Cynthia Lui MP
Member for Cook
MEDIA RELEASE
Eight organisations in the Cook Electorate will share in a state-wide record $410,000 to help keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages alive, thanks to the Palaszczuk Government’s Indigenous Languages Grants program.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Craig Crawford congratulated the grant recipients in the Cook Electorate for connecting communities with the original languages of Queensland.
“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to preserving, maintaining and celebrating Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages,’’ he said.
“That’s why we doubled our investment in the Indigenous Languages Grants program to ensure First Nations cultures and languages in Queensland are strong, supported and flourishing well into the next decade.
“The Indigenous Languages Grants program encourages Queenslanders to participate in the languages of our First Nations peoples—now and for generations to follow— helping to pave the way to a new future along the Path to Treaty.”
The new funding supports 32 Queensland organisations to deliver projects from Badu Island to Goondiwindi, from Butchulla Country to Barcaldine, to the Wellesley Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
They include camps on Country to record and teach language, resources for schools, recordings of traditional lullabies and songs, digital Welcome to Country, crafting workshops, dictionaries and train-the-trainer workshops.
Member for Cook, Cynthia Lui said “I am pleased to announce that in the Cook Electorate, the following organisations secured funding:
- Cook Shire Council
- Cooktown Primary P&C Association
- Puuya Foundation
- Dabu Jajikal Aboriginal Corporation
- Bamaga Enterprises Ltd
- Badhulgaw Ngurpay Lag P&C (Badu Island P&C)
- Aurukun Shire Council
- Straight from the Strait
“The Indigenous Languages Grants program was launched in 2019 to fund language preservation, promotion, and revitalisation projects around the state,” Ms Lui said.
“Since then, almost 80 language initiatives have received investment of more than $700,000 by the Queensland Government.”
“We want to ensure children continue to learn Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages because as the leaders of tomorrow, they will be responsible for carrying languages and culture forward into the future.” Ms Lui said.
The Indigenous Languages Grants program is jointly funded by the Department of Education and Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.
For more information about the Indigenous Languages Grants please visit www.qld.gov.au/ilg
ENDS
Media contact: Cook Electorate Office: 4223 1100
