The Princess Parrot episode is being used to generate a “one-off” source of income for the traditional owners of the land but, obviously, is not going to provide them with a sustainable income stream.
Traditional owner Douglas Multa is quoted as saying “We’ve got cultural sites there, dreaming and all that, it’s really important for me”. Maybe a bit of lateral thinking, encouraged by the CLC, could have resulted in a different approach?
The traditional owners might have decided that they would take birders to see the birds “free of charge”, however asking for a “donation” to cover expenses, but with a collateral agreement that the birders also be taken to see and have explained to them some of the sites and beliefs sacred to the traditional owners. Such an approach would have been an ideal opportunity for the traditional owners to educate us in what is important to them. As a consequence it would have generated tremendous goodwill between the birding community and the traditional owners. I’m convinced that it would have encouraged a far greater number of birders (and that includes me) to visit and would have resulted in an overall increase in their income – see previous argument on birding-aus. The question of an appropriate “donation” could have been worked out through birding-aus correspondence.
Ok, so I’m the one doing the dreaming.
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