A group of Indigenous Kingaroy students said they were inspired to take a greater role in looking after Country following a four-day cultural camp in the Bunya Mountains during the month of July.
Year 11 and 12 students at Kingaroy State High School ventured out to the Bunyas between Tuesday 15 and Friday 18 July to learn about Indigenous land management practices, cultural activities and mateship.
The group of 12 students was led by KSHS Indigenous education counsellor Toni Phillips-Petersen, who started the tradition of annual cultural camps in the Bunya Mountains in 2023.
This year, the attending students undertook a weaving workshop, learned how to conduct smoking ceremonies, and also got in amongst the natural beauty of the Bunyas for some hands-on labour.
Along the way the camp’s participants learned from the Bunya People’s Aboriginal Corporation’s Murri Rangers and networked with staff from apprenticeship provider MEGT as well as TAFE Queensland.
Ms Phillips-Petersen recounted how the annual camps first came about.
“I was sick of seeing crap on TV about youth,” she said.
“People just had this perception of youth and how bad they are, how entitled they are.
“I know that, at my school, I work with good kids. I trust them, they trust me, and we’ve got good relations together.
“There are a few programs that get a lot of funding. I thought ‘well, I can’t compete with that, but what can I do as an Indigenous education counsellor to give back to my kids?'” she continued.
“Having connections with the Murri Rangers I got yarning with them. The Bunyas are a significant place for our Aboriginal people – they’re a big meeting place.”
From these initial conversations the Kingaroy educator built what would become the first cultural camp in 2023 – an idea which quickly found support among the school’s Indigenous students.
“When I told the kids about this [the camp] they said ‘Toni, we got you, we can do this’,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said.
“That was it – there was no doubting. Every year since, there’s been no doubting.”
On the second-to-last day of the 2025 camp, the attending students worked alongside BPAC’s Murri Rangers to clear a section of hilly grassland of wattle trees, which were hindering the rangers’ cultural burning plans.
The students used power tools and cutters to chop down the trees, listening to music and chatting away as they worked.
Ms Phillips-Petersen quickly joined in on the fun – and soon enough, the air was filled with laughter as she and her students joked and played pranks on one another.
“I’ve known some of these kids since they were in primary school,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said.
“I’m proud to bring them along. It’s hard yakka – but the fact I can work side-by-side with these kids builds respect.
“The kids take pride in doing something like this,” she said.
“We don’t see it as hard work – instead it’s something fun to do,” said Kingaroy Year 12 student Billy Little on the day.
Billy shared that he learned a lot from the Murri Rangers during the four-day camp at the Bunyas, going on to say he now felt inspired to pursue a career in the forest service.
He added that the camp united him and his classmates.
“Most of us here, we don’t really talk to each other in school,” Billy said.
“This camp – and our culture – has really brought us together.”
Fellow Year 12 student Allira McAdam agreed.
“Being all together is nice; we’ve really come together as a family and are closer as friends as a result,” she said.
“It’s fun because we’re with our friends. We have good conversations.
“We’re getting comfortable in our own skin. You find a lot of good moments when you’re just chilling out and having conversations,” she said.
Both students said that, while they had visited the Bunya Mountains in the past they had never taken an active role in caring for the area’s environment.
The four-day camp, they agreed, helped them form a closer and more active connection with their country.
“It’s a pretty good experience,” Allira said of the camp.
“I’ve never got my hands this dirty!”
“For those students to say things like that, because they see the good the Murri Rangers are doing, is great,” Ms Phillips-Petersen said afterwards.
“They can become anything they want.
“That’s what it’s all about: caring for Country, and giving back.
“People need to see a different side of young kids – our youth – but also Indigenous kids,” she added.
“It’s imperative people see and hear this. It’s beautiful, it’s inspiring.”
The Murri Rangers, themselves, were also grateful for the assistance as well as the chance to pass their cultural knowledge on to the next generation of Indigenous leaders.
“It’s always much appreciated to get more people on Country to work,” said BPAC forest health officer Adrian Bauwens.
“We’re practicing culture up here which is really important for the kids,” he added.
“I think it’s very good for the young ones coming up to get that exposure, get inspired.”
