By Jim O’Toole
Torres Strait island councils and a mainland council are holding a meeting in Cairns Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the formation of regional autonomy.
To reach this outcome a sovereign state or Torres Strait island nation would have to be created which could allow Torres Strait Islanders effectively to secede from Australia.
A bigger hurdle for government in consideration of this unlikely proposal is the inclusion of the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council which administers five Aboriginal and Islander communities on the mainland Tip of Cape York.
event to talk about sovereignty, statehood and self-determination into the future. It seems there were more white people in attendance than black.
Excising the Torres Strait is one thing but the mainland is an improbable other.
A multitude of issues for both mainland Australia and a new, autonomous state would follow which include national security, how to achieve financial independence from Australia and how to feed a new nation which has no farm land.
Presently the Islanders mainly rely on sea food for protein intake. Targeted species include turtle, dugong, lobster and fish which are available only when local weather conditions permit.
Consumables arrive by barge from Cairns at an exorbitant cost which has been averaging $600 per pallet of groceries. Cold and frozen goods have a much higher charge.
Beef, lamb or pork prices are prohibitive for islanders who are regularly charged $20-25 for a slice of steak, not necessarily rump.
A tropical rock lobster export industry operates throughout the islands which now has 66.2 per cent local ownership held by the Torres Strait Regional Authority.
The Torres Strait is populated with Islanders but just who are these people? From where did they come?
Generally Torres Strait islanders descend from the Pacific Islands but much of the population have close links to Papua New Guinea. Modern Aborigines are a separate race of people who descended from pre-Dravidian Indians crossing the Sahul land bridge approximately 18,000 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahul_Shelf
Australian Aborigines own the largest island in the Torres Strait, which is the 20,000 hectare Prince of Wales Island and Horn Island which is home to Australia’s northernmost international airport. The remainder of islands are owned by islander communities.
Only 17 of the total 270 islands are inhabited
A scattering of smaller islands such as Thursday Island is the business hub of the Strait housing several hundred state and federal public servants, a state government-run hospital and allied health services.
By leaving Australian governmental administration what could the new state of Torres Strait offer to its 4514 inhabitants (2016 Census) with a median household income of $929 which comprises Centrelink payments on which 90 per cent of the population relies?
Thursday Island’s multitude of government agencies provide employment for only a small proportion of its inhabitants.
The Australian Government spent $20m on health services for the Torres Strait in 2019-20 according to available ABS statistics.
In the 2016 Census, Torres Strait islands had a population of 4,514 people, with 91.8% identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. About half of the population were male, and the median age was 24 years. A significant portion of the population was under 15 years old, with 34.6% being children.
In 2019–20, expenditure on primary health care services for Indigenous Australians was $3,887 per person, compared with $2,055 per person for non-Indigenous Australians (ratio 1.9).
Expenditure for secondary/tertiary health care services was $5,347 per person for Indigenous Australians, compared with $3,951 for non-Indigenous Australians (ratio 1.4).
These expenditure, proportionately would extend to the Torres Strait which is serviced by the Royal Flying Doctor Service based in Cairns and Queensland Health air services.
Total, overall expenditure to keep the Torres Strait functioning is not readily available.
Nor is the cost of regional security maintained by Australian Government agency Borderforce or the Australian Navy.
Funding avenues for an autonomous state would be impossible to attain for Queensland’s extensive, northern sea lanes and islands which in effect resembles a third-world enclave with its major infrastructure being housing, diesel-generated power and no substantial sea port.
China enters the equation
Funding of an autonomous Torres Strait presents a major hurdle for Islanders who since federation have been dependent upon Australian Government largesse.
As it stands today there is no mechanism available to the Torres Strait for generating income to enable self-sufficiency.
A small breakaway group of rogue Islanders claiming to represent Gudang and Kaurareg communities have brought China to the Torres Strait offering its Consul Dr Ruan Zongze island land to establish large-scale infrastructure such as a fuel depot and even acquiring the Horn Island International Airport, presumably as a leasing arrangement.
Chairman of Kaurareg Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, based on Horn Island, Mr Eliza Wasaga said the rogue community members did not represent anyone in Kaurareg and were “running off on their own.”
He said the Kaurareg people, the largest land and sea traditional owners in Torres Strait, did not support China obtaining land.
This is an extract from an article published by Cairns News October 5, 2024:
Moves are underway for Torres Strait communities to join the Yidinji sovereign nation, established in Cairns nearly a decade ago, to break away from Australian government rule.
The Chinese government has been asked to bankroll the proposed Torres Strait nation which has already elected its political representatives in anticipation.
Gudang and Kaurareg elders at a Cairns meeting in September said they wanted to break free from reliance on the Australian government and take charge of their own affairs.
This could be a noble sentiment to give Islanders a warm and fuzzy feeling about managing their destiny, but if China pays the bills what does the Communist government of Bejiing want in return?
In September the Chinese Consul visited the Torres Strait ostensibly to pave the way for massive Chinese investment in a new sea port on Hammond Island among other projects.
Consul Dr Ruan Zonzge’s visit was for “courtesy meetings with local authorities and communities but not for the specific projects as listed in your letter,” the Consulate claimed after Cairns News send a list of questions to the Consul.
Torres Strait elder Seriat Young told Torres News he wanted to see positive change in his communities for his children’s sake.
He said that was why they had appointed Ministerial roles and begun the process of establishing a sovereign government structure.
“We are going to do it all by ourselves, we will do this thing for our glory,” he said.
“We want the [Australian government] to look at us and see how [they] have oppressed us for a very long time in [our] own country.
Mr Young made no mention of the annual $40 billion Australian Government budget allocation for the national Aboriginal industry or the $2m recently handed out by government to the owners of Pajinka land at the Tip.
Cairns meeting
Torres Strait Island Regional Council Mayor Phillemon Mosby sent this invitation to attend the Cairns meeting;
On Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th May 2025 regional leadership cohorts consisting of Mayors, Councillors, CEO and Chairs of Torres Strait Island Regional Council, Torres Shire Council, Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council, Torres Strait Regional Authority including Gur Berdaraw Kod (GBK) will meet in Cairns to discuss regional issues and strategies on how we can better work in partnership to address them collaboratively.
The key topics that will be discussed are;
– Torres Strait & Northern Peninsula Area Regional ROC
– Regional Autonomy | Regional Assembly
– Safe, Accessible & Affordable Transportation
– Blue Security & Safe Region
– Land Tenure (DOGIT) & Native Title
– Regional Health Reform
– Regional Economic Growth & Independence
Key regional stakeholders, partners and government departments including ministers have also been invited to attend.
Our Council together with our regional leadership is committed to improving the liveability of our regions and pursing our long-term aspiration for self-determination and regional autonomy.
