The Department of Agriculture and Food has welcomed Australia’s first aboriginal producer group, Noongar Land Enterprises, providing a collective voice for Noongar land managers.
The department’s Aboriginal Business Development group helped bring together the Noongar producer group which comprises eight Indigenous land management groups, managing agricultural land across the State’s south west.
DAFWA southern manager Kelly Flugge said the department had worked closely with individual indigenous groups over many years and was able to bring the groups together at producer field days, workshops and conferences.
“The concept grew to where they decided there was a mutual benefit in working together in a collective,” Mr Flugge said.
“Noongar Land Enterprises (NLE) held their inaugural meeting in Albany earlier this year.
“The group will provide a much-needed unified voice for Noongar land managers to interact with industry and government departments to pursue collaborative economic development opportunities.”
DAFWA executive director John Ruprecht said the department had recently helped secure funding for the group to undertake strategic planning to map out their vision, goals and structure.
Landholder Oral McGuire was among NLE members to meet in Perth this week to work on developing their strategic plan with support from the department.
“We are excited to take this next step and see Noongar farmers joining together as a collective to attract investment to grow our businesses,” Mr McGuire said.
The department’s Aboriginal Business Development group is working to help increase the value of aboriginal agricultural product throughout agrifood supply chains.
Media contacts: Lisa Bertram, media liaison +61 (0)8 9368 3937