No action on Mutitjulu
FOR all its grassless, red-rock dirt and the inescapable destitution beyond its boundary line, the Mutitjulu oval must be one of the most spectacular sports venues in the world.
It is neither the MCG in scale nor Lords in history, but towering only kilometres away is iconic Uluru: the side rarely seen by the hundreds of thousands of cashed-up tourists who make their way to the more amenable village of Yulara every year.
The Anangu of Mutijulu are now lifting the comfort at the oval to something more worthy of the backdrop.
Using its rent money from the lease of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park back to the Commonwealth, the community is paying $300,000 for six bleachers, two changerooms, a scoreboard and a new fence, with much of the work using local labour. But the money won’t cover toilets, lights for night-time footy or softball, or connect electricity to the changerooms.
So when Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion told the scores gathered at last year’s Uluru hand back anniversary he would “support” the upgrade of the Mutitjulu football oval, it was taken to mean cash and action was on the way. Six months on, the sportsmad community has received nothing.
The Central Land Council, its agitation deepening, says it CRICKET WAG Candice Warner wants to make it known she is not the “perfect” mum. The wife of cricketer David Warner and mum to Ivy, 19 months, and Indi, three months, has spoken candidly about motherhood and taken a swipe at the “unrealistic” and “fake” images posted on Instagram by some highprofile mothers. While other celebrity mums and mummy bloggers upload pictures in immaculate outfits free of baby spit, “calmly sipping cappuccinos”, cradling their ever-content kid, Warner said her uniform is “gym gear”, and she admits having difficult motherhood moments. “You have days where your kids aren’t great, and sometimes you want to lock yourself in the kitchen cupboard,” Warner said. “But most can’t even get a reply from his office. “These people have already started this work and there’s an expectation there,” CLC director David Ross said.
“Don’t go around making announcements if you’ve got no intention of following through. Minister or no minister, it’s not how you should treat people.” A spokesman for Mr Scullion said the minister was “committed” to the upgrades, which would happen “as soon as possible”.
But with the Budget looming, Mr Ross feared a funding cut-off. He said he was aware of the time the girls are really great and I really love being a mum.”
With a bunch of celebrity and blogger mums dropping their baby weight at lightning speed, the champion ironwoman said she was not starving herself to lose the last 5kg of a “challenging” 25kg she put on while pregnant with Indi.
“Flicking through Instagram, you are seeing women who have just had babies and have their abs back, or are back in their size six bikini within weeks,” Warner said. “That’s not me.
“A few weeks post-birth, I am the one still in the size 14 pants with a muffin top.”
While the Warners are blessed with two beautiful girls, they are hoping for more children in the future.
“I would love to have a boy for David. He always says he is happy with the girls – they are daddy girls – (but) it would be wonderful to have a little boy he could teach cricket to … he needs a little buddy.
“But he says he doesn’t care about gender.” of chatter from within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet that the community should apply for the extra money via the next funding round of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy.
The announcement in October last year was part of celebrations, or, depending on the perspective, acknowledgment, of the 30 years since UluruKata Tjuta was given back to traditional owners.
Mr Scullion also told the crowd: “The rock looks the same, but tragically, so does Mutitjulu.”