"We didn't see the colour"

Inspirational Grandma of the month

Judy Freeman

The true challenge for innovators is pioneering new horizons and having their creation accepted. Our Inspirational Grandma of the month is Judy Freeman who together with husband Don created Tjapukai, the first ever Aboriginal Cultural Tourist Attraction and by doing so pioneered an industry.

We arrive at Judy's home in Kuranda. Kuranda is situated in Far North Queensland above the township of Cairns, it is late in spring and already the humidity in town is oppressive.

Immediately our glasses are filled with a cold crisp white and we wander barefoot down to the river. Judy's own private beach, complete with picnic tables and "friendly" fresh water crocodiles.

Sitting beside the river sipping and chatting and laughing we swap brief histories and search for similarities the way friends do - a gentle breeze blows to create the perfect temperature and dismiss the humidity so prevalent in this part of the world.

One could be forgiven for thinking and saying "You are so lucky, Judy" but luck has nothing to do with it. It's about dreaming. Having the dream and desiring the dream so strongly you can taste and smell it. So strong is the dream that nay sayers are but water off a duck's back. See that dream, not as a dream but of part of your personal reality, your destiny. It is a "knowing" and a sense of completeness, that this is why you are here.

There is a moment when the light bulb goes off the 'aha' moment, logic leaves you and the instinct to follow that dream is overwhelming. You know in that instant that it is "right for you" .

Don't go after instant gratification, savour the journey with all its ups and downs and finally once the dream is achieved "let go" when the time is right - so that new dreams will come.

Aboriginal tourism has been so much a vital part of the tourism industry and promotion of Australia to overseas visitors - it is difficult to imagine a time that it did not exist. But until Judy and Don arrived on our shores with their own heads full of ideas and dreams this indeed was the status quo.

"We didn't see the colour of the faces - just the potential" says Judy.

"Twenty years ago Cairns was a very different place. Cane cockys were the ruling majority - tourism a mere after-thought.

As far as tourism was concerned The Great Barrier Reef - was all there was.

We didn't fit in - then we discovered Kuranda"

With a background in musical theatre Judy and Don decided to put on a couple of shows in their newly adopted home.

"Massive productions" Judy explains, "With one hundred and fifty people involved"

What is your secret to achieving seemingly impossible dreams and success generally?

To illustrate this Power of One further - Judy relates her bridge building story. Now most people use the term "bridge building" metaphorically but in Judy's case the meaning is quite literal.

The Baron River would rise to flood levels every summer wet season.   The old bridge would be completely under water and the only way across would be by boat. Isolation however was not an option for the 100 or so families living on the non-town side of the river. Apart from the obvious need to obtain various supplies, there was always the matter of getting the children to and from school - every weekday.

Everyday - often in a torrential downpour the families would gather on one side of the river and climb into their various water craft to challenge the dangerous currents of the Baron River at its peak. As well as the vessels occupants i.e. the parents and their children, all belongings had to be wrapped in plastic waterproofing to ensure a safe passage.   The boats would remain on the school side all day awaiting the children's return at the end of the day.

Imagine if you will, having to take your children to school and back under those conditions everyday for at least two months of the year. It was a nightmare, and the annoying thing was that it could have been avoided if the existing bridge were just that little bit higher.

Beaurocracy as most of us know, will only bend to the will of the people, when pressure comes both consistently and persistently and with civil action.

The flooded bridge problem however was transient. So that, although the population actively and loudly complained during those two months of annual flooding, as soon as the river subsided so did their motivation and their voice.... That was until Judy Freeman thought enough is enough and decided to rally the troops for a more consistent onslaught.  

Judy relentlessly continued the campaign to build a better bridge right through the dry months and into the winter, through the spring and through yet another wet season. The power of one finally made its mark and the beaurocrats bent to the pressure and the bridge was built.

No longer would Judy have to hear the words "Mum I forgot my homework" while trying to negotiate halfway across the swirling turbulent waters of the Baron River.  

But that was not the first time Judy had had to battle with the government machinery.

Even getting here to Australia was an exercise in perseverance of Biblical Proportions. We mostly take living in Australia for granted but Judy and Don had to travel around the world to get back into Australia. It took them 12 months, and I for one am glad they never gave up their quest to live here permanently.

You started an industry in a foreign country, you've built bridges - literally, you've traveled the globe, you sit on numerous boards for tourism and indigenous peoples, you have even entertained the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip - and most recently you have become a grandmother. How do you like being the grandmother?

"When the baby was born" Judy's tells me, "my daughter, although acknowledging the fact that we have an excellent relationship as mother and daughter, told me in no uncertain terms that she would be setting the "rules" and that there would be no room for interference."

How did you feel about that?

"I am proud that I have raised an independent soul and comfortable in the knowledge that my daughter knows she can contact me when and if she needs my advice. - Meanwhile I have this gorgeous grandchild to adore."

So you have never interfered?

Well, there was just this once - but it was before the baby was born. We were out shopping for a pram, when the shop assistant started discussing the pros and cons of a particularly expensive model. I listened patiently, biting my tongue recalling visions of my own daughter sitting happily in a $20 umbrella stroller being pushed around the supermarket. The shop assistant then began to demonstrate the various machinations and physical attributes of the vehicle. But when she stated that the deluxe model was so because it was better for your baby's physical development. When she asked my daughter "You wouldn't want your child to grow up with a bad back?" a question loaded deliberately with guilt - I had to step in.

"Enough!" I think I yelled said Judy. I looked at the shop assistant and in a very loud voice so that all the mothers-to-be could hear said "Do you realize that 99.999% of babies in this world will NEVER ride in any sort of pram let alone this model? And if it is the case that NOT buying this pram will result in a baby having a bad back, why do you not have a bad back, or my daughter who spent her perambulatory years in a cheap umbrella stroller? Who is this stroller really for, the parents as a status symbol or the baby's health? Don't fool yourselves."

My daughter did not buy the pram.

Judy believes that the world is already to full of consumables - too many discarded perfectly good toys and the like. I swore then and there that I would never buy my grandchild anything "new" on principle.

The public are constantly made to feel guilty or substandard should they not have the latest technologies available. They are quite literally conned by the propaganda.