Stakeholder Interviews: Butler Landy, at Nullagine
Butler Landy
Butler Landy, Chairperson for the Western Desert Land Corporation, talks about the impact of camels on the waterholes, vegetation and sites of cultural significance on Martu country.
The views, opinions, and other information expressed in these interviews are those of the participants and may not reflect the position of the Australian Feral Camel Management Project.
Transcript of interview with Butler Landy – 6:58 mins.
As I speak now I’m a Chairperson for the Western Desert Land Corporation. I born not far from here and I think I’ve got some sort of right here.
It’s a special place for you?
Yeah, it’s a special place and I love it here.
I guess one of the things people have talked to us about is camels. Camels are now a problem?
All our vegetables and all those things that the environment all out there, it’s getting wrecked. And rock holes and like the people are having the research on them now and all camel is destroying. And I understand camel not belonging to Australia. They are a good animal but too many is too many, and it’s hard to control and they move all over the place. Not only, yeah mostly in my area, yeah the Martu country, and the sites and all the rock holes they are wrecking them you know.
That must upset you as a senior man, that must upset you to see those places damaged?
It upset me and sometimes it make me sorry to do what we’re planning to do, but it is getting out of hand now these days, the camel are. We had a couple of meetings with the station managers and they are saying they just go through fences and all that. I didn’t know they were going through fences. But camel is going into the communities now and going wrecking in our communities. I’ve seen one place in the central desert there, in the Ngaanyatjarra land, they going drinking water from the air conditioners and I’ve seen them in the film there in there, hundreds, and camel is getting a bit annoying out in my country out here, in the Western desert, Martu country.
People in the city might not understand that for you when you travel these waterholes are so important because they keep you alive, they are part of your culture, but they keep you alive so if the camels destroy those then they are destroying your ability to be able to travel across the land. Is that true?
It is, sites, a significant site in our culture is, they’ve got to understand we are protecting our land and the rock holes and mother nature is I like to say, camels are, and the camels are just being a nuisance and our sites and our, what our ancestors tell us to look after the main water holes and old mother nature out there. But camels are in hundreds and some travelling and they are destroying it and bush tucker and all, and I understand they was doing a bit of research on them and they’re eating a lot of ours, Martu’s stuff, and look if they’re going to eat all the Martu’s fruit out in the Western desert or in the Martu land what are we going to survive on now. Might have to go back to the supermarket and buy it out of our pocket money. But camel is going around destroying and that is what I’ve been hearing and I believe it too you know, camels are doing.
But homeland and rock holes and all them things, we’ve got keep it significant, and try to put a fence around it. But do something anyway, we’ve got to something to the camels. But I would like to see if we can make some money out of it to market it across to another world, but it will help more Martu people to get a job out there, to make a yard for camel, muster camel, and truck camel and to find a port where we can send it overseas you know and boost this opportunity for our young people. Most of our young people are still in the street today and them sort of project can help us hold the people and plus for the future for them and to control the camel. No good this culling them and leaving them out there you know, but the Australian community at the end of the day we got to find something to fix it up, but it’ll take a while, but you’ve got to have that finance you know. I don’t know who got to give us you know more, all falls back to finance, who’s guaranteed to give us finance and sort this camel out anyway.
It’s gone through our country you know, mother nature. I can remember one time I seen, going from Nullagine to Marble Bar, I seen one heap was over a hundred. And the second time, this was going up to Port Hedland, and this is not in the Martu country, this is in a different area in the station/pastoral area you know, and from south of Nullagine too I seen towards Minibut, there’s heaps, about a hundred in one heap and about three heaps. They’re breeding more than the dogs I think.
