Latest news with #GudaMaluyligal
ABC News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Torres Strait Islanders invite Anthony Albanese to witness climate harms firsthand
Two Torres Strait traditional owners at the heart of a landmark climate case against the Australian government have invited the prime minister to their islands after they lost in the Federal Court. Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai from the remote low-lying islands of Saibai and Boigu, just kilometres from Papua New Guinea, have spent four years fighting for the government to be found negligent when it comes to its emissions reduction targets and adaptation measures. On Tuesday, Federal Court Judge Michael Wigney found the government did not owe them a duty of care. But the Guda Maluyligal traditional owners said their home and cultural connection was too important for them not to keep up the fight. "It is overwhelming for me and Uncle Pabai as we have gone through this journey since 2021 and for us, it is emotional," Uncle Paul told ABC News Breakfast. "We're not going to stop here." From Cairns, hundreds of kilometres from his ancestral home of Saibai, he called on all Australians to "battle together and give a strong voice to the government". "It's time now for us to keep knocking at the government's door." On Tuesday, Justice Wigney said that while the Torres Strait Islanders' case had proven many of its factual allegations, the law currently did not provide an "effective legal avenue" to claim damages for harm "as a result of government decisions and conduct". He said he was bound by the previous decisions of appellate courts. "That will remain the case unless and until the law in Australia changes either by the incremental development or expansion of the common law by appellate courts, or by the enactment of legislation," he said. "Until then, the only real avenue available to those in the position of the applicants and other Torres Strait Islanders involves public advocacy and protest, and ultimately, recourse via the ballot box." The judge said that without urgent action, the Torres Strait Islanders' worst fears would be realised. "Unless something is done to arrest global warming and the resulting escalating impacts of climate change, there is a very real risk that the applicant's worst fears will be realised and they will lose their islands, their culture and their way of life, and will become, as it were, climate refugees." The Grata Fund financed the case, which was modelled on a successful case from the Netherlands. Its executive director and founder, Isabelle Reinecke, said they were "just getting started". "Last night I think [there] was a lot of defiance and anger and grief and I now just actually feel a strong sense of hope," she told the Indigenous Affairs Team. "We've seen outpourings of solidarity from around the country and I know the community are feeling strong and this is just the beginning of the next chapter." She said the court made "strong statements of fact". "I also have hope, because the court did not say that accountability is impossible under the law, it just said that it is not ready yet and so I have a lot of hope that the law will and can develop," she said. "The findings of the court were extraordinarily strong on the facts and the uncles are still considering an appeal, so that journey is not yet over." She said the fact that legal change could be slow was evidenced by the Mabo case, led by Meriam man Eddie Koiki Mabo, which spent 10 years in the courts. She said the team was pleased to see the government's response to Tuesday's decision included a commitment to "adapting to climate impacts", and she called for the government to commission a study into what those adaptation measures could be. The judge was highly critical of climate targets set by the Coalition in 2015, 2020 and 2021, finding they did not "engage with or give real or genuine consideration to the best available science". Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Dan Tehan defended the previous government's record and said in a statement that in 2021–22 "emissions were down 28 per cent on 2005 levels, exceeding our international commitments." "Labor is yet to explain credibly how they will achieve their targets and how much it will cost, without fudging the numbers," he said.
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Federal court rules against Commonwealth duty of care claim over climate change impacts for Torres Strait Islanders
The Federal Court has issued a ruling against a landmark claim the Commonwealth has failed Torres Strait Islanders in its duty of care regarding 'human-induced climate change' affecting the islands. Justice Michael Wigney's decision on Tuesday found the applicants - Guda Maluyligal nation men Pabai Pabai and Guy Paul Kabai – had not been successful in producing a case of negligence against the Commonwealth. Mr Pabai and Mr Kabai asserted that the Commonwealth had responded inadequately and had fallen short in protecting Torres Strait Islanders from the impacts of climate change, claiming it had breached an owed duty of care. In the decision's summary, Judge Wigney said though he accepted many 'factual allegations' put forward by the men, current Australian law did not allow a 'real or effective avenue' for them to pursue their claims. His decision stated there is 'no doubt' the Torres Strait Islands have been and are being 'ravaged by the impacts of human-induced climate change'. 'The islands themselves have been, and continue to be, eroded and inundated by rising seas and increasingly severe extreme sea level and weather events,' the judgment said. Judge Wigney also found that previous governments' efforts to reduce climate change and its impacts had been lacking. 'When the Commonwealth identified and set Australia's greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in 2015, 2020 and 2021, it failed to engage with or give any real or genuine consideration to what the best available science indicated was required for Australia to play its part in the global effort to moderate or reduce climate change and its impacts,' the decision said. Mr Pabai and Mr Kabai lack of success in their case was not due to their arguments having no merit, the judge added. 'Rather, it failed because the law in Australia as it currently stands provides no real or effective avenue through which the applicants were able to pursue their claims,' the decision said. 'In particular, the common law of negligence in Australia was an unsuitable legal vehicle through which the applicants could obtain relief in respect of the type of governmental action or inaction which was in issue in this case, or relief in respect of their loss of fulfilment of Ailan Kastom.' The judge ordered Mr Pabai and Mr Kabai and the Commonwealth provide the court with either an agreed draft orders or supply their own differing draft orders regarding the judgement to the court within the next six weeks.
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
We always lived by the sea: decision time for Australian Climate Case
During Uncle Paul Kabai's lifetime he has seen the seasons change on his home island of Saibai, an outer island of Zenadth Kes (the Torres Strait). Uncle Paul and Uncle Pabai Pabai are so afraid for the future of their ancestral homelands that in 2021 they launched Federal Court action against the Australian Government. Their Country on the outer islands of Zenadth Kes, less than 10 kilometres off Papua New Guinea, is under siege from the impacts of climate change. The two Elders, Traditional Owners from Guda Maluyligal, fear the loss of their islands, culture and way of life will force their families and communities to become Australia's first climate refugees. The Uncles have taken the federal government to court in the Australian Climate Case, seeking orders that would require the Commonwealth to undertake steps to prevent further harm to their communities. This would include cutting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the best available science and the Uncles hope that, by bringing the case, they will help all Australians affected by climate change. The Commonwealth has argued it is not legally required to consider the best available science or the impacts of climate change when setting emissions reduction targets. On Tuesday afternoon in Cairns, the Federal Court is due to hand down a decision in the case and the men hold hope that their fight might safeguard the future of their people. They are arguing that the Commonwealth owes a duty of care to Torres Strait Islanders to take reasonable steps to protect them from harm. "We have fought this landmark case for the benefit of our people," Uncle Pabai told NITV. During on-Country hearings in 2023, witnesses described how devastating their loss of culture due to climate change had been. "We don't want to be climate refugees," Uncle Pabai, who has spent his life on the low-lying island of Boigu, told AAP. Uncle Paul remembers a time when his family would hunt, fish and eat produce from gardens grown by the community. But that has all changed, he says. The beaches on his island of Saibai have receded, turning to mud and mangroves. Its river system is inundated with saltwater and the island's cemetery has been impacted by flooding. "Even our cultural sites are being destroyed by rising seas," he said. "We're both very worried about what we are losing, our hunting grounds are being destroyed by strong currents. "Where can we show our culture to the younger generation? "In this way we are losing our culture, everything that belongs to our ancestors." Drawing closer to a decision in the case is a significant milestone for Mr Pabai and Mr Kabai. "People around the world are watching," Uncle Paul said. It has been an emotional journey for the Elders, their communities and supporters but as they approach the end of this battle, they hold close the reasons they began such a long fight. "I am always thinking forward, it's not for the benefit of us ... I believe this is my legacy for my people, for future generations," Uncle Pabai said. Pointing to the example of fellow Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo, whose lifetime of campaigning resulted in the landmark High Court ruling, recognising the rights of First Nations people to their lands, Mr Pabai says the battle has been waged for his ancestors. "I'm standing firm on his shoulders," he said. "If we come to winning this case, this is a victory for my family and communities on Boigu and all the community around the country and around the world." As much as this is about the people who came before and protecting what they've left, Mr Pabai says his two-year-old son and the generations to come, in the Torres Strait and further afield, are front of mind. "My main focus is on the new generation," he said. "This is why I'm doing it: for the love of my son, for all the people in my community in the Torres Strait, for bushfire and flood survivors, for the farmers and the children and grandchildren." No matter the legal outcome, Mr Kabai says he believes the action he and Mr Pabai have taken will make a difference. "We will be very proud, even if we win or if we lose," he says. "The government is listening now, they know what is happening and they must do something about climate change." The Federal Court will hand down its decision today from Cairns.
