Tree Planting Project Creates Future Jobs in Tennant Creek

In Tennant Creek, a tree planting project is taking root, offering not just environmental rehabilitation but also vital job prospects for the future. Shauna Graham, a Warumungu woman, finds personal fulfillment in her work, nurturing seedlings in a warm greenhouse. She describes the experience as making her feel "happy and proud of myself."

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It makes me feel happy and proud of myself.

The rehabilitation site, located near her ancestral lands, holds deep significance for Graham. "It makes me, like, safe, close at home, you know? Building things out there and making plans out there, growing for the future," she shared, highlighting the connection between the land and her sense of belonging.

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It makes me, like, safe, close at home, you know? Building things out there and making plans out there, growing for the future.

Graham is among several Indigenous Tennant Creek residents employed by the Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation. This organization has a contract with Tennant Mining to plant trees as part of the rehabilitation efforts at the recently reopened Nobles Nob mine. Lachlan Wilkins, CEO of Julalikari, emphasized the partnership's dual goals: creating job opportunities for Aboriginal people in the mining sector and contributing to the healing of the country.

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The partnership makes sense in that it creates job opportunities for local people, it helps heal country and it helps ensure that Tennant Mining is meeting its obligations to the traditional owners but also to its regulators.

Tennant Mining views the collaboration as critical for sustainable operations and meeting obligations to traditional owners and regulators. The current six-week trial will assess the best plant species for the mine site, with plans for the partnership to extend long-term. This initiative aims to build shared knowledge in leading practice rehabilitation in the Barkly region, eventually expanding beyond the Nobles operation as expertise grows. Wilkins expressed hope that the partnership will foster lasting change by improving employment rates, providing meaningful career pathways, and inspiring younger generations.

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Through this partnership, we are building shared knowledge in how to conduct leading practice rehabilitation in the Barkly.