Councillor Profile Stephen Ryan

19 December, 2014

“The message I have for youth is to learn about the Land Rights Act and try to utilise it, to get the advantages it was originally intended for.”

Hello my name is Stephen Ryan, I’m the Councillor for Central NSW region which is around Dubbo.  This is my second term. I’m a Thubbagah / Wiradjuri man.

My first school was Nanima Mission School via Wellington.

We’ve had some successes in land claims; our Land Councils have been fully functional for last 8 years.  Unfortunately Quambone was closed down in the early days with no members.

At the moment we’re still continuing with land claims, keeping our office going but we’re also focused on economic development at a local and regional level as well as protecting culture associated with the land on an ongoing basis.

The biggest challenge to the whole region or NSW at the moment is the Crown Lands review.  We just had the protest and I applaud all the LALCs that responded in a short time but this government is not going to stop especially if it gets re-elected. They are trying to move Crown lands out of our reach by hindering our ability to claim land.

The other challenge is getting our people into the capacity to be the experts that we need to be in our all spheres especially the young people.  It’s about educating the youth about Land Rights, the importance of it, what it’s doing for us and how they can use it properly

My message to youth is for youth is to learn about the Land Rights Act and try to utilise it to get the advantages it was originally intended to provide, because if they don’t utilize it properly the Government will take it away.

Acknowledgement

We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands where we work as well as across the lands we travel through. We also acknowledge our Elders past, present and emerging.

Artwork Credit: Craig Cromelin, from a painting he did titled, "4 favourite fishing holes". It is a snippet of his growing years on the Lachlan River, featuring yabby, turtle, fish and family.

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