Kailu George Jr

A continuation in the series of interviews between First Nations advocate Thomas Mayo (An invitation to listen, AG 170) and the Indigenous community leaders he has met since he toured Australia in 2019 with the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

AYOUNG MAN - impressive, tall, with a deep voice and a presence, even among senior leaders from the many islands of the Torres Strait - Kailu George stood to deliver a speech on behalf of the youth, exactly where his grandfather's grandfather had done on a tiny island called Masig back in the very early days of the Torres Strait Island Regional Council.

It was August 2022 at the anniversary of the first meeting, a meeting that is famous and celebrated among islanders. It came from an enormous struggle against injustice that every Australian should learn about.

Torres Strait Islanders are one of two major Indigenous groups in Australia. I am a Torres Strait Islander; we have a distinct flag and culture.

In 1901, when the White Australia policy was enacted by the new federation of Australia, the fishing vessels that Torres Strait Islanders owned and successfully operated were confiscated by government authorities.

The island men were forced to work on them for mere rations while their communities lived in poverty.

By 1936 tensions had reached boiling point and the Torres Strait Islander boat crews went on strike. In the months before, the workers had communicated the timing of the strike to each other by leaving messages under coral bommies on the reefs.

They stood their ground, achieving one of their key demands: the formation of a Torres Strait Islands Council - a Voice for the Torres Strait Islander people. The first meeting was on Masig Island. I was fortunate enough to be at the anniversary with young Kailu, a namesake of his ancestor. Kailu senior was one of the first councillors, representing the Erub Island community.