Since 2021, when first receiving a request from Kardu Diminin Corporation (KDC) seeking information on Township Leasing, the Office has been working in partnership with the Wadeye Traditional Owners to support them to understand their land tenure choices.
This year (2024), following on from the previous year's work, KDC members had the opportunity to visit Tiwi and Gunyangara (Ski Beach, Gove) to see Township Leasing at work on the ground. Based on this knowledge, consultations and the information provided by the Office, the Traditional Owners were supported to articulate their vision for Wadeye.
This included introducing KDC to some trusted collaborators who had expertise in two areas – master planning and communications. To ensure this important work was driven by the Traditional Owners, the Office facilitated the introduction, following that all arrangements and work was completed without OTL participation.
The resulting work, the creation of the Kardu Diminin story and a comprehensive master plan for Wadeye into the future has been particularly well received by the Traditional Owners. Discussing he benefits of the work with them, they describe its importance in building confidence, helping the broader Wadeye community understand their vision and being able to present to other stakeholders how they will improve outcomes for all Wadeye residents.
This approach, where resources are made available to Traditional Owners early in the Township Leasing decision making process, has proved to be a powerful tool. Helping groups to define their vision and basing decisions upon well considered collective ideas of Township future development gives Traditional Owners certainty about how to move forward.
"We got to move forward in a new direction and build this country for our people, People of Wadeye on the Kardu Diminin country"
– Steven Pultchen, Traditional Owner and Elder
