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Island Fettlers (2006)

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clip Leaving Island homes education content clip 2

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The bright tropical colours of the coastline of Darnley Island, Torres Strait. Island men bid their families and community farewell. Voice-over narration tells of the choice to go to Western Australia to provide for their families. Historical footage of railway lines in the desert. The colours are now sepia and hot, quite a contrast to the bright colours of the Torres Strait. Titles come up that say 'The Pilbara Region, North Western Australia’. Large earth moving machinery carves up the land. Titles state, 'In the 1960s, Western Australia’s growing mining industry needed thousands of kilometres of railway built to transport ore and minerals from remote mines in the desert to port towns on the coast. Already regarded as amongst the best and hardest working fettlers, hundreds of Torres Strait men left their homes to build these railways. Their work and skill led them to break a world record in tracklaying. It has never been beaten since. When the work was over, many returned to the Islands. A handful chose to stay.’

Curator’s notes

by Romaine Moreton

A part of history that many Australians would be unaware of, Island Fettlers introduces us to the experiences of Torres Strait people who, in leaving their island homes to work, contributed to the infrastructure of the Australian nation.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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