06 CLIMATE CHANGE 15 JUNE 2023 TORRES NEWS
Invitation – community forum Making vocational education and training better in regional, rural and remote Queensland Tuesday 11 July 2023, 3.30pm - 5.30pm TAFE Queensland Thursday Island Campus A Block - Rooms 107 & 108 Light refreshments will be provided Scan the QR code to register Education, Employment and Training Committee parliament.qld.gov.au/eetc 1800 504 022
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Federal Court hears climate change case on Ailan Country Guda Maluyligal plaintiffs Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai from the islands of Boigu and Saibai have given evidence of the climate harms experienced by their communities. On Boigu last week rain cleared sufficiently for the Judge, court staff and lawyers to be taken by Uncle Pabai and Uncle Fred to the Tree of Skulls, a Mukai tree (almond tree), and the Tree of Spies - the ‘Duany’ tree. The party was also taken to the seawall, to see where it had been breached by big swell during king tides, and the cemetery to see where gravesites have been eroded and disturbed by rising sea levels. The Court’s lunch was catered for by Mrs Gibuma and others, and included coconut chicken curry and freshly caught crab salads. The next day the Court, lawyers and witnesses rode in several dinghies and banana
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Federal Court hearings for the Australian Climate Case are ongoing this month – here is a summary of what has happened so far ...
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul in court after Uncle Paul’s first round of examination from the barristers. Pic Ruby Mitchell, Grata Fund. boats to catch the high tide and view special sites on the southern beaches of the island. They saw where erosion had reduced the size of the beach and mangroves that have grown as the water level have become higher. They travelled from there to Badu where they drove to Uncle Laurie’s beach on the south-western side of the island. He spoke of the significance of cultural practice and the interconnectedness between Torres Strait Islanders and the natural world. The Court then moved to the sandy beach where he spoke about where the sand used to be and the extreme erosion he had seen in the past 10 years.
The second stop that day was Uncle Peo’s beach where several coconut trees with exposed roots from severe erosion were shown to the court. Uncle Peo described the changes he had seen in the shoreline over his life, but more rapidly in the past 5-10 years. The next day the Court reconvened on a sunny day at Saibai Community Hall, which had the nine flags representing the different clans and moieties on the Island on display. Pastor Waibene held an opening prayer and Uncle Keri Akiba and Councillor Nathan Tabuai welcomed the court, which was filled with Elders, community members and school childrent, to Saibai. Uncle Paul the effect
of losing Saibai would extend not only to people living there, but to those communities on the Cape who still had a very strong connection. He said they would all lose their identity and become climate change refugees. “If we leave the island [we] leave our ancestors behind, underwater,” he said. “We lose everything, our culture, our identity, our livelihood – it will be all gone. “If we don’t have our ceremonies here on Saibai, if we had to go to mainland, we don’t have our culture.” Uncle Herbert Warusan said he had taught his six children cultural knowledge such as spearfishing, and swamp harvesting places where the mangroves met the freshwater for barramundi and tiger prawns. “I’m worried about my ability to teach my children because the seagrass meadows are endangered from the shifting sands and the heavy body of water at high tide,” he said. “I’m a bit worried that there might not be dugongs and turtles as a consequence. “I’ve observed that since 2012 it’s become more pronounced. “The rate of change has been pretty alarming.”
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Lawyer, Brett Spiegel speaks with Herbert Warusam before he’s called to witness stand. Photo Ruby Mitchell, Grata Fund 2.
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Elsie Waia & Jack Matthew erect clan flags outside court in Saibai community hall. Pic Ruby Mitchell, Grata Fund 2.
