Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on behalf of the South Sea Islander community in Queensland. It was brought to my attention over the 12 months ago that the Queensland Museum had in its possession ancestral remains and secret-sacred objects of South Sea Islanders. Queensland United South Sea Islander Council Incorporated, or QUASSIC, have been trying to work with former Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister Leeanne Enoch to repatriate these remains to their country of origin so that traditional South Sea Islander customs and traditions can be honoured.

I encouraged the QUASSIC committee to give the Queensland state government a reasonable opportunity to respond, but it's well over 12 months on and there's still no movement. The Kanaka program was indeed a shameful part of our history in Queensland. However, to their credit, members of this community have quietly gone about their inquiries in a respectful way, which, sadly, has got them nowhere. I'm asking the Queensland government and the federal Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, to act on this respectful request and ensure that these remains are returned to QUASSIC ASAP on behalf of the nations that they represent.

While I'm at it, I was disappointed that the federal government funded Jeremy Donovan, an Australian First Nations man, on a tour to the South Sea Islands but neglected to fund one of the many South Sea Islander descendants of the Kanaka program to join him on the tour. They never even had the decency to engage with QUASSIC and advise them of his visit. Shame!