basin bullet

 As I See It

Every group or organisation seeks to be ‘part’ of its community; some do it better than others; some find it almost impossible.

Government falls into the latter category and nowhere more so than in the Desert Channels Region. The Desert Channels Region is the
Queensland section of the Lake Eyre Basin. It is the land of big, untamed rivers, unique flora and fauna, immense landscapes, rich culture and heritage, and special people.

These children of the Basin are shaped by the landscape in which they choose to live: they are rugged, self-reliant, understated, self-effacing and resourceful ... and proudly so.

Their’s is an unforgiving land that bestows great bounty, but if wronged, will quickly bare its teeth. As a consequence, the long-term land managers of the region are good at working with the land and within the strictures it imposes – despite the fact that many of them look as if they’ve been through more than one good scrap. They are also very good at working together as part of their community. Getting them to work with government is problematic, given their inherent mistrust of bureaucracy and politicians generally, and their reflexive bristle against the big stick.

Enter the local regional body, Desert Channels Queensland. The only reason it exists is to do a job that government can’t: government can’t engage effectively with the community and, therefore, can’t deliver on long-term, sustainable, community-based management of our natural resources.

Because of its genesis at the behest of government, and its funding by government, DCQ was, at first, thought to be part of government, and viewed with a very jaundiced eye. Over the past two years, the pages of the Basin Bullet have championed DCQ’s efforts to distance itself – in perception – from government.

Today, DCQ is firmly entrenched, working with the local community on more than 300 projects ranging in size from million dollar cross-regional initiatives to modest $1,500 ones.

In this edition, we share two great examples of community partnership and engagement at a local level. The first shows the generosity of effort of 72 people in honouring our non-Aboriginal heritage, and cleaning up a blight on the landscape; the second is a moving, first-hand account of the honouring of our Aboriginal heritage, and placing of plaques to remember deceased Wangkangurru Elders.

We are, indeed, a community.

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