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TORRES NEWS THURSDAY 29 JUNE 2023
Climate change plaintiffs sail on Rainbow Warrior
Cairns Traditional Owner Henry Fourmile (far right) welcomes Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabai onto the Rainbow Warrrior. BY CHRISTINE HOWES Australian Climate Case plaintiffs Paul Kabai and Pabai Pabai have set sail on the iconic Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, on a ‘solidarity’ voyage to Vanuatu in the south Pacific on Monday. The Rainbow Warrior was sailing from Cairns to Vanuatu in support of an historic campaign to take climate harm to the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice (IJC). Through the voyage they said they wanted to build a bridge between the Torres Strait to Vanuatu to strengthen the mutual support between communities. They said they hoped by working together they could increase the pressure on the Australian
Members of Paul Kabai’s family visiting him on the Rainbow Warrior before they sailed on Monday this week. Pics by Christine Howes
Government and other countries to take climate action to protect their communities. Joining them on the sail was Anjali Sharma from Vanuatu, who hoped to take the case for her homelands to the ICJ. Her Government has sought and ‘Advisory Opinion’ from the ICJ which would bolster state action on climate change, complement and strengthen the Paris Agreement, integrate human rights and climate change law, and provide necessary baselines for state action. Greenpeace Australia Pacific General Counsel Katrina Bullock said they were sailing to collect human impact and testimonies of climate change for the ICJ. “I’m incredibly fortunate to be here today as part of our Pacific Climate Justice Campaign, a campaign that is pushing to get the
issue of climate change and state obligations to the highest court in the world,” she said. “It’s our opportunity to bring to the court not just the facts and the figures that we’ve all seen in the UNIPCC reports, but the actual human stories.” Mr Kabai said other islands in the Pacific faced the same erosion of their culture and lifestyles. “Erosion is is the main priority on this islands, over the past maybe 20 years, we have been eroded very rapidly,” he said. “Our livelihoods have been destroyed.” Mr Pabai said their relationships with their Pacific Island colleagues were cemented at the COP27 conference in Egypt last year, and by several visits by Pacific Islanders to the Torres Straits. “So we have been involved with our Pacific brothers and sisters at the COP27,” he said.
Deadline set for AEC’s Yes/No case flyers
Following the passage of the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 bill, Yes and No cases of no more than 2000 words each must be in by Monday 17 July 2023 to be included in the official Yes/No case pamphlet, Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers says. “It’s now the job of Members and Senators to draft Yes and No cases for us to distribute to each household,” he said. “While we’re legally required to provide this pamphlet, our role is otherwise about the process of delivering the referendum and is not about the topic – we don’t care which way you vote, only that you do vote.” Under the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984, the AEC is required to take the exact cases produced by parliamentarians for the Yes and No cases and distribute them in a pamphlet to each address on the Australian electoral roll. “The AEC has no editorial role in the content of the Yes and No cases,” he said. “We will reproduce everything that is provided to us verbatim – so we do encourage both case committees to be precise and careful about their language and grammar.” The pamphlet will be available before the legislated start of early voting for the referendum, in order for Australians to consider the information it contains. “We’ll be doing everything in our power to get it to voters at the earliest practicable opportunity but there are a number of steps required to make that happen – this includes the receipt
of content, formatting the product appropriately, printing and distributing around 12.5 million copies and organising the availability of accessible versions,” he said. The basics: • The AEC is required by legislation to send the referendum pamphlet to Australian households no later than 14 days prior to voting day for the referendum. • The pamphlet is expected to be approximately 20 pages long, which is significantly shorter than the most recent referendum pamphlet in 1999, which addressed two referendum questions and included a full copy of the Constitution. • The pamphlet will include the Yes/ No cases of no more than 2000 words. It will also include the proposed additional section of the Constitution. Accessible formats: • Accessible formats of the official Yes/No case pamphlet will be made available via the AEC’s website or via request. It is not possible to send various versions of the pamphlet to all Australians. • Once the content for Yes/No cases is received, the AEC will work hard to make the pamphlet available in 34 languages for people from culturally and linguistically diverse audiences, as well as a range of First Nations languages. • The AEC will also have the Yes/No case content available in large print and via audio files.
Boigu Toby, Kopal Gibuma & Colin Matthew supporting the Rainbow Warrior journey launch.
“And late last month Anote Tom from Kiribati visited my community, so we’ve engaged together in partnership with the Pacific Islanders, and this is why we are sailing over to Vanuatu, to share the experiences from the Torres Strait, and we will see the information from Vanuatu and all the nations in the Pacific.” Boigu Islander Kopal Gibuma, who gave evidence ‘on Country’ in the Australian Climate Case, said their culture remained the same despite climate change. He said their islands were composed of “thousands of wet seasons”. “Therefore the islanders were village dwellers and intensive cultivators, farming the fertile soil built up behind the flat, low littoral belts of mangrove,” he said. “This was bipotaim means, in
the time of our forefathers, but now we can’t do gardening anymore, because of the climate change the water is running through the our community and gardening sites. “Torres Strait society experienced an era of radical climate change, the Islander memories may have changed, but our culture and identity still the same. “Just lately the Islanders have begun to look back on bipotaim more favourably, and while they remain devoutly Christian, a growing number now seek, in elements of the pre-colonial culture, the means to reaffirm our identity as Torres Strait Islanders and so strengthen our sense of Community as Malulgal nation.” The Rainbow Warrior travellers will return to Cairns on Monday 10 July.
2023 GAB TITUI
ART AWARD
3
Share in over $37,000 worth of prizes
WEEKS LEFT TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY! Monday 17 July 2023 | Cut-off to arrange freight Friday 21 July 2023 | Entries Close
All works entered into the exhibition are professionally photographed and published in an exhibition catalogue distributed nationally. They are also eligible to take out the major prize of Gab Titui Indigenous Art Award winner. The 2023 Award exhibition will open on 2 November 2023, with all works on display until Saturday 16 December 2023.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Please contact Leitha Assan, TSRA: 07 4069 0888 | info@gabtitui.gov.au
