I was following up on an ABC North Coast story that the community of Cabbage Tree Island will not be allowed to move back into their homes.
Researching the subject, while waiting to hear more information about the reasons, I found the great story from Eve Jeffery in The Echo (22 March, 2023). It states there were only two houses that had sustained flood damage inside and the foundations are in good condition, as confirmed by army engineers.
So while the NRRC left dozens of houses in Lismore, which had water up to the ceiling or higher, without any offer of help and support, why is the Indigenous community of Cabbage Tree Island not allowed to return to their homes?
The grandfather of Cabbage Tree Island resident Aunty Susan Anderson bought the land on which she grew up. So what is really happening? I can only hope that our community and The Echo will ask the hard questions.
Are we watching another land grab while we talk of closing the gap and giving a voice to Indigenous people?
Well, that’s one way ( stopping Cabbage Tree island ) to not have to make good on those promises of rebuilding.
Plenty of funding to build a migrant centre there.
Begs to ask….should the impending referendum be more about a Govt “ear” that will listen or simply another voice they can ignore?
There’s no obligation for the government to follow the advice, so it will probably be frequently ignored, BUT they can’t abolish it if they don’t like said advice the way Fraser, Howard & Scummo did to previous Aboriginal advisory bodies.
Tell that to the Inter-State Commission. It’s in the Constitution, but it doesn’t exist, because all government simply do nothing to fund or staff it. So your activists are not trying to put the voice in for the reasons you state. If it was for recognition, that is a different referendum. If it was going to help Aboriginals, its predecessors wouldn’t have been such failures. The whole thing is dodgy.