Cultural Engagement – Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Fly To Brewarrina NSW – Saturday 7th June 2025

ZSIC was back out on Country again in Brewarrina NSW to support and witness a moment that will stand the test of time. Flight Lieutenant Tjapukai Shaw (Jab – Indigenous Pilot), flew a Hercules C-130 Aircraft from Richmond Air Base (Sydney) all the way to Brewarrina, as a way to engage with community members and get a positive experience in walking through RAAF’s amazing flight capabilities.

FLTN Shaw (Jab) is not just a pilot for RAAF, he is an Original Custodian of Murrawarri/Ngemba Tribal Sovereign Nations of Brewarrina NSW, and spent the first 4 years of his life growing up in the town with all the deadly clan groups and community. Jab and RAAF identified a great need to highlight the importance of Defence to our communities that never really have the opportunities to see inside the defence space and what’s required to be part of the extended RAAF family. This was part of the reasons why Jab was encouraged to fly this massive aircraft out to Brewarrina to engage with community members.

To support this most needed event, Danielle Boney (CEO Brewarrina Child and Family Centre) and her husband Bradley (Barney) Orcher, also Original Custodians of Brewarrina with extended kinship throughout the town and surrounding communities, organised catering to feed the 200-250 people that attended the event. In addition to organising the catering, Danielle arranged ongoing social media postings and advertisements to gain greater exposure of this opportunity, and as a result Danielle connected with 2WEB and The Western Herald media outlets, both showing up on the day and provided media coverage. Danielle Boney is well known for her cultural connections and professional project management skills to bring projects to life, and the success of Air Force coming to Brewarrina was a true reflection of Danielle’s genuine commitment to her community, her organisation and the trust and respect she has gained from her people. Everyone benefited from this experience.

Brewarrina Shire Council Manager David Kirby, also a remarkable Indigenous Leader and Original Custodian of Brewarrina, began consultations with Jab and RAAF earlier this year. It was David’s professional input and engineering supports from Brewarrina Shire Council that literally laid the foundations for the Jab to land the RAAF Hercules C-130 Aircraft on Brewarrina’s air strip on the day. Further supports came from Indigenous Leader Steven Wilson (Brewarrina Shire Council Worker) and Original Custodian of Brewarrina, who in the early hours of the morning, worked tirelessly to ensure the air strip runway was clear, safe and managed with precision to support the RAAF Aircrafts landing capabilities. It was also Steven’s pro-active cultural consultation and communication with Brewarrina clan groups and Brewarrina agencies that attended on the day, and his passion to bring services to his community and perhaps plant seeds of a career in Defence for the youth of Brewarrina, that enhanced the days success. Young Aboriginal children were everywhere to be seen because of his efforts.

RAAF and particularly FLTN Shaw were warmly embraced by the many Aboriginal Elders that last saw him in Brewarrina as a little 4-year-old boy running around with all the mob. It was FLTN Shaw coming back home on Country sharing the Indigenous Leadership pathway with these very Elders that nurtured him during his critical years of infancy. Their role played a significant cultural role for him to come through his right-of-passage to be the Indigenous Leader that he is today – an Indigenous Pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force -RAAF, Richmond Air Base – Sydney.

To show the love, respect and gratitude the Elders have for this remarkable Indigenous Pilot, FLTN Shaw was presented three (3) Gulya (yellow belly fish) and two (2) Emu Eggs, the traditional foods off Country Brewarrina, to take back with him. These were particularly gathered for to be presented to FLTN Shaw by Bradley (Barney) Orcher just days before the landing. This is a tradition that has been a custom as long as time tells the story of Ngemba/Murrawarri Peoples (60,000 years and beyond), and comes directly from the famous Brewarrina Fish Traps, a meeting place of healing, gathering, wellness and celebration for the many surrounding Tribal Sovereign Nations that continue to meet at this spiritual place of ceremony.

It also must be acknowledged of the other important people who formed the cultural team who helped make this day memorable:

• Sarah Plumley from Brisbane Health (Nursing) with supports for ZSIC to support the event on Country
• Roslyn Frail from Redie for providing transport to and from for those that didn’t have vehicles 
• Nicola Barker from Council for Providing the Water
• Tony Walsh From the Bre ACFC and Andrew Orcher Jnr for cooking the BBQ and making sure everyone was well fed 
• Burra Mac for capturing the day 
• Andria Durney (Research & Evaluation Team Manager, Aboriginal Affairs NSW) for ongoing consultation and engagement through team participation
• 2WEB’s Darren Masters for spreading the news far and wide

For ZSIC, this is exactly what the three C’s – Cultural, Country and Community – is all about.