Then, we began to lose land to the sea, and the remains of our loved ones were washed away. It was a laid-back life, but a happy and safe life. The men would walk out on the reef to find food. You could hear laughter of children, while their mothers wove mats. There were villages all along the southeast coast. Here on Masig, 30 to 50 metres out to sea, is where the beach was. Yessie Mosby, one of the Torres Straits Eight climate activists, speaking at the Sydney Biennale. My children will have to be relocated, because the government will definitely remove us from homes. Otherwise, we won't have a land to call home. The Torres Strait Eight come from different islands but we all have the same passion to protect what belongs to us, for our future. But we survived.Īustralia has an obligation to look after all Australians, and we have a right to remain on our Island. We've been through everything: the first cases of chicken pox, the first common flu – which practically wiped us out – and World War Two. We have the right to pass that ancient knowledge to the next generation. “We have the right to practice and carry on our traditions and culture, and the right to pass on what was passed on to us, by our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors. Yessie Mosby, one of the so-called Torres Strait Eight climate activists, by © Mary Harm The right to protection against climate change We've been taught to live as one with nature, to protect and preserve it, in the way that it has been protecting and preserving us, our culture, and our tradition. I’m a part of the insects, the mammals, and the marine life, and they are a part of me.
I am connected through this land to the birds, the sky, and the plants which surrounds us. There is an aura, which draws people to this place, which has protected us for thousands of years. There is something powerful about this teardrop-shaped island. “I come from Masig island, in the central part of the Torres Strait, which is between Papua New Guinea and the tip of Queensland. Molby and his fellow activists have been recognized as human rights leaders for their efforts to draw attention to the plight of their community. The Torres Strait Islands, an autonomous part of Australia, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, and extreme weather, including storms, rising sea levels and erosion, are a major threat to the indigenous people, who have inhabited the islands for some 70,000 years.
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