THE number of Indigenous owned assets and commercial enterprises in Gunditjmara Country continues to grow, with the community last week celebrating a permanent home for the Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation’s Budj Bim Rangers program.

The rangers had been operating out of the former car dealership on the Henty Highway in Portland as tenants of the building for around two years, before Winda-Mara purchased it earlier in the year.

A grant of $977,815 to buy the base was awarded to Winda-Mara last year by the Federally funded Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC).

Senior Budj Bim ranger Colleen Hamilton said she and the rest of the rangers are very excited to have the space permanently, and they are full of ideas about what it could become now they own it.

“It’s really given us a home,” she said.

“It’s the perfect situation for us, before (in Heywood), most of our heavy equipment had to sit outside.”

 “Eventually we're going to be putting up a native nursery and also, we're going to turn the front section into a cafe serving Indigenous food, I can't wait for that.”

The ranger trainee program takes local Indigenous young people, often school leavers or as part of the VCAT program, and helps them gain skills and qualifications while working on Country and staying culturally connected, before heading off into the mainstream workforce.

“The ranger program is fantastic, it sets the kids up so well for their lives, the only regret about this job is that I started it so late.”

Most of the current crop of trainees are women, another thing Ms Hamilton is excited and proud about.

“I think this is the most female rangers we’ve had, ever,” she said.

“It’s a really good thing, we’ll get these girls trained up and hopefully they’ll be leading the wave soon.”

Although being based in Heywood had its benefits – being closer to the world heritage site the rangers manage and working alongside the rest of the Winda-Mara staff – Ms Hamilton said that being on the highway had its obvious benefits for the tourism aspect of their work.

ILSC CEO Joe Morrison, who originally hails from the Northern Territory, said he last visited Gunditjmara Country around 20 years ago, and is impressed at what the Gunditjmara people have achieved in that time, expanding native title, achieving the UNESCO world heritage listing for Budj Bim, and developing strong organisations that offer opportunity and support.

ILSC was set up after the Mabo decision and assists groups that do not meet the requirements of the Native Title Act to buy land and set up management projects across the country, since 1995 it has acquired 279 properties covering 6.3 million hectares.

“Coming here today is a good reminder of what we're here for as a government agency, but also reconnecting with the community ensuring that we're not just a government agency, but we're also a part of the community and when we do things, we do things that uplift and amplify Aboriginal voices and support the aspirations of them, not the aspirations of the government.

“It’s amazing to see what they’re doing here and the developments that are taking place against immense levels of colonisation.

“This is a fundamentally important acquisition that I am proud to be a part of.”

Winda-Mara board chair and former CEO Uncle Michael ‘Mookeye’ Bell has seen the organisation come leaps and bounds, from the board meetings in the early days held in the park with a bag of chips as catering (“we still got a lot done in those times”) to now having a “pretty flash” ranger base to run tours from and manage the world heritage site they look after.

For Uncle Mookeye, Winda-Mara owning the ranger base is one of a long line of proud moments in the advances toward self-determination.

“For me personally, I had to go up to Yorta Yorta Country to do an apprenticeship,” he said.

“The opportunity is here now for the trainee rangers to do their training here, and stay here and to be leaders in the community.”