Entrants in an expanded biosecurity music competition launched this month will sing and dance their way towards $29,500 in prize money.
The second annual Caring for Country Music Competition has opened to two new states and a dance-video category been added.
The program aims to connect people and communities, particularly across northern Australia, with biosecurity practices. Northern Territorians, Queenslanders and Western Australians are eligible to enter.
Darwin duo and schoolfriends, Audrey Petschel and Ayla Johnston, were the inaugural People’s Choice winners.
“We’re so excited to enter the competition again this year,” Ayla said in their film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnQmhWSYEow
Remote Music Rangers from MusicNT are promoting the competition. Two of them, Terrah Guymala https://youtu.be/_LDs2jEkJwQ and Joseph Shannon https://youtu.be/_KKrhjZsEkM, feature in clips made for the contest.
Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity, Operations and Compliance Justine Saunders said, “Caring for Country is more than just music. It’s about being responsible stewards of the land.
“It is a joyful, creative way to bring people together, raise awareness and celebrate the roles we all play in protecting Australia from biosecurity threats.”
“Northern Australia has more than 10,000 km of sparsely populated coastline, inlets and islands. It is the entry point for many pests and diseases.”
The competition, which closes on 5 October, is a collaboration between the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Northern Territory’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Anima Co, and MusicNT.
Visit https://envirosongcomp.musicnt.com.au
Highlights from last year:
Here are reflections and tips from some of the winners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUaMvEkLE7Q
School winners, Bulman School, produced a film of their winning song that went on to win the Community Clip of the Year in the 2024 National Indigenous Music Awards: Caring for Country: Strong Bala Wei - Bulman School & Community | The Song Room
The song, in three languages - Rembarrnga, Dalabon and Kriol - is a collaboration between rangers, musicians and students. It references biosecurity practices such as burn-offs, plantings and water testing.
One student introduces the song in the clip by saying, “it’s about caring for country and each other the right way.”
The ABC NT Country Hour team wrote their own song and played it on air to boost participation. They whimsically labelled it “what could be the world’s first song about foot-and-mouth disease”. https://youtu.be/_LDs2jEkJwQ.
