Torres Strait Islanders are awaiting the decision of a landmark federal court case that could have a significant impact on the future of their homelands and culture. The first of its kind in Australia, the case argues the federal government has failed in its duty of care to protect the islands from the impacts of climate change. The findings are to be handed down this week.
00:00Once a site for gathering and the handing down of tradition and knowledge.
00:09Now not much of this beach remains.
00:12Gardens destroyed and sacred trees lay dead.
00:15Our grandfathers and our great grandfathers used to come here.
00:21Where the water is there now, we used to camp there.
00:24And the beach was used to be where the dead mangoes laying there.
00:29Lying at just 1.6 metres above sea level, Saibai Island and its neighbours are on the front line of climate change.
00:36When there's storms, the island shakes and a lot of water's coming in and out at night.
00:43And we see little bits and pieces of land going away, one by one.
00:48Mostly when it's high tide or king tide.
00:50If I'm standing here, water can be up here.
00:52For the past four years, Uncle Paul Kabai and other islanders have been fighting a landmark case against the federal government.
00:58arguing it has a duty of care to protect them from the rising seas.
01:03The government got to listen to what we are asking to reduce the gas emission.
01:10If we reduce that, we have a better future for our kids.
01:15The court travelled to the islands to witness the erosion of these gravestones firsthand.
01:25Locals like ten-year-old Shikaina are doing what they can to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
01:31She's raising money by collecting bottles for sandbags.
01:35This one I have cans and over this one I think about like a thousand maybe in here.
01:41When we get the money from the people, we're gonna buy sandbags to stick around the graveyard to protect the loved ones who were buried there.
01:50But she fears her people will one day need to leave the island.
01:55And that would be really sad for us because loved ones are buried here.
01:59And we don't want to lose the culture we've grown here.
02:04The landmark litigation has been financed through the NGO The Grata Fund, whose team met with the community late last year to talk through the possible outcomes.
02:13And I'm one of the lawyers on Uncle Paul and Uncle Popeye's legal team.
02:18This case is going to be globally significant if it wins.
02:22It will be saying that the Australian Government has to take steps to deal with the impacts of climate change on people in the Torres Strait
02:28and has to take steps to prevent it from getting worse.
02:31The Federal Government has acknowledged the Torres Strait Islands are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
02:36But it says Australia can't prevent or mitigate these effects on its own.
02:41And the question of its duty of care is for the parliament to decide.
02:45Whatever the outcome of the case, locals here are going to continue to protect their homelands from the impacts of climate change.
02:53It's our land we're fighting.
02:56And it's our culture we're looking at.
03:00If we're gonna lose that culture, we lose everything.
03:06We do not rely on many other people.
03:10After that, we're working with the NGOs.
03:12We're working with the NGOs as well.
03:15Our teams are working with the NGOs in particular times.
03:18Our teams are working with NGOs, the NGOs at the NGOs, the NGOs on the 1955 side of the land.
03:21And there are spaces where they are working with NGOs, in particular, the NGOs are increasing on the peoples,
03:25they're working with NGOs, and other partners, and the NGOs.
