12 June
2006 - Greg Hunt MP, Parliamentary Secretary with
ministerial responsibility for Uluru-Kata Tjuta
National Park, today congratulated Aboriginal
leader Barbara Tjikatu on receiving one of Australia's
highest awards: the Order of Australia.
"Barbara Tjikatu is one
of the principal figures in the history and development
of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and I'm delighted
that the nation has recognised her enormous contribution
to her people and to the park," Mr Hunt said.
"Mrs Tjikatu, a senior
Anangu woman, played a key role in the campaign
for land rights and the handing back of Uluru
to traditional owners in the 1980s. She helped
established the joint management arrangements
for Uluru- Kata Tjuta National Park and has been
a tireless Board member almost continuously since
1986."
Barbara Tjikatu was born in
the Western Desert, part of a nomadic family for
whom there are no records of date of birth. It
is estimated that she was born in the late 1920s,
making her now more than 80 years old.
Barbara remembers walking from
place to place in the desert region around Uluru,
visiting her grandmother's country and her grandfather's
country, and hunting and gathering on the land.
She recalls working on properties in the days
when Anangu were given only rations for their
labour.
In the early 1970s Barbara and
her husband Nipper (now deceased) returned to
Uluru to engage more regularly in traditional
ceremony.
"Since handback in 1985,
Barbara has been involved in almost every aspect
of park work, from manual labour, to establishing
three park businesses and the Cultural Centre,
through to face to face discussions with Australian
Government and Northern Territory Ministers,"
Mr Hunt said.
"A formidable tracker,
her skills were exemplified by her tracking of
the infamous dingo in the Azaria Chamberlain case
in the 1970s. She still employs these skills in
helping to monitor the status of wildlife and
feral animals in the park.
"Barbara is an invaluable
advisor to scientific staff and still continues
to coach and train Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal
staff in the park.
"She has shown extraordinary
commitment to the protection of Aboriginal culture
and to passing it on to the younger generations,
particularly young women. She is known for her
generosity in explaining to park staff, tour guides
and park visitors the cultural heritage that is
central to Aboriginal life in the desert.
"Barbara Tjikatu is an
amazing woman, leading by example and worthy of
the honour of the Order of Australia." /
Kristy McSweeney (Mr Hunt's office)
