Yesterday was ’Sorry’ Day and today marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week (NRW), the 2025 theme, ‘Bridging Now to Next’, reflects the ongoing connection between past, present, and future.
Bridging Now to Next calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead, and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.
The ‘Torres Strait 8’
The ‘Torres Strait 8’ made legal history in 2022 after the United Nations Human Rights Committee found that the Australian Government is violating its human rights obligations to them through climate change inaction.
Torres Strait 8 spokesperson Yessie Mosby and Anglican archbishop Jeremy Greaves sent an open letter calling upon the prime minister to say ‘yes’ to Yessie during National Reconciliation Week.
The Most Reverend Jeremy Greaves and Yessie Mosby have invited the prime minister to meet them on the Torres Strait Island of Masig to witness the devastating impacts of climate change on the low-lying island.
The invitation, issued via an open letter today, follows Archbishop Greaves’ climate-related visit to Masig, the island of Kulkalgal traditional owner and Torres Strait 8 spokesperson Yessie Mosby, last year.
An open letter
‘We write this open letter to you during National Reconciliation Week in a spirit of good faith and as Anglicans and Queensland community leaders,’ the open letter said.
‘Torres Strait Islander peoples are on the frontlines of the climate crisis and urgent action is needed to ensure they can remain on their homelands and maintain their sacred connection to land, sea and sky.
‘King tides, erosion, seawater inundation and coral bleaching are threatening Torres Strait Islander peoples’ homes, while successive Australian Governments have refused to effectively address the climate crisis.
‘In May last year, we walked around Yessie’s island, Masig, to take in its beauty and to lament the damaging impacts of the changing climate.
Masig’s bush medicine
‘Together we discussed the healing properties of Masig’s bush medicine, including the island’s bark, flowers, fruits, leaves and sap.
‘Together we looked at a coconut tree lying on the sand — a tree that had been standing tall and proud less than three months before, a tree that was planted with a newborn’s umbilical cord thus becoming that baby’s tree for life.
‘Together we looked at the incomplete seawall — a wall that needs urgent completion because the shore is rapidly eroding — and discussed other strategies that need to be implemented to protect Masig and other low-lying Torres Strait Islands.
‘And, together we observed where ancestor burial places have washed out to sea, including Yessie’s great-great-great-grandmother’s grave.’
Landmark decision
‘The landmark decision obliges the Australian Government to do whatever it takes to ensure the safe existence of the Torres Strait Islands, and this includes engaging in meaningful consultations with their communities to assess their needs,’ the open letter said.
The open letter states that the prime minister has failed to respond to previous invitations to visit Masig from Mr Mosby and requests that the Hon Anthony Albanese MP visit the island in the next 12 months.
‘We merely ask for your commitment — will you as prime minister visit Masig in this first year of your new government?’ Mr Mosby and Archbishop Greaves ask.
The open letter was emailed to the prime minister this morning, with Mr Mosby and Archbishop Greaves also recording their invitation for the Archbishop’s YouTube channel.
Leaders support the open letter
Numerous inter-faith and community group leaders have already signed on in support of the open letter, including representatives from the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change, the Queensland Community Alliance, the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane, the Uniting Church in Australia Queensland Synod and the Queensland District of the Lutheran Church.
National Reconciliation Week started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 — the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples — with the support of faith communities Australia-wide.
National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week is held annually between 27 May and 3 June, commemorating the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
Masig, also known as Yorke Island, is a coral cay located in the eastern area of the central island group of the Kulkalgal nation of Zenadh Kes, also known as the Torres Strait Islands.
Last month Labor promised an additional $36.2 million over five years to help fund Stage 3 of the Torres Strait Seawalls Program for the islands of Poruma, Iama, Masig, Warraber and Badu.
While the additional seawall funding is welcomed, the Torres Strait 8 spokesperson and the senior Anglican leader want the prime minister to see the urgency of the seawall’s completion and the severe impacts of successive governments’ climate change inaction with them on Masig firsthand.
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