Kings Run back with Aborigines
A $325,000 gift from philanthropist Graeme Wood will mean a renowned North-West Coast property is returned to Aboriginal owners at a ceremony today.
The 338ha Kings Run will be handed to the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania after funding was also secured from the Indigenous Land Corporation, Bob Brown Foundation and Tasmanian Land Conservancy.
The Tarkine property, between Arthur River and Marrawah, previously belonged to the late Geoff King, a prominent former beef farmer turned wildlife tour operator.
Wotif founder Mr Wood’s donation tops up a $680,000 grant from the ILC and $385,000 in dona- tions through the non-government organisations.
Mr Wood, a conservationist who is converting the former Triabunna woodchip mill into a tourism attraction, told the Mercury he wanted to support the Aboriginal community.
“I support Aboriginal causes generally because of the disgraceful, non-human treatment we whitefellas have doled out to them over a century or two,” he said.
And he threw his weight behind Aboriginal attempts to keep nearby 4WD tracks closed in an effort to protect heritage.
The Liberal State Government is seeking to have tracks reopened and Labor has pledged to accept a Federal Government decision.
“A piece of irreplaceable art or culture lasts only until it is destroyed for all time,” Mr Wood said.
The Kings Run property would help bring Aboriginal groups together on their traditional land and provide them with tourism business opportunities, Mr Wood said.
The purchase was made according to Mr King’s wishes from widow Margo Jones, with the property having been in the family since the 1880s.
Mr King died in 2013, aged 58.
Under the ownership arrangement, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre rangers will manage Kings Run as an extension of the nearby Preminghana Indigenous Protected Area.
Land Council chair Clyde Mansell said the management of the property would ensure Mr King’s legacy lived on.on
“Kings Run provides a base for interpretation of our links specific to the local area and that of the takayna region,” Mr Mansell said.
“The partnership is an example of how like-minded bodies can achieve meaningful outcomes that redress the dispossession of land of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.”
The heathland, grassland and wetland property contains some of the island’s
best evidence of Aborigi-Aboriginal occupation and is home to threatened species, including the Tasmanian devil, wedge-tailed eagle and orange-bellied parrot.
“I reckon Geoff King would be very happy that this magnificent [property], which he did so much to protect and have others enjoy, is now back in the hands of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community,” former Greens leader Dr Brown said.