Cherbourg celebrates youth with launch of Emu Farm store

Two weeks after a ‘gutting’ referendum result, Cherbourg has come together to celebrate its next generation of leaders with the launch of a grassroots initiative giving hope to its youth.

On Saturday, October 28, a gorgeous, sun-drenched spring afternoon in Cherbourg, the Indigenous community came together to support each other, as they always have done.

The hope and positivity was palpable as the crowd of about 100 clapped and cheered the colourful clothing being paraded in their midst, the products of workshops organised by a local youth initiative in collaboration with Elders and experts including Gooreng Gooreng Elder Aunty Julie Appo and Murgon florist Felicity Aitken.

The crowd of around 100 clapped and cheered the colourful clothing paraded by the Youth Advisory Group members.

The conversion of the site of Saturday’s parade, a disused Emu Farm atop Cherbourg’s Bert Button lookout with picturesque views of Lake Barambah, into a store selling clothes, candles and floral arrangements created in the community, was the brainchild of the Youth Advisory Group, a council-facilitated forum through which young people could discuss the problems they faced in the community and, most importantly, propose and implement possible solutions.

The converted Emu Farm store stocked a colourful range of clothes, candles and flower arrangements created by the Youth Advisory Group.

Designed to address social issues faced by youth in the community, including a lack of employment pathways and, in 2021, a suicide rate 76 times the non-Indigenous population, YAG coordinator Wawida Collins said the sense of pride felt by the young people who took part in the floral and fashion design workshops as they realised their creations had buoyed the entire community.

“Even when they’d started off with just doing community projects, just going around cleaning the community and making it tidier … they were just so proud of themselves that they were actually out there making a difference,” Ms Collins said.

“And that just made us all so proud as well.”

YAG coordinator Wawida Collins preferred to look forward rather than reflect on the referendum result, saying the media too often presented negative associations of Indigenous people with crime.

Speaking after the parade as the crowd thronged through the store, emptying the shelves of the YAG’s handiwork, Ms Collins expressed her gratitude to all those who had attended the opening for their support of the initiative.

“It has boosted our confidence, to know that we are on the right path by doing what the young people wanted,” she said.

“It shows we’re listening to them as well; for the young people to know that we’re always gonna be here to support them, they can see that this is our journey together.”

While raising the emphatic rejection of the Voice to parliament on October 14, just two weeks prior, felt like a jarring note on a day of such positivity, there were compelling parallels between the Voice proposal and the YAG initiative which has gleaned successful solutions to social problems by listening to the voices of those most affected by them.

The fashion parade was compered by Gooreng Gooreng Elder Aunty Julie Appo, who provided the clothing design workshops to the Youth Advisory Group.

The contrast in referendum voting preferences between Cherbourg and polling places around the region with majority non-Indigenous population was stark and unmistakeable.

Cherbourg, with 96 per cent Indigenous population, was one of only three out of 189 polling places across the federal electorates of Flynn, Hinkler and Wide Bay to return a majority Yes vote in the referendum, with 58 per cent voting in favour of the Voice.

In Cloyna, a South Burnett town just 27km from Cherbourg with 7 per cent Indigenous population, only 6 per cent supported the Voice, the lowest in all three electorates.

When asked for her thoughts on the resounding repudiation of the Voice proposal by the broader community, Ms Collins preferred to look forward, alluding to the corrupting power of negative associations of Indigenous people with crime perpetuated through the mainstream media which she hoped could be corrected by more positive coverage of events such as Saturday’s parade and shop opening.

“We just have to keep moving forward, regardless (of the result),” Ms Collins said.

“We always have a bad reputation in the media and I think today to showcase that there is a different side to Cherbourg, there are good things that come out of here as well, not just the negative stuff.

“And it would be really good for people to come and experience that as well.”

When Edwina Stewart, the softly-spoken community services manager at Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council, choked up at the microphone when acknowledging the hard work of her team, including Ms Collins, the undercurrent of emotions at play throughout the day were surfaced for a brief moment.

Community Services Manager at Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council Edwina Stewart paid tribute to earlier generations for establishing a cultural inheritance of resilience that continues to galvanise the people of Cherbourg.

Afterwards, saying the community “didn’t dwell too much” on the referendum, like Ms Collins preferring to look forward, Ms Stewart paid tribute to earlier generations for establishing a cultural inheritance of resilience that continues to galvanise the people of Cherbourg.

“We know we’ve still got a steep hill to climb, and it’s the ancestors that have empowered us to keep going,” Ms Stewart said.

“So that resilience has always been there with our people.”

Earlier in the afternoon, before most guests arrived and as the local radio station was setting up to broadcast the event, a group of 14 boys and girls aged 8-13 went through a final traditional dance rehearsal in a clearing behind the store.

While the practice broke down on occasion, with the children erupting into peals of laughter to the mild chagrin of their instructor, Natasha Duncan, the performance before the vocal and appreciative crowd went without a hitch, a couple of the boys even improvising some freestyle moves to cover up a brief breakdown of the sound system.

A group of 14 boys and girls aged between eight and 13 went through a final traditional dance rehearsal behind the store before performing before the appreciative crowd.

After the performance, relaxing in the shade as most people tucked into sausage sandwiches provided and cooked by sponsor RACQ, Ms Duncan said she had seen children transformed through having their voices heard through their involvement in the YAG.

“You just listen to them, and you sort of guide them in the right direction,” she said.

“We know some children get lost and get off track, but there’s always these other services and support systems in place now, which is fantastic.

“We have survived, we’re still thriving, we’re a resilient mob here,” Ms Duncan said.

“We just have to make it a bit easier for our future leaders to come through.

“That’s what we have to get right now, but it’s hard when there’s a lot of different views at the moment.”

Natasha Duncan (right) and Janelle Carlo (left) said the referendum divided families and the community in Cherbourg.

Ms Duncan said that by “different views”, she was referring to some division and discord within Cherbourg that developed through the referendum campaign, suggesting many did not vote because of the difficulty in choosing a position.

While the 2021 ABS census recorded 751 people aged 15 or over in the community, there were a total of 244 ballots lodged at the Cherbourg polling place on October 14.

“There was a divide in the community and a divide in some families as well,” Ms Duncan said.

“I think some people deliberately didn’t vote, just because of the fact that it was just too hard.”

Sitting nearby, Elder Janelle Carlo’s family was one of those divided by the referendum; her 20-year-old daughter, active on social media, had told her leading up to the referendum that she would be voting no.

“I still voted yes, and she still voted no, but we never spoke about it,” Ms Carlo said.

“I feel, along with some of our Elders and other people, really sad and gutted (about the result).

“But I guess we just have to move forward now and just concentrate on the little things we do in our communities, like today.”

One of the guests of honour, Cherbourg 2023 Naidoc Elder of the Year Aunty Ada Simpson, gave a short speech to get the day’s proceedings underway, saying “it gives you heart, and great pride” to see young people in the community collaborating on the YAG initiative.

80-year-old Aunty Ada Simpson (right, with Belita Gadd) said she remembered “just like yesterday” needing to obtain a permit to leave the mission to go to a doctor’s appointment.

Born and bred in Cherbourg, Aunty Ada Simpson refused to be drawn on the referendum, preferring to reflect on the changes she had seen in her 80 years growing up on the mission – and the things that remain the same.

“I could tell you some stories,” she said with a gentle smile.

“From the days of tin huts to the beautiful homes that we’ve got today.”

She said she remembered “just like yesterday” needing to obtain a permit to leave the mission to go to a doctor’s appointment, memories that, for some, were revived with traumatic effect when Cherbourg was returned to lockdown during the Covid pandemic.

But for Aunty Ada, such restrictions were all she knew, the only change being a gradual realisation through her lifetime that the laws purported to protect Aboriginal people were in fact intended to control them.

“We knew no other life back then” she said.

“We thought the government was protecting us, but as you were growing up, you realised the policies kept you restricted and isolated.

“So Covid did bring back those sad old days; but you learnt that they never protected you.”