I sat down with David and Aunty Jeanette Crew to discuss their unique journey to owning their own farm in On Country. 

Aunty Jeanette, a Wemba Wemba woman, was forcibly relocated from the mission into town during her primary school years in the 60s. We discuss her take on first hand institutional racism. We also discuss what the economics were like for her family, who primarily worked in the shearing industry; and were paid at the same rates as their non-Aboriginal counterparts. 

After being “relocated”, the standard of living was drastically affected, but Aunty kept a passion for learning and a desire to do better. After studying and years working in public service, Aunty Jeanette decided it was time to return to Country. 

In the late 90s David and Jeanette purchased the Killara property in Deniliquin. They were the first to purchase land back on Country in their local area. So surprising that onlookers assumed they had been given the land by the government. 

More recently, Killara has joined in partnership with the Outback Academy’s program called Follow the Flowers, which works alongside the Government and private sector to fund Indigenous growers to maximise their growing capacities. 

With support from the Murray-Darling Basin Economic Development Program, David and Aunty Jeanette have the much needed industry experience for turning their plot of land into a sanctuary for bees, pollinating endemic native floral, fauna, and bush foods.

They have named the farm Pandyil Farm in honour of the industrious Murray Cod.