On Sunday his Excellency, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia,
General the Honourable David Hurley officially opened Walgu Park in the Karratha City
Centre.
Walgu Park, meaning ‘you can come’ in Ngarluma language, provides a link between our
magnificent Red Earth Arts Precinct and the Karratha CBD, giving residents a landscaped
connection between restaurants, bars and cafes, and the library, cinema and theatre.
For visitors to our town, Walgu Park provides an inviting space, both in name and
appearance, that helps to welcome them into our community, further highlighting the
incredible architecture of the Red Earth Arts Precinct and helping to activate Sharpe Avenue
from beginning to end.
This year is being celebrated by The United Nations General Assembly as the ‘International
Year of Indigenous Languages’ to raise awareness of the crucial role languages play in
people’s daily lives. In Australia, Aboriginal languages are the first spoken yet they are
amongst some of the most endangered in the world.
We hope that by embracing Ngarluma language through place naming throughout our towns
we can help to preserve this incredible element of culture.
I would like to thank our funding partners who supported this project – the Australian
Government’s National Stronger Regions Fund and the State Government’s Royalties for
Regions program administered by the Pilbara Development Commission.
I hope you enjoy this lovely new community space in our city centre.
Walgu – you can come.