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headline

Epic croc battle caught on camera

A group of Northern Territory tourists caught an epic spectacle on camera when they came across two saltwater crocodiles locked in battle.

The heavyweight fight took place over the weekend in Crocodylus Park, a wildlife park in Berrimah in Darwin's east.

READ MORE: Monster crocodile caught in Darwin Harbour

The tourists were travelling on one of the park's waterways in a riverboat when they caught sight of the two big beasts going toe-to-toe.

Exclamations can be heard as the crocs entangle, with one grabbing another by the tail as it tried to climb up onto the bank before dragging it back into the water.

The crocodiles also try to catch each other in a death roll, thrashing near the boat as the operator uses an oar to prod them away.

Crocodylus Park, which opened in 1994, is dedicated to the conservation of both saltwater and freshwater crocodiles.

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The hidden face of homelessness that is growing at a terrifying rate

"Ten years ago, I was working in kitchens. I was casual. I am a single woman with no super because of my age and I left a relationship that was dysfunctional, and I was homeless."

Fiona is 62 now, and living in stable accommodation in Sydney, but that was not always the case.

She's from the largest growing group of homeless people in NSW – women over 55.

READ MORE: Pandemic to lead to sharp spike in homelessness in NSW

Lani, Fiona, and Emily in the UNSEEN project."Scruffy" Teora, Amy, and Jai.

Between 2006 and 2016 the number of women experiencing homelessness in the state increased by 75 per cent and continues to grow. There are more than 15,000 homeless women in NSW.

The pandemic has exacerbated the issue further with experts likening the situation to a ticking timebomb.

Homelessness is not just sleeping rough. It could mean living in unsuitable or unsafe temporary accommodation, staying with friends, or finding shelter at a refuge.

"We saw a lot of that through COVID – the sad reality is that women were placed in places that weren't really suitable to their needs," Monique Wiseman from Homelessness NSW told Nine.com.au.

Dr Jane Bullen, social researcher and Women's Electoral Lobby agreed, saying "perhaps men's homelessness is a little bit more visible on the street."

"We know there will be a cohort of women whose financial situation will be impacted in a longer-term way."

"A lot of women my age with different experiences would be facing the same crisis that is now like a tsunami," Fiona said.

Michelle, Isabella, and Krystal.Nadeena and Amy.

Ten years on

A decade ago, Fiona found herself living in an illegally-built shed in someone's backyard, isolated and just trying to survive "day to day".

"(In) Sydney I couldn't afford to rent a property; I couldn't compete as a single woman with causal work," she told Nine.com.au.

"Whilst I was living in the shed every night I went to the library after work, and when the library shut, I would walk back to the shed and that was my life."

Fiona now does her best to give back to her own community and said the wide-ranging issues that stem from homelessness reach far beyond not having a safe space to live.

"I would not be telling the truth if I didn't say living from day to day there's not a low-lying depression that lies beside you. It's like your shadow in some ways

"One cannot go through homelessness without being affected by depression, your self-esteem is gone, the shame, you don't want to tell anyone you're in this position," she said.

A bed is not always a safe space

Fiona believes moving into a house that was safe and secure was a turning point in her journey.

"I was very, very lucky that Women's Housing had a vacancy and that they absorbed where I had come from, they listened," she said.

"Every day for the last 10 years, every time I open that door my gratitude goes to Women's Housing.

"It's sort of like an awakening, of realising I've got so much potential, and that potential because I got this permanent housing meant I could eat properly, I had a bedroom to sleep in."

Noir and Nadina are seen here in their portraits.Susan and Amy.

UNSEEN

Today, on International Women's Day, a new project called UNSEEN launches to try and bring stories like these into the light.

It consists of a series of installations around Sydney's Circular Quay and Martin Place and some of the pieces will be exhibited later this year at Government House.

Fiona's photograph, along with those of other women who have experienced homelessness, will be printed onto the windows of a chrome car in Circular Quay for the first piece.

Belinda Mason, the lead photographer at Blur Projects, produces multi-media exhibitions that centre on people facing discrimination of many forms.

"I have worked on all different types of topics, generally taboo topics where people don't really want to talk about them," she told Nine.com.au.

Ms Mason spoke to all the women individually before taking their photographs and made sure they knew they were able to tell their stories on their own terms.

"It's important to tell these stories so there is not a normalisation of problems.

"I think because when we look for news ourselves, we get to choose, the algorithms help us make those choices and keep those choices.

"We're not really exposed to things we're not accustomed to.

"It's a very, very good way of letting the public know they can be a part of the solution."

Ms Wiseman, who has worked in the sector for many years, said more visibility was essential.

"(The project will) highlight the ongoing needs for more social housing, which is incredibly important to bring down that number across the state and across Australia."

UNSEEN launches today, March 8, 2021 and with ongoing exhibitions throughout the year. To find out more, visit the website.

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Home-going service held for late STEP Field Officer Ms. Avanel ‘Ellen’ Akers

Interment, clockwise from top: Pastor Keith Phipps officiating; Prime Minister Harris lays the first wreath; Keith Hendricks lays wreath on behalf of Skills Training Programme; Family members at the grave.

BASSETERRE, ST. Kitts — On March 4, family and friends of Ms. Avanel ‘Ellen’ Akers, who until her death last month was a Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) Field Officer, gathered for a home-going service at the House of Deliverance New Testament Church of God on Main Street in Tabernacle Village.

Prime Minister and Minister with responsibility for STEP and Area Parliamentary Representative for St Christopher Seven, Dr. the Hon Timothy Harris, joined family and friends at the service.

“I wish on behalf of my family, indeed on behalf of the Parliament to extend deepest condolences to Darlin Akers and the extended family, Akers and Williams,” said the Hon. Dr. Harris.

The Honourable Prime Minister and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Senator the Hon. Dr. Bernicia Nisbett, left Parliament, which was in session, to attend the home-going service. Also present at the service was the St. Kitts and Nevis Resident Ambassador in Cuba, Her Excellency Verna Mills, who is originally from Tabernacle Village.

“Ellen was well known in the community, well respected as a strong young lady with an independent mind, she could fight her own battles,” said Dr. Harris. “With her last job on STEP, the reports were good. She was one of the few people who could take a hard job and do what was required, and I recommend her work.

“On behalf of the entire Tabernacle community and beyond, I extend again heartiest condolences to the family as you mourn this terrible loss,” said Dr. Harris.

The home-going service was officiated by Pastor Keith Phipps, a brother of the late Ms. Avanel ‘Ellen’ Akers, who is also a STEP Field Officer, and Senior Pastor Octavia Charles-Warner. The entire STEP head office staff and field officers led by Director Emile Greene attended the service.

“Ms. Akers was one of our very outstanding field officers,” said Greene. “Given the work and changes that we are making at STEP, I can tell you we are going to miss her. But the song we are singing today is symbolic of what we can say of Ms. Akers.”

STEP staff paid tribute to their fallen colleague by rendering the song ‘What a friend we have in Jesus.’

“What a friend we have in Ellen, because many of her attributes, her kindness, her frankness, her honesty, her dedication to her work and her attributes you can find in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” said Greene. “I want us to appreciate the very good work that she has done while she was with us.”

Several glowing and moving tributes were paid, among them by her mother Ms. Iris Williams who is better known as Darlin Akers, and by Senior STEP Field Officer Jason McKoy. The eulogy was read by her niece, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Senator the Hon. Dr Bernicia Nisbett.

Interment was at the Tabernacle cemetery, where her brother Pastor Keith Phipps led the proceedings. Area Parliamentary Representative, Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris laid the first wreath followed by family members, community members and her friends. STEP’s Field Officer for Saddlers to Dieppe Bay Keith Hendricks laid a wreath on behalf of the staff of STEP.

Director of the Skills Training Empowerment Programme (STEP) Emile Greene and STEP Head Office staff members pay tribute to their fallen colleague STEP Field Officer Ms. Avanel ‘Ellen’ Akers.

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