face of government resistance.
Fast forward to December 2009. Fourteen of the 15 housing association members of Tangentyere signed 40-year subleases with the Commonwealth government, in return for a commitment of $100 million over five years to upgrade housing and essential infrastructure. Tangentyere continues to work to assert town campers' rights and support them to exercise control and self-determination over their own lives and homes.
Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation is one of the largest employers of Aboriginal people in Australia and is a significant employer and economic contributor to Alice Springs. The council has established businesses and social enterprises, including Tangentyere Constructions, Tangentyere Artists, Central Australian Affordable Housing Company and also Tangentyere Designslovely clothing. I honour the determination and commitment to Tangentyere's founders and their success in persevering, against the odds, to secure a future for present and future generations of town campers. I also pay tribute to the strength of town campers and their contribution to the wider communities not only amongst the Alice Springs population but also around Central Australia in general.
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