A REPRESENTATIVE of a national Catholic indigenous organisation has called for support for her people as rising seawaters threaten her ancestral island of Poruma in the Torres Strait.
Dolly McGaughey, 65, the Torres Strait Islander representative of the National Abor-iginal and Torres Strait Island Catholic Council (NATSICC), said she had been shocked at the severity of Poruma’s erosion when she recently returned home.
Poruma, (formerly known as Coconut Island) is a small island in the Torres Strait archipelago, between Queensland and Papua New Guinea.
Part of Cairns diocese, Poruma is home to 205 people who have traditionally lived by fishing.
They also manage an award-winning resort on the island.
Catholic Mission has been supporting the inhabitants of Poruma and the other Torres Strait Islands – including Masig (Yorke) Island and Saibai – as islanders bring their plight to the attention of both State and Federal governments.
Ms McGaughey told Catholic Mission her island home has “been all eaten up by the sea”.
“The beautiful white beaches of my childhood have gone underwater,” she said.
“Some of the trees I knew then are gone.
“Where once there was a freshwater well, now the well water is salty.
“The people are trying to plant trees on the beach but they just get washed away again, or the rough winds just rip them out.”
A recent Federal Government report, “Risks from Climate Change to Indigenous Communities in the Tropical North of Aust-ralia”, acknowledged the seriousness of the situation on the threatened islands.
Last month, Federal Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water Senator Penny Wong visited Saibai, one of eight case studies identified in the report.
At the time Ms Wong said “helping these communities to adapt to unavoidable climate change must be a priority, as for many Torres Strait residents relocation is simply not an option”.
Ms McGaughey agreed with the minister’s comment.
“We are one spiritual people. We have sacred places, burial grounds,” she said.
“My people are very proud. The elders are not going to move.
“But it’s necessary for my people to move because the island is disappearing slowly and they must find another place to live.”
A spokeswoman for Catholic Mission said the organisation supported the pastoral care of Torres Strait Islanders.
“We acknowledge Dolly McGaughey’s call for more research into the environmental destruction of Poruma,” she said.
“We look to the Australian and Queensland governments to work to allay the fears of the people of Poruma and other Torres Strait islands as to what the future holds for them and their island homes.”
A comment from the Queensland Govern-ment’s Department of Environment and Res-ource Management was sought but had not been received at the time of The Catholic Leader going to press.
