Cabbage Tree Island community dispersed during the February-March 2022 Northern Rivers flooding, remain in limbo twenty months later

Echo, 10 November 2023:

Member for Ballina Tamara Smith MP is today calling on the NSW Premier and the Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Harris to undertake an urgent and independent review of the NSW government’s decision not to allow the residents of Cabbage Tree Island to return to live on the island after the 2022 floods.

Cabbage Tree Island is a discrete Aboriginal community located on the Richmond River, between Broadwater and Wardell, part of the Bundjalung Nation. At the time of the 2022 floods there were 220 Aboriginal people living on the island. Their homes are rented from Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council, who own and manage the land on behalf of the Aboriginal community.

As Tamara Smith points out, since April 2022 the former Liberal National government, (and since March 2023 the current NSW Labor government) have claimed that they have consulted appropriately with the Cabbage Tree Island community, and that as Aboriginal people it would be the community of Cabbage Tree Island that would be determining their own future.

Promises

Former Premier Dominic Perrottet promised the community of Cabbage Tree Island that they could rebuild their homes on the island and go home. This was also promised by the CEO of Jali Land Council Chris Binge.

However, in a letter to Jali Land Council on 25 August 2023 the NSW Department of Planning and Environment removed the decision from Jali, by saying that the government would not financially support a rebuild on the island for residential purposes.

Last Tuesday, Tamara Smith attended with NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs David Harris and Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin a series of meetings with Cabbage Tree Island community members and other key Aboriginal organisations in the Ballina electorate.

She says it became patently clear that the people who are being dispossessed of their homes – the 24 families – have had almost no voice or agency in the process that saw the government intervene and deny them the option of returning home to the island.

Ms Smith told The Echo, ‘I heard directly from families on Tuesday and over the months since the decision that all but a few of the community want to return home to the island. They have been denied self determination and agency in their own lives and it is unacceptable....

Bridge to Cabbage Tree Island. Photo Tree Faerie.

‘I have seen the Water Technology report that the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs commissioned at the behest of Jali Land Council to investigate options for the families to return to the island and there is a very clear pathway outlined for a return to the island.

‘Why then did the Labor government override Aboriginal self-determination and processes at the 11th hour?’ she asks.

‘I have had reported to me over the last 16 months repeated instances of failures in the consultation processes leading to the decision including only junior bureaucrats representing agencies and ministries throughout the process despite the seriousness of the situation, and the devastating trauma and impact of any decision on the Cabbage Tree Island community,’ said Tamara Smith.

Shameful

‘Why has the Labor government lied to the community and put traumatised people though a long process of so-called consultation only to dictate their fate in the end?

‘It is shameful and a review of the whole process over the last 17 months must be undertaken immediately before it is too late, and to allow for the voices of the residents and community who lived on the island to have their voices heard by government,’ concluded the Ballina MP.....

Read the full article at:

https://www.echo.net.au/2023/11/mp-tamara-smith-calls-for-halt-on-cabbage-tree-island-dispossession/

BACKGROUND

NORTH COAST VOICES:

MONDAY, 4 APRIL 2022

Cabbage Tree Island 2 April - post Northern NSW Floods Feb-March 2022 the island community's homes are in ruin and its families scattered and longing to return home

https://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2022/04/cabbage-tree-island-2-april-post.html

MONDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2023

Nineteen long months after record flooding swept across much of the NSW Northern Rivers region and the future of Cabbage Tree Island is still unresolved

https://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2023/10/nineteen-long-months-after-record.html

Tweet of the Week

 

From Paul Kelly (FB) pic.twitter.com/Kvobo6kPUZ

— noeline purdy (@ozwildflower) August 29, 2023

 

The remains of five Ancestors have been returned to the Yaegl people of the Clarence Valley, NSW

 

NSW Dept.of Planning and Environment, News & Media, 7 July 2023:

Honouring the Past, Healing the Present: Yaegl Ancestors Finally Rest on Country

7 July 2023

Yaegl Repatriation 
Credit: Jamie Williams Photography

The remains of 5 ancestors have been returned to the Yaegl people of northern New South Wales, with a significant cultural ceremony honouring their repatriation back to Country.

Yaegl Repatriation

The repatriation ceremony took place at the Yaegl Nature Reserve, just north of Grafton near Maclean, which was the designated burial site identified by the Yaegl community.

The repatriation follows the Australian Museum's decision to release 3 Ancestors to be returned to Yaegl country for a proper burial, along with 2 Ancestors who were voluntarily handed over to National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) by a local landowner who expressed the importance of ensuring their proper care.

The Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (registered Native Title Group and nominated representatives) led the repatriation of their Old Peoples remains to ensure the burial was in line with their traditions and cultural practices.

The Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation worked closely with Heritage NSW, which provided assistance in the planning stages of returning the remains and coordinating the repatriation.

The repatriation is a significant occasion, marking a milestone in the ongoing reconciliation and healing process, and honouring the ancestral connection between the Yaegl people and their traditional lands.

Billy Walker, General Manager for Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation on behalf of Yaegl Elders group:

"The Yaegl people witnessed the return and repatriation of our Ancestors. Our Ancestors are at eternal rest now they have been returned to their traditional lands."

Sam Kidman, Executive Director Heritage NSW:

"The repatriation of the Yaegl Ancestors stands as a testament to the importance of recognising the rights and aspirations of Indigenous peoples, their cultural heritage, and the fundamental connection between land, people, and spirit."

Laura McBride, Director, First Nations, Australian Museum:

"The Australian Museum is committed to be a cultural leader and advocate for First Nations history and peoples, and as part of this commitment has identified the repatriation of Ancestral Remains as a corporate strategic priority. We are honoured to have helped facilitate the return of Yaegl Ancestors and continue to support First Nations communities to get their Old People home."

The Day Before.....

Tomorrow is Thursday, 26th January 2023. As a mark of respect for First Nations communities across Australia North Coast Voices will not be posting that day.

17 Jan 17 2023

First Nations dance theatre Marrugeku have collaborated with Noongar rapper Beni Bjah on an Australian take on Childish Gambino’s provocative 2018 hit This Is America.

This Is Australia is a blistering tirade against First Nations incarceration, deaths in custody and Australia's treatment of asylum seekers. Filmed on the lands of the Bunuba people in Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley, and directed by Marrugeku's artistic directors Dalisa Pigram and Rachael Swain, the video features Marrugeku performers and locals, and is packed with references to Australian history and recent events….

 

Cartoon of the Week

Cathy Wilcox

Tweet of the Week

#BREAKING: Tiwi Traditional Owner Dennis Tipakalippa has won his landmark case over Santos’ approvals to drill precious Tiwi Sea Country!

The Federal Court of Australia has found that Santos failed to consult Traditional Owners as required. pic.twitter.com/WXcHLWRH1s

— Environmental Defenders Office (@EDOLawyers) September 21, 2022

National Reconciliation Week 2022 is happening 27 May - 3 June 2022

The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme, “Be Brave. Make Change.” is a challenge to all Australians— individuals, families, communities, organisations and government—to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians.

Last year Reconciliation Australia encouraged all Australians to take action; not just in National Reconciliation Week but every week of the year.

We saw unprecedented response to our suggested actions for everyday and for braver action.

This year we are asking everyone to make change beginning with brave actions in their daily lives – where they live, work, play and socialise.

National Reconciliation Week—27 May to 3 June—is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Find out more about National Reconciliation Week #NRW2022 #BeBraveMakeChange 

Source: https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/

Lismore City Council began its new local government 4 year-term term in earnest at an Ordinary Monthly Meeting at 6pm on 8 February 2022. It quickly went downhill....

Banyam Baigham, The Sleeping Lizard
Images: Change.org & David Lowe

With little forewarning Lismore City Council Business Paper for its Ordinary Monthly Meeting of 8 February 2022 contained a Notice of Motion which shocked and alarmed the Widjabul Wia-bal People, traditional owners of the unceded lands on which Lismore local government asserts a jurisdictional right, as well as shocking a good many residents in the wider community of the Lismore area and across Northern New South Wales. 

Motion 10.7 North Lismore Plateau read thus:

Councillor Big Rob has given notice of intention to move:

That:

1. Council take no further action in relation to its decision of 13 July 2021 (Item BP21/567) to hand back all Council owned land at the North Lismore Plateau to the traditional owners;

2. staff prepare suitable information and budget estimates for consideration in the upcoming Operational Plan and budget process to investigate options for Council to realise a financial return on its R1 zoned land at the North Lismore Plateau;

3. the information above include an analysis of Council’s obligations and associated costs to rehabilitate the quarry having regard to the North Lismore Quarry End Use Plan 2012, the North Lismore Quarry Rehabilitation Plan 2012, with a particular focus on the E2 and E3 zoned land;

and

4. Council provide in principle support to transfer ownership of the E2 and E3 zoned land owned by Council at the North Lismore Plateau to the traditional owners and prepare budget estimates and supporting information to allow further consideration of this matter in the upcoming Operational Plan and budget process.  [my yellow highlighting]

The initial public reactions was two-fold - an online petition and a public meeting.

Big crowd on hand to support Widjabul Wia-bal People in their fight to see North Lismore Plateau returned to them as the Lismore Council promised last year. pic.twitter.com/JzBztv4zuq

— Michael Bennett (@nthistorian) February 8, 2022

The Lismore Council meeting was webcast at 6pm and the following Twitter stream of consciousness from among those watching began in the hour before the meeting opened and once the relevant item was reached.

• Do Lismore City councilors realise if they go forward /w assent in any form of Motion 10.7 North Lismore Plateau at tonight's Ordinary Monthly Meeting then Council will likely be subject of least 2 formal complaints to NSW Office of Local Government & to Minister? @WendyTuckerman

• Have signed petition, downloaded business paper & attachment & opened a screen to listen to Lismore Council Ordinary Meeting at 6pm. I am seriously pissed off with Lismore City councillors!

• I think the SK team will get the shits with Big Rob calling all the shots. This might be the turning point. (Noticed Nimbin GT labelled it Big Robbery).

• this is not the only issue being tabled. The Sleeping Lizard agenda will attract much attention and the response may surprise this arrogant new council and mayor. The newly elected council are all in for a tough time and deservedly so.

• What a way for the new Lismore City Council to start its local government term 😂😂😂

• Uncle Mickey Ryan just presented a petition of 25,000 people to the Lismore Council meeting.

He expressed his thanks to all that have shown their support.

• Way to go! Opponents of Motion 10.7 North Lismore Plateau politely & carefully raised the prospect of racist intent. The colonialist attitude of take what you want & let First Nations live on the scraps you don't want was written all over it #LismoreCityCouncil

• Not normally a fan of watching Council meetings but that was superb.

• One LGA resident told Lismore City councilors that if they voted for Motion 10.7 North Lismore Plateau they will be on the wrong side of history & another told councilors who might support this motion that it looked as through they intended to "steal" the land a second time.

• Yet another LGA resident told councillors Motion 10.7 North Lismore Plateau is a test of their personal characters & referred to colonial attitudes towards First Nations peoples.

• I never thought watching a Lismore City Council meeting would bring me so much joy. The deputations are on fire! #landrights #reconciliation #SleepingLizard #GiveItBack

• OMG! Motion 10.7 Lismore Plateau is being changed on the run before being voted on - the details clearly demonstrating one particular councilor has no idea what spiritual connection to Country actually means. #OdiousDestructiveColonialismIsAliveAndWellAtLismoreCouncil

• And the newby Mayor is making it worse!

• Elly doing best to stop the mess that Cr. Rob created

• Sheesh Mayor Krieg is totally out of his depth.

• Yes. Caught the last 5 minutes. BR reading the meeting code and getting it totally wrong.

The Mayor’s got even less of an idea. It’s pathetic.

• He thought he knew how to chair a meeting because he was a school teacher. Oh well, reality strikes.

• I just witnessed so many breaches of the meeting code of practice, I don’t know where you would start a complaint.

• A certain Lismore City councilor is calling the Sleeping Lizard "a piece of crap land" then tries to walk it back and blame others a la Scotty Morrison.

• Oh please, someone save those new Lismore City councilors from themselves before they wreck this particular local government. A 5 minute break has been called in the OGM

• I honestly fear for Lismore City Council. If it continues breaching Code of Meeting Practice & Practice Notes it will be under administration before June.

• Motion 10.7 North Lismore Plateau before Lismore City Council at OGM 8 Feb 2022 failed decidedly! No-one except the mover voted for it.

• And the motion goes down.

• It should never have been contemplated, let alone put to a vote. This kind of shit harms people.

That said, I’m glad it was voted down.

• 9-1! Excellent news.

• Good news

• Finally, in spite of the Lismore City Mayor & Cr. Rob the experienced councillors finally put the issue of Motion 10.7 to bed.

• Honestly I have never witnessed new local government councillors anywhere undertake such a sustained insult of First Nations culture, lore & law #LismoreCityCouncil

• To see the response to Lismore council brings strength to my soul. Thank you to everyone who has helped.

Yessss pic.twitter.com/TP6Ukvbbq5

— sᴉɹɹǝℲ ǝllǝɥɔoɹ (@OzEcology) February 8, 2022

*

National Parks & Wildlife consulting over future of Wollumbin summit track

 

Wollumbin
IMAGE: Visit North Coast NSW

Echo NetDaily, 22 January 2021:

A number of traditional custodians of the sacred site have called for non-Indigenous people to refrain from undertaking the five-hour trek.

Up to 100,000 people climb the mountain each year, according to tourism data. However, some leave rubbish such as soiled toilet paper by the side of the track and at the stunning peak.

The track has been closed for much of the past year owing to COVID-19, and it now appears it may stay that way.

A safety audit and an engineering assessment conducted during the closure have identified significant safety issues with the final climb to the Wollumbin summit.

These include an ‘extreme risk of landslide, rockfall and failure of the chain section of the track’.

A spokesperson from the National Parks and Wildlife Service said the current closure had been extended, at least until May.

Tellingly, the spokesperson also said that the future of the summit track was now under consideration.

This was being done in consultation with various key stakeholders, including the traditional owners of the site.

‘We understand that locals and visitors may be disappointed by the extended closure, however our main priority must always be to ensure the safety of visitors and staff,’ the spokesperson said.

‘We will now consider the future of the Summit track, in consultation with key community and tourism stakeholders, including Aboriginal Elders and knowledge holders.’

Wollumbin, which means ‘cloud catcher’ in some Aboriginal languages, is a traditional place of cultural law, initiation and spiritual education for the people of the Bundjalung Nation.

Under Bundjalung law, only certain people can climb the summit.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service asks visitors to respect the wishes of the local Indigenous mob and ‘avoid climbing this very difficult track’.

Perspectives on Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook's one-word change to the 36 year-old* Australian national anthem

Luke Person writing at Indigenous X on 1 January 2021:

Last night the Morrison government announced that they were changing the national anthem, to be more inclusive of Indigenous peoples and of migrants (the not white ones anyways), by changing a single word, ‘young’. It’s now ‘one’.

We are one and free.

We are One Nation.

Pauline must be stoked.

This, from the same political party who every Invasion Day assure us that Indigenous peoples aren’t interested in meaningless symbolic gestures like Australia no longer throwing a party on the anniversary of invasion, are now confident that Indigenous peoples will be so excited about this meaningless symbolic change that presumably we will no longer refuse to sing it at national sporting events.

Changing the anthem from ‘young’ to ‘one’ is not only problematic because it’s symbolic tokenism aimed at silencing dissent that completely misses the nature of the dissent in the first place, but it’s also problematic because it’s the same wrongly labelled ‘one’ as the one made famous by ‘One Nation’.

The original version of ‘we are one’ was a view of multiculturalism which tried to encourage white Australia away from its traditional view of a fair go meaning ‘if your skin ain’t fair, you gots to go’ and to accept instead the notion that we could be ‘one nation with many cultures’.

This was quickly co-opted by racist ideologues who replaced that sentiment with the assimilationist idea that one nation meant ‘one culture with many races’ and that was quickly cemented into the national consciousness by Pauline Hanson who seized the moment and took the name for her political party ‘One Nation’.

Despite One Nation tainting the concept of ‘one nation,’ both meanings have persisted in Australia without much national discourse or reflection on which one we should have, but it’s been pretty clear from a Liberal Party standpoint since the days of John Howard that they aren’t huge fans of the multiculturalism actually meaning multiple cultures.

They are generally more on the side of white/western supremacy, which many liberals have hinted at, and which Tony Abbott flat out stated on multiple occasions when he was PM.

Their views on Indigenous assimilation are much the same.

This can be seen by their political insistence that reconciliation can only be achieved by ‘closing the gap’ rather than by recognising Indigenous Rights as defined by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Having an ambiguous working definition of multiculturalism began as a contest between the two, which the nation should have chosen between by now. Instead, both definitions have been left unchallenged to ensure that politicians can conveniently dog whistle to both sides whenever they talk about us being the ‘most successful multicultural country on Earth’.

This change plays right into that blurring of the lines between the two definitions.

We are one. And we are free. And from all the lands on earth we come.

You’d have thought they would have just straight up changed the anthem to ‘I am Australian’ by the Seekers, but I guess it has too much brand association with QANTAS these days, and because you don’t want to be seen as caving in to the politically correct demands of the slightly left of centrists who were presumably campaigning for this change.

Yesterday, on the last day of 2020, IndigenousX published a powerful piece from Gregory Phillips called ‘Can We Breathe?’ talking staunchly about truth telling, and about Indigenous empowerment.

Today, on the first day of 2021, we are talking about the anthem, or at least we are meant to be.

Instead of continuing to explain why the new anthem is just as shit as the old one though, I’m going to remind people of what some of our Indigenous Rights are:

Article 3: Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Article 4: Indigenous peoples, in exercising their right to self-determination, have the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs, as well as ways and means for financing their autonomous functions.

Article 5: Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinct political, legal, economic, social and cultural institutions, while retaining their right to participate fully, if they so choose, in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the State.

Article 8.1: Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.

That’s only four of them, there are 46.  Read them. There will be a test.

This is the test, and Australia is failing at it.

These are what needs to be informing our discussions around change.

Australia has worked hard for decades now to poison the well of Indigenous Rights discourse by reframing any such discussion as ‘Indigenous people want special treatment and free handouts’.

We need to move beyond the fear of being shown in this light and embrace the reality that being the Indigenous peoples of these lands and waters is special, and it brings with it special rights and responsibilities.

This is not us wanting something for nothing. This is us demanding our rights, and we have already paid far more than we should ever have had to for them.

You can sing that anthem backwards for all I care, it’ll still be shit.

— 2020 Hater (@pauldutton1968) January 1, 2021

Adjunct associate professor at the School of Psychology, University of Queensland, and proud Wiradjuri man, Joe Williams, writing in The Guardian on 1 January 2021:

I was made aware on Thursday by a friend of the incoming changes to the national anthem. My reply was an “eye roll” emoji with the words: “But we aren’t all one, we certainly aren’t treated as one; and many, sure as hell, aren’t free”.

I put out a tweet on Friday with my thoughts:

For we are one and free, is like a present from yr nerd uncle, who tries to be cool, but fails hard. I mean, is that line trying to convince us, or you? Cos’ we definitely aren’t treated as one, & many sure as hell aren’t free”

Prime minister Scott Morrison was quoted as saying the change “takes away nothing … but adds much”.

'We are one and free': Australia's national anthem to change in attempt to recognise Indigenous history

Is it supposed to hit the “warm and fuzzies”, taking away the notion of “us and them” by pretending that all people who live on this continent are one big happy family?

Let’s be brutally honest, we aren’t.

You all know the rates of incarceration when it comes to First Nations v non-Indigenous Australians, deaths in custody, the drastic health disparity and the difference in life expectancy between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians. You know of the negative profiling when it comes to mainstream media between the two (if you don’t, it’s not hard to Google). Why on earth would anyone think that the changing of just one word would encourage First Nations people to feel as “ONE” with any Australian?

To me, changing just one word with the view of inclusion does very little for actual inclusion, and does next to nothing for the hope of uniting a nation......

The song I believe is a beautiful representation of a united, multicultural Australia is the one written by Judith Durham, Uncle Kutcha Edwards, Lou Bennett, Camilla Chance and Bill Hauritz. It’s time for a fresh start and to get a new song. And if we are genuine about this word “reconciliation”, we need to start a relationship before we try to heal one that never existed. 

Me in ⁦@canberratimes⁩

“Please excuse us if we don't view the anthem change as a "good start". Aus is further down the road to substantive change than that. We are in the middle of a very serious, complex reform agenda, entering its second decade”. https://t.co/L9GU7qWniH

— Prof Dr M Davis (@mdavisqlder) January 1, 2021

Well said, #JessicaSavage keeps her eye on the dodgy colonial ball ...

I like her page. Thanks for sharing this 👏🏽https://t.co/DkZ4LFrvY3

— Girrali 😎 (@Girrali) January 2, 2021

NOTE:

* Advance Australia Fair became the national anthem on 19 April 1984.