Bulla and beyond
Host: Myroodah Station
Written by Pam Daniells – Manager, Myroodah Station.
Managing Myroodah Station four years on, for the Indigenous Land Corporation, we have not wavered in our commitment to support and help provide better outcomes for Indigenous people in the cattle industry. We are all ears and keen to assist when new opportunities arise.
One such opportunity driven by Marilynne Paspaley is the Broome Cable Beach Polo Scholarships. During the 2013/14 wet season we assisted two of our staff in following an opportunity to travel to New Zealand and work with Polo Horses and learn the sport over three intensive months. This venture was planned around a time of year when staff on northern cattle stations are at a minimum due to the annual wet season. So rather than being unemployed sitting idle back in their communities, the Polo Scholarships are providing an amazing platform for the young men to broaden their horizons.
After the success of the previous year, the 2014/15 wet season saw another enthusiastic young man by the name of Ian Long take on the challenge. During the final few months of his 2014 season on Myroodah, Ian saved for his air-tickets and in December travelled overseas for the first time and spent his Christmas and wet season break in New Zealand where he would train and learn more about the sport of Polo for almost four months.
Ian Long at work on Myroodah Station.
Ian is from a tiny community called Bulla in the Northern Territory near Timber Creek. It is a typical Indigenous remote community where employment opportunities are at a minimum. Through adversity, Ian is now on the right path. He graduated through the Indigenous Land Corporations training program on Roebuck Plains Station near Broome in 2009 and has worked in the cattle industry since. He is currently in the role of Leading Hand in the Myroodah Station Stockcamp. At the tender age of 21, he shows maturity and determination beyond his years and has more than demonstrated his unlimited potential and already is proving to be an inspiring role model for other young indigenous men.
Ian Long – Taking a break!
At the time of writing this story, Ian was en route for Myroodah Station ready and keen to return for the 2015 mustering season. During our phone conversations he expressed how incredible the experience has been overseas and we have received nothing but exceptional reviews from his employer and mentor Ross Ainsley in NZ.
We are looking forward to hearing all about the trip on Ian’s return and we know there have already been a number of international job offers put to him. Now back in Australia he will next play a game of Polo during the last weekend of May in the annual Broome Cable Beach Polo Carnival. In the meantime though, it will be back to stock saddles and cattle work while he ponders the path of opportunity that is his for the taking, and we are really excited to see where this new gateway will lead him!
Ian at a tournament in NZ.
Ian Long – a determined young man.