Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council
$40,000 | April 2021
What do Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council do?
The Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council is an alliance of Elders and emerging leaders from six independent nations of the Fitzroy River Catchment in the Kimberley, Western Australia. They are an entirely Indigenous led organisation, on the front line in the battle against climate change. They believe that through sharing Traditional Knowledge we can create a climate chance for all Australians. Their mission is to ensure Martuwarra (Fitzroy River), a living ancestor and a global treasure, retains a right to flow, while developing environmentally sustainable economies for Indigenous People that re-establishes the value of our cultures.
Why is this work important?
The Fitzroy River has a catchment area of 90,000 square kilometres, and during the flood season it becomes one of the world’s biggest rivers. The flood waters reach to 20 tributaries, including the Margaret River, Christmas Creek, the Hann River, Sandy Creek, Geegully Creek, Little Fitzroy River, Collis Creek, Adcock River, Cunninghame River, Yeeda River, Mudjalla Gully and Minnie River. It is essential that the River flows, to maintain the breeding cycles of Barramundi and Sawfish. During the dry season, much of the river stops flowing, leaving permanent waterholes along the river and surrounding floodplains. These pockets of water are critical for waterbirds, fish and other wildlife to survive, as well our spiritual connection to Country.. In 2019 we saw 40 of our endangered Sawfish die on Gina Rinehart’s property.
Traditional Owners do not want fracking. As a united Indigenous organisation we are leading this fight, to stop the extraction and sale of fossil fuels, to protect country and to arrest Australia’s contribution to climate change. We encourage and build relationships with sustainable industries to take the place of fossil fuels, such as education, tourism, wild harvest and solar. MFRC are setting a new precedent across the country for Indigenous led climate recovery.
We have a unique opportunity to stand together, strong, now. The urgency of our work has never been greater and we are determined to use this Groundswell major grant to strengthen our capacity as a powerful Indigenous led organisation. We will scale up our impact and stop dangerous gas fracking in WA.
How is Groundswell supporting this work?
MFRC is building the movement across the nation, engaging a wide variety of sectors and demographics to shift power to the Indigenous people who are on the frontlines of climate change. Our people hold the solutions to protect Country from dangerous fracking (which has recently had an increase in licence approvals from the WA State Government) and to stop climate change from becoming climate chaos. Elements of public campaign include petitions, letters to Government and Origin Eergy, online concerts, public forums and protests. All of which will be documented, photographed and shared to ensure people understand the value of Indigenous principles.
Over the next 12 months we will continue to engage people in a powerful Indigenous led campaign for climate justice through the arts, social, legal, political and academic sectors to build momentum for the 2022 Federal Election. We are determined to use this Groundswell major grant to strengthen our capacity as a powerful Indigenous led organisation. We will scale up our impact and stop dangerous gas fracking in WA. Together we can make this iconic state 100% frack free, powered by renewables and keep Martuwarra – the mighty Fitzroy River – flowing strong for generations to come.
Together we can make this iconic state 100% frack free, powered by renewables and keep Martuwarra – the mighty Fitzroy River – flowing strong for generations to come.
Grant update
At the time of receiving funding the organisation had one employee and no funds. With the Groundswell funding we were able to employ our Communications Strategist for another 6 months and pay Nation Builder for a new website. By putting the $40,000 of core funding into this investment, we were able to raise our following and funding.
With support, Martuwarra have achieved the following:
The Council has been able to meet multiple times a year. Our young leaders have developed a Youth Council, and many are now receiving mentoring from the Elders.
Marlikka Perdrisat (volunteer) presented a TEDx talk which featured Chair Dr Anne Poelina and Edwin Lee Mulligan.
Marlikka and the Coms Strategist have recorded ancient songlines, stories and collaborated with Common Ground to produce educational resource kits which were used by 200,000 students in 2021.
Marlikka has just been confirmed for the ABC and Doc Society Environmental and Climate Shorts Initiative.
Hozaus Claire (position funded by World Wide Fund for Nature) worked with our Comms Strategist to create a partnership with The Wilderness Society. The funding will create a workforce of First Nations peoples, who will be the stewards of the River. Building on the current model of rangers, it's a more collective system to include multiple groups over the complete watershed.
Our organisation is highly influential regarding how First Nations knowledge is able to support Australia with climate change. We present to the Government, universities, large corporations, judges and lawyers, schools and local communities. We have just been approached to collaborate with Damon Gameu to help Australia revitalise the ancient story to become the new story.
Living off small amounts of fundings for specific projects means that we cannot employ many staff, and the staff we do have do not have any sense of security. We are all running off our passion for Country and the future generations that I am worried we may burn our people out. This is a known concern, which Marlikka has called a meeting to address in October.
We really appreciate the Groundswell community and will always do what we can to return the support.