2016 Jack Cusack Memorial lecture

Yariya marang, Good afternoon

Yinaagalangbu, gibir-

bangbu,wugalbu, migaybu,
Dirra-ngalbang mayiny
Ladies and gentlemen.

Young men, young women,
distinguished guests

Nga-dhi yindya-mali Ngambri –
Ngurmal Walgalu, Wallabolloa

Ngunnawal mudyigang
yanhibu

dha-yndhu.

My respects to Ngambri –
Ngurmal Walgalu – Wallabolloa –
Ngunnawal elders past
and present.

Nga-dhi yindyammarrabu
mudyiganggu ngur

ambandhiguwal
nginha yiradhu.

My respects from all other
nations here today.

Ngambri-Ngunnawal Mayiny
Gawaymbanha Nginyalgir
Ngurambanngu.

Ngambri-Ngunnawal people
welcome you to country.

Firstly I would like to
acknowledge our ancestors

for laying such a strong
foundation for the younger
generation to move forward

.

I am proud for being born and
raised in my ancestral country
here in Canberra.

It’s a challenge, big challenge,
living on country.

I would also like to
acknowledge my other

multi-aboriginal ancestries,
including Wiradjur

i.

Wiradjuri played a big
part in my raising as well,

including Pardong which is
Gundungurra Gadagara.

So I would like to share with
you some images of country.

This welcome to country is
made in the spirit of peace and
desire for harmony

for all peoples of the modern
ACT and surrounds.

When our European ancestors
arrived onto the horizon in the
Canberra region in the 1820’s,

they asked our ancestors,
our old people,
what do you call this place?

And our old people didn’t
respond by saying the
‘barbeque area■.

So the different renditions of the
word Ngambri/Kanbri come back.

We are still educating
government about this.

Educating our children, our
generations of people

right across the country about
the historical truths and
historical facts of coun

try.

So, we talk about country,
we talk about the values.

The values, the interests,
the priorities, that exist
in the landscape.

Its the values, it

s the sites
of significance that we
have in country.

Those stories, that common

binding lore of country.

We talk about the political,
the economic and the
religious structures.

Those sophisticated structures
binded our old people, binded
our country together.

We continue to maintain a deep
respect for our country,
our culture and heritage.

Through our belief

s, law,
systems, our structures.

As

per the religious,
political, judicial and
religious systems.

So as a younger Ngambri I have
resp

onsibility to lead my
children, my family,

our broader family into a
better future for all of us.

Why we know so much about our
ancestral country and people is
because of the ethno-histo

rical
records.

And its places like the
National Library,

the National Archive,

particularly though the
National Library, has
overwhelming amounts of
information which is compelling.

Powerful, compelling
information which demonstrates
our bona

fides,
our connection to country.

So when we talk about country,
we talk about it in two terms.

We talk about connecting
country through language.

So when we talk about language,
we talk about Walegulu.

The language of the
Gummal and Ngambri people.

Wallabalooa, the Ngunnawal
speakers, my ancestry as well.

Wallabalooa and also Mannaroo
Molingala which is
Ngarigo speaking.

And further to the right
Gundungara and Pajong

And on that map yo

u can’t see
to the coast which is Doriga,

the Durga language and also the
Durrala language on the coast

and to the west
the Wiradjuri country.

So when we tal

k about language
in the south east our ancestors
were multi lingual.

Basically able to speak
multiple languages on country.

When we talk about cultural
heritage and country we talk
about our places like
Weereewa, Lake Georg

e.

Most of the aboriginal names of
country have been Romanised
and anglis

ized.

Places like Canberra.

Canberra is actually a
Romanised/anglicised word for
the word Ngambri.

We talk about Weereewa,
Lake George,

where our ancestor, Ongyong
Allyyongyka, was born on a
creek named after him.

Weereewa means
‘place of council’ in language.

We talk about places like
Wiriyarra,

talk about Uriara, Gooryarru,
Gooramon, Urrumgoola, Umungala.

So all places through
country here.

We

t

al

Ti

k

db

ab

in

ou

bi

t

ll

ou

a.

r

rivers.
The Murrumbidgee,
Goodradigbee, Goolbragandra
rivers.

Our ancestors have cared for
Mother Earth since the
dawn of time.

The evidence of our occupation
can be seen right throughout
the country.

So we talk about, when we look
under the concrete and steel,
the glass of the cities
and towns.

We look under all that, we see
a rich 60,000 year aboriginal
history of this country.

Which is now a shared history
that belongs to all of us.

So we all have a responsibility
in looking after country.

Not just Aboriginal people,
we are all in it together.

In that journey together.

Our signature is in the land,
not just our DNA.

This is an image of my great,

great Grandfather at
Uriarra station

Actually back in the early
1900s, back in 1903 here.

I was able to find this image
through the research,
the homework

It’s important we all identify
with aboriginal people.

It’s good to do your research
on Aboriginal people.

It’s good to do your family
history and find out actually
who your people are,

where you come from, and
connect yourself to country
through your ancestors.

Because the evidence is
powerful. It’s compelling.

You can use that to basically
argue your case, your story
for country.

So my Grandfather, Henry. He
was known as black Harry

and he was born in Gudgenby,
basically Namadg

i.

So when you come into Canberra
You go out west into
the mountains.

Basically, he was a
multilingual Walgalu speaker.

He was also a Cleverman,
a stockman, a farmer, an
athlete, a black tracker.

He was many things.
He was able to adapt and live
in two worlds.

In order to live in both worlds
he basically skilled himself up.

To be able to do a whole
range of things.

So Henry, my great
grandfather here,

he was taught by his tribal
grandfather Ongyong Allyyongyka
from Weereewa.

And he taught him, he took him
up in the mountains,
his beloved mountains,

and initiated him and taught
him all the tribal secrets
of country.

And he was connected to his
people as well, the Lowe family.

Acknowledged the Lowe family,
the descendants from the
Lowe family.

The Merritt family, from
Canberra as well.

There is a strong, powerful
connection that existed in
ancestral times

which comes through today
in modern times.

To enable that knowledge of old
people, pretty symbolic things,
like the naming of suburbs
and streets.

So we talk about the
environment. It’s all connected.

And the animals, the mountains,
the rivers.

It’s all connected.
Both environmental
and spiritually.

So Canberra contains and is
surrounded by many sights of
significance.

We talk about back to those
values and those interests that
exist in the landscape.

Here is an image of family
at Cuppacumbalong.

The descendants here are our
people, our families today.

We continually talk about the
acknowledgement, the respect
and honouring our people.

We talk about the law of the
land. So the law of the land
talks about respect.

Respect and being patient,
giving honour to all people and
parts of the country

and then empowering people
and looking after each other.

We talk about looking after the
land and the rivers

and the land and rivers will
look after you.

So in conclusion we talk about
our creation, Biemmy.

Biemmy sent the ancestors to
create the world.

He sung the country, he made
the mountains and the valleys.

He sung the people, he made all
the creeks and the rivers.

He sung all creatures, he sung
the law how to be on country.

How to care for family
and children.

To remember our ancestors,
our old people.

And when Biemmy creator
finished his work he set up the
camps in the sky.

They are the stars.

We dance, we sing,
we remember, we respect.
To uphold.

So in the spirit of
reconciliation and on behalf of
our elders and our ancestors
and family

We say Gunembunya, welcome. Thankyou
APPLAUSE

I would like to acknowledge the
cultural appropriation of

the Yidargi or Yidikee from a
place called Ramborginni,
in Arnhem Land.

Now I was exposed to the Yidikee
at an early age.

From Top End people who visited
Canberra in the early seventies
when I was a child.

I want to play a quick welcome
song for you.

♪ DIDGEREEDO MUSIC ♪

Thankyou

So I would just like to begin
by acknowledging the Ngunawal
and Namberri people

as the traditional owners of
the land on which we are meeting
this afternoon.

And pay my respects to their
elders, past and present.

This week is a time of
celebration for Aboriginal and
Torres Straight Island people.

To celebrate our history, our
culture and our achievements
with all Australians.

Personally for me, NAIDOC week
was really exciting growing up.

It often fell in the July
school holidays and if not, I
got a day off school

and that was to hang out with
my mum, my brother, my aunties

and all the mob at King George
Square or Musgrave Park,
up in Brisbane.

It just depended on where Mum’s
work stall was for the day

and I also got to eat junk food
all day

But it also meant a lot more to
me than just a fun day out

It was a day out where I got to
be around other indigenous
children growing up.

And to understand that,
although I was a minority
within my school

I was just like other people
growing up

So as I’ve gotton older, that
excitement for NAIDOC week
hasn’t waned

I’m really excited to head to
Musgrave Park with my
colleagues on Friday

and actually spend the day at
my own work stall and not with
my mother, the CSIRO

Although I’ve grown up I really
enjoy spending time with my
extended community

and it means even more to me
than it did as a child.

I’ve also come to realize that
the one day a year I spent
actually focussing on my culture

in

fo

fl

r

ue

NA

nc

ID

ed

OC

m

e so much more than
any other public holiday or
religious holiday.

It was the one week, I
mentioned it just before, but
mainly the one day a year,

where I really had the
opportunity to hang out

with the wider indigenous
community and I could be proud
to be Aboriginal.

Growing up I experienced, like
many others, racist comments
from people who really didn’t

understand the oppression of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peopl

e

or they just really didn’t
care if they offended at all.

And it could be for these
reasons that I really struggled
with my cultural identity

as a child and as an adolescent.

But now, standing before you
this evening, I am really proud
of who I am

and my heritage and I am really
honoured to have the
opportunity to give the

Jack Cusack Memorial lecture
alongside two of my colleagues.

Even though I still come across
other people that can be

casually racist to my face, it
just doesn’t bother me anymore.

So, Yura, which is welcome in
my language

My name is Mibu and I am a
proud Nunukl, Nguhi and
Gorenpul woman

from Quandamooka Country in
beautiful Morton Bay
in Queensland.

It’s a lot warmer up there
than it is here

My name means Night owl in my
language, which is Jandai

And it was given to me at
birth by my mother

I am here today to give you a
quick peek into my life and how
I came to work at CSIRO

and I will also comment briefly
on what I think indigenous
science is and how that can
contribute to western science.

So first off, like many
indigenous Australians, from a
young age

I always had a connection to
country. I had a strong sense
of caring for the environment

and being a saltwater woman
I was drawn to the sea.

Even though I wasn’t born on
country upon moving to
Quandamooka Country

whilst in primary school that
affinity quickly became
ingrained within me

I pretty much spent every
weekend and every school holiday
traveling across the bay

30 minutes to the island where
my mother and her family
come from

I just did a quick timeline of
my life so far, ’cause it’s
not very long.!Audience laughs!.

I like to think it’s not.
So I spent my days with
my cousins

swimming, fishing collecting
oysters from my Grandfathers
oyster bank,

collecting Eugaries, collecting
firewood for my grandparents
stove and also

collecting spring water.
Because my grand mother
refused to drink the tap water.

And I also spent time refusing
to eat oysters even though

everyone else loved them.
I didn’t and they were free
for me.

A decade later I still knew I
had an affinity with the land
and sea and wanted to
care for it.

And that really became apparent
after year 11 biology camp.

We went snorkelling and
collected sea water and looked
under microscopes

and I saw for the first time,
all the micro-organisms that
also called the sea their home.

But despite the strong pull
towards the environment I never
actually thought I could get a
career in it.

So when I finished grade 12
I wanted to be a police officer.

But unfortunately, they didn’t
take school leavers when I
graduated high school.

So I was like, that’s it I’m
going to University and I’m
going to do a double degree in
Human Services and Justice.

And the day that our
applications were due.
My aunty sat me down

and said, “Do you really want
to learn about Human Services
and Justice?”
I said, No.

So that day we changed my
preference to Marine Science
and a few months later
I was moving interstate

to study Marine Science and
Management at Southern
Cross University.

Whilst I was there I was
ineligible for a living
allowance from the government.

So my parents forked out the
money for two households.

Me down in Lismore and them
up in Cleveland.

It wasn’t until the end of my
first year of Uni that the
Aunty that previously suggested

that I get into Marine Science,
also suggested that I apply for
a cadetship with CSIRO.

Well being 17 years old I had
never heard of CSIRO before

let alone the fact that there
was a CSIRO base 5 minutes
down the road

where I grew up in my home
town, and they actually did
marine science.

So after I researched who they
were and what they did. I
thought this place sounds
pretty cool.

So I applied. Got an interview
and a few months later I was

I was signing contracts and by
the end of the year, I had a
cadetship from CSIRO.

I formally started the
cadetship in January 2009 which
was a really gre

at financial
relief to my parents.

And I graduated from my degree,
mid 2011.

It has been 7 and a half years
since I first started at CSIRO
as a cadet.

And I’ve been in various roles
over those yea

rs.

Just recently, I received a
permanent full time position
with CSIRO

as a marine ecologist in their
Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship.

So I currently work as a Marine
Ecologist in the Flagship but
as I just mentioned I worked

across a number of different
roles.

When I first graduated, I
worked in the aquaculture
department, up in Brisbane as
a lab technician.

So I did a lot of chemical
analysis on feeds and on
animal tissues.

And then I ended up as a
research assistant for one
of our scientists there.

He was into molecular biology
which I knew nothing about.

And as I was starting my
journey down the molecular
biology route

the people that I first started
with offered me an internship
with them.

And I grabbed that as an
opportunity to escape
from aquaculture.

As wonderful as it is,
it just wasn’t for me.

So I escaped and moved across
into the Tropical Coastal group
which is were I still am today.

During my internship I created
a booklet which was a collation
of all the research

that CSIRO has done on
Fisheries and habitats in the
Torres Strait.

We’ve been up there for over 25
years. We have a really good
reputation. The community loves us.

And it was just a way for the
scientists to give back all the
research that they’ve done.

They had never really put it in
a format where someone who
isn’t a scientist could understand
that information.

It was about trying to empower
the community for future
co-management goals.

Along with this I also
redeveloped a computer software
tool which allows the community
members to click

on a button and it shows up
the fisheries over the years.

Like whether it be sea-cucumber
it would show how much was
caught in 2005 and the
difference between 2005/2006

And lay it over a map of the
Torres Strait. Which visual
things are really good.

Now I am still working in the
area of empowering communities

but working in the
Solomon Islands as well as
the Torres Strait.

I really enjoy the feeling of
helping people who don’t have
the capability to increase

their own capability to make
decisions about their
natural resources.

That’s really where I am kind
of going in my role
at the moment.

This opportunity to increase
capability in communities has

inspired me to look into using
traditional knowledge

to help communities change the
way that we view science.

So another recent personal
experience that has really
highlighted for me how much I

am passionate about communities
and communities caring
for country,

is the Queensland
Indigenous Youth Leadership
Programme.

This was an intense 6 days
where I was learning about
Parliamentary processes in

Queensland and community issues
with 40 other young
Indigenous Australians,

both men and women,
from around Queensland.

It culminated in the Eric Deeral
Youth Parliament where we
debated over a mock bill

and then got to present a
personal issue within
Parliament.

It was the best week.
I learnt so much.

I really can’t put into words
how enjoyable that experience
was for me.

I forged so many friendships
that I will keep for lifetime.

It was during this program that
particular words which are
often in high rotation,

when it comes to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander
communities, started to pop up.

And it started me thinking,
what can we really do to
change these problems.

So while listing to my peers
from regional, rural and
remote Queensland
it dawned on me

that perhaps my passion for
Indigenous Australians working
on country could really be a

starting point to change the
rest of these issues.

The words that kept coming up
were Education, Employment,
Health and Culture.

I don’t know if a lot of you
have similar issues ’cause it’s
both and indigenous and a

non-indigenous issue in remote
and regional communities.

The thought about using caring
for country isn’t really a
ground breaking thought.

There is people doing it all
over Australia. I just want to
see more of it.

And I want to be involved with
it and I want it to be an
easier process for communities

to engage with the government
to get these programs underway.

Currently, a couple of my
colleagues, who I’m a
bit jealous of,

are working with traditional
owners in the Kimberly region.

This is through a partnership
with a number of Aboriginal
groups

and the Western Australian
Marine Science Institute.

The grounds of this study is
about the conservation
of dugong.

As they are currently listed
vulnerable to extinction
globally.

They are also a culturally
important species. The north of
Australia has the largest

habitat range for dugong along
with some of the healthiest
populations in the world.

The CSIRO scientists are
working with the Kimberly
Ranger groups to tag these

dugong, monitor them and their
progress through the sea-grass
meadows and also doing

aerial monitoring of them. This
is helping communities through
producing information

that is supporting them in
making healthy country plans
and creating new Indigenous

protected areas as well as
helping with current management
of indigenous protected areas.

So two of my colleagues are
travelling to the southern
Kimberly in a couple of weeks

to continue this project this
time they are working with the
Bardyjarby (?) Rangers

They will be tagging dugongs
for two weeks in a beautiful
place, I don’t feel sorry for
them at all.

But the traditional knowledge
that the Bardyjarby (?) have
of their country is so

advantageous to scientists
because it covers such a large
spatial marine area and it

allows scientists to save money
by not having to travel all
around in a plane,

find the dugong, then radio
a boat. They know where
they have

caught them with over millennia
of experience doing it.
It is not just helping the

scientists. As I mentioned
previously it is also helping
the commun

ities.

This is only one example of
where Indigenous Rangers have
been used all over the country

and also where traditional
knowledge can benefit
western science.

I am sure many of you, in the
room, have also heard instances
where traditional knowledge has

been used to benefit
western science but true to
science, there have been a

number of phrases made up to
try and capture traditional
knowledge.

Some of these are traditional
ecological knowledge,
indigenous ecological knowledge,

traditional indigenous
knowledge, there is a few
others. It gets all a bit
confusing.

But I just wanted to show you a
definition of what indigenous
science meant to me.

Indigenous science to me is
the knowledge and the
relationships that we have

with each other, with our
environment, and the
relationships between our

environment and how we all
interact together. It’s the
passing down of stories.

And it includes all aspects of
indigenous culture and is
closely linked to a way of life.

That really resounds strongly
in me and is what I want to do
with the rest of my career and
my life.

I can see a lot of differences
and similarities between
traditional science and

western science. A few
differences are that
traditional science has taken

a long time to be acquired. It’s
holistic, intuitive and it is
an oral or visual

experience and it is assumed
to be the truth.

Where as, western science can
be acquired pretty quickly, is
taught through formal

education, without any need to
actually experience it. It is
written and has a language
all of it’s own.

It also separates the fields
in it’s own area.

Although recently with larger
projects some of the fields
are collaborating together.

It is not generally the case
in many areas of science.

Traditional knowledge can
assist western science due to
the higher level of prediction

in local areas due to the
wisdom that these people hold.

That can be accumulated over a
length of time that western
science just can’t have.

Traditional knowledge,
traditional science, explains
it’s self through examples and
not through hypothesis.

It is for these reasons that it
is so valuable to western
science and in particular
environmental science.

But there is always one
question that I am asked.

How can traditional knowledge
benefit western science?

I have discussed this numerous
times with a few colleagues and
the best answer I could

come up with is. Why? Why does
it have to benefit western
science?

This knowledge can be used by
traditional owners for it’s
main purpose which was to

care for the land and sea
then the land and sea will
care for you.

The Ranger Programs that are
currently in place and are
starting to pop up more often

around the country. They are
one example of how this can
be allowed to happen.

Looking at this year’s NAIDOC
theme. Song lines. The living
narrative of our nation.

I believe it’s particularly
fitting for us to start a
conversation about
traditional knowledge.

And being able to use that
knowledge that we can share to
enhance conservation and
sustainability practices.

As young ones it’s really our
responsibility to talk to our
elders for stories about our

country and our families so
that we can continue to pass
these stories on to the
next generation.

So that stories that stories
that haven’t already been lost
aren’t lost either.

I think it’s really important
to use traditional knowledge
that way.

Thankyou.
Applause

Well it’s going to be tough
following on from Mibu. She did
a fantastic introduction.

My name is Chantelle.
I’m an administrative officer
working in Perth.

I just want to say it’s and
privilege and an honour to be
here for NAIDOC week.

And to be a strong, independent
Aboriginal woman. A small town
country girl, growing up

outside of Perth. Flying here
all the way to Canberra

to be in front of all these
important people that you know.
It’s very overwhelming.!Laughs

I would like to begin by
acknowledging the Ngunnawal and
Ngambri peoples,

the traditional owners of the
land that we are meeting on
today and pay my respects to
their elders, past and present.

Today I’m going to be talking
to you about where I come from.

My life prior to CSIRO.
My CSIRO traineeship.

Transitioning from a trainee
to an indefinite employee
with CSIRO

and my future aspirations
and goals.
So where I come from.

My father is a descendent from
Ngow (?) people in the southern
area of Western Australia.

My mother is from the north
eastern area of New South Wales.
She was a Neemba (?) woman.

As you can see to the left is
the New South Wales region,

to the right is the Western
Australia region.

It wasn’t until 2012 that I
decided that I really wanted to

attend University

to study fashion. To become a
fashion designer, a stylist.

So I moved in with a mutual
friend who was residing
in Perth.

And attempted to enrol at
Curtin University to take a
bridging course.

The bridging course builds
pathways for indigenous people.

Enabling them to gain entry
into mainstream courses
at University

I was successful in gaining
entry and started the course in
January 2013.

Midway through the course I
decided that I wanted to be
more independent.

So I looked for alternative
accommodation.

I confided in my lecturer who
was able to refer me to IYMP.

IYMP stands for Indigenous
Youth Mobility Program.

IYMP is part of a government
operation giving young
indigenous people

from regional, rural and remote
communities the opportunity to
move to a host location

where supervised accommodation
is provided so that they can
participate in further

education, training and
apprenticeships.

So having passed the IYMP
enrolment process I moved into
one the Perth establishments.

I continued on with my
University studies completing
them at the end of
September 2013.

IYMP allocate each of there
students with a youth worker.
So

I regularly touched base
with mine.

She knew that my Uni

versity
studies were coming to an end.

I expressed to her that I
wasn’t sure if I wanted to
continue on with studying
next year.

So because of our relationship,
she knew that I loved computers
and working and interacting
with people.

She had found out from a CSIRO
contact who she, in the IYMP
program liaised frequently with,

that the ARC, the Australian
Resource Centre in
Western Australia

had a two year indigenous
traineeship coming up that
entailed receptionist work.

So she had informed me of the
opportunity. I loved fashion
but I loved people and

computers more. So I decided
not to follow my fashion dream
and jumped at the traineeship
opportunity.

I interviewed and was
successfully appointed to
the traineeship.

So I officially began the
traineeship and commenced work
at the ARC in November 2013.

So as you can see the
photograph to the left is of
the IYMP participants and the

photograph to the right is the
class of 2013 graduating
bridging course students

at the Centre for Indigenous
Studies at Curtin University.

So here is a photo of the CSIRO
ARC building in Kensington that
I work at.

ARC’s exploration and mining
research includes improving and
developing new processes

and technology for finding and
unlocking Australia’s hidden
mineral wealth.

These are just a few of the
joint ventures and
collaborators that ARC hosts.

As you can see, Curtin
University, WA ERA and NRSP,
NMI, ESWA and AARNET.

So I began working at the ARC
reception, being new to the
corporate world was a
bit daunting.

But I took it in my stride to
learn. After all I was there
to learn,

to develop professionally and
to grow professionally.

As the receptionist I was the
first point of call for
visitors coming to the facility.

It was important I gave a
lasting first impression.

As part of my role at reception.

I’ll just briefly go through a
few of the various tasks I
had to do.

So, dealing and engaging with
external and internal clients,
organising couriers to deliver

outgoing packages that internal
CSIRO Kensington staff or
external ARC tenants had.

Storing and distribution of the
mail every morning, answering/
forwarding calls,

Liaising with internal and
external CSIRO staff to assist
them with meeting room
booking enquiries

and assisting the admin staff
with organising seminars and
other CSIRO events.

I also got the opportunity to
help out at two of the other
CSIRO Perth metro sites,

Floreat and Waterford. I helped
covering their receptions when
called upon or needed.

As well as on the job training
and learning at reception I had
to make time to study.

As a registered training
organisation provider and my
supervisors wanted to make the
workplaces as realistic
as possible.

So I had to learn to balance
work and study.

A big part of my learning was
on the job training.

So I undertook a certificate 3
in business during the first
year of my traineeship

and successfully completed that
at the end of 2014.

At the start of 2015 I began
working on modules of my
certificate 4 in business
administration

and successfully completed this
at the end of 2015.

The photo at the top was taken
by my old boss and dear friend
Mandy Robinson.

Who has recently retired from
CSIRO.

The photo was in honour of me
reaching the 6 monthly
probationary period

as well as being ahead in my
certificate 3 modules and
studies.

I don’t know if you can see the
cake from there or not. That
was made by one of my
colleagues at reception.

It’s actually got aboriginal
designs on it. She did a really
good job of it.

The bottom photo is the front
of reception where I worked at.

At the end of 2015 a position
became available at CBIS
that entailed

providing administrative
support to the Kensington team.

I applied and was successful in
obtaining an indefinite
position.

I have developed and learnt so
many admin tasks in my new role.

Various tasks such as the
organising and note taking of
quarterly contractor quality
assurance meetings,

dealing with directing and
engaging with the contractors,
providing an over the
counter service,

providing quality customer
service. Also liaising with the
other metro Perth CSIRO sites

and the rural Geraldton site
which is 4 hours out of Perth.

I have recently starting
utilizing the Cardex system
which programs and
de-programs cards.

I have recently started
learning how to book flights,
accommodation, book car hire
for my fellow CBIS staff.

I have also been given a new
responsibility to help assist
Damian Newman.

He works at Floreat, in
relation to the monitoring of
CSIRO site vehicles.

So I am currently learning
about the Fleetway system.

I have also had miscellaneous
opportunities to work with
business units.

This photo is of the CBIS team
at Kensington.

To the left is Geof Arben,
Michael Nicholas, myself,
Jack King and Marion Hughes.

Actually good that we have a
small team there.
Laughs

I did say that I

would give a
formal shout out to
James Habit, the executive
manager for CBIS.

And Joanna Farris who also
works externally with CBIS.

They have been so supportive,
helpful and welcoming along
with other fellow CBISians.

I hope to continually grow and
develop professionally with
CSIRO and within my role.

Learn more about the
department’s functions,
help increase

indigenous employment
opportunities in Western
Australia.

But most of all have a
prosperous, long
working career.

As the future is very
important to me.

I hope you have enjoyed my
presentation and I really
hope you can take away
something new from it.

I honestly hope that I can
encourage and inspire other
young indigenous youths to

have the courage to follow
their dreams. To take
opportunities. To inspire them
to believe in themselves.

Look how far I’ve come and
where I am now standing in
front of all of you.

You can achieve if you believe.
Thankyou.
Applause

How are we?
OK

Welcome everyone, thanks for
inviting me to this Jack Cusack
Memorial Lecture.

It’s quite a privilege to be
here tonight.

I’d like to begin by
acknowledging the Ngunnawal
and Ngambri peoples

as the traditional owners of
the land we are standing
on tonight,

and pay my respects to their
elders past and present.

So a bit of background
on myself.

I’m a descendent of the
Kija people.

They say it with a G not a K
but that’s how they spell it,
whose lands are located in
the northwest Kimberley

pretty much all this land here.

Well I was born in Tom Price
which is down yonder, lived in
Perth for the first six years
of my life,

then one day my mum decided
that she wanted to return
to her land, which is Kija,

but most of her family lived in
Wyndham which is the
top black dot,

so we were shipped off, and I
lived there for close to 14,
15 years.

So my great grandmother was
from a cattle station in Violet
Valley which is quite

near Turkey Creek which is here
and in 1915 my grandmother was
born on Mabel Downs Station
which is also nearby.

After the 1967 referendum and
the introduction of the
Pastoral Board many Aboriginal

people didn’t have anywhere to
go because they were employed
on cattle stations.

And so the Kija people
established the Warmun
community which is pretty much
Turkey Creek these days.

The two names are
interchangeable.

But the interesting thing is
from 1901 that was where all
the Kija used to stay when it

was the wet season and they
were actually on holiday from
working on the cattle stations.

The Warmun community became
official permanent living
area in 1977.

So Paul mentioned family
history. That’s an
interesting road.

When I discovered Jack Cusack
was a botanist it struck a
chord with me

because I had similar
aspirations wanting to be a
marine biologist.

The plan was to do botany and
zoology courses at the
University of Western Australia

and then go over to James Cook
University.

Now researching family history
I came across this newspaper
article in the Geraldton
Guardian

from 1919 from a man working at
Violet Valley Station who
discovered the world’s

rarest animal, ie. there was
only one of the thing known.

And he shipped that down to the
Perth Museum and there was a
paper published and this is
a print.

I’ve only seen a skeleton, but
apparently that’s what it
looked like back then, and so

from 1918 when it was sent to
Perth it wasn’t really heard of
until 2010, when they

rediscovered near El Questro
Station, some 200 kms away from
where it was originally found.

So it was a bit of an eye
opener, but the interesting
thing is that this man from

Violet Valley Station was
actually my grandfather.

So up until that point I didn’t
know anything about him, didn’t
know who he was,

and actually found a photo of
him which was really cool.

So given that bit of background
so why am I talking to you
about astronomy

and not possums or crocodiles,
I often ask myself
that question.

Anyhow, 1980s there was a 13
part television series called
Cosmos by renowned inter-
planetary astronomer Carl Sagan.

And it received a reboot, some
of you younger people, in 2004.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson did a
reboot, because unfortunately
Sagan passed away in 1996.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson, if you
don’t know, he was the guy who
booted Pluto as being a planet.

He’s the main guy so Pluto is
still a dwarf planet.

So the 13 part series not only
covered all aspects of
astronomy, but biology,
physics, archaeology.

It drew parallels between the
exploration of the universe and
the exploration of human and
human history.

So for me the series engaged
my interest obviously in
astronomy but pretty much all

the sciences. But astronomy in
particular.

When I was thinking about this
talk I was thinking what
actually was the catalyst for
me going down the path I did.

And it was actually animations
of the Voyager 1 and 2 probes
flying by Jupiter and Saturn.

As we’ll see later on I’d be
tracking one of those very same
satellites in 18 years.

All this interest, my mother
actually caught on.

She bought me a telescope and
I started with a 4 inch
reflector and a little pocket

guide to the constellations and
then in the crystal clear
Kimberley skies I started my
own voyage.

So in addition to Cosmos
(it’s a bit fuzzy due to the
lights),

but this is actually a comet.
Comet Halley which appeared in
our skies in 1986.

Now the European Space Agency
sent a probe called Giotto to
have a look and see what they

could see and so basically this
is an image from Giotto.

In this we are looking at about
15 kilometres across.

So Giotto is going to pass
within 600kms of Giotto

and I remember when it was in
the skies at Wyndham

we actually went up to the 5
rivers lookout, took my
little telescope

and we were looking through it
and it was really cool and
there were some tourists who
wanted to have a look.

Now my brother being a bit
older than me, he wanted to
charge 50 cents per view.
Laughter.

But my mother being who she
was, she shut down that
enterprise quite quickly.

No money in astronomy.
Laughter.

Meanwhile my future place of
employment, that being Parkes,
was actually at the time

measuring how much cometary
dust was impacting the probe
using radio waves.

So education.

I stil

l had the astronomy bug,
but I still had the zoology
aspect as well.

And the Kimberley of course,
crocodiles and possums and all
that sort of thing gets on you.

So did my BSC and Honors at
UWA in Perth.

Then I migrated over east and
did a Master of Science and
PhD in Wollongong University.

For the Bachelor of Science I
was working with a high
temperature super conductor.

This was something different.

And the last two, was pretty
much looking at pictures that
you see here today.

This o

ne

r

ig

ht

Th

h

is

er

i

e.

s

basically a protostar
in the process of forming.
It’s an optical image.

There’s a protostar in here
forming. Surrounding that is a
circumstellar disc that
is rotating.

And what happens when you put
all the physics together it
produces these highly
collimates jets.

This is actually coming
towards us.

This is going away from us.
This side here.

So what happens is the jet
basically interacts with the
interstellar medium

surrounding the system and you
get these nice shots here, here.

You can actually see it, and it
actually continues on, and it
continues on further down
the track.

To give you a sense of scale,
this jet here, you could fit
200 of our solar systems
within that gap.

Now during my research I
actually found that some systems

where you could fit 25,000 of
our solar systems between
here and here.

So we are talking quite big.
And that’s not bigger, or
biggest in the universe.

So Parkes. I was actually in
the process of finishing my PhD

when an opportunity came up to
work for 3 months in Parkes.

It was supporting an all sky
survey using the Parkes
telescope, Neutral Hydrogen.

So when I initially started I
was supporting visiting
astronomers,

they actually still came to
the site at the time.

Now we have gone to remote
operations and they observe
from anywhere in the world.

But I was supporting visiting
astronomers making sure that
they could use the telescope.

I’d teach them how to use the
telescope and make sure that
their observations were
basically a success.

So it’s 64 metres across and
look at the electromagnetic
spectrum here we’ve got the
HF/UHF

where your lovely TV channels,
all the way up through the
optical gamma rays,

and Parkes can basically go
from about 400 megahertz to
round about 7 mm

which basically there’s a lot
of astronomical signals in
that range but you also have to

deal with radios, UHF radios
and all sorts of stuff, so it’s
quite a challenge.

It’s interesting that the
more that we develop our
receiving systems, the more
we pollute

this range of frequency with
television and 3G, 4G so on,
and so forth.

So it’s a tricky balance.

The original project I was
supporting was HIPASS

Astronomers have all kinds of
crazy designations, but H1 is
actually a designation for
Neutral Hydrogen.

So Neutral Hydrogen or H1
Parkes All Sky survey and the
ZOA is the zone of avoidance.

Optical astronomers couldn’t
see past the Milky Way because
there was just too much going

on that they couldn’t see past
it so they called it the zone
of avoidance.

So, the survey was done using
this novel 13 beam receiver
which actually sits up here in
the focus cone.

Where the radio waves are
collected and focused on a
precise spot.

And it surveyed the entire sky
as seen from Parkes.

At 21 cms which is what neutral
hydrogen radiates at.

So, my main aim was to look for
galaxies in nearby universe.
Nearby being 550 million
light years.

I’ve got a little movie here to
show you what the end result of
that survey was. It went from
1997 to 2001.

And we basically got colour
coded based on the table here
so blue is a nearby galaxy,
cyan so on and so forth,

basically all these red ones
are moving greater than 3000
kilometres a second or faster

away from us, which means that
their distance is at least
140 million light years away
from us.

So I hope this works.
Cross your fingers.

I should say this sphere
is what astronomers
call a celestial sphere.

It allows us to map
objects to positions in
the sky. So we’re actually,
this is us here.

So we’re moving through the
celestial sphere.

We’re actually going above the
survey limits in terms of –
we’re looking actually down
from the northern hemisphere.

So a lot of red galaxies.
If you look at it long enough
you start to see all sorts of
patterns

and what they call galactic
clusters, all sorts of
wonderful stuff.

So we’re moving back towards us.
You can see all these nearby
galaxies.

Some include the largest
magellanic clouds which you can
see pretty well on a clear
night.

So from this you can see, some
people have said there’s Y
shapes and human shapes and all
sorts of wonderful things.

But this is the point of
science, is to find these sort
of things and try and explain

them and how we fit into the
universe or what our position
in the universe is.

So that was a major project
that I was part of. That I was
actually an author of.

But from a support point of
view this was last year.

There was a couple of guys,
Brett McGuire from National
Radio Astronomy Observatory
in the US

and Brandon Carrol from Caltech.
They were looking for this
molecule called propylene oxide

and what they did was they
detected it using the Greenback
Telescope in West Virginia at
two different frequencies.

They couldn’t do it at the
third frequency because of RFI.
I think it was a TV
transmission.

They came to Parkes and I
helped them set the system up,
making sure it was working

correctly and helped with the
data reduction afterwards.

And lo and behold they found
the exact same signature at
12.1 gigahertz.

So what is really cool about
this. This is a chiral molecule
that they found.

Now, what’s a chiral molecule?
Chiral molecules have mirror
versions of themselves.

But they are not transposable.
So basically try and put your
left hand in your right hand
glove, it doesn’t work.

Now life on Earth is made up of
left handed amino acids while
sugars, part of DNA and RNA,
are right handed.

So we’re not quite sure why
this preference for one or the
other, but in terms of

molecules as we see here, this
is relatively simple.

If we can understand how this
forms, maybe that’s a clue as
to how life on earth originated.

Space missions.

Parkes also has supported space
missions over the years.

First was in 1962 when
Mariner II became the first robotic
probe to go by Venus.

Mariner IV visited Mars in 1965
and of course if you haven’t
seen the movie ‘The Dish’

which was released in 2000,
Parkes was depicted as the
receiving station for the
Apollo XI mission.

We were also called in for the
Apollo XIII mission which had
some issues.

Now in 1986 there was
Voyager II fly-by view of
Uranus and Giotto fly-by of
Comet Halley.

Because the Galileo mission to
Jupiter had a problem unfurling
its main antennae

Parkes was called in to try and
detect the UHF antennae which
is lower power

and they were very successful
in doing that.

So in 2003-4 Mars was the
closest it had been in over
60,000 years, so 60,000 years

ago Neanderthals were working
the earth, no walking the earth.
Although they could have been
working. Who knows? Not for
money anyway.!Laughter.

So there were quite a number of
spacecraft that were going to
Mars.

NASA had a bit of a problem in
terms of scheduling the
existing antennas that they had
in their deep space network.

So Parkes was called in to
help, and basically to track
the Spirit of Opportunity
rovers on their way to Mars.

And also because it was in the
same part of the sky, the
Voyager II probe which is one

of the reasons I got interested
in astronomy in the first place.

So of course Voyager II
launched in 1977, flew by
Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981

Uranus in 1986, and
Neptune in 1989.

When we were actually tracking
it in 2004, 8 February 2004, I
took this picture of the
spectrum.

I don’t understand what the
tones signify but this is
basically the data

that we were relaying back to
JPL in Pasadena.

It was interesting that when
I recorded this Voyager II was
11 billion kms from earth,

and the signals were received
ten hours after it was
transmitted by its 3.7 metre
antennae.

As we speak Voyager II is
travelling about 15 km a second
away from us. It’s about
16.5 billion kms from earth.

One way light time for signals
is about 15 hours.

Starlore

Being NAIDOC week I thought it
would be interesting to see how
indigenous communities across
Australia saw stars.

And how they incorporated that
knowledge into their culture.

So I was pleased to find that
this area is a vibrant and
exciting avenue of
research today.

My aim is to get the Kija side
of the story and get that
out there.

I can only do one example.
But it’s the star field of
Orion. Sirius about here.

Orion here. There’s Betelgeuse
I won’t say Beetlejuice
three times.

If you don’t know, go
watch the movie.
Laughter

Rigel of course.
All part of Orion.

Here’s Aldebaran, a red star
in the constellation of
Taurus the Bull.

And there are the seven
sisters of Pleiones.

So this is how we see the
system today, but now I’m going
to get names wrong so I
apologise in advance.

I came across some research
from Dwayne Hamacher and
Trevor Leaman.

I think they were from
University of Western Sydney
but Dwayne is now at Monash.

So they came across some
records from Matthew Bates
who worked with the
Great Victoria Desert People

from 1919 to 1935 and recorded
their traditional stories.

Although most of us are
familiar with the story of
Orion, being the great hunter
in Greek mythology,

he chased Pleione who didn’t
really want to receive his
attentions, so Zeus put them in
he sky to get away from him.

But then Orion dies, and
what happens?

He gets put right next to them.
So he is forever still
chasing them.

But from the communities in
South Australia, what do
they see?

So their stories tell of
Nyeeruna or Orion,

a vain pursuer of women,
who chases them,
the Mingari sisters
or Pilates

?

It’s only by the intervention
by their eldest sister
Kambugudha that they are made
safe from Nyeeruna.

What happens is that Nyeeruna
raises his fist which is the
star of Betelgeuse

with fire magic and Kambugudha
responds in kind with her foot,
which also has fire magic

and diminishes it, so Nyeeruna
becomes, well his magic has
been put out,

so he’s a bit humiliated by all
this. And this sort of process
continues.

Now what also happens is that
Kambugudha puts a line of dingo
puppies in between,

because she knows that she can
call on the father dingo to
come and take care of Nyeeruna.

So with that process he loses
his fire again.

Now what’s interesting there is
that the ancient Greeks and the
South Australian Aborigines

despite being isolated in time
and space and geography

they have a common theme told
by the same groupings of stars.

A hunter is after a singular or
group of maidens, mostly who
are on the receiving end of
some unwanted attention.

The last thing, the really
interesting thing is this
interplay between the light
magic going on and off

is very interesting because
Betelgeuse is actually a
variable star.

Every 400 years its period of
brightness increases.

At the face of it these
traditional stories are
actually trying to depict
astronomical phenomena.

Aldebaran is also a variable
star but at the moment it’s
magnitude is so faint,

the differences in variation
are so small that we can’t
pick them up at the moment.

But back then, who knows?
Like I said before, these types
of stories are getting out
there.

My aim is to get my ancestors
side of the story.

There’s some links if you want
to find out more stuff.
Pretty handy.

And I’ll leave it there.
Thank you.
Applause