Boola Bidi Dreaming named best Aboriginal business at Bunbury Geographe Business Excellence Awards

A Harvey business which only opened at the end of last year has already made its mark, winning an award for being the region’s best Aboriginal business. Harvey Aboriginal Corporation’s Boola Bidi Dreaming Centre won the accolade at the inaugural Bunbury Geographe Business Excellence Awards hosted by the Bunbury Geographe Chamber of Commerce and Industry late last month. The centre beat Bunbury’s Ngalang Wongi Aboriginal Cultural Tours, run by Troy Bennell. Corporation board member Lesley Ugle accepted the award on behalf of the organisation, with the Harvey elder paying tribute to the business’ competitor for the award. “It’s tough competition, my nephew, but we love competition because we share it,” she said. “There’s a little T-shirt at our business. I walk past it every time I walk in the shop. It says on it ‘I have a dreaming’. It just captures everything that we’re about — not just our business, but Troy’s.” Ms Ugle expressed her pride in the business receiving the accolade. “It’s an opportunity to stand here and be proud of my people at the table, of what we’ve achieved so far,” she said. Boola Bidi opened in December on the site of the former Harvey Visitor Centre on James Stirling Place after the corporation was granted a two-year lease by the Shire of Harvey. The centre is the starting point for cultural tours, sells goods and gifts, and exhibits information, including highlighting NAIDOC Week’s nearly 50-year history.