Our Mission at TDC is to develop all commercial opportunities on behalf of the clan members throughout the Region to advance our key aims of providing local jobs for local people and, in the long term, ensuring every child has a chance of a full life.

Time to take a breath.

Usually, the start of a year feels peaceful and a little bit slack as we enter after the New Year period, brush away the cobwebs, listen to the tweeting birds and work out our plans and what we are going to get stuck in to. Before you know it, it will be February and where did January go?

Well, this year, it feels like we have been fighting off Demogorgon’s and Gremlins and staggering towards the office door as the Orcs close in around us. Chaos and mayhem with COVID at the door and regulators and funding bodies on the phone, work colleagues and family members sick, hungry kids, houses broken in to, threats in the street and then, the phones go off……………..Cut adrift, alone to sort it out ourselves. It’s been a horror movie of a start to the year.

But we are sorting it out. Resilience, patience, understanding, compassion, empathy and determination. Just some of the words that describe what I have seen, what you have done, what you have been part of and what the community and external agencies under-stand we do. I said recently that when the dust settles the community will thank you.

The dust hasn’t settled yet, and don’t hold your breath for the recognition, but please understand it is recognized and very much valued.

Only community people know and understand what community life is like. You understand and are doing your best to make the best of things and do the best job you can.

I would ask all of you today when you read this, to stop what you are doing, really stop.

Reflect on the last 6 weeks. Check in with yourself on how you are going. How is your family going? Remind yourself of what you have done, when you helped someone out, when you fixed something on short notice, when you did something for someone else just because you felt like it was the right thing to do. Give yourself a reward of reminding yourself that you have done well, people notice. I notice, and I want to say thank you to you for that.

Breath. Slow down. Reset. Let’s deliberately move into the start of the year. Let’s not worry ourselves that its already nearly March!

The Thamarrurr Youth Team have been at the forefront of the COVID out-break, delivering much needed food packs to the families of COVID positive households. The team have been absolute heroes, as they present each day to volunteer their help and bring some relief to families who are isolating in community. Thank you to Mark, Justin & the team for coordinating this effort. #GreatWorkTeam#

The ladies in the Women’s Centre have been busy making masks, which are available for sale. The women were all glad to be back in the Centre after it was closed down for two weeks, as the COVID outbreak wreaked havoc across community.

The ladies have been printing material for masks and are keen to get back to the Centre to make more.

In the midst of the COVID outbreak, Wadeye experienced a 5 day network outage, with the Telstra equipment failing and the wrong parts being sent out on the first repair attempt.

Team TDC set up a makeshift office outside the broadcasting station to keep some business continuity happening.

The satellite tower at the broadcasting station became the town hub, and the car park started to resemble that of a major footy game!

The lack of internet caused issues with access to food and other essential items, as community were unable to access money. Tempers were starting to flare as the outage dragged on. TDC & TY issued grocery vouchers, to enable employees to purchase much needed items, and the Post Office managed to tap into a satellite to get an ATM working to provide cash relief. Throughout the outage, the TDC team remained in good spirits, and the satellite tower brought everyone together to share some laughs amidst the chaos.

CDP Wadeye is very excited to announce the recommencement of the AFL NT Activity.

Joining this activity will give participants the opportunity to work directly with, and train under Birrigan Young, the AFL Remote Development Manager. Participants in this activity will learn skills such as: Administering the Wadeye football league, promote the Wadeye football league in the Thamarrurr region, develop promotional materials, arrange fixtures, schedule training, do line markings, participate in umpire and coaching training and liaise with community stakeholders to promote healthy lifestyles via participation in sport. Female participants are encouraged to join & engage to support the development of women’s AFL in Wadeye. Great work Lynne and Birrigan for kicking this program off.

Johanna Martin and the Ranger Women headed out to collect marine debris from the coastal edges, as they work hard to help preserve the pristine environment of the Thamarrurr Coastline.

The women were all in good spirits as they headed off, taking themselves out into the serenity of nature and removing themselves from the stressors of COVID in community. #GoRangers#

Luke Farthing and Sean Rox-burgh have been using their craftsmanship to give the Roots of Everything panels on the Old Church building a painted makeover, bringing the Da Ngimalmin Centre to life. #AwesomeWorkGuys#

The Housing & Construction team were all smiles as we rolled out vouchers in response to no ATM & cash availability.

The H&C team have been working hard constructing concrete panels for the new house builds, and not being able to access their pays was starting to wear thin. Thanks to all of our team for your patience and resilience during this tough time.

The Women’s Centre have been issuing Art Packs to people in isolation, to provide some relief to households from the boredom of being stuck at home. #ArtRelief#

TDC is rolling out its alcohol policy in the coming weeks, with the breathalyzer units arriving this week.

There will be zero tolerance to people presenting to work or driving company vehicles while over the limit, this is to help keep our people and assets safe.

Each department Manager will make the decisions around random or scheduled testing, and they will appoint authorized testers in their departments.

The workshop kicked off their testing program this week, with all staff testing themselves every morning before they start work. #SafeWork#