Alice Springs News, October 22, 1997

ALICE SPRINGS NEWS,
October 22, 1997 MEXICAN POPPY, A NOXIOUS WEED, THREATENS THE CENTRE'S DRY RIVERS
Report by ERWIN CHLANDA
Authorities failed to act on a report to the Parks and Wildlife Service eight years ago about an infestation of the Todd by Mexican Poppy, a weed now choking up the Todd and several other river systems in Central Australia.
The report to the service - then called the Conservation Commission - was made by a former noxious weed inspector, Des Nelson, after discovering an outbreak on November 11, 1988.
Mr Nelson says he was told no action could be taken because Mexican Poppy had not been declared a noxious weed in the Territory. Meanwhile Murray Fuller, the weeds officer with the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in Alice Springs, says he expects the poisonous thistle will infest all the sandy creek beds of Central Australia within five years, if the present rate of expansion isn't checked.
He estimates it would take an additional expenditure of $500,000 a year, over the whole of Central Australia, to deploy spray teams when the weed begins to germinate in spring, unless the climate favourable to the weed changes.
Mr Fuller, who says there are official records of the weed in the Todd going back to 1982, and south of the town in 1972 and 1974, describes the resources available at present as inadequate.
The Federal Government has made grants totalling $16,000 to the Tjuwanpa Resource Centre at Hermannsburg to fight the weed.
However, Tjuwanpa CDEP coordinator Warren Kellett says while some work is being carried out in the Finke River near the community, with the aid of local volunteers, Parks and Wildlife rangers and Mr Murray, there is not enough expertise to tackle the problem comprehensively.
Mr Fuller says the department's weed control staff in The Centre consists of just him and a second officer, although casual assistance is available from rangers, members of the public and some Aboriginal organisations.
Mr Fuller says very little is known about the weed, thought to have come to Central Australia in contaminated stock fodder.
Although authorities have now been aware of the local presence of Mexican Poppy for at least eight years, research into it has started only about two years ago, and information crucial to fighting the pest is far from adequate.
Mr Fuller says until the ecology of the plant is fully known, methods of fighting it can't be determined with certainty.
He says he's scoured international literature - but with little success.
Mr Nelson says he found specimens of the thistly, inedible weed in the Finke near Glen Helen in January, 1990, and again in the Todd, at the site of the earlier outbreak discovered by him, in November, 1991. Mr Nelson made the following entries in his comprehensive work diaries:- I collected Mexican Poppy at end of Heffernan Road.
Noted scattered in sandy creek bed as far as can be seen'. "I spoke to people at the Conservation Commission, impressing that there would be trouble if the plant was not removed.
He described the outbreak as "scattered".
Mr Nelson says: "It could have been dealt with but I was told nothing could be done as the species was not on the Noxious Weeds List.
Mr Fuller took up his position in 1991 - three years after Mr Nelson's discovery.
Mr Fuller says the authorities cannot force landholders to control weeds unless they are declared noxious.
However, as the outbreak was largely on Crown land, action could have been taken at the time of the discovery.
When Mr Nelson returned to the site of his first discovery in 1991, the weed was no longer scattered, but "far more extensive and very common in the dry, sandy river bed, according to his work diary.
Again, Mr Nelson reported this to the Conservation Commission. Mr Fuller says creeks already affected include the Finke, Roe Creek and the water way south of Jesse Gap.
Greening Australia and other volunteers last week cleared Mexican Poppies from the Todd River between the John Blakeman bridge and Heavitree Gap, in a bid to keep it out of the section of the river flowing through the town area.
"We have worked on it since 1991 in cooperation with the Alice Town Council, from the John Blakeman bridge north, through the township. "That area is relatively free of the weed, says Mr Fuller. However, the weed has also invaded parks and gardens in the town where commercially available - or illegally obtained - creek sand has been used.
Mr Fuller says control work has also been done in Ormiston Gorge, Finke Gorge, Jesse and Emily Gaps, at Arltunga and the Ross River resort. "This year we have had a massive explosion of the weed, due to seasonal conditions, says Mr Fuller. "The size of the expansion this year took us very much by surprise. "We will be endeavouring to get more people and more resources. "We're also appealing to the public to destroy the weed if they see it in the bush. This will stop the spread."
Mr Fuller says creeks on pastoral leases are not Crown land unless they form a boundary.
He says Mexican Poppy is now a declared noxious weed, and landholders are responsible for controlling weeds.
"This includes pastoralists, government bodies, as well as tourism, mining and Aboriginal landholders."
Meanwhile Greening Australia's Michelle Rodrigo says the organisation is concerned about the spread of Mexican poppy and other problem weeds such as Athel pine, Rosy Dock and giant reed in our river systems.
"Weeds have the potential to displace native vegetation by vigorously competing for space, nutrients and water," she says "Effective and cooperative management of weeds is critical to protecting native vegetation. "The means by which weeds enter the natural environment are diverse, as are the methods by which seeds are dispersed. "This means the whole community is responsible for weed management. Weed control and eradication programs require cooperation between government agencies, land managers and home gardeners," says Ms Rodrigo. "Control of the weed will be a long term exercise requiring repeat visits to the same site. "Whilst a seed source still exits, weeds can quickly reinfest previously cleared areas."
Ken Johnson, the regional director of the Parks and Wildlife Commission in Alice Springs, says the history of Mexican Poppy in The Centre is a clear example of a weed becoming widely established from just a few plants.
"We need to be aware of any new plants that may become weeds," says Dr Johnson.
He says he has no knowledge of any response that may have been given to Mr Nelson following his report to the Conservation Commission in 1988. "Noxious weeds are not under our jurisdiction," Dr Johnson says.

LIVING NEXT DOOR TO THE PINE GAP SPY BASE
KIERAN FINNANE speaks to local inditity Bert Cramer
The frustrations of hundreds of demonstrators over the years, trying to invade top-secret Pine Gap, climbing fences and getting chased by security men and women, aren't shared by Bert Cramer.
When he turns up, in his own interpretation of Territory Formal, to the annual "thank you, Alice" party at the Space Base, a security detail is dispatched to the back gate in the man proof fence to - with due ceremony - admit the local character.
So while the prominent citizenry of Alice Springs rocks up at the normally hermetically sealed front gate, and is admitted with surprising lack of fuss, Bert gets it even easier.
The Joint Defence Facility clearly spares no effort to welcome its next door neighbour, the irrepressible pastoralist of Temple Bar Station.
When Bert receives his invitation, he puts a call through to Pine Gap's security: "I'm not driving all that way. You can bloody well meet me at the gate."
The Alice News asked Bert what it's like, apart from getting a lift once a year, to be living next-door not only to Alice, but also to Pine Gap. Bert received his first visit from Pine Gap representatives a few days after moving in, some 10 and a half years ago.
"It was Anzac Day," he remembers, launching into a characteristic circumnavigation of the topic.
"It was the same day as we got a message from Queensland from our daughter that they'd had their first baby. A father remembers some of them dates ... "They came over [from Pine Gap] for a cup of tea and introduced themselves and a few of the big boys came over from time to time. "We see very little of them now but there was times, demonstration seasons if you could call it that, that they used to have access, they've got four or five "back doors" to keep functioning."
[Alice News editor Erwin Chlanda, covering a story about a particularly hostile determined at the FRONT gate, intent on stopping the usual convoy of busses, wondered aloud to then base chief Don Kingsley how the transports had obviously gotten inside, unnoticed by the demonstrators. "That was easy." said Don. "We used our stealth busses."]
Back to Bert: "The part what [the demonstrators] were worried about was attracting an atomic attack.
I thought they were crazy. "Fancy sending one of them things over here, except for a practice run, when a hippy can take in a milk tin full of plutonium in his guitar. "You don't need a fancy piece of technology to blow it up atomically, if you must use atoms - there's that much plutonium gone bush on the planet long before then!
"We've got to realise that it's a defence thing, it's military, and if it wasn't as secret as what it is, well it wouldn't be worth their salt working there, why have it?
"I saw it as a big joke. "When we moved here, we found out that at long last we had better neighbours than we ever had before.
"At the other place we had a total of five caravan parks around us and we couldn't keep our cows in order with people walking their dogs and letting them run loose and couldn't control them - it ended up killing our dairy
"Our neighbours over there did not respect our boundary, the boundary was an inconvenience where you had to get under the barbed wire and Bob's your uncle!
"We're on talking terms, me and the big boss [of the JDF], we're working together on getting the Mexican Poppy out of our creek system here, and things like that, I've got no reason to complain apart from their freelance flamin' boundary jumpin' sometimes!
"A couple of times there's a few stunts which you reckon they're stepping over the bounds, what the hell they doing around that end of the place putting the fence down, going over with the cars!
"They come up with a hair-brained weak little excuse saying, 'Oh, we found someone on your place and chased them.' Like bloody hell they did! "Both cars came out of Pine Gap, pulled our fence out, lifted the posts out, lay it on the ground.
"They were doing one of their Blues versus Reds exercises. They fixed it up again, but like I say, they're not telling you true.
"That's happened more than twice, but not hundreds or dozens of times, maybe three or four times.
"We went around afterwards and tracked them up, I'm not bloody stupid, you know where they've been and where they've come from.
"We [wouldn't] mind if they told us they were going to have war games here for an afternoon and will it be all right and we could say yes but don't go in such and such a paddock.
"The humbug afterwards is, 'Who the hell's been here?' "It's Joint Defence - it is military, run by a lot of civilians. "As a country we've got our guard down very badly.
"Pine Gap will play a role in [our defence], from what they've told us on a television program, they're picking up everything that's radio-oriented, taping it, pallet loads of flamin' tapes go away to America for analysis, they've got it all taped, they're probably listening to this by some tunnel-visioned voice picker upperer, you better believe it!
"When they play it back to you you might be amazed, this is what gives Big Brother the edge on anybody they want to control." There you have it.

THE RICH HISTORY OF MUSLIMS IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
Part One of a report by GRETTA SCADDING
Muslims are today a barely noticed minority in Alice Springs, the town they helped to build.
Before wheeled transport arrived in 1929, countless Afghans sweated and toiled to carry supplies by camel across the desert.
Their descendants today have a deep respect for their ancestors.
They are proud of their culture and some still practise their religion of Islam.
Much, however, has changed over the years.
There were originally about 50 Afghan families living in Alice Springs, but many left to go to Marree, Broken Hill and Port Augusta.
There are now 35 Afghan families remaining, though the Islam community as a whole numbers about 65 families, including those from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Middle East.
All members of the community are still "given Azan" - the equivalent to the Christian baptism.
But many do not strictly adhere to all the five pillars of Islam: prayer, fasting, charity, haj (the journey to Mecca, at least once), and to believe in Allah - God.
Praying five times a day has become a trial for many, and there are rarely more than 10 to 15 people at the mosque for Friday prayer.
Others indulge in the infidels' habits of drinking alcohol, smoking and gambling.
There are now rarely arranged marriages to fellow Muslims.
Meride Satour, an Afghan descendant says: "Our grandparents' marriages were arranged, but my husband is a Catholic European: "I drink alcohol, just like my father did.
He told Abdul Khan [a respected leader at the local mosque] never to disturb him on a Saturday.
"This was his betting day. We have a tradition of respecting your elders so Mr Khan couldn't really say anything!"
Rachel Warner, whose grandfather was an Afghan camel driver, says: "The Imam, [teacher] from Adelaide, told us 'What you do in moderation is your business'."
For the Muslims here, the mosque, in the new Larapinta area, is supposed to be the hub of community activity, but not for Rachel.
"I have never been to the mosque because I believe, like any religion, if you do the right thing, why do you have to go to church?
"I believe in God and that is enough."
Getting to Mecca on the haj doesn't draw many people either.
Abdul Khan, who has tried to retain Islamic values in the community since the death of the legendary Sallay Mahomet, says: "We have one or two people at the moment who are hoping to go to undertake the haj.
"Even my wife and myself haven't been yet. You shouldn't forfeit your responsibilities to go."
However, some principles of the Quoran are so deeply respected they remain embedded in the local culture.
Many still do not eat pork, and animals are slaughtered so as to produce 'halal' [certified] meat. Says Rachel: "The problem had been that many of us really didn't know how to kill it."
Mr Khan has sorted this out: "We have recently negotiated with the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, that we can supply halal meat at the Bond Beef abattoirs."
Abdullah Ali, the community's camel slaughterer, says: "It is very important that we give thanks to Allah and release the spirit of the camel before we kill it.
"You cut the throat with two strokes of the knife vertically, making sure the blood oozes out, and say. 'Bis millh Allah akbar,' which means 'In the name of God, God is great.'
"It's just like saying grace, as the Christians do."
This locally killed meat is also supplied to Muslims in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
Children are still encouraged to learn about Islam in Alice.
"We still have 20 kids here who learn about Islam on the weekends," says Mr Khan. "I'm going to register this as a weekend school with the NT Department of Education.
"Everybody is welcome: "Some of the Afghan kids already bring their neighbours. We talk about good manners, good behaviour, Islamic morals and values.
"We still wear traditional dress for festivities, and to pray at the mosque," says Mr Khan. Rachel says: "Funerals are traditionally Muslim in all cases.
"They involve the whole family helping to fill the hole in with dirt at the end of the ceremony, which starts at the dead person's house."
There are many reasons why the Muslim community here has found it hard to sustain its faith.
Says Mr Khan, a lecturer in mathematics at Centralian College: "Although we experience many freedoms in Alice Springs, work patterns prohibit some of us from attending Friday prayer, which is a great restriction." Muslims have assimilated into a multi-racial community, with many Afghans marrying Aborigines and European Australians Many teachings have been lost because they haven't been taught at home.
Says Rachel: "I'm more conscious of being an Australian than a Muslim."
Meride says: "My father spoke Arabic, but not to us. The rules are more relaxed here because of the influence of other local cultures."
Rachel remembers: "My brother came back with some ham and tomato sandwiches one afternoon.
They went out the door. "My brother didn't get punished. We were only made aware of the rules by trial and error, but they weren't really forced on us. "These are modern times and even in the Eastern countries things are changing."
The transient nature of Alice Springs' population has its impact on the believers in Islam.
Says Abdullah: "Many Muslim families come and go, some don't like it that much because there aren't many Muslims here. "
Also, there is no resident Imam, or teacher, which makes it difficult to hold it all together."
Says Mr Khan: "I have recently made an arrangement with the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils to give us a regular Imam. "He will come up from Adelaide every two months to stay for two weeks in the mosque.
"I plan to build a house adjoining the mosque as the Imam's residence, but we haven't got the funding at the moment."
The Muslim faith has also attracted people from outside the Afghan community.
It has particularly enriched Abdullah Ali's life, he says, helping him overcome a history of alcohol abuse and gang warfare.
"I've always had an interest in eastern religions," he says. "The only strong one here in Alice is Islam. "I just went to the mosque and that's how it all started. "The great thing about this religion is that it welcomes everyone. There is respect for all cultures and tolerance of all religions." Says Meride: "If a couple gets divorced, the man must take care of the woman until she gets married again."
Abdullah believes that the Islamic community today contributes positively to life in Alice Springs: "Their work and family ethics are inspiring. "They strongly dislike being on the dole, and are far more forward thinking in terms of business than are other people I have worked with in Alice.
"There is more responsibility to the family, an emphasis on building strong marriages, and of course, we have the Camel Cup!"
Yet hardly any of the Islamic community has anything to do with camels any more.
Many of Meride's immediate family work in broadcasting - in the town's Aboriginal radio station, 8KIN FM run by CAAMA. "Camels are not financially viable. We gave up on them a long time ago. I wouldn't even know how to ride one."
The Islamic community here is fed up with outsiders who think of them as fanatical brain-washers.
Says Abdullah: "People who are ignorant mock me. It's the same with anything different. "They think you're a terrorist and you're going to pull an AK47 on them, or something."
TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.

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