One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has condemned the ‘organised theft’ of a town’s land which she says has been quietly handed over to a Aboriginal corporation against the wishes of the community.
Senator Hanson said the deal to hand over 210ha of Toobeah Reserve – near the NSW border in western Queensland – to the Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation was quietly arranged behind closed doors due to the upcoming state election.
Toobeah has been bitterly split by the move, with publican Michael Offerdahl leading the fight against what he described as a secretive ‘Aboriginal land grab’ that will hand over $2million worth of land comprising of over 95 per cent of the town.
Ms Hanson said the deal was rushed through by the Miles Labor government before such major decisions were suspended during the election campaign.
‘These organised thefts take place in secret, behind closed doors and communities which are impacted are not given any say in the matter,’ Ms Hanson said.
‘The reason they’re not given any say is because they are very likely to oppose the transfer – and the government refuses to hear anyone saying that.’
Queensland’s Aboriginal Land Act allows the state to transfer land held in trust for the traditional owners to local Aboriginal corporations.
Land titles records reveal the site was transferred to the BNTAC in late September – just months after the Goondiwindi Regional Councils’ trusteeship of Toobeah Reserve, which it had held since 1906, was revoked, the Courier Mail reported.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says a deal has been rushed through behind closed doors to hand land adjacent to a town over to an Indigenous corporation
Mr Offerdahl’s anger was not chiefly aimed at the Labor state government but at Goondiwindi mayor Lawrence Springborg – a former LNP state president – for enabling the land transfer.
‘There’s only one way that they win this and that’s Springborg – the council did this to us,’ he said.
‘The state government, the council, they haven’t backed up one thing. They haven’t even proven that (council) trusteeship (of the reserve) can be taken away. The council gave it up. You can’t take away trusteeship without talking to the community about it.
‘It’s going to lock my kids out of the creek. They’ll have to go into an individual access agreement with a (Aboriginal) corporation in Cherbourg.
‘We’ve been told we’ll have to go and have a yarn to them about swimming in our own f***ing creek. It’s bulls***.’
Queensland’s Resources and Critical Minerals minister Scott Stewart defended the transparency of the transfer negotiations, saying ‘there is no cover up’.
‘An Aboriginal Land Act land transfer is granted as ‘inalienable freehold’ title which means that the land can’t be sold or mortgaged,’ he previously told Daily Mail Australia.
Instead, the land ‘is held in trust for the benefit of the people connected to the land – who will continue to take care of the land’.
‘It is important to note that the Toobeah Reserve is outside the township,’ Mr Stewart said.
‘No final decision has been made in regard to the Reserve, and the fact the Bigambul people are offering to work with the community is a good thing.’
In a complaint to the Ombudsman Mr Offerdahl claimed council failed to consult the community before agreeing to the transfer and failed to consider the rights of non-Aboriginal residents to use waterways and fish, which he argued were at risk.
The remote town of Toobeah in southern Queensland (pictured) has become bitterly split over a proposed land transfer
In a complaint to the Ombudsman Mr Offerdahl claimed council failed to consult the community before agreeing to the transfer and failed to consider the rights of non-Indigenous residents to use waterways and fish, which he argued were at risk by
Mr Springborg responded to claims that locals would soon be locked out of much of their town as ‘completely false’.
‘There is not one square metre of people’s private freehold land, or land that can be lawfully accessed by the community, that can be impacted by this,’ he said in July.
‘These (Aboriginal) land transfers have been happening in Queensland since 1991.’
Mr Springborg said the council will negotiate with the Bigambul and state government to buy native title-designated land in Toobeah for the town’s future expansion.
He said the council had no control over the land transfer but he had told the government the process needed to be overhauled to provide better community engagement.
Ms Hanson said the state needed to get rid of the Aboriginal Land Act so other communities did not have ‘land ripped away from them’.
‘There are another 14 communities across Queensland affected by proposed land transfers under this appalling legislation,’ she said.
Local business owner Michael Offerdahl (third from right) said he was concerned locals would need to ask permission to go into the reserve
‘One Nation will do everything we can to protect these communities, and to reverse the transfer of land at Toobeah.
‘More than 6.7 million hectares of Queensland has been transferred under this law. It’s racially divisive and it has to stop.’
Ms Hanson called on the Goondiwindi Regional Council, the Labor government and the local state MP to apologise to the people of Toobeah.
‘The government and the council headed by Lawrence Springborg should apologise for keeping the Toobeah community in the dark while they actively worked against the community’s interests to transfer the land to some faceless indigenous corporation more than 400km away,’ she said.
‘The local member must apologise for failing to stand up for the Toobeah community.’
The Bigambul people said they will preserve a town water easement and rodeo grounds access on the reserve, which it plans to develop as an ‘eco-cultural attraction’.
They have accused those opposing the transfer of spreading ‘mistruths and misinformation’ and they are ready to work with the community ‘to develop and improve the site for the benefit of all’.
