Presenters, Chairs and Facilitators

Session 2
» Mr John Christopherson Chair
» Mr Leon Melpi
» Mr Tobias Nganbe
» Mr Mathias Nemaluk
» Mr Robert Lee
» Ms Veronica Birrell
» Mr Maralampuwi Kurrupuwu
» Mr John Cleary
» Mr Eddie Cubillo Chair
» Mr Kim Hill
» Mr Terrence Whap
» Mr Tony Binalany
» Mr Banambi Wunungmurra
» Mr Mathew Bonson MLA Chair

Session 1

Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9

Mr John Christopherson

Mr John Christophersen is currently Chairman of the Cobourg Peninsula Sanctuary & Marine Park Board. He has previously been a proactive member of the Northern Land Council as the Member for Cobourg, the Executive Member for West Arnhem and the Deputy Chair. He has also been the Vice President of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples as well as being involved in numerous other organisations both locally and nationally, most recently focusing on Indigenous male health issues.

Mr Christophersen has travelled extensively throughout the Northern Territory, Australia and internationally both learning about, and advocating for Indigenous rights. He pursued the notion of a West Arnhem Regional Authority for several years while on the Northern Land Council.

Mr Leon Melpi

Mr Leon Wurringit Melpi is currently Liaison Officer for the Thamarrurr Regional Council. He was involved with the former council, Kardu Numida Inc, for many years as both its President and Vice President. He has played a role in the many stages of change between Kardu Numida and Thamarrurr. In his current position he is deeply involved in the changing nature of the Thamarrurr region and its people.

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Mr Tobias Nganbe

Mr Tobias Ngardinithi Nganbe has worked for Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School in the township of Wadeye for over 20 years, and has recently been appointed Deputy Principal as part of the Leadership Team. He sees education as the key to opening doors for all members of the community. The Catholic Education Office sees Thamarrurr as a partner in the education process and has renamed the school Thamarrurr Regional School.

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Mr Mathias Nemaluk

Mr Mathias Thiyenga Nemarluk has been heavily involved in the re-emergence of the Thamarrurr Regional Council structure as a contemporary governance model over the last 7 years. In his current role as Liaison Officer for Thamarrurr Regional Council, he deals with many issues that arise in everyday council business.

He has a vested interest in the health of his people as he has worked in many areas of the health profession, and he sees the need for greater service delivery for community and outstation members within the Thamarrurr Region.

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Mr Robert Lee
Mr Lee is currently the Executive Director of the Jawoyn Association. He was born in 1952 and has spent most of his life at Barunga (formerly Bamyili) until moving to Katherine in 1993. He was the Town Clerk for the Barunga Community Government Council and also a commissioner with the Aboriginal Development Commission in the 1980s.

During the 1980s Mr Lee gave evidence in the Jawoyn (Katherine area) Land Claim. He was involved, as a Jawoyn man and as a member of the Northern Land Council, in negotiations with the Northern Territory Government which led to the establishment of Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park, with a majority Jawoyn representation on its board of management (1989). He has served on the board of the Nitmiluk National Park since 1989, and has been its chairman through much of the 1990s to the present.

Mr Lee was a leading spokesman for the Jawoyn custodians of Guratba (Coronation Hill) in the dispute over mining in Bulademo (Sickness Country). He was also part of the negotiating group that led to the 1993 Mt Todd Agreement, the first agreement in Australia leading to a successful mining venture which involved the issue of Native Title subsequent to the 1992 High Court Mabo decision.

Mr Lee is a regional Indigenous Representative on the Chief Minister’s Economic Summit and a Katherine Indigenous Representative on the Chief Minister’s round table. He is an active participant in tourism and business forums, and participated in the Aboriginal Tourism Strategy Review.

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Ms Veronica Birrell

Ms Veronica Birrell is currently the Chair of the Nyirranggulung Mardrulk Ngadberre Regional Council. She received her formal education at Barunga, Katherine, Adelaide and Batchelor. Using her cultural knowledge and language skills Veronica has worked in the Indigenous community as a facilitator and source of information in areas such as domestic violence, legal matters, education and health and safety. She has been the Vice-Chair of the NT Indigenous Domestic and Family Violence Committee, a member of the NT Library Development Committee, the Beswick representative for the Northern Land Council and the Coordinator of the Sara Flora Women’s Advisory Board. She has also worked as a Centrelink agent and as an Australian Electoral Commission polling official.

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Mr Maralampuwi Kurrupuwu
Mr Kurrupuwu is President of the Tiwi Islands Local Government and has held that position since the formation of the TILG in 2001. He has been a member of the Tiwi Health Board, the Tiwi Land Council and the Jabiru Regional Council of ATSIC. He also holds the position of Chairman of Nguiu Community Management Board.

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Mr John Cleary
Mr Cleary was appointed the CEO of the Tiwi Islands Local Government in April 2002. He is a former Member of Parliament who served in the Tasmanian Parliament between 1979 and 1998. He was a Cabinet Minister for more than 10 years and held a number of portfolios including Local Government, Health, Energy, Transport, Environment and Land Management. Mr Cleary is a former Local Government Elected Member of the Clarence Council in Tasmania and a former member of the Executive of the Local Government Association of Tasmania. He is presently the Chairman of the Australian Community Pharmacy Authority appointed by the Federal Health Minister. He is a keen fly fisherman and when he has time he chases the fish around Melville and Bathurst Islands.

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Mr Eddie Cubillo
Mr Eddie Cubillo is an Aboriginal man with strong family links in both the urban and rural areas throughout the Northern Territory. He has developed a sound understanding of Aboriginal culture, society and politics and he has a genuine desire to contribute to the needs of Aboriginal people as individuals and also for the benefit of the community as a whole. His family background combined with his sporting and cultural ties has made it easy for him to work with people of different background.

Mr Cubillo has over 10 years experience in the Northern Territory Government working at the grass roots of Aboriginal affairs. In 2001 he obtained a Bachelor of Laws Degree and in 2002 he was admitted to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory. He is currently the Chairman of the ATSIC Yilli Rreung Regional Council

Mr Kim Kill
Mr Kim Hill was born in Darwin and belongs to the Ngaringman Nation and was adopted by the Tiwi people. He has worked for various Indigenous organisations such as the Northern Land Council, as a Land Tenure Officer dealing with land claims, and ATSIC as a Grant Administrator in the Darwin Regional Office, Project Officer in the Katherine Regional Office and Chairman of the Yilli Rreung Regional Council. He has also worked for the Family Court of Australia as an Aboriginal Family Consultant and with John Ah Kit MLA as his Electorate Officer. He attended the first World Indigenous Youth Conference in Canada in 1992 and was elected the Co-Chairperson the following year.

Mr Hill was elected Commissioner for the Northern Territory ATSIC North Zone in 2000 and was re-elected in 2002 for a further three-year term. In his first term he had the national portfolios of Business, Economic Development, Strategic Directions, and Regional Autonomy. In his current term he chairs ATSIC's Economic and Social Participation Board Committee, and is a member of the Land, Water and Development Committee and the Strategic Directions Board Committee.

In 2002 the ATSIC NT Executive Council resolved these matters as the six priorities for this term: Governance (including law and justice issues); Health; Community Infrastructure; Economic Development; Education and Employment; and Children, Youth and Family. ATSIC has highlighted partnerships as the most important approach with government and non-government agencies to advance the causes of these issues.

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Mr Terrence Whap
Mr Terrence Whap is the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) Alternative Deputy Chairperson and the TSRA Portfolio Member for Arts, Language, Culture and Sport. He is also the Chairperson of Mabuiag Island Council and a member of the Island Coordinating Council (ICC).

During his term, Mr Whap would like to achieve better infrastructure for all island communities as well as sporting facilities for youth and greater promotion and coordination of sporting events throughout the region.

Training initiatives are encouraged by Mr Whap in the Mabuiag Island community and he is strongly supportive of economic development and community enterprise, and he continues to encourage community members to apply for the TSRA business development loans.

Mr Whap would like to see greater employment opportunities for Torres Strait Islander people. He also believes that decision-making over marine resources should be determined by all communities in the Torres Strait, giving them more control.

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Mr Tony Binalany
Mr Binalany is a Gupapuyngu man and was born and raised in Milingimbi. He is the current Chairperson of Miwatj Provincial Governing Council and has at times held the positions of Deputy Chairperson and acting Chairperson. His portfolio responsibilities include Economic Development, CDEP, Education and Training, Youth and Sport, plus Customary Law and Justice/Cultural Issues. He is proud of the partnerships that Council has developed with key stakeholders in the area, especially in the area of education.

Mr Binalany is a longstanding member of the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association (TEABBA) and has a long association with broadcasting and media in the area. He shares his skills and expertise by helping the Aboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS) with the implementation of new broadcasting services in the area.

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Mr Banambi Wunungmurra
Mr Wunungmurra represents the Yirrkala Community and the Laynhapuy Homelands. He first joined Council in 1993 and has been Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson on a number of occasions. He was recently re-elected to the Miwatj Provincial Governing Council. He has a particular interest in the establishment of a Miwatj Regional Government Body, a vision that has its origins in the first Regional Authority Advisory Committee in 1995.

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Mr Mathew Bonson MLA
Mr Matthew Bonson MLA was elected as a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in August 2001 as the Member for Millner. He is one of 4 Indigenous members of parliament but the only Indigenous member representing an urban electorate. He is a member of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, the Public Accounts Committee, the Standing Orders Committee and also the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. He has a particular interest in Indigenous youth development. Prior to his election as an MLA he practised as a solicitor in Darwin.

Mr Bonson was born in Darwin in 1971 and completed secondary school there. He is a member of the Bonson family who are well known in Darwin and throughout the Territory. His grandfather, Don Bonson Snr, was a Jawoyn man who was a great sportsman, union advocate a life member of the Australian Labor Party. Don’s wife Patricia was an Ah Mat and of Torres Strait Islander descent. Mr Bonson’s maternal grand mother, Daisy Ruddick, was another Territory icon. Daisy, a Gurindji woman, was removed from her mother as a child, placed in the infamous Kahlin compound and became a member of what is known across Australia as the Stolen Generation.