Fishes--Identification]]> Billabongs]]> Cultural flows]]> Water quality]]> Riparian restoration]]> Connection to Country]]> Native plants]]> Clean energy]]> Fish stocking]]> Ngiyambaa / Ngemba language]]>
Feli believes that the root of social issues facing Aboriginal people is the lack of culturally appropriate employment. He reflects on his personal experiences where he recalls having to adopt another identity and therefore understands the difficulties this entails. He says that Aboriginal people as instinctive custodians possess valuable skills that are transferable to specialised areas of employment.

Feli’s vision for billabongs, that he says are the antibiotics for the damaged systems, include the revegetation of native bush tucker and restocking the waters with native fingerlings. He is working with scientists from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Industry & Investment (now Department of Trade and Investment), and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to help realise these goals.

Feli also discusses the Native Fish Strategy for the Murray-Darling Basin (2003-2013) and the Indigenous Protected Areas (IPA) in which these billabongs are located.]]>
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Waka Waka / Wakka Wakka people]]> Mandandanji people]]> Fishes--Identification]]> Native plants]]> Land custodianship]]> Connection to Country]]> Dreaming (Spiritual)]]> Kitchen-middens--Australia]]> Water quality]]> Erosion]]> Farming]]> Deforestation]]> Aboriginal fish traps]]> Places of significance]]> Land degradation]]> Water allocations]]> Water conservation]]> Cotton]]> Water pollution]]> Salinization]]> River rehabilitation]]> Aboriginal history]]> Farming]]> Droughts]]> Introduced fishes]]> Water wells]]> Mandandanji (Australian people)]]> Sacred sites]]> Activism]]>
Robert Lacey is an Indigenous man who has resided in the St George area in southern Queensland most his life. His people are the traditional owners of the land: his mother is a Mandandanji woman, while his father is a Waka Waka man.

Robert discusses the connection he has with the land and the river, he expresses the honour he feels in being trusted to take care of Country. He discusses the history of the river and its declining health; commercial use of the river; and the work he personally does on recording the sites of cultural significance and heritage sites finding over 100 in just a few years. He says that the river is a source of peace, tranquility, food, leisure - the life blood of the land.

Robert also mentions the Great Artesian Basin Sustainability Initiative (GABSI) and his elation at the 1967 Australian Referendum and what it meant for Aboriginal people, and also the political activism by his family.]]>
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