In June, a sister city mayoral delegation from Darwin, led by Lord Mayor Peter Adamson, participated in a six day visit to Anchorage, Alaska. The delegation comprised the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Sister City Committee members. Darwin business, health, education, youth and welfare representatives joined the group on a self funded basis.
Darwin and Anchorage have been sister cities since 1982. While the two cities are at opposite extremes of the climate scale, Lord Mayor Adamson said it is the provision of facilities and services under these conditions that provides many similarities.
“I was struck by the remarkable similarities we possess as two remote cities with large resources and an Indigenous population,” he said. “Both cities share a love of sport, mining histories, strong indigenous cultures, Captain Cook and wilderness survival stories. Like Darwin, Anchorage has a military presence and as a city has to cater for families moving in and out of the area.”
Lord Mayor Adamson said showcasing Darwin as a tourist destination and promoting Northern Territory food produce and other products and services was high on the delegation’s agenda.
“Many tour operators are looking for new and exciting destinations on the north-south route from Anchorage down to Honolulu,” he said. “To extend trips down to Darwin would be an obvious choice.
“Anchorage also has its famous Fall Harvest Beer and Food Festival and we looked at ways to import such things as the Darwin Stubby and mangoes for display at the event.”
The mayoral delegation also followed up on a sports program that grew out of the Principal’s Exchange project. Coaching kits for netball, rugby and hockey were taken to Anchorage and introduced in a local school.
“The visit provided an opportunity to promote sport in young, remote and Indigenous communities and to learn about their Native Youth Olympics,” Lord Mayor Adamson said. “We also looked at the possibility of Anchorage participating in Darwin’s Arafura Games in the future.”
Other delegates followed up their areas of interest in the Scout movement, student exchange programs, tourism, work place training and early childhood development.
All delegates gained first hand experience of residential life, as their accommodation was ‘home stay’ with families in the suburbs.
