NT project forges ahead

By Graham Sargison, Forestry Tasmania Project Manager NT

FORESTRY Tasmania’s joint project to develop sustainable timber industries with Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory is forging ahead and made a big impression at the recent East Arnhem Land Garma Festival.

The project includes harvesting and milling timber, housing construction, furniture making and training in Nhulunbuy and Wadeye where good progress is being made.

The second house being built at Dhanaya is nearing completion with flooring and electrical work about to be finished, and a further two houses are planned in the near future. Four to six more houses are also being planned for Nhulunbuy in conjunction with Park Homes.

Work at the Nhulunbuy mill is going well and it has provided small sales of timber for local projects such as the outdoor bar at the Arnhem Club. Further orders for timber from the mill were placed at an employment expo at Yirrkala where there was considerable interest in employment opportunities. The mill was also in action at the Garma Festival.

There are now three trained Lucas mill operators within the group which means greater continuity of production.

With assistance from Melbourne woodworking specialist Damian Wright, the furniture workshop has produced some outstanding tables, one of which was on display at the Garma Festival. The workshop has also produced around 2000 lineal metres of decking for a private order.

A number of upgrades are also being undertaken at the Nhulunbuy project including:

• quick-fit bucket and log-grab for the tractor.
• Mahoe mill which is awaiting transport from Sydney.
• truck to cart logs from the mine-site to the batching-plant and packs from the Lucas mill at Dhanaya to the   furniture workshop
• improved racking of timber in the batching plant shed with shade-cloth and fans to improve drying.
• New drying kiln about to be ordered

An FT team consisting of Lindsay Wilson, Bob Cripps and Frank Bishop ran a Certificate 1 training course in forest and forest products delivery for the Gumatj workforce in May, which was well received. Further mentoring is planned to complete the certification process.

The FT team is planning to conduct further Certificate 1 training in October with the Parmbuk Clan in Wadeye. Thanks to a generous contribution of $150 000 from Murin Air, the Wadeye Lucas mill will be relocated to a more suitable site and a prefabricated shed built for future furniture production. The construction of a house similar to the Nhulunbuy design is also planned for Wadeye in the near future. The funds received will also go towards a truck, loader and new chainsaws for the timber project.