‘Public land should serve the public vision,’ Greens councillor Elia Hauge is quoted as saying in The Echo (May 20) under the headline ‘Community panel proposed for Mullum hospital site’.
Byron Shire proudly declares ‘Welcome to Bundjalung Country’ and acknowledges that the Bundjalung people lived here for thousands of years, and are recognised native title owners. What it does not acknowledge is that many Indigenous people were murdered, their land was stolen, and those injustices were entrenched for more than a century.
In 1891, the NSW government created an Aborigine Reserve on the Brunswick River.
Twenty‑four years later, in 1915, it was revoked. By contrast, in 2021 Lismore City Council returned 37 hectares on the North Lismore Plateau to the Bundjalung people – a decision described as ‘profound’ and ‘powerful’ by NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson. Bundjalung Elders Council chairman, Uncle Mickey Ryan, said the handback was a strong reminder of the great injustice, dispossession and cultural genocide that is still at large (The Guardian, 21/02/2022).
When asked whether Byron Shire Council has ever returned land to the Bundjalung people, the answer is simple: it has not. The old Mullumbimby Hospital site is now vacant. Instead of handing this stolen land to the NSW government for future development and profit, Council has the opportunity – and responsibility – to return it to its rightful owners. If Byron Shire truly wishes to ‘welcome’ the Bundjalung people, it must begin by returning their unceded land and ensuring the old hospital site is used solely for Bundjalung culture and community purposes.
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