FullFlycatcherEdition2

FLYCATCHER.COM.AU ISSUE NO. 2
2016

F LY C AT C H E R

DRY SEASON EDITION

MAGICAL THINKING
IN THE NT IS BACK
PROJECT SEA
DRAGON EXPLAINED
MEET THE CDU
SCHOLARS:
ROSEMARY AND
PETER GRANT
DARWIN’S GLUTTON
CLUB RETURNS
PLUS A BOOK
REVIEW; THE ISLAND
WILL SINK BY
BRIOHNY DOYLE
AND MANY MORE
FABULOUS ARTICLES!

F LYC ATC H E R | 1

2 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

Credit: Yue Zhang

CONTENTS

4 Serial Adopter | Natalie Dowling 21 Magical Thinking in the NT | Ben McGowan
5 Tenement Dreaming | Jeremy Garnett 22 2016 Salon des Refusés | Koulla E. Roussos
6 The Kick Inside | Madeline Goddard
7 Barunga Festival | Callum Flinn Mayse’s Corner
9 First year of an old-style PhD | Stephen Garnett 25 Homeward Bound | Nicole Hellessey
10 Project Sea Dragon | David Morris
12 A Letter | Dave Fry 26 Ideas and Inventions | Ruchir Patil
27 A telegram from Willy C | Will Crawford
CDU Scholars 28 What has CDUSA been up to in 2016?
15 A life of research and camaraderie | Veronica & Jennifer 30 A Book Review: The Island Will Sink by Briohny Doyle | Patrick Coleridge
16 Adapt, or fail to adapt - at our own peril! | Ben Brown 32 Katherine; land of dreams | Maggie McGowan
18 Darwin’s Finches | Amanda Lilleyman 34 Darwin’s Glutton Club 2.0 | Miguel A. Bedoya-Pérez
35 Elegy for coral | Wendy Taleo
20 The value of grassroots participation in shaping environmental 36 Flycatcher Quiz: Dangerous Animals
sustainability at universities | The Enviro Collective

F LYC ATC H E R | 3

EDITORIAL

tweet @flycatchernews Iam so chuffed to write this editorial for Flycatcher. Against all
facebook.com/flycatchermag odds, and possibly everyone’s expectations, this is the second
flycatcher.com.au edition of this rare beast, the CDU student magazine.
[email protected]
Copyright © 2016 Flycatcher You have in your hands the Dry Season edition, which aptly
Front cover image credit: follows our inaugural Wet Season edition. However, I realise that
Glenn Campbell October has quietly crept up on us. As each day drives us ever
closer to a descent into mango madness, you could argue that
4 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016 it’s no longer technically the dry season. But while patience is
surely not one of my virtues, this extra time has allowed those
new to the team to carve out their own space, which has been
invaluable. I’m so proud of those that have brought you this big
hot mess, who have had faith in this magazine as an idea and a
creative space, and have given their own hours to pull it together
with great tenacity and skill.

We fought hard for our funding, and secured enough for this
edition and one more. We appreciate that CDU’s Student Ser-
vices and Amenities Funding (SSAF) committee recognised the
vision and opportunity presented to them. We mostly look for-
ward to the day when Flycatcher funding is secure and ongoing
so the team can focus on writing, soliciting and editing articles
and building momentum around the publication.

Funding-wise – but with no intentions to be self-sufficient
– we have opened the opportunity for commercial advertising
as a way to promote the magazine in and outside CDU campus
grounds, while advertising products and services and hence sup-
porting economic growth in the NT.

Lots of people have told me over the past year that I’m
only pushing the magazine to get out of writing my thesis and
there’s surely some truth in that – the elaborate nature of our
procrastination techniques seems to be directly proportional to
the difficulty of the study task at hand. Founding and printing a
magazine in 2016 seems like a poorly thought out wager – that
volunteer reporters would fill the pages every edition and that
students would even read a print publication amid the shifting
sands of print media. But even as readers trend away from print
newspapers, there is still a strong desire for papers built and read
by a niche community, like this one with the rare shared experi-
ence of living and working here in the tropics. There is certainly
the talent to fill the rag, as shown by the writing, photography,
drawings, poetry and graphic design held between these pages. I
really love our little magazine, full of eccentric and extraordinary
territory characters, their stirring vignettes and their strong and
important opinions.

While the fact of this magazine's existence is hard to make
sense of, I’m so very glad to be able present to you – our beloved
readers – the second edition of Flycatcher.

-Jennifer Macdonald

MEET THE TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JENNIFER MACDONALD is a PhD student with the Research Institute for the Environ-
ment and Livelihoods (RIEL) at CDU, working with local Indigenous people to talk about
contemporary ways of monitoring land and sea management. Originally from Melbourne, she
is based in Darwin but has spent a year out of the last two living and working in Ngukurr in
south-eastern Arnhem Land and in the APY Lands in north-west South Australia.

UNDERGRAD EDITOR PHOEBE ROBINSON is a CDU undergraduate currently studying her Bachelor of Commu-
nications, specialising in public relations and marketing. She recently worked with Darwin
Theatre Company as a social media manager and has been involved in youth projects Grind
Online Magazine and LAUNCH. Although born in Perth, Phoebe travelled to Darwin as a
six-month-old and considers herself a born-and-bred Darwin local.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER ADRIANA DA SILVA is an undergraduate student at CDU studying a Batchelor in Com-
COMMUNITY EDITOR munications. Having lived in Darwin for the past 14 years, Adriana brings to the team her
graphic design skills. She has gained past experience in the creative field through independent
learning andhas worked with clients to design content such as event posters, invitations and
short videos.
J​ EREMY GARNETT brings self-publishing, writing and editing skills to the Flycatcher Mag-
azine. A dedicated open-mic poet and improvised dancer he has self-published an anthology
of local writing and photography. Jeremy is currently working on a number of books and
running a small business. He currently volunteers for the Darwin Fringe Festival Organising
Group and is working on a number of children’s books.​

GUEST EDITOR AMANDA LILLEYMAN is in her final year of her PhD on migratory shorebird ecology in
EDITOR-AT-LARGE Darwin Harbour. For the last six years she has focussed her research on shorebirds and is con-
sidered a local bird expert in Darwin. Amanda is interested in science communication and
community engagement as ways to improve public accessibility to important science research,
and to have positive outcomes for biodiversity and the environment.
ANGUS SMITH is a communications and digital marketing professional by day and a free-
lance journalist by night. He writes for many publications including Vice, Crikey, Surfing Life,
Alternative Law Journal and the Koori Mail. A founding editor of Flycatcher, Angus stayed
on as a voluntary editor-at-large after moving to Melbourne in 2016 to help Flycatcher find
its feet. That time has clearly arrived and Angus looks forward to contributing an article from
time-to-time in the future.

Flycatcher is the student magazine of Charles Darwin University (CDU), produced by Flycatcher Magazine
Incorporated. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of CDU, the printers or the editors. Fly-
catcher is printed by Image Offset, a local printer in Darwin. All writing and artwork remains the property of
the creators. This collection is © Flycatcher and Flycatcher reserves the right to republish material in any format.

F LYC ATC H E R | 5

SERIAL ADOPTER
Natalie Dowling

Irecently became unemployed, which should sound alarm bells worried that I’d still be living at home with a dog in my 30s. For-
for anyone who knows me well. As soon as I have time on my tunately the pet shop down the road allowed me to take home its
hands and am in need of consolation five letters spring to mind: animals over long-weekends provided I paid a refundable depos-
RSPCA. I love animals and my pet-owning history is as follows: it, so I had lots of foster babies. Then it really was time for me to
five guinea pigs, three budgies, a goldfish, a guppy, a fox terrier move out.
and a Siamese fighter fish. Excluding the fish, each pet came from
RSPCA. All the pets brought me endless joy and - I’m proud to Although I’m supposed to be an adult now, I’ve outgrown
say - lived long and happy lives in my care (although my earliest very few of my childish instincts when it comes to domestic an-
guinea pig was dressed up in a bonnet and pushed around in a imals. I still find it impossible to walk past pet shops without
pram on several occasions, and his happiness about this is debat- going inside and talking to all the animals using words like “aww
able). Looking back I realise how naïve (and awesome) my par- cute little bubby,” although I’m now outraged that animals are
ents were. Some of my excuses for visiting RSPCA which resulted still being sold in pet shops and housed in such poor conditions.
in adoptions were “I’m just going to donate some towels;” “The I was delivered the news of my imminent unemployment yester-
dog has run out of biscuits and he only likes the ones that RSPCA day, and I’m heading off to RSPCA in an hour just to look at the
sells;” “The budgie I adopted last week needs a friend;” and “I’m animals. My housemate greeted the words “I’m going to RSP-
just going to look at the animals” which was shortly followed by CA” with great trepidation, knowing how much I like animals
“I’m just going to cuddle the animals.” and perhaps also knowing that I actually mean “See you in a few
hours with a new pet.” I’ve had a look at the pets available online
Despite the decisions being sometimes hasty, at no stage were and, reassuringly, they all have the right number of eyes and ears
my pets adopted without prior consideration of their long-term and look relatively normal so I think our rental agreement is safe
care. Sometimes my parents lamented letting me choose the an- - for now.
imal because I had a fondness for the strangest-looking ones. It
was guaranteed that if there was a dog with a missing eye or a Natalie is an alumni of CDU. She is passionate about conser-
guinea pig with a Mohawk that’s the one I chose. As I got older vation ecology and is now happily employed as a field ecologist
and the last of my pets died my parents laid down the law. No and fauna spotter-catcher. When she’s not in the field, you can
more pets. They reasoned that I would probably move out and most often find her playing hockey or swimming at the beach.
leave the pet behind and when I assured them I wouldn’t they

6 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

TENEMENT DREAMING

Jeremy Garnett

In the tepid darkness of the suburbs,
the high street lights of the boundary roads strive inwards,
reflecting bitter orange through the louvers
on refurbished white-washed walls.
Horizontal tenements:
post-Tracy, one-story, besa-brick, open-plan testaments to
a lack of architectural imagination,
set askew on grassy blocks as scattered as buckshot in
a cyclone’s purview.
Decaying, as sure as the air-con rusts.
Yet, cleaned-up, retiled, painted -
subdued by conformity and insect spray -
the new tin roof shrugs off the rain.
Whilst constantly growing grass never reaches skywards,
this house, in desperation, dreams.
Dreams of inner-city chaos.
Dreams of warrior mosquitoes and a rodent’s paradise.
Of leaf piles and scrub fowl, and a jungle of vines
stretched like a mozzie-net between palms and roof.
Dreams of the four-acre wilderness that was.
Jeremy Garnett is a performance artist and published poet.
He recently curated and edited ‘Layers of Creation’ - a col-
lection of photos, poems and short stories from Darwin.

F LYC ATC H E R | 7

THE KICK INSIDE

Maddie Goddard

The first time I felt you kick was as I sat down to a seminar signed by over 100 Australian climate scientists imploring action
on the global carbon cycle. Buoyed by your thump I became to be taken on climate change, as there is “no planet B”. Within
acutely aware that I wasn't alone in my body, and this world weeks of the letter the Queensland Government approved what
didn't belong to any one, or any single moment. The joy I felt will be the world’s largest coal mine and the Northern Territo-
was tinged with regret; global climate change will drastically alter ry Government signed exploration leases to a Texas based coal
your inheritance. company for 1 500 000 hectares of the Territory, despite Austra-
lia’s enthusiastic participation in the Paris climate agreement late
Each time your dad and I discussed having kids we rarely last year. We know that coal is the worst contributor to green-
dwelled on balancing fiscal responsibility, risking career trajec- house gases, despite its critical role in history. It no longer has a
tories or sacrificing personal freedoms. Instead we struggled to place in a sane, fair world. You stopped your singular kicks and
rationalise bringing a child into a planet that is slowly heating up, somersaults, instead you now move tightly in swaying motions in
facing extreme weather events, massive losses of biodiversity, and my belly. Constricted, you are outgrowing me.
widespread food and water insecurity. Of course, new parents
have always had misgivings for the next generation, but the long One of the causes of inaction seems to be the painfully slow
reaching consequences of global climate change and the systemic pace at which these events occur. The worst effects will be off-
inaction to alter the path we are on seems to be particularly in- set to our future generations, to you and your children. Yet from
sidious. The sadness I felt in the face of climate change was only nine months of your creation, the world has seen unprecedented
surpassed by the ache in denying my most basic instinct. levels of ecological destruction, apparently for our benefit. But
this was all set in motion 200 years ago, brought to our attention
At the start of the year, around the time you were displaying some 30 years ago, and has been a battle of science, politics and
an impressive fast tracked evolution - a fish, then a lizard, then big business ever since. Sadly, it will be a battle for generations
a wombat-like embryo - and I had my head in the toilet from to come.
morning well into the night - 10 000 hectares of mangroves in the
Gulf of Carpentaria died. High sea temperatures paired with two Later this month you will be ready for this world and you
seasons of drastically low rainfall are believed to be the culprit will be greeted and adored by your family. I can see a child-
for the die back. The mangroves were not alone; the Great Bar- hood of wonder at this world and I hope to help you fall in love
rier Reef experienced unprecedented bleaching due to similar with it. I won’t scare you with stories like this, and will try to
conditions, with 93% of the reef impacted. Warmer temperatures keep these expanding summers just that. I will try to keep your
have also been linked to the 2 000 kilometre stretch of kelp that childhood blissful and passionate. Keep you safe. But ready.
disappeared from the Western Australian coast over the last few
years. The impact of warmer oceans is not restricted to the Aus- Madeline Goddard and Aaron Burton welcomed Orlando
tralian coast. Finch Burton Goddard into the world on the 7th of October
2016. Madeline is currently on maternity leave from her re-
By July you had been growing for seven months. You were the search on mangroves and the impact of sea level rise as part of
weight of a coconut, and had begun breathing practice in antici- her PhD with the Research Institute for the Environment and
pation for the outside world. Around the same time atmospheric Livelihoods (RIEL).
carbon dioxide levels reached over 400 parts per million. With Photo credit: Aaron Burton
the current rate of carbon dioxide release, we are set to melt the
Antarctic ice sheet.

Recently, an open letter was written to the Prime Minister

8 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

BARUNGA FESTIVAL

Callum Flinn

Kardajala Kirri-Darra

Serina Pech Gurrumul

This year Barunga community opened its doors for the 31st Wait there’s a second stage? And PK is playing at it? We saw
time under the theme of Celebrating Women and invited ev- PK play with his nephew Dan Kelly and then Peter Garrett got up
eryone to come and experience community life. Barunga festival for From Little Things Big Things Grow.
observed and celebrated the role women play in Indigenous
communities through artwork from all over the region - music, While I waited at Darwin airport the next night, PK was play-
women’s dancing, women’s sport and the Banatjarl ladies’ work- ing at Barunga again (with Gurrumal). From that experience I
shops. think it’s very noteworthy that such a well known and sought
after musician like Paul Kelly would not only play at such a small,
Indigenous artists including Wildflower, Eleanor Dixon and remotely located festival, but stay at the festival for the whole
Lonely Boys, along with more mainstream performers such as weekend. Eat at the festival, hang out with the locals and play
Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher, graced both stages. Hats off to two gigs.
Courtney Barnett for making it - according to her Instagram she
was playing in New York City only a few days prior. This is only This is very much to the credit of Paul Kelly and Courtney
the second Barunga I have attended but there is something about Barnett, and all the other artists who have made the journey to a
this little festival that has made me very fascinated by it. Maybe remote community to festivals that celebrate Indigenous culture.
I’m overstating this, maybe I’m being naïve, but let me digress. I think it is also a credit to Barunga and all the other Aboriginal
communities that open their doors to share the rich culture and
Last year Paul Kelly played. He was scheduled to play on the history we have in this country.
Sunday night but I thought I was going to miss him due to a
flight I had to get back to Melbourne. I knew he was at the festi- Callum Flinn is a Filmmaker and Photographer currently liv-
val though because a friend saw him.  So there we are, watching ing in Katherine, working part time in Community Arts and
some bush bands on the Saturday, and we hear that PK is playing running the production company Fading Wombat Films.
that night on the little stage next to the river. Photo credits:Callum Flinn

F LYC ATC H E R | 9

10 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

FIRST YEAR OF AN OLD-STYLE PHD
Stephen Garnett

Where better to start a story than with eggs. These days you that it was because I ate those first eggs without hesitation that
would call them free range eggs but really they were feral I was welcomed into the social life of the island. Which was po-
on the farm I rented during my ANU degree and Vic Onions at tentially all consuming – any event seemed an excuse. As a good
Applied Ecology had somehow heard I would sell them. So once party continued well beyond dawn there were often nights when
a week I would take Vic a dozen and chat about his work coordi- I could still hear the drums and the stamping dancing feet of a
nating turtle, crocodile and emu farms that were, he hoped, go- dozen solid Badu Island men as I started my daily routine.
ing to be the basis of Indigenous enterprise in remote Australia.
This consisted of moving and filling 40 litre tote boxes with
Thus I learnt they needed research done on raising turtles on fresh sea water, moving my baby turtles from old water to new,
farms in Torres Strait, and would support a PhD student to do it. and then feeding them with whatever experimental diet was
Now, I had neither knowledge nor interest in turtles, but Torres their due. Some turtles I would move four times a day, some just
Strait as an exotic place to watch birds was irresistible. Plus I felt twice. Once a week they would be weighed. My research was
I would be doing something vaguely useful – I could never quite to study the effects of diet and stress on the turtle’s growth. The
get out of my head the thought that working on birds for a PhD most significant factor turned out to be to which clutch they be-
would have been self-indulgent. longed to – these days I would have gone on to study epigenetic
differences among individual turtles. At the time I didn’t have a
My PhD started with three weeks at James Cook University clue. The data were written out neatly with a fountain pen, with a
to develop a rough plan of what I needed to do. In those days you carbon copy mailed to the university to be added to punch cards
needed no research plan, no seminar, no ethics, no risk assess- for later analysis.
ment. Before I quite knew what was happening, I was on an old
barge heading to Bramble Cay, the most northerly land belong- Before long I had perfected my technique to finish by lunch
ing to Australia, to collect my study animals. Eggs again – though time. That gave me the whole afternoon to explore the island. My
this time green turtle eggs. The camp where I stayed with other best papers from that year were on the birds of Torres Strait and
researchers studying the turtles on the cay was overrun with a the plants of Badu – biologically it was incredibly exciting being
small rat, the Bramble Cay Melomys. In 2009 large waves swept so close to New Guinea, though, in retrospect, I wish I had done
over the cay and the species went extinct. more.

A week later the barge left me on Badu with half a dozen eskis I also wish that I had done more with the people. Late in
full of turtle eggs. I was housed in an abandoned hospital with that year the first public telephone arrived, hanging beneath a
an alcoholic carpenter and his mate. Apart from my camp bed, helicopter. Across the village a few of the wealthier houses had
the only furniture was an ancient dentist’s chair. My desk was a generators, and they showed videos which everyone crowded to
discarded door propped up with crates. At night, light was pro- see - as they would any entertainment that arrived. I did try to
vided by a kerosene pressure lamp – there was no electricity.  The get in proper films once – a film on Muhammad Ali that people
island’s ancient and unreliable radio was available for emergen- were so pleased to see that they did not mind that I had to turn
cies but most communication with my supervisors was via the the spools by hand because the projector motor had died. But it
weekly mail plane. was a society about to change rapidly.

But I did have three means of transport: a motorbike, even Not, as it happened, because turtle farms boomed. By the end
though I had to teach myself how to ride it; an aluminium din- of 1979 it became apparent that even if you fed green turtles the
ghy with a dodgy outboard; and a wooden dory (a type of boat), finest protein - which, absurdly, they received from being fed fish
powered with a diesel engine that needed cranking to start. As that were netted every day they would still take at least 10 years
my PhD progressed I became increasingly adventurous with to get anywhere near marketable size. The Minister, Fred Chaney,
each of these – visiting islets around Torres Strait to watch birds whose time as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs turned him into
and collect plants in the outboard, taking the old ladies fishing in a passionate advocate, decided that the farms should close. My
the dory – they would catch dozens while I caught nothing. That PhD suddenly had to change from being on turtles to being on
I survived was surprising given the 10 knot tides and constant 30 vaguely marine reptiles – I spent the rest of my time farming
knot winds that are so typical of the Straits. crocodiles. One of my last acts in Torres Strait was to release my
experimental animals into the waters off Badu.
Fortunately I was often accompanied by friends from Badu.
When I was there the community consisted of about 300 people Stephen Garnett is a conservation biologist working at CDU.
who early on invited me to a feast at which I was tested to see if Photo captions (clockwise): Stephen, aged 24; A Pearl Lugger,
I would fit in with the community. Eggs again – this time from off Badu; The field laboratory.
Hawksbill turtles. Would I eat them even though the whites of
turtle’s eggs remain translucent when cooked? I discovered later

F LYC ATC H E R | 11

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT PROJECT SEA DRAGON?

David Morris

Project Sea Dragon is a seriously big project for the Territory. According to the company’s website, Project Sea Dragon will
Its proponents and the company responsible for it talk en- have a capital expenditure in excess of 1.2 billion and generate
thusiastically about the major economic benefits the project will 1400 full time equivalent jobs. The area of all the ponds (after
bring, while its detractors express serious concerns about its po- all stages are developed) is predicted to be approximately 10,000
tential impacts, both environmental and cultural. ha – that’s 5,000 Melbourne Cricket Grounds… It’s difficult to
fully appreciate the scale of the project, but it was described by
This brief article doesn’t propose to enter that debate one way former NT Minister for Agriculture, Willem Westra van Holthe
or the other, it simply aims to raise awareness of the project and as “mind boggling”.
inform people of the rights of public participation that will arise
through the environmental assessment process. The Northern Territory Government has given the project
“Major Project Status”. This is a sensible step for a project of this
Background to Project Sea Dragon size, which will require a large range of approvals. It makes sense
to have a dedicated point of contact within government to help
Global demand for seafood is growing. The World Bank 2014 the proponent coordinate these necessary approvals. Major sta-
report “Fish to 2030: Prospects for Fisheries and Aquaculture” tus does not, and should not, allow a project to take shortcuts.
concluded that aquaculture, or fish farming, will have a growing However, Major Project Status is an indication of support from
role in food production in this century, helping to “improve food government and indeed, there is more than just in-principle sup-
security and livelihoods for the world’s poorest”. That same re- port if a June 2016 report in the Australian is to be believed. Ac-
port found that the increasing demand will be largely generated cording to that article, the NT and WA governments have given
in Asia. “clear indications” that they would “fund the $70 million sealing
of the 130km road linking Legune station to Kununurra in 2017”.
Australian company, Seafarms Group Ltd (Seafarms) is look-
ing to capitalise on that growing demand with the proposed The project hasn’t just caught the eye of the NT and WA gov-
development of (the jaw-droppingly large) Project Sea Dragon. ernments either. According to another article in the Australian
Seafarms describes the project as “a unique and world class aqua- in August, Chinese companies are seriously considering large
culture opportunity”. For the sake of simple language, it can be investments in the project.
more easily understood as an enormous prawn farm with other
associated developments, like a hatchery and processing facility. So, it sounds like it has plenty of upside, lots of prawns, lots of
international interest, lots of jobs! But, with big operations come
The main farm operation is proposed at a location called big potential impacts and, with its seriously remote location, it
Legune Station, south-west of Darwin near the border of West- is important that Project Sea Dragon ensures and convinces the
ern Australia. Prawns will be bred at a hatchery and breeding community – that its operations won’t come at an unacceptable
centre, currently planned for the Darwin (Bynoe Harbour) area, cost to the unique environment where it proposes to situate the
then farmed to size at Legune Station. Processing will occur in Project’s various elements.
Kununurra before the prawns are exported from Wyndham or
Darwin for their final destinations on plates across Asia.

12 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

Project Sea Dragon’s stages & the Environmental Impact As- able, it is understood they will involve assessing the feasibility
sessment (EIA) of the project on the basis of Stage 1. In April 2016, Seafarms
announced to the Australian Stock Exchange that it was seek-
That’s where the environmental assessment process comes ing ways to accelerate the development with an early feasibility
in. It has been determined that Project Sea Dragon will trigger study for Stage 2, which would double the pond development at
environmental assessments, both by the Commonwealth and the Legune Station.
Northern Territory and will require an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to be prepared. Due to an arrangement between Some of the issues that have been brought to the attention of
the Commonwealth and the NT, the Northern Territory Envi- the EDO are that the project’s proposed location, Legune Station,
ronmental Protection Authority (NTEPA) will undertake this is home to the Legune Wetlands (which are wetlands of nation-
assessment process. al importance) and the Legune coastal floodplain (a site of con-
servation significance – according to the NT Government). The
We’re already a little way down the EIS path, with Seafarms impacts on these environments and how Seafarms proposes to
having already submitted their notice of intention (in July 2015) mitigate and manage them will, no doubt, be a major focus of the
and the NTEPA having issued Terms of Reference for the EIS (in EIS. While there is no deadline for Seafarms to complete the EIS,
late 2015). Some of the issues that the NTEPA has specifically Seafarms has indicated publicly that it aims to complete the EIS
asked Seafarms to address in the EIS include: in the last quarter of 2016.

• Risks to biodiversity The public will get to have their say on the Draft EIS (for stage
• Risks to surface and groundwater 1) once it is published for public comment. The public will have
• Appropriate waste management at least 28 days to make comments on the draft EIS. The EDO
• Protection of historic and cultural heritage will ensure that we let people know about the public comment
• Abatement of greenhouse gas emissions period for Project Sea Dragon on our website and various social
The EIS will also need to assess the cumulative impacts of the media platforms. So, that’s it! I hope that you now know a little
proposal. This point will be of particular importance for Proj- more than you did five minutes ago about Project Sea Dragon.
ect Sea Dragon as the development is planned in stages and the
company wants to have them assessed on a stage-by-stage basis. David Morris is the Principal Lawyer for the Environmental
Stage 1 of the project is a smaller version (approximately Defenders Office NT.
10%) of the total project. Stage 1 will involve the establishment
of 1,080 ha (of the eventual approximately 10,000 ha) of grow-
out ponds for prawns on Legune Station.
Although not much detail about subsequent stages is avail-

F LYC ATC H E R | 13

A LETTER
Dave Fry

Credit: Dmitry Yaskin

28 July 2016 Jingili
The Ice Run Darwin, N.T
Lake Baikal, Siberia
Russia

Dear Ice Run,
It’s been a while since we spent time together, and I miss you.
I miss the amazing machines that took us to some of the most beautiful places on the planet.  The Ural motorcycle,
a kick-started taste of heaven that runs on any old fuel will be forever dear to my heart. They are the toughest machines,
made mightier by the fact that they would carry 200+ kilos of man and beast across the frozen tundra, without complaint.
To do an event such as yours we needed the Ural, whose only foible was a mild spark plug habit from time to time, and a
penchant for eating alternators, usually for breakfast.

I miss the lake. Baikal is as old as the hills that surround her, and as deep as the campfire conversations we had on her
frozen crust. The lake is a spiritual place, an impressive behemoth when viewed from the pit of one of the many fields of
jagged, bike and back breaking ice fields. A gentle giant, when considered from the back of a 40-year-old motorbike, sailing
along on yet another billiard table smooth highway of water-based perfection.

Most of all, Ice Run, I miss your people. The Siberian crew, who return year after year to keep the silly foreigners alive.
The very same people whose warmth and friendship could thaw out the vast sheets of ice, if it were indeed a heat source.
Dima, the unstoppable, who is said to be able to wheelie anything, even if it has no wheels. Lida, the patient, whose unfal-
tering smile would always make me feel like it was going to be ok, even when we were all too hungover to move and there
were bikes to fix. Max and Emil, the sweepers, who gathered up stragglers whose mighty steeds had had enough for the
minute, bundling exhausted riders in the back and deafening them with AC/DC. Katy the Great, whose hard work and
dedication to her punters, her Russians, and her bikes, was only outshone by her commitment to her friends.

Put simply Ice Run, I cannot wait until we meet again. Your lake, your bikes, and your people will always hold a special
place for me, and I’m sure I speak for anyone who is lucky enough to call themselves an “Ice Runner.”

Sincerely yours,
Dave.

The ice run is a yearly marathon across Siberia’s Lake Baikal on vintage Russian motorbikes with sidecars.

Dave is a rare breed, a mix of pure arse and the willingness to have a crack. A keen home brewer, he enjoys being surrounded by the
best people possible, random situations, and his sidekick Ridgeback-cross Odie who is the real talent. Interests/ailments include a
penchant for furry hats, unsuitable motorbikes, and tattoos that make his mum use his entire name, in full.

14 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

CDU SCHOLARS

In June 2016, CDU hosted Rosemary and Peter Grant, Emeri-
tus Professors at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology at Princeton University in New Jersey, USA. Professors
Peter and Rosemary Grant were the first team of scientists rec-
ognised as Charles Darwin Scholars (Professor Janet Browne was
the inaugural Charles Darwin Scholar in 2014). The CDU Dar-
win Scholar is a biennial program established in 2013. It aims to
bring influential scientists following Charles Darwin’s scientific
path to engage in discussions and intellectual inquiry to expand
local knowledge and promote scientific thinking.

The Grants studied the ‘Darwin’s Finches’ on the Galapagos
Islands, Ecuador for nearly 40 years and with their work they
demonstrated that evolution can be observed within a lifetime.
In honour of their visit, we have three contributions that have
been written based on their work.

• Veronica Toral-Granda and Jennifer Macdonald were

lucky enough to interview them during their visit and have
each written a little piece on their favourite bits of that con-
versation;

• Amanda Lilleyman moves from Darwin’s finches in the

Galapagos to explore the diversity and beauty of the finches
of the Top End; and,

• Ben Brown reflects on The Beak of the Finch, a Pulit-

zer Prize-winning account of the Grants adventures in the
archipelago written by the journalist Jonathan Weiner, by un-
packing what adaptation in the natural world will mean in a
changing world.

F LYC ATC H E R | 15

Credit: Simon Maddocks
16 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

CDU SCHOLARS

AANLIDFECOAFMRAERSAEDAERRCIEH

Peter and Rosemary. Rosemary and Peter. Like that, in pairs. In our two stories. Talking about Rosemary getting her PhD, she
science and in life. In memories and in reality. I have known quipped “It is typical of women, they never go in a straight line,
‘Los Grant’ – as we called them in Galapagos – for as long as I they go like this (indicates a winding path)”, in which each twist
can remember. They have been quietly studying Darwin’s finches and turn means a child, an altruistic decision, a selfish one too.
in Daphne Major, an islet in the central part of the archipelago, As Peter replied, “Rosemary has played an extremely important
close to Baltra airport; the airport that services the economic hub role in science.” She has indeed, for me at least. She has become
of Galapagos and the place I used to call home. I have been to my new role model. I know now that I can do it, and I can excel at
each and every of their informative talks over the years, but hav- it too, while being a mother, a wife, a friend and a woman.
ing them here, in Darwin, was just the sweet cherry on top. CDU
Darwin Scholars that really live up to the name. -Veronica Toral-Granda
Rosemary and Peter met in Vancouver at the University of
Peter and Rosemary have spent forty years doing fieldwork in British Columbia, where Peter was doing his PhD and Rosemary
Galapagos, spending six months of the year each year capturing, had been offered a position as a Research Associate. Peter walked
tagging, and taking blood samples of the finches on the island. out of his office at the university holding a pair of skis he had
They have spent so much time on the island that they know the just purchased from his land lady, and saw his supervisor Mary
birds on a personal basis. The birds know them too, with one walking towards him with another woman who was introduced
of them happily following Rosemary around while she untied to him as Rosemary. The very first thing that Rosemary said to
birds from mist nets. They have developed a ‘network’ of friends Peter was: “Those skis are too short for you”. He retorted, with
on Daphne Major and upon returning every year they could see surprise, “No they are not” and Rosemary replied, very sure of
which friend/finch is still around. They have given each of their herself, “Yes, they are.” Peter replied “No they are not, I know
birds unique numbers and identifiable coloured bands, which is because my land lady just gave them to me”. Rosemary replied,
how they knew that cactus finch #4706 (Geospiza scandens) had “Yes, they are. You have to put your arm in the air, like this,
lived to the ripe old age of 17 years old. and the top of the skis should touch your hand”, and Rosemary
demonstrated by putting her arm in the air with her palm facing
Back in 1973 when they started their work on Daphne Major, the ground. Peter was sure she had no idea what she was talking
they must have thought that this was the kind of work that could about and so put his arm in the air and rested the skis against it.
define their lives. So they came back to it – same study site, same The skis reached only halfway up his forearm. Rosemary smiled,
method, same measurements, same strict protocols to be fol- “Yes, see, too short for you. But they will fit me. How much did
lowed. And lots of foresight and ever increasing enthusiasm that you pay for them?” and Peter replied “8 dollars”, with mounting
led to new discoveries, new questions and new findings. Find- surprise. Rosemary happily handed over $8, took the skis and
ings that proved that evolution can be observed and measured in walked on down the corridor with Mary. Peter returned to his
our lifetime. They provided empirical evidence that “the origin office, in a state of shock, and thought “Well then. I’ve lost my
of the species by means of natural selection or the preservation skis but at least I still have the poles I got for my original $8!”
of favoured races in the struggle for life” – a theory proposed by Two months later and Peter and Rosemary were boyfriend
Charles Darwin over one hundred years ago – was happening and girlfriend. He had to buy another pair of skis for himself and
in real time on a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific. They more poles to go with Rosemary’s skis.
actually saw evolution! Peter and Rosemary have been together for so long that they
live together, work together and even finish each other’s sentenc-
However, their findings were not just scientific. They also es, in almost perfect harmony. They are a force to be reckoned
discovered that their two daughters would happily leave teen- with and are inspiring on so many levels – from not only their
age summers of civilization to accompany them to Galapagos. To commitment to their work and to science but most importantly
read. To sleep in a tent. To wash in the sea. To read a book aloud their commitment, love and care for each other.
over a boiling pot of tea. To be a family. To be a team.
-Jennifer Macdonald
In true team spirit, Peter took sabbatical leave to take care of
the house and the girls whilst Rosemary got her research togeth-
er and was awarded a PhD when she was 49 years old. I will be 47
when I hope to be awarded mine, I like the symmetry between

F LYC ATC H E R | 1 7

CDU SCHOLARS ADAPT, OR FAIL TO ADAPT -
AT OUR OWN PERIL!

Ben Brown

Kamoro community harvesting Tambelo The Beak of the Finch came out at an interesting phase change
in my life. I had just completed my undergraduate
18 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016 studies at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Re-
sources & Environment (a little more than a year late after finally
passing statistics on my 4th attempt) and was living a naturalist’s
life in the Pacific Northwest months before my initial voyage to
Indonesia. A friend presented me with the book as a parting gift
during Salmon Homecoming – a native American celebration
hosted by the Seattle Aquarium – where I worked at the time.

The book is a brilliant piece of popular science that achieves
what so few pieces of scientific writing can. It engages folk both
science-bent and non in understanding deep environmental con-
cepts. In this case, evolution and adaptation. We learn through
the chapters of this book that populations of animals, in this case
Darwin’s finches, and the environments in which they live are
dynamic, and that this dynamism is so extreme that apparent-
ly slow-moving processes such as evolution are actually taking
place right before “our” eyes.

“Our” eyes, in this case, are actually the well trained eyes of
Peter R. & B. Rosemary Grant, who have been observing and
analysing the evolution of Darwin’s finches over the past 40 years
(Charles Darwin himself spent only 5 weeks in the Galapagos).

There is no need to go into great detail about the adventures
of the Grants thanks to their gracious 2016 Darwin Oration
hosted by CDU-RIEL this past May. Their adventures are cov-
ered nicely as well in The Beak of the Finch and a more recent
2014 paper entitled 40 Years of Evolution: Darwin’s Finches on
Daphne Major Island. So instead, I’d like to take up a little space
to comment on a point that was brought up in the discussion
after their oration.

The questioner brought the dialogue back to an applied level,
given the background of our times, and asked, “How can humans
use this nascent view of evolution and adaptation to address cur-
rent environmental issues?”

In actuality, this question was addressed by Rosemary in her
final slide where she posited that we must keep both “environ-
ments and populations [of organisms] capable of further natural
change”. This deserves a bit of unpacking … so let’s unpack.
I’ll take the liberty of using an example from Indonesia in the

(Fig 1) - Map of mangrove and lowland swamp forest types The lesson for humans here is to value this diversity of func-
(totaling 1.5 mil(lAiosnlahnae);t Laol.,re2n0t1z6L)owlands, Papua tional species and habitats, a lesson which we ignore at our peril.
An example comes from the town of Tongke-tongke in South Su-
mangrove systems I work in. lawesi, Indonesia, which has won national acclaim for its plant-
The Southern coast of Indonesian Papua, known as the Lo- ing and management of mangroves, but is actually quite vulnera-
ble to sea-level rise, subsidence, erosion and coastal squeeze.
rentz Lowlands (Fig 1), is home to a largely pristine system of
mangroves (500,000 ha) and lowland swamp forest (1,000,000 The villagers of Tongke-tongke value Rhizophora spp. over all
ha), exhibiting both a high degree of floristic diversity (>40 spe- other mangroves, due to the utility of their poles and perceived
cies of true mangroves) and productivity (with total carbon val- habitat benefits for fish and crabs. Over the years, Bugis com-
ues ranging between 587 - 1379 MgC/ha). munities in Tongke-tongke have removed most other mangrove
species, developing instead a system of Rhizophora greenbelts in
The mangroves of this region serve as both home and ances- front of shrimp and milkfish ponds. Where active sedimentation
try to the Kamoro and Asmat ethnic groups, who have stewarded is taking place, this system works well, with Rhizophora plant-
these forests impeccably over the ages. A modern day observer ings forever extending the coastline, allowing for construction of
in the region is struck immediately by the vigor of the system; new ponds within a protective greenbelt. However, the other side
with vast areas of forested shoreline eroding, while adjacent areas of the sediment balance equation has not been addressed, and
accrete in a natural dynamic equilibrium. where erosion is taking place, greenbelts are non-existent, ponds
are submerged, and human settlements in the hinterland become
Occasionally, modern managers view the erosion taking inundated by the rising seas. Such a system has lost its capacity
place as a problem to be resolved, but when we pull back and to adapt, as colonizing mangrove species have been removed, as
consider time and process, a high degree of adaptive capacity is have functional ecotones between land and sea.
revealed. Eroding shorelines result in a “deepening” of surface
elevation which in essence increases the duration and frequency At the end of their talk, the Grants reminded us that what we
of tidal flooding. Mangroves (Bruguiera gymnorhizza and Lum- are witnessing nowadays is a simple endpoint of a long process of
nitzera racemosa in this case) are stressed beyond their limits, evolution, 32 million years for a single species of fish. Going for-
as waterlogged soils have higher concentrations of anoxic bac- ward in the “Anthropocene,” it will serve us well to pull back in
teria and their lethal waste-product S02. The adult trees can no time and space, cognizant of the long and un-yielding processes
longer send enough oxygen to “sweeten” the rhizosphere around of change and adaptation.
their root hairs, in essence losing their buffering capacity, and Ben Brown is a PhD candidate with the Research Institute for
succumb to root decay. In this natural, social-ecological system, the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL) and is the co-founder
the trees die, topple, and become home to terebellidae worms – a of Blue Forests, an Indonesian NGO.
staple protein source of the Kamoro and Asmat. Photo credits: Ben Brown

A gradual walk inland reveals the beauty of the system’s adap- Ben Brown - eating the worm
tive capacity. A variety of halophytic grasses initially colonize the
bare intertidal floor, beginning around Mean Sea Level. As we
proceed up the tidal frame, these grasses physically capture man-
grove propagules from a host of colonizing foreshore species,
which proliferate and eventually shade out the halophytic grass.
Continuing inland towards the hinterland, we see a simple shift
of species, which “invade” the organic boundary between man-
groves and lowland swamp forest, of special interest to us in this
day and age of sea-level rise and coastal retreat.

The key factors enabling this system to adapt without loss of
functionality or productivity, are a full diversity of species (espe-
cially colonizing mangroves and halophytic grasses) and natural
physical space in which to retreat (in this case, the ecotone be-
tween upper mangroves and the lowland swamp forest).

F LYC ATC H E R | 19

CDU SCHOLARS

THOSE OF THDEATROWP IENN’SD,FNINOCTHTEHSE:GALAPAGOS
Amanda Lilleyman

Australian birds are bright and beautiful, and are valued by ful species of finch with its ‘mew, mew’ call, it sounds as cute as
the public as shown with a species of honeyeater recently it looks. In northern Australia you can hit the finch jackpot, with
appearing on the new $5 note. Birds of northern Australia are up to 11 species of finch to be found in a variety of habitat types.
no exception, with the tropical environment harbouring many
colourful species of various sizes. Australia, as a large isolated The Top End of Australia is home to an assortment of finches
continent, has an array of colourful and diverse birds, including because of the habitat types that these birds prefer. Like most
finches. Finches are commonly encountered throughout Aus- finches, the species present in the Top End can be found close
tralia, but the tropical north is a special place for this group of to surface water on open grasslands or savannas. Dry wood-
birds. There are 21 species of finch in Australia, all belonging to lands with watercourses are particularly appealing to finches and
the Estrildidae family, and all but four are endemic to Australia. spending a morning watching a waterhole can produce many
These birds differ to what the rest of the world call ‘true finches’, seed-eating finches and other dry country birds. As most finches
which are small passerine birds belonging to the family Fringill- are highly sociable, large flocks of birds can be found throughout
idae. Species from this family are represented in Australia by in- most months of the year. These social meetings of finches bring
troduced species only. birds together to feed, bathe, rest and preen. Large flocks can be
heard flying overhead as birds fly between sites, calling constant-
Finches are popular with aviculturists throughout the world ly to one another to maintain social connections. While some
for their bright and beautiful colours and are often bred to pro- finches in the Top End breed in tree hollows and in grass and
duce new varieties. Not only are finches popular with bird breed- reed beds, the Crimson finch, a striking bright-red bird during
ers, they are also most sought-after on a birdwatcher’s list, with the breeding season, nests and shelters in Pandanus plants, a spe-
birders and twitchers travelling to places throughout Australia to cies of plant you might be familiar with because of its thorny
see these beauties. The Gouldian Finch is commonly regarded as exterior.
one of the most spectacular finches in the world, with its striking
colours and its variety of head colouration – red, black and yel- Spectacular courtship displays depict the interesting social
low forms. This species of grass seed-eating finch is usually high bonds of finches, as male birds parade and dance with grass stems
up on the bird list when birdwatching in northern Australia. held in their bills in an attempt to attract female birds. Breeding
events in finch species depend on the availability of grass seed-
If you follow the finch trail, you’ll find yourself visiting all heads, which in turn depends on rainfall and temperature with
corners of the continent. In the south-west of Australia, the Red- the main breeding season of finches in the Top End occurring at
eared Firetail is restricted to areas around the Perth region. The the end of the wet season. However, with the dry savanna envi-
eastern equivalent, the Beautiful Firetail is found in south-east- ronment there is fire close by, and fire will dictate the availabili-
ern Australia and Tasmania in dry forests, heath and scrublands. ty of food in the ecosystem. Fire drives food phenology and the
Driving through Australia’s central region will produce large movement of finches across the landscape as birds seek resources
swarming flocks of Zebra Finch; look for birds near waterholes crucial for their survival.
or bores. This species is another popular bird in aviculture and
is more recently referred to as the bird equivalent of the lab rat These small birds of many bright colours add vivid bursts to
(the Zebra Finch is often used in experimental and behavioural the otherwise green and brown backdrop of savanna woodlands
studies and is the go-to species when bird testing in a lab is need- in the Top End.
ed). The Blue-faced Parrotfinch has a narrow range in northern
Queensland and is found in high rainfall and high altitudinal Amanda Lilleyman is an ornithologist and specialises in migra-
zones of the Atherton Tablelands region. The common and ur- tory shorebird ecology in Darwin. You can find her at her desk
banised Double-barred Finch is possibly one of the most delight- writing up her PhD thesis.
Follow her via twitter @alilleyman

20 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

Crimson Finch
Credit - Bas Hensen

Yellow-rumped Mannikins Gouldian Finch
Credit: Marc Gardner Credit: Marc Gardner
F LYC ATC H E R | 2 1

THE VALUE OF GRASSROOTS importance and potential effectiveness of student - and staff-led
EPNARVTIRICOINPAMTEIONNTAINL SSUHSATPAIINNGABILITY grassroots environmental groups.
AT UNIVERSITIES
From a university perspective, these kinds of groups can
Our University has world-class researchers in environmental build enthusiasm, support and leadership across the university
sciences and human behaviour. Exciting projects are under- community. They can make it easier for university management
way in all of our research institutes, with staff and students col- to collaborate with students and staff with expertise and interest
laborating on an array of intriguing and significant research that in environmental issues, during planning and policy consulta-
seeks to further our collective knowledge. tions. Grassroots groups can build support for new initiatives
with ‘transformative’ potential, and apply pressure for change
But as an institution, how well do we incorporate our exper- in university policy and operations. These processes provide an
tise into our day-to-day activities? Furthermore, what grassroots avenue for universities to showcase themselves as ‘learning or-
contributions would be most valuable in this context, and how ganisations’, in a continual process of improvement and innova-
do students fit in with all of this? This article embarks on some tion using internal feedback mechanisms to enable, inform, and
broad reflection, to further our collective understanding of en- shape a better future.
vironmental sustainability at universities, and to consider the
Having a collective of staff and students can be beneficial
to grassroots groups. Students may be challenged by the unfa-
miliarity of university procedures and governance, or can find
their position challenged by the status quo if there is an adverse
perception of the student’s group or initiative. Staff can provide
students with some ‘insider’ knowledge of university structures
and processes which can contribute to the design and longevity
of initiatives. This avoids student centred groups focusing on op-
erations that are only familiar to them, but which may not have
a campus-wide impact.

From a student perspective, students have the ‘space’ to orga-
nise and do things that staff cannot, which can enable groups to
propose and implement initiatives that are often outside of the
ability of individual staff members. They are also eligible for a
different range of funding opportunities. Longer term, grassroots
environmental groups can provide students with practical skills
and the ability to apply theory from their coursework. These
experiences can develop skills that are not easily enabled in the
lecture room, for example: decision making, reflection, coopera-
tion, systems thinking, self-management, inclusive perspectives,
taking responsibility, creativity, enabling passions, leadership.
Great for the CV!

Many universities, including CDU, are increasingly pro-
moting values through their strategic plans. Involvement in a
grassroots environmental group can help build ‘sustainability’
attributes (social justice, diversity, collaboration and creativity)
and enable their institute to not only live these values but also to
promote and implement them within the university’s structures
and operations.

So. Where to from here?

One initiative, the Enviro Collective, is back in operation and
is calling for interested students and staff to get involved with
a whole range of projects. The Enviro Collective is a grassroots
environmental group run collaboratively by students and staff
from CDU.

Planned activities include: raising awareness of environmen-
tal issues, advocating on priority areas, working with facilities
management on waste management, co-ordinating an ‘Enviro
Voice’ for consultation around central policies and planning, col-
laborating with CDU group Conservation on Campus to protect
biodiversity in surrounding habitats, and collaborating with the
Lakeside Drive Community Garden.

Get in touch!
The Enviro Collective CDU
E: [email protected] |You can ‘like’ us on Face-
book - https://www.facebook.com/EnviroCollectiveCdu

22 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

FMRAOGMICUANLDTHERINNKEIANTGHITNHTEHWE INZTARDS HAT:

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF JOHN ELFERINK AND THE COUNTRY LIBERAL PARTY

Ben McGowan

On July 25th of this year the twitterverse opened above Darwin forming mysterious illusive tricks. He sacked his vanished col-
and sucked away poor old John Elferink. Cruising around a league John Elferink from the corrections portfolio at the same
Four Corners episode on his Harley earlier in the evening John time applauding him for his reform ambition. He apologised for
had seemed completely oblivious to the impending disaster. Too the treatment of Indigenous youth in detention whilst advocat-
late Elferink realised that he was being cast as the star of an epi- ing his tough on crime approach. At the same time he suggested
sode that was to be entitled Australia’s shame. He shut down the that the real issue for the forthcoming election was that Michael
interview and made a break for it. That night the beating of the Gunner was attempting to bring in the “nanny state head-on!”
wings of a million southern fairies could be heard over Darwin. “Boat registrations, fishing licences, removal of open speed lim-
The next morning Elferink had disappeared. its, a new beer tax coming in. We are going to turn into the nanny
state under Labor and nobody wants it,” he said. It was a con-
The NT News tried to downplay the disappearance, reporting founding performance.
on the 29th of July that he had “left town” and a spokesperson
suggested that he was on leave and would not be available “in the In Saturday’s election it looked as if the entire Country Lib-
immediate future”. In the following days the NT News continued eral Party had also disappeared. At the time of writing (August
to speculate on the disappearance of Elferink suggesting that he 30) the CLP had only secured one seat out of a possible 25; there
had “left for South Australia” and that he “was possibly going to remain six seats in doubt. Giles had been disgraced in the only
return to Darwin tonight”. But all that anybody ever heard from election he had contested as party leader but he still had one
Elferink again was this ghostly trace that appeared as a media more elusive trick yet to perform. In a statement to the media he
statement on the 3rd of August: suggested that “my career is starting, not ending. So, what’s that
saying? Be careful about the arse you kick today might be the one
“There have been numerous media enquiries to my office in you’ve got to kiss tomorrow?” He went on to imply that he was
relation to issues arising from the Four Corners report on Mon- now beautifully positioned for a career in federal politics.
day, July 25. There are many misconceptions in the media and
the broader community that I will be pleased to address at the It looks like that wily old Giles might not be disappearing
appropriate time. The Royal Commission is the proper forum for after all. Meanwhile Country Liberal candidate Facebook pages
these topics of considerable public interest to be examined and I are turning into community activism pages across the NT. Who
will co-operate fully. There’s also a civil action before the courts. will reappear in four years’ time it is impossible to tell.
As the Attorney-General it’s inappropriate for me to comment at
this time.” Ben McGowan is a true blue magical thinker of the Northern
Territory.
Spooky.
Knowing that he could be next the Territory’s former Chief
Minister Adam Giles appeared across every news outlet per-

F LYC ATC H E R | 2 3

2A0Q1U6ASLAITLOYNPRDEESSERNETFAUTISOÉNSFOR A QUALITY ART EXPERIENCE

Koulla E. Roussos

What is the origin of the Salon des Refusés? How is such a cation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. After lengthy and fruit-
phrase relevant and applicable to a Darwin exhibition that ful discussions with Joanna Barrkman from the Charles Darwin
focuses exclusively on Indigenous Australian art? Where do the University Art Gallery, we decided to go the next step and showcase
two disparate concepts intercede, and why is it worth commend- works in one of Darwin’s most prestigious art spaces.”
ing the Charles Darwin University Art Gallery for exhibiting this
terrific exhibition, now in its fourth year? “Overcoming the fear of the unknown and working with serious
curatorial staff in a serious gallery space has been overwhelmingly
Historically, the French 19th century Salon des Refusés show- beneficial. The presentation of the works was carefully managed
cased art works rejected by the conservative French Academy of with a planned hang of the exhibition in advance of its installa-
Fine Arts, which rigidly adhered to artworks using the approved tion.”
academic styles. The exhibition program for the first Salon des
Refusés (1863) listed 780 works and included many artists who “CDU Art Gallery is such a professional venue, its whole ap-
have since gained historical acclaim including Paul Cezanne, Ca- proach is organised and polished, and adds to the exhibitions so-
mille Pizarro and Eduard Manet. Indeed, Manet’s Le Dejeuner phisticated feel. The opening night was a fantastic affair, with over
sur l’Herbe caused a public scandal for its brazen nudity in the 500 people coming through the doors.”
Paris Salon.
With informative public programming featuring floor-talks
So how did the Salon des Refusés arrive in Darwin? Two delivered by Johnstone and Ward, and presentations by lumi-
private gallerists, Paul Johnstone of Paul Johnstone Gallery and naries in the field of Australian Indigenous art including John
Matt Ward of Outstation – art from art centres, started the Dar- Carty, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Adelaide,
win Salon des Refusés in 2013 to exhibit works of art that did not and Michael Fielding from Mimili Maku Arts in South Austra-
make the final selection into the National Aboriginal and Tor- lia, there has been huge audiences attracted to the exhibition. Dr
res Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA), a nationally signif- Wendy Gardiner, Curator of Australian Visual Art, Museum and
icant visual arts event held annually in Darwin. Paul Johnstone Art Gallery of the Northern Territory is also giving a talk on the
explains that “Matt and I were interested in showcasing the rich history of Salon exhibitions in Europe and Australia.
diversity of works that were not making the final NATSIAA selec-
tion. So many outstanding art works were not being presented and The Darwin Salon des Refusés is an exceptional opportunity
no one was able to view them. Matt and I apply our own rigorous to experience a beautifully hung exhibition, in one of Darwin’s
process of selection. We start to look at the works and determine most sophisticated galleries, and is proof of the exceptional re-
independently the visual strength of each work. We try to include sults professional skill and acumen can bring to an exhibition.
works from around Australia, and works utilising different forms
and materials.” Paul concluded by stating that “We worked exceptionally well
as a team. We want to thank Joanna Barrkman, Eileen Lim and
The first two Darwin Salons were exhibited in the former the CDU Art Gallery team. With their assistance the Salon has
Commonwealth Bank building. Its charming Art Deco façade quickly departed from its original pseudo-renegade approach and
and high ceilings gave the Salon the renegade feel of its French helped us achieve a terrific sophisticated show. It means that Matt
namesake. In 2014, the Salon moved to the former Boat Terminal and I could finally present the works the way we first imagined in
at Stokes Hill Wharf. With its air-conditioned space, sea views 2013.”
and proximity to the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair, its opening in
2014 attracted over 400 people with over 2,500 visitors over 14 After 20 years practicing as a criminal lawyer, Koulla is pursu-
days. ing her interest in curating, art history and theory and complet-
ed a three month internship at CDU Art Gallery. She continues
Paul recalls, “We moved from the Commonwealth Bank be- to practice criminal law at the Bar and is currently developing
cause the developers had other plans, and we had to move again an exhibition with Utopia women artists commemorating 30
from the Old Boat Terminal because the government gave this lo- anniversary of 1988 Batiks.

24 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

F LYC ATC H E R | 25

MAYSE’S CORNER

Mayse’s Corner is a supportive and inspiring space for women
to discuss issues related to women and modern feminism. Al-
though important advancements have been made for women in the
world, it is clear that we are not there yet. Being able to vote, wear pants
and have a say in politics is good, but not good enough. We’d like to use
this space to explore what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.

This section will also be used to recognise the pioneering female
academics and scientists that are inspiring many of the contributors
in their early research careers, as well as the amazing pioneering
women that have helped make the Northern Territory so unique.

We have named the section Mayse’s Corner after Mayse Young,
who was born in northern Queensland in 1912 and arrived in the
Territory when she was 14. Her father was chasing work as a railway
ganger and the family spent nine months on the road before setting
up camp on the Katherine River. They lived in tents for 2 years be-
fore building the old Pine Creek Hotel. Mayse went on to own pubs
in Pine Creek, Katherine and Darwin at a time when women in
business were a rarity. She named her autobiography “No Place for a
Woman”, as a nod to her life as the ‘odd woman out’, living always in
places that were mostly men, when the Northern Territory was de-
scribed as no place for a woman. She is remembered for her pioneer-
ing spirit, her compassion and sense of humour, and as a great out-
back woman. She is a fitting inspiration for this section of Flycatcher.

26 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

MAYSE’S CORNER

HAOJOMUERWNAERYDSOBUOUTHNDFOR GENDER EQUALITY

Nicole Hellessey

This December, myself and 77 other scientists from around we are now focusing our efforts on how we can spread the mes-
the world will come together for a journey to Antarctica. The sage of gender equality even further. Ideas include creating infor-
unusual thing about all of these scientists though is that we’re all mational posters and an educational documentary which will be
women! Our group aims to promote gender equality in science made whilst we are aboard. Some of the women are even reach-
with the specific purpose of increasing women’s roles in com- ing out to schools and public groups to spread the message of
bating climate change. As West Antarctica is one of the fastest women being great leaders in science.  
warming areas on Earth, it provides the perfect backdrop for
these women to raise awareness for an important topic. Somehow I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of
these lucky participants from more than 2,000 applicants. I’m a
Fabian Dattner (founder of Dattner and Grant, founder of researcher from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at
Compass and one of the most influential business women in the University of Tasmania in Hobart and I study Antarctic Krill.
Australia) and Dr Jessica Melbourne-Thomas (Rhodes Scholar I am interested in understanding how these tiny crustaceans will
and founder of the Women in Polar Science network) realized adapt and are currently adapting to the fluctuations in their en-
that there was a need for women to be seen as both leaders in vironment caused by climate change. I’m hoping to come away
the field of science and as influential decision makers when dis- from Homeward Bound with the skills to help influence the Krill
cussing policies that could have an impact on climate change. fishery so that they remain sustainable and ecologically friendly
Thus, the movement of Homeward Bound was started with the in the long term. In the short time I’ve been a part of the Home-
aim of creating a program to connect 1,000 female scientists to a ward Bound program, I have connected with many of the other
network of like-minded and passionate women in STEM disci- participants - both from within and outside of Australia. Being
plines. This year’s participants of the inaugural trip will partake connected to them all online is lovely as we get to know more
in a three-week journey to Antarctica. For the past year, we have about each other before we go south together and we can help
all been receiving training on how to establish ourselves as lead- champion each other’s work and ideas. Personally, I can’t wait to
ers and strategists as well as learning how to affect policy deci- get back to see how far the Homeward Bound message of gender
sions at all levels of government. equality can reach both in science and in other fields too.

Many of the participants have been using social media in Applications for the next round of Homeward Bound open
conjunction with their extensive networks to spread and help in February 2017 for a 2018 trip. All the relevant information
amplify the message that women need to be on more boards, on this year’s trip and how to apply is at the Homeward Bound
panels and committees in order to balance the discussion on cli- website: homewardboundprojects.com.au. For updates on this
mate change. We come from a diverse range of professional fields year’s trip or on Homeward Bound in general follow us on Twit-
and hope to use our collective voices as a strength to reach out to ter, Facebook and the website.
the global community.
Nicole Hellessey is an Antarctic marine scientist studying at the
Each of the women had to raise $15,000 USD to help pay for Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of
the ship that will be taking them to Antarctica, much of which Tasmania.
was raised through crowdfunding. However, with the final pay-
ments made and the number of days until departure dwindling, F LYC ATC H E R | 2 7

IDEAS AND INVENTIONS

Ruchir Patil

Ideas and inventions are important and worthy. Sadly, many resources. Some examples include:
people give up on their dreams of ideas and inventions in • The invention of the satellite: As the moon revolves
their adult lives because the practicality of life kills creativity and around the earth, can a human made object revolve around
many people are afraid to walk in the opposite direction to the the earth? But why and how?
‘normal’ flow. Our brains are often telling us not to do unknown • The invention of the invisible tank: As the chameleon
things, because these unknown things could produce unwanted hides himself by adjusting his colour into the corresponding
results. This article could encourage and motivate people to hold environment, could a manmade object do that too?
onto their ideas and inventions, and think in a way different to • The invention of multi-cellular organisms such as were
the status quo. I have been inspired by the words of Sir Ken Rob- present 200 million years ago.
inson, who talks of how creativity is killed at a young age, why it • The invention of power, which is felt as current and
happens, and what we can do to empower and encourage people: which can then be converted to heat, and then converted
‘The role of the creative is not to have all the ideas; it’s to create back into current.
a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they are • And one of the most promising inventions: the aircraft.
valued.’ If a bird can fly, why can't we? 
So, how to make a structure of your idea? First of all you need
So, what is an idea? An idea is a quick thought which strikes
you at any moment in your life. Also called a ‘Eureka moment’, to have courage to walk the odd path, and in many cases may lead
it may come when you are deep in sleep, when you are having to failure and the halt of this great innovation within your mind.
important conversations with your boss, when you are exercis- You must always write down your ideas whenever they pop into
ing, and even when you are meditating. Ideas can be of any kind, your mind. Try some simple, small experiments and note down
including social, medical, and technological.  the theory and also the pros and cons so that the risk of failure
decreases. Make a hierarchy of each step; have a stepwise imple-
An invention is a tool to implement and process an idea in mentation for a specific module in an experiment; discuss your
a practical sense. It takes a lot of effort to invent unique ideas or idea with good professionals in that corresponding field and use
unique inventions to be developed or updated by the same idea. respective resources to develop your skill in your experiments. 

The main extraordinary thing about an idea is that the neu- My advice to you is to plan and experiment, take advice from
rons in our brains come up with different configurations in dif- good professionals or engineers to reduce the errors which come
ferent states, or levels of thinking. Many inventions made were up while experimenting, then construct and design a new model
the result of  a type of Eureka moment - an unexpected moment. or idea once you have summed up the errors,  and go on plan-
This includes: the displacement of water for Archimedes; the ap- ning and experimenting this way  until you reach a conclusion.
ple falling from the tree for Newton; the ploughing of a potato Always make sure you have noted down all the performed tasks.
field ‘line by line’ for Farnsworth, where the electron beam could
scan images 'line by line'; and laying on the bed and watching And all the best for your Ideas and Inventions!
up in the sky a flying plane and thinking about how far it might
be from the wall and ceiling for Descartes and his Coordinate Ruchir Patil is a proud student of Charles Darwin University
Geometry.  studying a Masters of Information Technology in Software En-
gineering.
Many inventions have been made by learning about natural

28 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

A TELEGRAM FROM WILLY C

Will Crawford

Angie STOP This is a telegram STOP Keep going STOP This is
Will Crawford STOP Thank you for reading this piece tonight
STOP I am tied up in Nhulunbuy performing at the East Arnhem am-
ateur circus and escapologist convention STOP Things have not gone
to plan STOP Last night performing as The Amazing Willy, I attempt-
ed the famous Mexican “escape from a box of box jellyfish” STOP This
escape was only partially successful STOP I am dictating this message
to my lovely assistant and life partner Ginelle STOP I am stuck in a
glass box in my bedazzled leopard print lycra trunks surrounded by
7 box jellyfish STOP say hi Ginelle STOP Hi STOP Ginelle has kindly
retrieved some tools to help break me out STOP

The night was going great STOP I opened with my “cross dress-
er escapes from the closet” act STOP the Nhulunbuy Parkinson’s
Choral Society then performed their rendition of Taylor Swift’s Shake
STOP Chantelle, our one-armed violist, closed out the first half with
her version of sounds of silence STOP 

Ginelle then came out STOP tied my hands with a cable tie and
lowered me into the box of death STOP It started to go wrong when
I couldn’t free my hands STOP When I tried to pop the trap door it
stuck tight STOP I have been stuck here since last night fighting off
affectionate jellyfish STOP I don’t even think they’re poisonous STOP
The pet store said they were the real thing STOP reminder to stop or-
dering from that supplier STOP Ginelle, why is there superglue on the
floor STOP What do you mean I took you for granted QUESTION
MARK I know you found your cousin Chanise’s bra backstage STOP I
told you Chanise was just helping me with my bra removal technique
STOP Ginelle, what are you doing with that circular saw STOP Put
the saw down STOP Stop STOP
Will Crawford is a lawyer for the Northern Land Council. He recent-
ly resumed his stand up career after a 15 year absence from the stage.
He recommends aspiring standups to stand up - as there is a very
supportive stand up scene in Darwin.
Email [email protected] for more information.

F LYC ATC H E R | 2 9

WHAT HAS CDUSA
BEEN UP TO IN 2016?

It’s been a very busy year! We have been so privileged to bring CDU Casuarina
you such a full calendar of events across the Casuarina and
Waterfront Darwin campuses of CDU. Our 2016/17 Committee We opened the year with a literal rainy event, and the water-
has been bought a shed-load of new ideas for on-campus events, slide for our end of O Week party was very popular! Since then
improvements for the student experience and making sure ex- we have bought in a giant blow-up movie screen and who could
ternal and distance students have access to all the support they forget laser tag and the glory of the victorious Engineering Stu-
need. dents' Society? We are looking forward to a wider range of joint
events in 2017 as we form close ties with other student clubs and
Waterfront Darwin Campus groups.

This year has certainly been the Year of the Lunch at the Wa- The student voice
terfront! Students Who Lunch connects students with each oth-
er, CDU support staff (such as advocacy and the library visiting One of the fundamental reasons the Student Association ex-
service) and industry professionals. Our aim for 2017 is to con- ists is to provide a voice for students, a discussion forum and
tinue to focus on connections with local businesses and provide a contact point to ask questions. This year CDUSA has worked
students with exposure to a wide range of career opportunities. with CDU to increase the number of student representatives on
the SSAF Committee. Together we advocate for Student Services
The Students’ Association is working with CDU to improve and Amenities Fee money to be spent supporting student en-
the amenities available for students, such as study spaces, and deavours and adventures. Your student representatives on the
looks forward to seeing this campus mature over the next few SSAF Committee are Isabelle Collins (CDUSA President), Jade
years. Pollard (Debating Club President, CDUSA Councillor), Kieran
Marchant (Engineering Students Society President), Chris Jong
CDU Sydney (Engineering Students' Society Treasurer) and Ruchir Patil (Stu-
dent Ambassador).
In September CDU Sydney students enjoyed a day trip to
the Hunter Valley and engaged in a friendly photography com- In Semester Two the Students’ Association took part in con-
petition! The stunning results will be published on the CDUSA sultation and research projects to improve the student experience
Facebook page. at CDU. We contributed to the discussion around a new online
platform that will augment the current Blackboard/Learnline
The campus is, for the first time, being represented on the system. It is an exciting time to be a part of change and we look
Students’ Association council by students Diwas Chaulagain and forward to seeing the next step of this development!
Jafar Ahammad. Newly appointed campus manager Matt Burton
is an avid supporter of student engagement and we look forward Isabelle (CDUSA President), Lindsay (CDUSA Vice-Pres-
to working with him in 2017. ident) and Mark (CDUSA Councillor) took part in video in-
terviews as part of the CDU contribution to a wider Innovative

30 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

Research Universities collaborative project. We gave our views of economics I had not considered previously and fine-tuned my
on employment opportunities and challenges for students which problem solving skills. I initially intended on studying a man-
will be screened as part of a national conference. Stay tuned for agement major, but then economics became a passion and the
an update! problem became about dividing resources.

Who is the President anyway? I haven’t yet decided on an area of economics to focus on. My
interests lie in further exploring welfare, health and environmen-
Isabelle Collins is the 2016 President of the Charles Darwin tal economics. I want to make the arguments to invest in these
University Students’ Association. She is in her final semester (fi- areas and advocate on behalf of those who don’t have a voice in
nally!) of a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in economics. She the economic, financial or government arena.
currently works for the NT Government in economic policy and
adores her two beagles (and study-buddies) Winnie and Lana. On studying at the Waterfront Campus

On studying Commerce The transition has come with challenges for staff and students
but I think we have settled in fairly well. There are still improve-
Commerce is my second go at university. My first was engi- ments to be made, and there is a very strong role for the Stu-
neering! I’m pretty handy, but terrible at coding and calculus. I dents’ Association to advocate for students at the Waterfront and
would have made a terrible engineer, but I was great at solving to grow the campus culture.
problems. I just needed a different type of problem to solve. I’ve
always been good at helping others and managing projects, and I The Campus is in a unique location and provides many op-
had a hunch that Commerce could lead me to the right environ- portunities for commerce students to work or intern in close
ment and job for me to thrive. proximity to major firms such as Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst & Young
and BDO. I am looking forward to improving our links with
Study is an adventure: you don’t need to know the end goal those firms and giving students a wide range of opportunities to
to give it a red hot go! I encourage all students to fully embrace professionally develop their skills.
their course. If it isn’t for you then try another course or work
for a while and really take time to consider your strengths and On challenges facing students
passions. You don’t need to find the right course or the right job
on the first try, but you do need to try. As President I have been privileged to be a contact point for
student concerns and questions. Employment opportunities,
On being an economics major flexibility in study options and social cohesion are some of CDU
student’s biggest concerns. Some of those challenges can be met
It was a total accident. I worked hard and did well, and dis- with better access to information or more events, while others
covered a whole new world of problems I could solve, ones which will take longer to understand and address. I joined the Students’
were entwined with human behaviour. The economics discipline Association to make the CDU experience the best it can be, and
at CDU is small and lectures have become discussion forums and helping to address these challenges has been incredibly reward-
workshops. This environment encouraged me to explore aspects ing.

F LYC ATC H E R | 31

A BOOK REVIEW
Patrick Coleridge

Briohny Doyle – The Island Will Sink time?’ The answer is three-and-a-half minutes. On screen, what
Published by The Lifted Brow follows lasts over nine.
Fiction - 299pp
‘“Something is actually happening,” he says…’ Max Galleon, the protagonist of Briohny Doyle’s genre-bend-
ing first work of speculative fiction, is a director of fully immer-
During the final sequence of Irwin Allen’s 1974 action-disas- sive disaster movies. Their titles (Burn, No Future, Shockwave 1,
ter classic, The Towering Inferno, Doug Roberts and Mi- 2 and 3 and Then Rest) are throwbacks to the heyday of disaster
chael ‘Mike’ O’Halloran (Paul Newman; Steve McQueen) rig a filmmaking; movies like Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, The
rooftop water storage facility with plastic explosives in an 11th Hindenburg and Airport ’77 as well as more familiar titles from
hour attempt to douse the eponymous high-rise tower, which has the genre’s 1990s resurgence: Twister, Dante’s Peak and Volca-
been burning, steadily, for hours. As they brace themselves for no. The difference between these and Max Galleon’s films is that
the explosion, O’Halloran turns to Roberts and asks, ‘How much while the former play out on screen, the latter employ a combina-
tion of haptic and hypnotic techniques to recreate, as realistically
as possible, the lived experience of the disasters they depict.

Max, a lauded elder statesman of his industry, is living out

32 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

his comfortably middle-class existence at some point in the very form is that unlike literature it presents to its audience perspec-
near future. His precocious son, Jonas, at one stage refers to it as tives exterior to experience (action, interaction, dialogue) in an
the ‘Praeteranthopocene’, a speculative period of geological time attempt to record, or approximate, the supposedly less accessible
that began when ‘science [...] finally declared that human beings world of human subjectivity. Experience is projected, although
are no longer capable of remedying the negative impact they’ve still mediated, by the academic distance of the camera.
made on the planet.’ Although Doyle is careful not to be exact,
one has the impression reading the novel that the action is taking Max, who idolises Irwin Allen, sees this tension – between
place just around the corner; as Charlie Brooker remarked of his cinema’s claim to objectivity and its quite deliberate subversion
chilling, techno-paranoid TV anthology, Black Mirror, this is a of that objectivity through technique – in that final, climactic,
book about ‘the way we live now – and the way we might be liv- sequence of The Towering Inferno:
ing in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy.’
‘Screen time is usually faster than reality, but in this se-
Max worries that his new work is unoriginal, that his ret- quence the camera tries to show what’s going through the
rograde disaster immersions are being eclipsed by the ‘Glitch’ mind of every single character as they wait for the explo-
movies of a young up-and-comer, Sullivan. He works from an sion. When the sequence is over, it cuts to a wide shot, one
automated business apartment where, frequently distracted that’s been called controversial, as it gives the viewer the
and uninspired, he logs into his Bay View home to monitor his privilege of academic distance from trauma. This film gives
family. He incessantly, perhaps involuntarily, stores, recalls, and us a glimpse of the disastrous sublime.’
unwittingly edits his own memories, which have been uploaded
to a networked ‘Archive’ since he had a synaptic chip surgically Luke Davies has compared the novel to “JG Ballard’s imag-
inserted into the base of his skull. His was one of the very first. inatively coherent, hard-edged, full-fledged imaginings.” While
He is, he tells us, an ‘early adopter.’ there’s something to be said for the comparison – the book is,
after all, a piece of speculative fiction that dramatizes respons-
There are two, major, dramatic arcs to the novel. On the one es to climate and catastrophe – The Island lacks the lurid, sun-
hand, Max’s endeavour to prove his continuing relevance as a struck, texture to Ballard’s writing in novels like The Drought,
filmmaker by completing his masterpiece, Tsunami; on the oth- The Drowned World or even the fictionalised autobiography,
er, his slightly enigmatic attempt to reconnect (literally, through Empire of the Sun.  Instead, I think the novel owes more to oth-
‘neural pairing’) with a brother, Tom, who has been in a vegeta- er, now canonised, authors of 60s science-fiction (Philip K Dick,
tive state since he experienced a ‘prolonged neural overload’ after Arthur C Clarke, Ursula Le Guin and even Anthony Burgess)
leaving what the reader can only assume to have been a cult.   whose work, like Doyle’s, tended to combine a slightly cynical so-
cial or political message with the playfulness of the earlier, more
All of this is overshadowed by the portentous figure of Pit- naïve, atomic era writers.
cairn Island. The Island’s slow descent into the Pacific Ocean is
interminably broadcast on the EcoEvent 24-Hour live feeds that If the novel has a weakness it’s that it doesn’t quite cohere. It’s
are ubiquitous in Doyle’s tech-saturated world. Its population is hard to say why this is. Each of the two or three major sub-plots
fixated, obsessed. Clearly, one function of Pitcairn is to provide develops naturally, is tonally consistent, etc. Perhaps it’s that the
a timely parallel to the strange, modern admixture of fascination transitions between them feel a little marked or arbitrary. Max’s
and anxiety provoked by our changing climate. A morbid, and relationship with his brother, for example, begins in a promising
entirely irrelevant, aside about the real Pitcairn Island is that in fashion but is then let lie, only to be revived, in what feels like a
2005 a series of sexual assault trials brought against 15 men (or bit of an afterthought, at the end of the novel.
30% of the Island’s male population) concluded with the incar-
ceration of five of their number at a prison facility, purpose built But apart from this and some occasionally stiff or one-sided
by the British, at a presumably godless place called ‘Bob’s Valley.’ dialogue, Doyle’s is an impressive first novel. The characters (in
particular Max’s young children) are well drawn and compel-
Years of relying on the Archive to record each of his thoughts, ling.  And although this isn’t just another work in the sci-fi tradi-
sensations and experiences have left Max without faith in his ca- tion, it succeeds on many of the same bases: a great premise and
pacity to ‘remember.’ This, increasingly, is a source of anxiety for some inventive gadgetry that rounds out a convincing portrait of
him – particularly when questions arise about the accuracy of the near future while providing comic relief. Of these my favou-
the Archive and the possibility that it has been interfered with. rite, by a country mile, would have to be Pow-Wow the Power
But even Max, from time to time, finds himself editing, or even Saving Panda, the ‘latest and most pervasive in a long series of
deleting, entries. He describes this behaviour as a morbid ‘com- corporate motivational mascots.’
pulsion’:

‘It gives me an indefinable feeling,’ he says. ‘Like a high.’ Patrick Coleridge writes and reviews. He lives in Darwin where
‘A free feeling.’ he works as a criminal defence lawyer at the North Australian
‘Exactly’ Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA).
‘Making tiny cuts, incisions that give the cutter a feeling of
control.’ Flycatcher is grateful to have received a review copy of The Island
Will Sink from The Lifted Brow, our first ever! If you’d like to do a
As the novel develops, these personal experiences are devel- book review please get in touch and we might be able to get a copy
oped into a broader, thematic, inquiry into the fidelity of records of a soon-to-be-published brilliant novel for you to review.
of our experience. During a rare moment of intimacy a love The Island Will Sink is for sale at the CDU Bookshop.
interest asks Max to tell her something he actually remembers. Photo credit: Veronica Toral-Granda
‘“I’m not sure I even consider memory to be a credible catego-
ry,”’ he tells her. It’s for this reason, I think, that film features so
prominently in the novel: one, perhaps reductive, view of the art

F LYC ATC H E R | 3 3

KATHERINE; LAND OF DREAMS
A PHOTO STORY

Maggie McGowan

Maggie McGowan is leading the campaign for
#Katherine2017. Turn your life around and join her

down the Stuey in 2017, why not?
all images credited to Maggie McGowan

There are business opportunities at every turn

When you move to Katherine they give you a card There is cafe culture and mid-strength beer deals at
that unlocks the secrets of the city lunchtime

There is edgy street art that challenges societal norms There is a Cinemas with only one cinema, but titled
and power structures Cinema 3 to continue the illusion of plural Cinemas

34 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

There are lols in the meat section There is central park (katherine river) in the heart of
the bustling CBD (regional centre)

There are nature's blessings on your door step There are all your favourite road houses within a 5
hour drive

There are two fun cushions. Note: adults are allowed There are Dutch sisters who sing perfect harmonies
to play on the one at the RSL but not the Golfie under the hills hoist, by the light of the jelly

F LYC ATC H E R | 35

DARWIN’S GLUTTON CLUB 2.0 Credit: Miguel A. Bedoya-Pére

Miguel A. Bedoya-Pérez

Anew issue of the Flycatcher magazine and a new report for samples were taken of specific cuts, and a big part of the animal
the Darwin’s Glutton Club - let’s call it Darwin’s Glutton was not required. So, again, as the resourceful guy I have become,
Club 2.0. I was able to get eight wallaby tails.

In the first Glutton Club article published in the Wet Season With my freezer full, I set out to make the best of these crea-
edition of Flycatcher I described some of the socio-economic tures and cooked them using two different recipes. For the wal-
issues of Agile Wallabies in the Northern Territory. It seems fit- laby tails, I used a bush tomato, red wine and lemon myrtle rec-
ting that, since a new research project along a similar vein - but ipe in a slow cooker - we are talking about the tail here, so slow
involving Magpie Geese and mango farmers - is now part of the cooking was a must to get the meat tenderised. For the Magpie
PhD project repertoire of the Research Institute for the Environ- Geese I decide to go to my roots, and slow cooked it in a mixture
ment and Livelihoods, we should try and compare these two wild of coconut milk and a paste made out of achiote (also known
meats. as annatto or onoto). This is a western Venezuelan recipe that I
grew up with, and it can be used with all sorts of meats.
Similarly to the sourcing of Agile Wallabies, I was able to
acquire some Magpie Geese from a watermelon farm through After 8 hours, both recipes produced fall-off-the-bone-
shooters culling under damage mitigation permits,. It is im- scrumptious dishes, which I took to the Nightcliff foreshore with
portant to point out that in the Northern Territory the hunting a side of rice, fried cassava and Venezuelan arepas to share with
of waterfowl is permitted during a yearly season (normally 12 the other members of the Glutton Club. Then, I sneakily pre-
weeks during the wet season) and under certain conditions that pared a short questionnaire about their impressions, and this is
determine where, how and how many individuals can be taken. what I got: the Magpie Geese in coconut and achiote was the
most successful with four votes, while the wallaby tail in bush
At the same time, my research on the reproductive success of tomato and wine got only two votes. But then, the other two
wallabies encouraged a separate study by the Department of Pri- votes were undecided, indicating that they liked both. After this
mary Industries and Fisheries (DPIF) to look into the possibility experience, the only thing I can say for sure is that everybody
of harvesting wallabies for human and/or pet consumption, and definitely likes deep fried cassava.
even the possibility of using them as food in croc farms or crab
bait. This new parallel research includes the assessment of the Miguel A. Bedoya-Pérez is a Research Fellow at Charles Dar-
wallaby meat – how tender is it, and how much fat it contains, win University.
among other questions. For that, the DPIF harvested a few wal-
labies in order to get samples. The bonus of this situation was that

36 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

Itook the coral ELEGY FOR CORAL
Shining bright Wendy Taleo
From an underwater home CC BY SA
Placed it in a desert place
Away from tidal foam.

The colours lasted for awhile
Resting on the shelf
Then faded, blue to grey
Leaving a naked form
As a shadow of that day.

We talked about the colours
GOf sea, sand and sky
hostly clothes on pale skin
Our stories kept it going Dimpled with holes
Until that torn out coral This coral piece reminded us
Died, dried, stopped glowing. To celebrate life events

Our memories braised with scents

A shard of glass
Lay in the sand
Reflecting midday sun
Creating with the nearby grit
Sparkly mat tightly knit.

Praise the coral reefs On visits to the beach
Marine living legends The coral came alive
With daylight encouragement Crashing waves bent our thoughts
They lift their polyp heads Vision blurred with salty spray
To rise from watery beds. There appeared a floating argonaut.

My hand trembled as I stooped
Knuckles brushing sand
In answer to the call from home
The coral tumbled from the glass
To join the waiting foam.

Many lessons I have learnt
While living in this land
An arid bounty awaits me
Sustaining this desert rose
Planted far from open sea.

Wendy Taleo is a learning technologist based at the Alice Springs CDU campus. She has recently embarked on her post graduate
study of open and distance education. Connect with her via @wentale in the Twitter sphere.

F LYC ATC H E R | 37

FLYCATCHER QUIZ
DANGEROUS ANIMALS

Compiled by Matthew Elvey, Dave Fry, Chris
Mills, Clint Cameron and Kel Payne.

1. What is the biggest croc in captivity? 8. What is the most dangerous NT Credit: D'Arcy Ellis
a. Lolong animal?
b. Cassius 15. What is the bigger killer?
c. Brutus a. Drop bears a. Sharks
d. Kalia b. Mosquitos b. Snakes
c. The Irish c. Crocodiles
2. How many of Australia’s 10 deadliest d. Box jellyfish d. Honey Bees
snakes live in the Northern Territory?
9. What hazard awaits gardeners in 16. What is the most dangerous place in
a. 10 Nightcliff? the territory?
b. 7
c. 4 a. Guano a. Knee deep in the Adelaide River
d. None, the crocs ate them all b. No rain b. Mitchell Street taxi rank at 3am on
c. Melioidosis a Saturday night
3. What is the most poisonous fish? d. Falling coconuts c. Outside the bottle-o after Good
a. Stonefish Friday
b. Pufferfish 10. A western brown snake bite is: d. In the Pigpen at Darwin Cup race
c. Devilfish a. Deep and painful day
d. Tarpon b. Poisonous and painless
c. Relatively harmless 17. What is the most common injury
4. How effective is urine on a box jelly- d. A type of love bite from barra fishing
fish sting?
11. Which arm of the harbour did they a. Alcohol poisoning
a. The best solution cast the most crocs in last year? b. Hooks in the body
b. About half as effective as vinegar c. Crocodile attacks
c. Makes no difference a. East arm d. Back injuries from pulling out
d. Potentially dangerous b. West arm meteries
c. Middle arm
5. What is the name of the NT museum’s d. Mystery arm 18. How many teeth does a crocodile
famous croc? have?
12. What is the best cocktail from an
a. Sweetlips NT animal? a. 48-60
b. Sweettooth b. 60-72
c. Sweetheart a. Black Cockatoo B52 c. 73-81
d. Sweetiepie b. Canetoad Cosmo d. 82-100
c. Green ant daiquiri
6. What bird is commonly mistaken for d. Gin & glider Bonus:
a sea eagle? 19. Where did we write this quiz?
13. When was the last recorded spider
a. Osprey death in Australia? a. Beachfront Hotel
b. Wedgetail Eagle b. Railway Club
c. Brahminy Kite a. 2015 c. Ski Club
d. A Confused Curlew b. 1998 d. Mitchell Street after getting kicked
c. 1987 out of Throb
7. Which country has the most ridicu- d. 1979
lous eagle on it’s money?
14. What would win in a fight?
a. United States a. 100 magpie geese
b. Venezuela b. 10 feral cats
c. Japan c. 200 sugar gliders
d. Columbia d. 1 liger

Answers: 1 B, 2 B, 3 B, 4 D, 5 C, 6 C, 7 B, 8 D, 9 C, 10 B, 11 A, 12 C, 13 D, 14 D, 15 D, 16 A, 17 B, 18 B, 19 C.
Question 2: Death Adder, Coastal Taipan, King brown, Eastern Brown, Western Brown, Western Brown, Inland Taipan.
Question 4: Alkaline urine could apparently cause a mass release of any remaining barbs: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/08/28/4076213.htm.
Question 13: A young man died in 1979 following an infected redback spider bite which the media reported as the first spider death in 37 years.

38 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016

F LYC ATC H E R | 39

THE BOGAN SPIRIT ANIMAL

40 | DRY SEASON EDITION 2016
IMAGE BY
D’ARCY ELLIS