Anne Beadell Highway permit.

Cant remember if it was on there last year

Maralinga Tjarutja. We only require two. The Woomera permit is in as well

We needed 4 permits, Woomera, Tallaringa, Maralinga & Cosmo Newberry, from memory.

Dont need a permit if you are only transiting Tallaringa Park.

Hi Stephen,
I don't think they are "cashing in" .
That token amount wouldn't recover their admin costs.
Not many people out there - last year in August we saw three other vehicles in a week. The year before we saw one other vehicle on the ABH.

What are the charges these days of doing the Hay River, Madigan Line, Canning - even the Mereenie Loop or the Great Central Road?

If they didn’t insist on permits, they wouldn’t have admin costs.

Hi Phil

I have just checked and from what I could find, the two permits for the Great Central Road are still the same cost.....free

The usual permits from the CLC are all still free

Same as the permits for WA

Any good computer program and operator will have the permits applied in just minutes. Even last year when we got our permit from the NLC for the Central Arnhem Highway, it took less than 2 minutes for the lady on the computer to issue or permit, and again it was free.

It is Federal Government money that keeps these offices open and seeing we are all tax payers, travel should be free. Why should most Aboriginal permits be free yet other charge what they can.

Just my thoughts.


Cheers


Stephen

I don’t understand why we should pay to use roads maintained by the taxpayer
.ie us
Ross

Ross N our taxes don’t cover the cost of maintaining these roads and the infrastructure associated with these areas.

So are you saying that the indigenous communities maintain the roads & built the bridge over the Goyder river?

Hi Macca

Unfortunately you must have been given some very wrong information about Federal Tax Payers Money maintaining Aboriginal Communities.

A very long time ago and from memory at least 9 years ago, we had to drop into Papunya Aboriginal Community on one of our desert trip. The reason being that one of the chaps in my group had his daughter there in the construction of an all weather airstrip.

It was going to be sealed and from memory was around 5 Million Dollars for the final completed job....all paid for by yours and mine and every other working Australian tax payer money.

Also back in 1998 when we visited one of my late Aboriginal friends that lived in the APY Lands at Amata, he had a house built for him on his homelands, again courtesy of the Federal Government. We were extremely lucky to travel all through that unreal country and kept in contact with him and his family, was later informed that again with Federal Tax Payers money, most of the Communities had bitumen roads made to help keep the dust down and as he told me, it was for health reasons.

So the very short answer is yes, Australian Tax Payers money does fund the maintenance of the roads and infrestucture in all Aboriginal Communities.



Cheers



Stephen

Guys, keep it on topic - Macca is correct - the roads in the M-T Lands are maintained by the M-T community. Sort of explains why the Anne Beadell Highway rarely ever has seen a grader. Some of the roads got upgraded by a Canadian oil exploration company about 10 years ago.

Hi Guys, my point was that what we pay in taxes whilst it does go to maintaining the roads & infastructure, doesn't cover all the costs involved. A case in point is the roadhouse at Ilkurlka, I read somewhere that some of the money from the permits goes to help keep this place afloat. I may be wrong, but that is what I read.

Macca.

Hi Phil

You would know the same Elder that I know, Dennis Brown from Oak Valley and Ceduna, or as he is known, Browny.

Yes he grades many of the roads through that area, but the point of the question is not getting off topic, it is Government money that pays for the grader and its fuel.

If every Aboriginal Community around Australia had to be self funded, and not receive any Government funding, we would not see the roads and infrastructure the way that it is out there now.

The point of the original question was that why does the M.T. Charge a permit fee where as the two other areas on the Anne Beadell in Western Australia charge nothing, when it is the very same road, but passing through different Aboriginal Lands.



Cheers




Stephen

Hi Macca

Not sure where you have read that, as the Ilkurlka Roadhouse is in Western Australia and is part of the Spinifex Mob traditional lands and has nothing to do what so ever with the Maralinga Tjarutja Lands in South Australia, and all transit permits for the Western Australia section are free.

Yes the two Aboriginal groups have very strong ties and cultural ceremonies and that is as far as it is.



Cheers



Stephen

Wow. Hasn't this thread gone off the rails!

Ivan, your original post was a good one.
I'm surprised that a $25 permit fee can generate such conversation.

Stephen, The Cosmo Newbery permit is free. That section of road is a multilane dirt highway because of the megadollars being spent on mining Gold. Maybe we just need a few gold mines on the South Australia side!

Thanks for the correction Stephen, not sure where I read the information regarding Ilkurlka, but the article went on to say that the current manager/owner of Ilkurka needs more people to travel along the Anne Beadell and call in and purchase something otherwise it is likely to close.

Macca.

Hi Macca

Yes we need to get more people to stop at remote stores just like Ilkurlka, as if they were forced to shot down, it could even put pressure on people travelling the Anne Beadell and some of the smaller fuel tank vehicles would have to carry a lot of extra fuel.

We have always given them a ring a few days before our intended arrival to make sure that there will be someone there. I have heard one story that the manager was out once mustering camels and one group had to wait 2 days before he was back there to sell them fuel.

The last time we were there, they were having relieving manages on a two month roster basis.

Hi Phil

Yes I am aware of the mining activities west of Neale Junction and in the Yamarna area, and I was referring to that section and the Spinifex Land, from the west of Ilkurla through to the Western Australia / South Australia Border where there is no mining and no fee needed to travel that section.

Cheers


Stephen

We are only going as far as Volkes Hill and then to Cook due to time constraints

OT but, excellent phots of the Dingo clay pan Stephen.

Hi Eagle

Thanks for that, and hare are a few more for you.

We have been fortunate enough to have travelled out to Dingo Claypan 3 times over the years.

The first it looked like it had not seen any rain in years and to be honest, the surface looked like an easter egg, dried and crazed.

The second time was similar, but our third visit seemed the most greatest change. The surface must have had water over it between visits and to look at the surface, it was very shiny and still looked wet, yet in fact it was dry and hard, and is as smooth as to drive on and as solid as concrete.

For that very reason, this was the very first airfield that was located and used by Len Beadell before they had found Emu.

Today out on Dingo Claypan, you ca still see the original mast that was used to hold the wind sock, as well as the old tyres that marked out the runway.

There are of course many old fuel drums and other old structures.


Cheers



Stephen

"This structure must have been used for something, but what for I do not know ..."

That would have been the original airport terminal building, of course! Those termites are pretty fierce out there! LOL

Claypans are always solid when dry - makes a nice change from the often-treacherous salt lakes!

Stephen, thanks for sharing the excellent photos!

Cheers, Ron.

Hi Ron

Thanks for that.

Trust me I did not dare drive out onto it when it looked wet like that.

I walked out first expecting to get my boots covered in thick mess mud, but it was as solid as....lol



Cheers




Stephen

.
Stephen's photography of Dingo Claypan is incomplete without the image below.
It reveals an, as yet unpublished photo in that same series showing two un-named rogues erecting the ExplorOz flag on that very same pole.

The image has been manipulated to conceal the identities of the miscreants.
Image credit is to Stephen L. Reproduced here without permission in the public interest.

Come Allan


Please get it right for the record.......the man put two flags up and as also would not reveal his true identity....LOL



Then after he bent the pole, made his poor young girls to stop it from falling over....

Did anyone ever go back with food and water for the girls, and I hope they are still not out there trying to hold it up.



Cheers


Stephen

Got our Maralinga Tjarutja permit. Took two minutes to fill out, about a minute to fax and was approved in two days. If you think that's hard then I advise you not to go outback. That is far harder! Oh and it's a $1500 if you are caught on any Aboriginal land without a permit. That would be a bloody expensive permit. Mind you the Woomera one is a barstard. They want it emailed which means I have to have the form scanned and I don't own a scanner.

Take a photo of it with your phone!

Will have to the way it's going

It’s no different to scanning it, just photograph the pages & email them.

Or do what I did and download the form ,fill it in on your pc, digital signature, and e mail it back to them ...
Its the W005 form..http://www.defence.gov.au/woomera/forms.htm

No printing of forms ,its all done on your PC.