History beckons at iconic station
Steve Butler calls in a a significant Fitzroy River site.
On the serene banks of the Fitzroy River, at Noonkanbah Station, a building that’s more than a century old oozes history as it crumbles under the Kimberley sun.
The station’s original, hand-built homestead stands at the scene of one of Australia’s most notable land rights disputes, which put the area under an intense national spotlight in 1980 when WA premier Sir Charles Court enforced an oil exploration project under police protection near the sacred site complex Umpampurru, or Pea Hill.
But now Neil Ewart, who is chief executive of the Yungngora Association, which presides over Noonkanbah Station, believes the historically significant area should be developed into a new tourism venture.
He believes the homestead should be restored and other parts of the station, which was also a World War II base for the Royal Australia Air Force and Dutch army, could lure visitors to a walk trail which has photographic displays showing the historic remnants in their heyday.
While there were currently 25 visitor beds available at the site, Mr Ewart says there is the immediate capacity to set up a tourist caravan park.
“My thoughts are that you would set up a ranger group for all the tourism and they would tell everyone the stories,” Mr Ewart says.
“They would tell the stories of the (nearby) Sandy Billabong and how putting the sweat from your underarms on a rock and throwing it in the water allows the spirits of the land to recognise who you are. Then when you come back again, they’ll remember who you are. There are just so many stories here that can be told.
“This was the biggest sheep station in the Kimberley, if not WA, in the early 1900s, with 60-odd thousand sheep here. So it’s got a fair bit of history. I wouldn’t say the station has been neglected (from a tourism perspective), but because we’re so far off the (main) road it’s like it’s all seemed a bit too hard.
“When you look at the old homestead, it’s an amazing building and it seems a bit of a pity that more isn’t being done with it. It has all sorts of potential and just needs someone to come in and partner with the community.”
Mr Ewart, who was previously the chief operating officer at Queensland’s Aurukun Shire Council, and his wife Anne took up their post at Noonkanbah in 2013. He describes the Yungngora people as “friendly, genuine and open” and says the association is forging ahead, with four new projects underway.
But Mr Ewart believes the community has untapped tourism potential, particularly around the historic elements of the station. Car access to the community is via the World War II air strip and a hill gun emplacement remains as well as the ruins of medical facilities. The remnants of a bakery, blacksmith business and old woolshed also remain near the Noonkanbah river crossing that leads out to the Northern Territory.
“It offers an opportunity to experience a good indigenous community and one which is proactive and alive,” he says. “You see all these people driving past with their off-road trailers and their four-wheel drives and they don’t know what they’re missing, they really don’t. Here is the opportunity for them to experience a real indigenous community and one that is proactive and alive. It’s a good community with no problems or major issues, it’s got a good school and people who are really friendly, open and positive people who are rarely discouraged.
“They don’t sit around waiting for someone to do something for them. They are honest, Aboriginal people. Real, genuine Aboriginal people you find in the bush.”
Mr Ewart says he has approached the State Heritage Office for assistance in preserving the history of the property.
