More than 40 people packed into the Kuril Dhangun room in the State Library on January 29 to hear from Rhonda Brim and Andrew Duffin, residents from the Mona Mona Aboriginal community in Far North Queensland, a community under threat from the Queensland government.
Brim explained that Mona Mona, located around 50 kilometres north-west of Cairns and 28 kilometres north of Kuranda, was originally established as an Aboriginal mission in 1913, which was closed in 1962. Since then, Mona Mona residents have continued to live on, and care for, the land with little government assistance.
Now the government has declared Mona Mona "unviable", and instead of offering resources and infrastructure such as water, schools and housing it has determined to convert the area into a national park and "relocate" the community to Cairns and Mareeba.
"The government broke people's hearts removing them from their land [in 1962], now they want to break our hearts again", Brim told the forum.
"We are fighting for Mona Mona for our children, for the future", Duffin added.
Brim and Duffin will continue south to the Indigenous rights convergence outside federal parliament on February 3.
To support the campaign to save the Mona Mona community, join the group on Facebook, or email savemonamona@gmail.com.