Australian Story: Mar 31

Australian of the Year Adam Goodes introduces Monday’s Australian Story on Percy Trezise, passionate about rock art in Far North Qld.

When airline pilot, explorer and artist Percy Trezise heard about the discovery, by road workers, of some amazing rock art in Far North Qld he set off to find it.

What he didn’t know back then in 1960 was that he would soon become a vital link in the broken chain of knowledge around the stunning and abundant rock art.

The rock art sites, known as the Quinkans, are larger than Kakadu or the Kimberley rock art.

They are described as one of the ten most important assemblies of rock art in the world and stretch back over 35,000 years. The pictures document and communicate day to day life and have been described as a form of ‘Stone Age Social Media’.

Percy Trezise moved into the wilderness with his wife and made it his life’s work to discover, record and understand the rock art. He worked closely with Aboriginal elders and formed a bond with legendary artist Dick Roughsey.

It’s a mission that his sons Matt and Steven have taken over with equal passion and commitment in the next generation.

Now in their sixties, they are at a crossroads and increasingly weary of the responsibilities and the isolation.

The big question: what do they do with the huge body of knowledge they have acquired over the last 40 odd years and their rock art visiting enterprise?

There are 18 Trezise grandchildren but none of them are passionate enough to face the privations of living in the pristine wilderness to conduct guiding tours or make further studies.

And then there are issues around mining exploration and efforts to confer the protection of World Heritage status.

Monday March 31, 8pm on ABC1