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- The Original Osbornes
Rediscovering heritageClimbing up the fl at stones, Aboriginal traditional owner Sybil Ranch enters the sandstone rock shelter, and calls out in her Jawoyn language, announcing our arrival. It is a message to her ancestors and the spirits that inhabit this remarkable shelter, telling them she’s brought a whitefella along to have a look at the bim (rock art). She seeks their approval and protection. I enter behind Ranch and in front of the elder traditional owner Margaret Katherine. The shelter is geologically unique featuring pillar-like structures supporting a heavy stone ceiling that is covered in layers of Indigenous rock art. Faded ages-old red ochre paintings are covered by newer white and yellow ochre works. X-ray depictions of giant barramundi and saratoga fish are painted along with kangaroos and haunting spirit figures. Until just a few years ago, Ranch, Margaret and their Buhymi clan group didn't know this magnificent southern Arnhem Land site existed. They were brought here by the Ray Whear, the cultural and environmental manager of the Jawoyn Association and pilot Chris Morgan, who rediscovered the remote site by helicopter. “When we first came here there were tears of joy and tears of sadness,” recalls Ranch. “Why didn’t we find this place earlier? We didn’t know about this place. When this old lady [Margaret Katherine] called out to the spirits in Jawoyn, we felt their presence surrounding us. Hugging us close.” They call this extraordinary site Nawarla Gabarnmung in Jawoyn. Since it was rediscovered, an Aboriginal elder with great cultural knowledge (whose name cannot be published following his recent death) was brought to the site. He remembered visiting the shelter as a boy, participating in ceremonies nearby, and being told its name and which clan traditionally looked after this place. “Old people tell us this is Buhymi clan land,” explains Katherine. “It has been from generation to generation. And the elders were here when they were young and were told by the old people in that time so the next generation would know about it.” The Jawoyn speaking people of this region are now rediscovering their heritage. Their ancestors left this rugged savanna country generations ago, and cultural knowledge of the area faded from the collective memory as the years passed. Then the Jawoyn Association, the representative body of the many clans that inhabit the area from the southern edge of Kakadu National Park through southern Arnhem Land, began revisiting this unpopulated region by helicopter due to the absence of roads. Because it is an expensive mode of travel, many activities are shared in each trip. Whear will take an automatic rifle along to shoot feral animals that damage rock art sites, and will take Jawoyn Rangers along to do large scale fi re management. “When we first came here there were tears of joy and tears of sadness. Why didn’t we find this place earlier? We didn’t know about this place.” Federally funded by the Indigenous Heritage Program, the rediscovery efforts are already paying dividends. The intrepid chopper explorers have rediscovered over 4000 complexes of rock art sites in the region. They have found a remarkable array of art including depictions of tophatted Europeans in their sailing ships and Makassans sailing traditional praus. A painting of the giant flightless Genyornis could be one of the world’s oldest works of art. The bird became extinct at least 40 000 years ago with the coming of humans to Australia. Not only are the Aboriginal people of the region learning a great deal about their cultural heritage, but international science has taken a strong interest, and our knowledge of the pre-contact history of Australia will soon be expanded. Archaeologist Bruno David from Monash University and Professor Jean-Michel Geneste from France have recently excavated the floor of the Nawarla Gabarnung site. A French fi lm crew documented the dig, which will produce dating results by the year’s end. The traditional owners and the Jawoyn Association know that tourists will be keen to experience this wild region. Not only are there a myriad of ancient rock art sites to visit, but there are spectacular waterfall-laden gorges featuring deep clear pools of freshwater. It would be a high end tourism venture with visitor access restricted to three in a helicopter. “If the traditional owners are interested, we will get the right scientists to prepare plans of management for tourism and present the pros and cons to them. Then it’s up to them to decide,” says Whear. What do the traditional owners think? “Tourists can come with a traditional owner guide,” says Ranch. “We don’t want it like Kakadu. Just a few people. Just bring them up and show them the beautiful paintings of the Buhymi clan.” The Original OsbornesUnlike many property developers, the Osborne brothers cannot be criticised for not fully researching the Darwin marketplace. Their development projects are physical examples of the answers they’ve drawn from a host of questions about the city’s future accommodation needs. Will businesses want to be situated in the future CBD? Who will make up the private urban housing market - young couples with children or middle aged couples whose children have left home? Will the cost of travel influence where people will choose to live and work? The answers to these questions are now on sale, fully incorporated into the design of Kerry and Dean Osborne’s new Avenue development. The two brothers’ $260 million project in Parap just minutes from the city centre, adjacent to their existing Hastings on Mindil apartments, will soon be under construction. It will take nearly three years to complete. Like Hastings, the Avenue will feature twin towers that include 42 commercial tenancies, 300 apartments, recreational facilities, a supermarket, a medical centre, 100-place childcare centre and two restaurants. “It’s a business park on the edge of the CBD, which is a concept happening elsewhere in Australia at the moment,” explains developer Kerry Osborne. “Companies don’t want to pay the premium rates of being right in the city because they don’t necessarily need to be there anymore.” The 12 storey almond-shaped towers will complement the Hastings project next door. Designed by Mark Bell of Bell Gabbert Associates, the towers will be constructed atop a raised platform of commercial shops and offices. The platform features a host of recreational facilities: a swimming pool, a half basketball court, barbecues and a tennis court. The rooms will include green features such as low power usage where the user-pays air conditioning plant can run the offices during the day and the apartments at night, also providing hot water at a low cost. The Salvation Army, which had occupied a facility leasing the site, is a major beneficiary of the Avenue project. In a deal struck by the NT Government, Osborne Family Holdings, the developer’s company, will build the Salvos a new $5.6 million facility in Winnellie with over twice as many beds as their previous hostel. The remainder of the commercial land value was paid to the government. “It’s a great outcome for everybody,” says Osborne. “It allows us to complete our development, the Salvation Army’s getting a brand new facility, and the NT Government is getting paid for land as well.” The Avenue is the most ambitious project the Osbornes have attempted since moving to Darwin from Alice Springs a decade ago. There they owned a number of retail outlets and an IT service, as well as undertaking property development. Their father was involved then as well as older brother Trevor, who later retired. But, when a new Alice subdivision and golf course estate project fell through, they decided to move to Darwin where they already owned an electrical business. But property development was their focus with Hastings on Mindil in Parap, their first project. In Darwin, Dean and Kerry operated as a team, with Kerry focussing on management and administration, while Dean is the operations manager. The pair are foundation members of the NT Urban Development Institute, a group of local developers who work together with government on the Territory’s big planning issues: land release, future subdivisions, CBD car parking issues and housing affordability, among others. Hastings opened in November 2006 and today acts as the development centre for the Avenue project. Hastings’ 84 apartment occupants offer the developers important feedback as to whether features in the complex are working or not. “The most valuable person is the one who is actually using the product and can tell you how things work,” explains Osborne. “There’s quite a few features that you think are fantastic but in reality miss the mark. What I want is different to what someone with two small kids wants.” Something that definitely is working is the Osbornes’ Signature Home IT System, initially installed in Hastings. The developers, with their IT pedigree, wanted a system that brought all apartment controls together in one internet based system - from the intercom to the World Wide Web. They found there was nothing on the market that suited apartment living, so they designed Signature, with its user-friendly wallmounted touch screen, especially for Hastings. The product, however, proved popular and it has now been installed in two Brisbane developments as well as Darwin’s Evolution apartments. The latest version will employ a tablet rather than a touch screen, making it easily transportable. “The difference is that we’re property developers and we’re also IT, so we understand both sides that are needed to make it work. We understand the market and we understand the customer,” notes Osborne. It is that latest version that will be incorporated into the Avenue development, a project that reflects the Osborne brothers’ enthusiasm for Darwin’s economic future. “With INPEX and floating LNG coming, there’s so much opportunity to take advantage of,” states Osborne. “People will be flying into Darwin with their families, and they’ll be spending their money here. It’s a fantastic story and I couldn’t think of a more exciting place to be than in Darwin.”
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