Let me back to my island home
A PALM Island resident has warned another riot will erupt if the current lockdown laws aren’t addressed.
Stephanie Boyd is spending her third week in Townsville unable to return home and claimed the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council wasn’t letting residents wanting to return know the protocols they need to follow.
Ms Boyd claims “there’s a lot of people” waiting to get back to the island that are in limbo. She said if things did not get resolved quickly it could boil over.
“I had to ring the numbers on the sheet they told me, which I did and no one got back to me. They (the council) should be contacting each and every one of us.
“They have our numbers, contact us and let us know what’s going on. Not every individual knows written words.
“It’s going to turn into a black and white issue. No one likes to be questioned about it,” she said. “How come we are not equal to a white man?
“I imagine what it used to be like for my people under the thumb. This is my generation and I still feel the frustration coming on.”
Another resident, Jaime Prior, left the island a few weeks ago to see her daughter in Cairns and was told she would be allowed back in on the Sunday soon after. The 42year-old has been left stranded in Townsville and said she’d classed as an essential worker.
“I’m a care co-ordinator at an aged care facility,” Ms Prior said. “I’m a full-time worker. It’s going to have a big financial impact.
“I want to get back to Palm Island as soon as I can.”
Despite being away for nearly three weeks, today is just Ms Prior’s fourth day in isolation after waiting to hear back from the relevant bodies about what she needed to do to return. She laid the blame squarely on the council.
“I’d like them to listen and understand our frustrations. This whole situation is pretty pathetic.
“Fly in, fly out workers don’t have to go into quarantine. It’s not fair to have one rule for the community and one rule for the others.”
Last week police were called in to break up an angry protest of up to 30 people outside Yarrabah’s council building, near Cairns, as tensions in the indigenous community rose over COVID-19 restrictions.
Yarrabah Mayor Ross Andrews and chief executive Leon Yeatman were forced to address the crowd, who were chanting and waving signs reading “stop oppression” and “justice and equality”.
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council was contacted for comment.