Jawoyn Traditional Owner Robbie Friel has put his hand up to run for Council, saying it's important to have an Indigenous representative for Katherine.
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Mr Friel is the latest candidate to announce he is running in the Katherine Town Council election next month.
Despite not being born in Katherine, Mr Friel has lived and worked in the community for 25 years at the Mt Todd Gold Mine.
He has also served all aspects of his community as the Deputy Chair on the Jawoyn Association board, the Deputy Chair on the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre board and as a member of the Nitmiluk National Park board.
Mr Friel said he decided to run for Council to be an Indigenous voice for Katherine.
KATHERINE COUNCIL ELECTIONS
"I feel that there's no Indigenous people actually on Council, although there's a big [Indigenous] population in Katherine," he said.
"I feel I can bring a lot of good governance to Council from skills I've got from other boards."
The environment and the protection of cultural heritage are among Mr Friel's main passions.
"I'd like to see Katherine be a really nice green community, a welcoming comm. I'd like to see the water in Katherine be protected - I'm anti-fracking," he said.
"We've got a big aquifer under Katherine. We know the problems PFAS has had here so we need to be concerned about protecting our aquifer here.
Water is precious. We're gong to rely on water for years to come. Our people fish in the river here, fish for turtles, collect mussels."
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