bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Aborigines are flocking to join an elite army reconnaissance unit chiefly responsible for protecting Australia's remote northern coastline from people-smugglers, drug-runners and poachers.

However, Canberra is also eyeing its northern fringes nervously in the wake of the October 12 Bali bombings and increased fears of a terrorist threat.

A Norforce (the Northwest Mobile Force) senior officer revealed yesterday that Aboriginal men now comprised two-thirds of the 600-strong force, with 70 new recruits joining in the past year. Recruits are drawn from almost every community in the 'Top End', from the central deserts around Alice Springs to the lush Tiwi islands in the north and the rugged Kimberley wilderness area in the west.

The Aboriginal soldiers are valued for their extraordinary knowledge and ability to live off the land while leaving behind barely a trace of their presence.

Their role is to provide covert surveillance of Australia's north coast, relaying information back to Customs officers, police and the coastguard.

They are deployed in remote areas by helicopter, boat or four-wheel-drive vehicle and left to fend for themselves.

They can survive for weeks on 'bush tucker', including snakes, kangaroos, wild buffalo, dugong, freshwater barramundi fish and witchetty grubs - large caterpillars that are high in fat.

Formed in 1981, Norforce's area of operations is vast: 1.8 million sq km of savannah, bush and crocodile-infested swamp, stretching across a third of the continent, from Broome in Western Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Two similar units - the Far North Queensland Regiment and the Pilbara Regiment in Western Australia - cover the rest of northern Australia. The region they patrol is the largest area of operations of any military unit in the world.

The reserve force, in which soldiers are required to serve between 50 and 100 days a year, is at the forefront of the Australian army's efforts to increase the number of Aborigines in its ranks.

Of the 26,000 regular soldiers in the army, only about two per cent are indigenous.

Sergeant Patrick Thomas, 49, an Aborigine, said: 'A lot of whites think Aborigines are lazy - they do nothing; they have government money thrown at them and waste it. Then they see a Norforce soldier who is proud of his uniform, dynamic and full of confidence, and it makes them think twice.'

Mr Thomas said Norforce prided itself on being one of the few units that could take on the Australian SAS in military exercises.

'We find it a lot easier than white units to track them and detect them. We can just go up to the old fellas in the Aboriginal community and say, 'where are those strangers who came by last night?' They can't hide from us.'

Norforce's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Bryett, who is white, said: 'The unit is attractive to Aboriginal men because it gives them back their original status as warriors.

'A lot of their traditional skills were in danger of dying out as they came to rely more on welfare handouts. Norforce gives them self-esteem, discipline and physical fitness.'

In addition to targeting illegal fishing camps and poachers, the unit is on the lookout for 'black flights' - aircraft smuggling illegal immigrants or drugs.

Colonel Bryett said: 'This is a great part of the world. It really is the last frontier. We're the eyes and ears of northern Australia.'



Aborigines joining elite army unit