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Australia

Halls Creek Shire president Malcolm Edwards worried for family members reported overdue traveling back from Alice Springs

A composite image showing three people's faces side by side - a man, a woman and an older woman

A Kimberley man whose family have disappeared while on a trip to Alice Springs says it’s completely out of character for them not to answer phone calls and texts.

Bonnie Edwards, 70, and her son and daughter Eldride Edwards, 41, and Virginia O’Neil, 49, were expected to arrive back in their hometown of Halls Creek on either late Sunday or Monday, but have so far not returned and were reported overdue yesterday.

According to a statement issued by Northern Territory Police this afternoon, they were last seen on Sunday.

Malcolm Edwards, who is Bonnie’s husband and Eldride and Virginia’s father, told the ABC on Wednesday afternoon that the trio had traveled to Alice Springs to attend a meeting involving Indigenous people in an outlying community.

The Halls Creek Shire president said the last time he had spoken to his wife had been on Saturday morning after the meeting had wrapped up, but she had not said where they planned to stay that night.

“My wife said they’re back in Alice Springs and they’ll tell me all about it [the trip] when we come home,” he said.

Malcolm Edwards sitting in front of the shire offices.
Malcolm Edwards hasn’t heard from the trio since the weekend, despite numerous calls and texts. (ABC Kimberley: Andrew Seabourne)

He said Virginia had spoken to her son briefly on Sunday morning, and that was the last known contact with the three missing people.

“My daughter said they’d met this really nice guy and they were going to stay at his place. We don’t know who that is. No idea who that person was,” he said.

Police say the trio have not made contact with anyone and there have been no signs of financial activity from them since Sunday.

Cr Edwards said he had raised the alarm on Tuesday after repeated calls and texts to his wife, son and daughter went unanswered.

“They normally ring and tell us. This is out of character,” he said.

“They’d normally ring up and say, ‘we’re leaving Alice Springs now we’ve decided to go via Katherine’, they would tell us.”

Aerial image of outback town's main street
The group were expected to return to Halls Creek several days ago.(ABC Kimberley: Ted O’Connor)

Now he is worried someone else is using his daughter’s phone.

“The police picked up a ping that the phone was turned on at 2am on Monday morning and the ping was located somewhere near a caravan park in Alice Springs,” he said.

“We’re starting to think it was not Virginia who turned the phone on because if it was her she would have seen all those messages.

“As far as we know none of the bank accounts have been used, but there have been a few bank accounts that we haven’t got access to, but the police will check all those out.”

The missing trio were supposed to be traveling from Alice Springs to Halls Creek on the Tanami Road, but Cr Edwards said police had checked CCTV at roadhouses along the way and found no evidence they had embarked on their journey home.

As the Halls Creek community awaits news from police, Cr Edwards said his wife’s relatives in Alice Springs were helping to raise awareness in the community.

A dark red ute parked in a driveway.
The group is traveling in this red Toyota Hilux.(Supplied: Northern Territory Police)

“We feel like we can’t do much,” he said.

“Some people who are related to us in Alice Springs are driving around town, [asking] ‘have you seen this car, have you seen these people?'”

Along with Cr Edwards, Bonnie and Virginia are also councilors with the Shire of Halls Creek.

The group is traveling in a red Toyota Hilux with the WA registration plate, PH27156.

Police are calling for anyone who knows where the trio may be or have seen their vehicle to contact police.

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Categories
Australia

Three people reported overdue traveling back from Alice Springs, NT Police say

A composite image showing three people's faces side by side - a man, a woman and an older woman

Northern Territory Police is seeking help to locate three people returning from a trip to Central Australia, who haven’t been seen for several days.

Bonnie Edwards, 70, Eldride Edwards, 41, and Virginia O’Neill, 49, were last seen on Sunday, when they attended a weekend function in Alice Springs, according to a statement issued by Northern Territory Police this afternoon.

Family members in Western Australia reported the trio overdue for their return on Tuesday.

The group is traveling in a red Toyota Hilux with the WA registration plate, PH27156.

Police believe the group may be traveling to Western Australia.

However, NT Police would not say specifically where the trio was traveling to or when they were expected to arrive.

A dark red ute parked in a driveway.
The group is traveling in this red Toyota Hilux.(Supplied: Northern Territory Police)

According to the statement, the trio have not made contact with anyone and there have been no signs of financial activity since Sunday.

Anyone with information on where the trio may be or have seen their vehicle is being asked to contact police.

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Categories
Australia

Murder charge dropped for Kim Kellett, accused of fatal shooting near Katherine’s Cutta Cutta Caves, court hears

a police at an outback nature park

The man accused of murdering an alleged home intruder near Katherine earlier this year, will likely plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, a court has heard.

Kim Kellett has been in prison sincely alleged shooting a 26-year-old man on his property at the Cutta Cutta Caves National Park in March.

The 38-year-old appeared in the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday via video link from the local correctional centre, dressed in a red prison-issued T-shirt which usually indicates the inmate is held under maximum security conditions.

Senior Crown Prosecutor, Marty Aust, told the court the original murder charge would be withdrawn and replaced with the lesser charge of manslaughter.

“The Crown will be relying on a reckless manslaughter charge,” he said.

“The facts that make out that charge have been reduced to writing and there is agreement between the parties as to the facts in full, for plea in the Supreme Court.”

A set of agreed facts was given to the judge, but not read in open court.

The exterior of the Darwin Local Court.
The court heard the man is likely to plead guilty. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)

Mr Kellett’s lawyer, Peter Maley, told the court his client would likely plead guilty when the matter reached the Supreme Court next month.

“It will be ultimately a plea of ​​guilty to an amended count two, for recklessly causing the death,” he said.

Despite indicating a guilty plea, the charge Mr Kellett faces is too serious to be dealt with by the Local Court.

“I am satisfied the evidence is sufficient to put the defendant on his trial in respect of count two [manslaughter],” Judge John Neill said.

“I direct he be tried at the Supreme Court in Darwin.”

Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Mr Kellett’s case will be mentioned in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on September 1.

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Categories
Sports

Woman charged with assault, five women’s soccer players banned over post-match fight outside stadium

generic photo of soccer balls

Five players in the Northern Territory’s top women’s soccer competition have been suspended – and one charged with assault – over a post-match fight that’s been called “unacceptable” and “in contrast to the values ​​inherent in our game” by the sport’s governing body.

NT Police has confirmed an 18-year-old player has been charged with assault in relation to the “physical altercation” involving several players on June 26, which broke out in the car park of the Darwin Football Stadium in Marrara after a game.

“A verbal dispute between two players escalated into a physical altercation when a third party intervened,” Acting Sergeant Carol Maxwell said in a statement.

“The altercation was an escalation from the match.”

There were no serious injuries.

Yesterday, Football Northern Territory announced that it had sanctioned two clubs – the Hellenic Athletic Club and Port Darwin Football Club – in relation to the same incident.

In a statement, it said five players across both clubs had been banned from participating in any of the association’s activities for various periods of time.

A match is seen being played at TIO Stadium during sunset.
The Darwin Football Stadium in Marrara is the biggest outdoor stadium in the Northern Territory. (Supplied: Celina Whan / AFLNT)

Those players – which include three from Hellenic and two from Port Darwin – face suspensions ranging from 12 weeks (with four weeks suspended) to three years.

Hellenic has also been stripped of nine points in the 2022 Women’s Premier League competition, and will remain subject to a good behavior bond that will, if breached, see the club lose three points for each offence.

Football Northern Territory chief executive, Bruce Stalder, said everyone involved in the game should be able to participate in a safe environment.

“This behavior will never be tolerated, it is unacceptable, unnecessary and in stark contrast to the values ​​inherent in our game,” he said.

Mr Stalder said as part of the sanctions, the suspended players would be enrolled in a community program designed to improve personal accountability and behavioral flexibility.

The woman charged with assault is due to face court on September 19.

The police investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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Categories
Business

Metricon sacks NSW sales staff via Microsoft Teams

Metricon sacks NSW sales staff via Microsoft Teams

Construction giant Metricon has unceremoniously sacked the majority of its NSW sales staff via Microsoft Teams in the latest sign that the struggling company is teetering on collapse.

David Shorten, Metricon’s NSW state sales manager, informed staff at the Monday morning meeting that numbers would be cut to just 18, from roughly 60 currently, with redundancy payouts offered to those unable to be redeployed.

About 15 trainee sales consultants have also been terminated with no offer of redeployment.

“To better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market and ensure the most appropriate deployment of resources, we have undertaken an important review of the sales team,” Mr Shorten said in a statement read out in the Teams meeting.

“This is necessary to ensure we remain competitive in both the short and long term. The review was not undertaken lightly and has resulted in proposed changes to the current structure of the team. We understand that you may feel anxious at this time and that you are likely to have a number of questions. Under the proposed structure, the number of new home advisors will be reduced to 18.”

The affected employees were given until midday on Wednesday to offer any “thoughts, insights or feedback you may have regarding the proposed structure and approach”, with employees to be told if they’re being sacked by the end of the week.

Mr Shorten said Metricon would “select the most appropriately skilled individuals to occupy the positions moving forward” but warned “options are limited” for redeployment.

“In the event that you were unable to be redeployed to a suitable alternative position within the notice period, you would receive the relevant redundancy entitlements if they were available to you,” he said.

Employees who are offered one of the remaining roles but choose not to accept may not be entitled to a redundancy payout.

One employee, who asked not to be identified, said he had been expecting the announcement after Metricon closed its HR portal last Friday.

He said there had been some staff turnover recently with “people abandoning ship to go to competitors”, and those who stayed “basically had the rug pulled out from under them” through “no fault of their own” after believing the company’s repeated public denials that it was facing difficulties.

“It has not been received well by some of them,” he told news.com.au. “I’m a little bit burned by the whole situation.”

The company’s largest home builder was plunged into crisis in May amid reports it was on the verge of financial ruin and engaging in crisis talks with the Victorian government, following the sudden death of its founder Mario Biasin.

Acting chief executive Peter Langfelder has repeatedly shot down those allegations, but a question mark still hangs over Metricon’s future despite the company’s directors injecting $30 million into its business to allay fears about its survival, and a rescue deal being struck with Commonwealth Bank.

Last month, Metricon listed nearly 60 display homes for sale across NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria, worth a total of around $65 million.

The Sydney employee said “events have snowballed” since Mr Biasin’s death, adding he was skeptical the company could survive.

“We still don’t have homeowners’ warranty insurance,” he said.

“We have not been taking deposits for the last 10 weeks. It should be known. People are still waiting for builds. I’m glad we haven’t been able to take deposits – do you want to be the guy that takes someone’s $20,000, $30,000 life savings and the company goes bankrupt in three or four weeks’ time?”

Reached for comment on Tuesday, Metricon confirmed it was “process of an internal restructure of the business, with an increased focus on delivering homes to more than 6000 Australians whose houses will be constructed this year”.

“To better accommodate and reflect the requirements of the current market and ensure the most appropriate deployment of resources, Metricon is working to appropriately reduce its sales and marketing capability while it focuses on the construction and delivery of more than 6000 homes,” a spokeswoman said in a statement to news.com.au.

“We have commenced a consultation process with our people. This process is proposed to lead to a reduction of personnel and redundancies across the national business.”

The spokeswoman said 2020 and 2021 saw record demand for homebuilding and that Metricon “expects demand to settle at pre-pandemic levels”. “As a result, the business will rebalance towards construction on homes it is currently building and the thousands more in the pipeline – the biggest volume in the company’s history,” she said.

The impacted roles will be at the “front-end of the business, predominantly in sales and marketing roles, representing approximately 9 per cent of the national workforce”.

“With the headwinds buffeting the industry, specifically labor costs due to competition for skills, combined with present global material cost hikes and with our very strong existing pipeline of work, we need to carefully balance the current pipeline of new builds with the construction side of the business,” Mr Langfelder said in the statement.

“We are working to restructure our front-end of the business given the current climate and the need to move forward efficiently. We are committed to looking after any of our people who may be impacted by these proposed changes, and they will continue to have ongoing access to the company’s support and mental health services.”

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was rebalancing the business’ focus over the next 18 months on executing builds as quickly and efficiently as possible whilst maintaining equilibrium in the pipeline.

“We have previously said that our company has a proven history of success and remains profitable and viable, with the full support of our key stakeholders – this remains the case today,” he said.

Mr Langfelder said Metricon was still expected to continue to contract on average 100 homes per week, in line with pre-pandemic levels. “Our future construction pipeline shows no sign of slowing down with more than 600 site-starts scheduled for 2023,” he said.

The spokeswoman did not address the claim that Metricon was not taking deposits.

The Australian building industry has been plagued with escalating issues that have already seen Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild enter into liquidation in recent months, while smaller operators like Hotondo Homes Hobart and Perth firms Home Innovation Builders and New Sensation Homes, as well as Sydney-based firm Next have also failed, leaving homeowners out of pocket and with unfinished houses.

The crisis is the result of a perfect storm of conditions hitting one after the other, including supply chain disruptions due largely to the pandemic and then the Russia-Ukraine conflict, followed by skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing costs of materials and logistics and extreme weather events .

The industry’s traditional reliance on fixed-price contracts has also seriously exacerbated the problem, with contracts signed months before a build gets underway, including the surging costs of essential materials such as timber and steel.

It comes after it recently emerged that Australia recorded a staggering 3917 liquidations or administration appointments across all industries during the 2021-22 financial year.

The construction sector led the charge, representing 28 per cent of all insolvencies, although firms from countless industries also failed in the face of soaring inflation and interest rate pressures, Covid chaos, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions.

There were 1536 collapses in NSW, with Victoria recording 1022, Queensland 665, WA 350, South Australia 196, 91 for the ACT, 29 for Tasmania and 28 in the Northern Territory.

According to consumer credit reporting agency Equifax, “small-scale operators in Australia’s construction industry could well be the canary in the coal mine for the difficulties that lie ahead for this sector”.

The company late last month claimed that “the significant increase in construction company failures since the start of the year shows no sign of abating”, with provisional data indicating that construction insolvencies increased 19 per cent for the month of May, sitting 43 per cent higher than May 2021.

Overall, construction insolvencies have increased 30 per cent over the last 12 months, according to Equifax.

[email protected] with Alexis Carey

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Categories
Australia

Michael Gunner’s office broken into in ‘personal’ attack days after resignation

Michael Gunner's office broken into in 'personal' attack days after resignation

The Northern Territory’s former chief minister Michael Gunner’s electorate office has been broken into days after he quit politics, in what he has described as the latest in a series of “personal” attacks.

According to NT Police, a 47-year-old man was arrested over the alleged unlawful entry and criminal damage of Mr Gunner’s office in the Darwin suburb of Parap.

Police received reports just after 4am this morning that a man had broken in and caused “extensive damage”.

“It was a very personal break in targeting photos of me and items of personal importance to me,” Mr Gunner — who stood down from his role as Member for Fannie Bay last week — said in a social media post.

“We’ll take advice from the police on what our next steps may need to be to keep my family safe.”

A broken window pane with posters attached to it leans against a metal pole.
A 47-year-old man is expected to be charged over the break-in. (ABC News: Janus Gibson)

Mr Gunner said the break-in was the latest in a series of targeted incidents against him.

“This appears to be a continuation of behavior from a range of fixed individuals that has seen a number of incidents not limited to my family abused, filmed and our personal address revealed,” he said.

The alleged offender was arrested a short time after the break-in, with charges expected to be laid later today.

A man in a navy suit with blue tie speaking at a lecture, two seated people watching in background
Michael Gunner believes a break-in at his electorate office was a ‘personal’ attack. (ABC New: Che Chorley)

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles also described the incident as a personal attack.

“Michael put his hand up and served our community for 14 years, he deserves now to have the opportunity to spend time with his family and feel safe in doing so,” she said.

“Sadly it’s something [safety] that all of us as members of parliament do consider.”

By-choice race heats up

Mr Gunner announced his resignation from politics in a speech to parliament last week, sparking a by-election in the seat of Fannie Bay, which has been held by several former chief ministers.

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Categories
Australia

Australian researchers develop new communication system inspired by rare NT Aboriginal language Jingulu

Australian researchers develop new communication system inspired by rare NT Aboriginal language Jingulu

An Australian Aboriginal language only spoken by a handful of people in the Northern Territory has become the inspiration for a new artificial intelligence system, potentially helping people better communicate with machines.

Jingulu is considered an endangered language that’s traditionally spoken in the Northern Territory’s Barkly region.

A study, recently published in the academic journal Frontiers in Physics, suggests it has special characteristics that can easily be translated into commands for artificial Intelligence (AI) swarm systems.

“Maybe one of the most powerful things with Jingulu [is] that it gives us the simplicity and flexibility which we can apply in lots of different applications,” lead researcher at University of New South Wales Canberra, Hussein Abbass, said.

AI swarm systems are used in machines to help them to collaborate with humans and undertake complex tasks than humans command them to do.

The silhouette of a man in front of a wall of digital characters/screens
Experts say Australian law is not up-to-date to sufficiently regulate the rising use of artificial intelligence. (Chris Yang: Unsplash)

Dr Abbass said he stumbled on the Jingulu language by accident, while developing a new communication system.

“When I started looking at the abstract, it didn’t take much time to click in my mind about how suitable it is, for the work I do on artificial intelligence and human AI teaming,” he said.

Language easily translatable into AI commands

Dr Abbass said it was normal for AI researchers to draw on different forms of communication for their work, including other human languages, body language and even music.

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Categories
Australia

AK and her baby were allegedly killed in a murder-suicide near Alice Springs. Ella’s family wants answers

A composite image of a smiling young woman and a sleeping baby, side by side.

AK was full of life, kind hearted, and an amazing mother.

That’s how her heartbroken sisters remember the 30-year-old mother, who was allegedly killed by her partner last month, along with her 15-week-old baby, in Central Australia, north of Alice Springs.

“We loved her and we are going to miss her,” the sisters said.

Her family has given the ABC permission to share her initials and their images, in the hope that she is remembered as “more than a statistic”, and to push for systemic change.

AK’s partner’s body and a gun were also found at the scene, and Northern Territory Police have confirmed they are investigating the episode as a murder-suicide.

A red dirt road with a cattle gate across it, and a police truck parked on the other side.
Police at the crime scene the day after the incident.(ABC News: Samantha Jonscher)

Speaking out for the first time since her death, AK’s family said they’re frustrated at the lack of information that has been made available to them by police.

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Categories
Australia

Darwin traveler fined over undeclared fast food from Bali amid foot-and-mouth disease concerns

a black dog with a read coat with "biosecurity" written on it.

A traveler from Indonesia has been fined thousands of dollars for sneaking two beef sausage McMuffins and a ham croissant into Australia.

Passengers returning from Indonesia have been facing tougher biosecurity checks, after the detection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cows in Bali.

The highly contagious disease, which is yet to reach Australia, affects cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and the virus would have severe consequences for the nation’s animal health and trade.

A biosecurity detector dog at Darwin airport sniffed out the fast food meat products in a passenger’s backpack last week, with the traveler fined $2,664.

The pork and beef snacks were seized and will be tested for foot-and-mouth disease, before being destroyed.

An outbreak of the disease in Indonesia has prompted Australian biosecurity officials to categorize some meat products as “risk items”.

A long line at the Darwin Airport check-in counter during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Biosecurity measures have ramped up since foot-and-mouth disease was detected in Bali.(ABC News: Michael Franchi)

Minister for Agriculture, Murray Watt, said he wanted Australia to stay free of the disease.

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Categories
Entertainment

Sailing down the Stuart Highway, Guts Touring revives the Blackfella/Whitefella spirit

Sailing down the Stuart Highway, Guts Touring revives the Blackfella/Whitefella spirit

It’s a scene from an Aussie fever dream.

Deep in the outback, you’ve just played one of the great pub shows on a cross-country tour.

And then you realize you’ve stuffed the logistics.

An image from a past 'Up the Guts' tour.
Guts first toured in 2016 and travels about 7,000 kilometers across the country.(Supplied: Guts Touring)
An image from a past 'Up the Guts' tour.
When the tour played in Katherine.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

Now you’re driving through the night to make it to your next gig, an eye-watering 700 kilometers away, and ‘Tracy’, the bus you bought from a retirement home, is chugging fuel at what seems like an unsustainable rate.

It’s all part of the fun on a Guts tour, which first dissected the country from south to north along the Stuart Highway in 2016, drawing inspiration from Midnight Oil and Warumpi Band’s legendary 1986 Blackfella/Whitefella tour.

Midnight Oil and the Warumpi Band performing on the South Alligator River at Kakadu during the Blackfella/Whitefella Tour.
Midnight Oil and the Warumpi Band performing on the South Alligator River at Kakadu during the Blackfella/Whitefella tour.(ABC)

Guts will be back on the road for the first time since 2017 next month, playing 36 shows from the tropics to Tasmania with 19 bands, and putting on 20 music workshops in towns and communities across the outback.

The tour begins it’s 7,000km journey in the town of Jabiru, on Kakadu’s edge, on August 15 and includes artists like Bad//Dreems, Black Rock Band, Children Collide and Birdz.

‘Play some Chisel’

An image from a past 'Up the Guts' tour.
Jack Parsons says not enough live music gets out to regional and remote Australia.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

The idea for a tour that snatches up and drops mostly southern bands into some of Australia’s most remote locations, the tour’s creator Jack Parsons says, was a nod to a time when things were a little different in the Australian music scene.

“We wanted to tour regionally and with a real sense of adventure and go to some places off the beaten track, like bands used to tour, and that famed pub rock era of Australian music where it was really a plug-in-and-play ethos,” he said.

“And it didn’t matter if there were 10 people or 100 people or 1,000 people, you toured.”

An image from a past 'Up the Guts' tour.
Bad//Dreems and Black Rock Band will play the NT leg of the tour.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

So on a Guts tour, Parsons says, bands will gig wherever they are like their life depends on it

“There’s been some tough shows,” he recalls. “Coober Pedy springs to mind, you know, sort of eight people in the crowd, one of which was yelling out to these Melbourne bands to play some Chisel.”

An image from a past 'Up the Guts' tour.
The tour will roll out eight different line-ups in 2022.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

But in the bush, open-air desert shows can give way to special moments for bands and the host communities, which have little access to touring artists.

“The kids have a beaut time and the response is always fantastic,” Parsons says.

Kids dance at an outdoor gig during the evening.
“It’s a good opportunity [for kids] to refresh their mind,” Black Rock Band’s Richie Guymala says.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

“I do remember one showing, when we did pay in Barunga the kids were going absolutely bananas and they were sort of all over the stage and playing the drums.

Kids sing into microphones at a night-time gig.
The Guts tour in the Northern Territory community of Barunga.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

“The walls were down and it was pandemonium.

“There have been some very memorable shows, and we’re so lucky this year to have grown to a point where we can ask these great bands to be a part of it.”

An image from the past 'Up the Guts' tour.
“We’re really blessed … these communities welcome us with open arms,” ​​Parsons says.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

Shows, workshops and swags

Getting kids in communities excited when the bands are rocking out is one thing, but much of the tour’s energy is directed towards workshops, where band members share technical expertise and some music industry 101 with kids.

Kids stand around a box in a classroom.
A workshop in Barunga.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

The Northern Territory leg of the tour includes gigs and workshops in 10 remote communities.

“The workshops are a beautiful thing,” Parsons says.

“We get kids who have never played drums before and we put them on a drum kit, we show them a basic beat, and they can play and get the feeling of being in a band.”

An image from the past 'Up the Guts' tour.
A drum lesson in session in Santa Teresa, near Alice Springs.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

Richie Guymala, the lead vocalist of the Black Rock Band out of west Arnhem Land, says the workshops uplift spirits in communities, where there are already a lot of great young bands.

“There are a lot of issues around communities in the Northern Territory, but stuff like this, it helps,” he says.

Richie Guymala from the Arnhem Land-based Black Rock Band with arms crossed sitting in a pub.
“The [bands] come up from down south and they get to see a bit of Black Rock’s family, where we are connected from,” Richie Guymala says. (ABC News: Leigh Brammel)

“It’s a good opportunity [for kids] to refresh their mind and to say, you can do this for yourself — whatever it is… you can follow your dreams.”

The touring bands, Parsons says, are grateful for it too.

“We’re really blessed that the people we speak to in these communities welcome us with open arms, and we’re putting on shows and workshops, and we’re being looked after with accommodation and places to roll out the swags,” he says.

“It all comes back to that Oils and Warumpi Band tour, being able to take great music and great artists to these wonderful places that have great music in them.”

A sound engineer stands at a sound box at an outdoor gig in the evening.
This year’s shows kick off in Jabiru, where the Kakadu and Arnhem highways intersect.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

‘There’s good music out there’

Guymala and Black Rock Band will play through the whole Northern Territory leg of the tour, finishing at Kalkarindji Freedom Day Festival where they will share the stage with artists like Paul Kelly and Ripple Effect Band.

“I’m looking forward to getting back on the road again, sharing our music again with the community, and also just to run into other countrymen,” Guymala says.

“It’s also good because the [bands] come up from down south and they get to see a bit of Black Rock’s family, where we are connected from.”

A group of kids watch on as a man hits objects with drum sticks.
Communities get behind bands and look after them when they roll into town, Parsons says.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

Guymala says he’d love to welcome touring bands more often.

“I think it should happen more. I think it will be a good way to promote smaller bands from smaller communities,” he says.

“We’ve got that many bands in Arnhem Land, and there’s good music out there, and I think tours like this will open up opportunities for other bands that want to get their music heard.”

Coco Eke smiles at the camera in a pub.
Coco Eke says it can be tough for bands in community to get out and tour.(ABC News: Leigh Brammel)

Coco Eke, a board member of Music NT, says the rarity of regional tours through these parts of the country is what makes Guts exciting.

“It’s really difficult to tour regionally and especially remotely coming in, and for bands wanting to tour outside of their communities, it’s expensive,” she said.

“The roads are tough and it’s hot and to get a band from one community to Darwin takes tens of thousands of dollars sometimes.

“So this is a really exciting tour to see the bands and the rest of the crew that will be in the bus go through to the communities to really lift the spirits and bring music back.”

An image from the past 'Up the Guts' tour.
Bands “learned a thing or two about dancing” on a past trip to Santa Teresa.(Supplied: Guts Touring)
An image from a past 'Up the Guts' tour.
Barunga, 2017.(Supplied: Guts Touring)

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