MrTakamitsuTanabe
3−10−34Shimoda−Chou
Kouhoku−ku，Yokohama−Shi223−0064

JAPANDuringtheMay2017SittingsoftheNorthemTerritoryLegisiativeAssemblylspokeintheadjournmentsectiononmattersreievanttomyeiectorateandtheruraiarea・Thecontentsof

this speech centred on theiife and taIent ofiate Mr MitsuakiTanabe and his stunnlng
SCuIpturesonthegranitebouidersatM°untBundy，

Asyouwerementionedinthisspeech，Ithoughtyou mightlikeacopyofwhatwassaid・This speech and contents wiii forever be on the Pariiamentary Record of theNorthemTerritoryofAustraIia，

rsSincereIy

On Kezia

PurickMLA

Speaker／／づMay2017MsPURICK（Goyder）：MadamActingDeputySpeaker，yeSlamback・TonightIw川Speakabouta
veryspecialplaceinmyelectorateandsomeveryspeciaIpeopIeassociatedwiththatspeciaipIace・

ThisspecialpiaceistuckedawayinthebushalittlewaypasttheCorroboreeTavern・lfyoueverget

theopportunitytovisitthescuipturesonthegranitebouidersyouw川bebIownawaybythesheer
sizeofthescuIpturesengraVedorchippedintotherocks，byhandlmustadd・Theyaresimpiystunningandmindboggling8−VentheleveIofwork′SWeat′prObabIysomebloodanddedicationgivenbyonespeciaimancalledMitsuakiTanabefromYokohamainJapan・Thekey

scuIptureonthemainfeatureofthewhoIecollectionofthemisan82Squaremetrescuiptureofgrainofw囲riceandyes，itsoundsunusualandIwⅢexplaininaIittlewhilethemeaningand
significance・Othersculptureintheareaincludegreenants′Iizards′Withstyiegrubs′fIower′Smallricegrainsandwordswithspecialmea…ngS′butbyfarthemostamazingpleCeisthe82metrelong
SCulpturecarvedintothegraniterocks．

SadIyMitsuakipassedawayacoupIeofyearsago′buthisIifeiegacy′andextraordinarytalentsasan

artist，teaCher，fatherandseniorJapaneseCuituralmanw旧iveforever・

ThroughouthisiifeMitsuakiwasamanwithexceptionaItalent′anenVironmentaIist′ateaCher′amaster，aStubbornman，atOughmanandmanwithdrive，PaSSionandvision，・Forthepasttwenty
yearsofhislifeMitsuakicreatedscuipturesthemedonasinglemotif′agrainoftice′buttherice

seIectswasnotthecommonorgardensortthatpeopleeatathomeandoutinrestaurants，nOtit
wasthemotherofalIrice，thewiIdvarietythatistheancestorsoftoday

scultivatedricewhichis

believedtohavebeensproutingonthispianetfornolessthanlOOOOyears・

TheTerritoryhashadthiswildriceontheAdeIaideRiverfloodplains′andsomeexpertssaythatour

wild ricehastraveiledfromthetoppartofAustraiia，mOVedacrossAsia headingnorthandthencrosstheAtlanticOceantotheAmericasanddownintotheSouthAmericas．Thisisnotmesaylng
this，thisistheexpertswhomusthaveaninterestingjobtotrackthemovementofwildrice・

Mitsuaki，aSanartistwasinspiredbythewiidrice・Hewantedtoshowcasethevisualimpactofthericeandalsotoieadpeopietounderstandtheimportanceofbiodiversity′SuChasthatthewildrice

cancontinuetogrowandprosper，hisworkhasbeenhousedinimportantplacesalIaroundthe
globe，SuChastheGIobaICropDiversityTrustatitsheadquartersintheUNfoodandagriculturaIorganisationin Rome，Which hasastrongIongwiththeSvalbardgIobalseedvaultinwhichitis

invoIvedwiththeNorwegiangOVernmentandtheNordicgenebank・

TodigressfromMitsuakiforamoment，butitisreIatedtohisstory・

Theseedvauitwhichopenedaround2008hasthecapacitytohouse4・5msampies′amOuntingto

Mitsuaki

sstainIesssteeiscuiptureofan unhulledricepleCeSeenisnine metresIongmCiudinga

SPear、Iike whisker extending fromits tip，a feature peculiar to wiLd rice．Weighing about

250kiIograms，thecompletedworkwasshippedtoRometobehouseinthefaciiity．Mitsuakineverdidanythingbyhan，bigandboldwashistrademarkandIinkedtopreservingbiodiversity．

SobacktotheMtBundysculpturesandstory，howdidMitsuakicometotheoutbackoftheTerritory
OVertenyearSagO．BestlhavefoundhetraveliedtheworldinsearchoftheoriginSOfthewildrice
and asIsaid earlier，We have them right here on our flood plainsin the Northern Territory．

Sometimeintheearly2005therewasabiodiversityinitiativefeaturingthew潤ricefieldsandithad

CaughttheattentionofMitsuakiTanabe．FromJapan，arequeStCamethroughfromtheAustralianembassyinJapantoenqu−rethepossib冊YOfcarvIngintoourgraniterocks．MurrayHirewhowasa

formerdirectorofthedepartmentofindustryanddeveIopmentwasthecontactatthetimeand
COntaCtWaSmadewithhimastheheadofdepartment．

TalksstartedandtwolaterMitsuakitraveliedtoDarwinandthentoMtBundytoexpIoretherocks
andtodeterminewhathecouIddO．Fo再he￣nexttenyeaTs，hededicated，if市Otabitcrazyinsome
PeOPles

mind，hetraveIiedtotheTerritoryforamontheachyearandworkedeverydayintheheat

WithhandheIdchiseIs，adiamondcutterandasmalIgeneratorpoweredgrinder，tOCarVeOutWhat
isnowamasterpleCeandalegacyforhisfamiIyandtributetothewildrice．

ihave beentothesiteafewtimesandlcan reiiablyreportthatgraniterocksstoremuch heat，

andworkingongraniterockswouid have been hotterthanthehubsofheILitiscieartomenowthat MitsuakisawthatwiId rice wasone ofthe niain foodsofmankind．He understood thatfor

breedinggoodspeciesofriceforcommercialharvest，SOmetimesyouneedtogobacktothewiId
SPeCiesiookatthewiIdgenepooiandwhyithasbeensosuccessfui．

Mitsuakiunderstoodtheneedforpreservingthewildspeciesandhabitatofwiidspecies．Duringhis

timein theTerritory，Mitsuakistayed at the Corroboree Tavern and became good friends withOWnerSPeterand Lynda Francisandtheiocaiswhofrequentedthepub．Attheendofa hardday
CarVinginthe heat，Mitsuakiwas knownto enjoya coidiewithfriendsand talkofmanythings．
DuringhisvisitsGregLeach，formerChiefBotanistvisitedthesiteandsharedmanyenJOyabletimes
WithMitsuaki．NotoniyatthesitebutIaterintheevenIng．

WhenMitsuakidiedunexpectedIyin2014naturaiiytherewasgreatsadnessexperiencedbyalIwho
knewhimespecia‖y師sfamily・TheIong82metrew潤ricecarvlngWaiunf而ishedandmanyt摘ught
thatwas howit would remain．When his son Taka came to understand theimportance ofthe
SCulpturetohisfather，hetraveIIedtoAustraiiawithanartistwhohadworkedwithhisfatheronthe

PieCeWiththemissionofcompIetingtheworkofhisfather．

Sotheworkiscompiete′Takahasensuredthathisfather′Svisionanddedicationtothepreservation
Ofw冊riceiswithusforever・ltwasn

tjustabouttheart，itwasabouttheconservationofwiIdrice，

the conservation ofwild animals andinsects astheycoIlectively areimportanttothe whoIe
environmentandthesurvivalofhumanbeings．

incIos−ng′giVentheu…queneSSOfthisworkandtheinternationalaccIaimoftheartist，lwilibe

Seekingsupportfromthegovernment′mOStiikelythroughtourismtohavethesiterecognisedasan
importantpartofouriandscapeandputmeasuresinpIacetoprotecttheintegrityofthescu−ptures，

makesurethereisnogra冊tiorrubbishspreadaroundandtohaveappropriates−gnage・Someofthe

SCuIpturesareontheMcKiniayStationandtheownersofthelandaresupportiveofprotectingthe
WOrkandensuringthateveryonecanenjOytheworkofaremarkableman，MitsuakiTanabe．

IseekleavetotabIeanarticie，ScuIpturebyMitsuakiTanabeinFarlnternationaISeedVauit．