Tenure of Aitkenvale Reserve ridiculous, says Aboriginal elder

A respected Aboriginal elder says the Aitkenvale Reserve should be developed for the benefit of Aboriginal and Islander people.

A RESPECTED Aboriginal elder has called on the state government to ensure a large tract of land in Townsville is developed for the benefit of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Dr Ernie Hoolihan OAM, involved in developing many community services for Aboriginal people in Townsville including founding the Yumba-Meta housing charity, said a “ridiculous situation” had developed where the land, bought some 75 years ago through the government’s Aboriginal Welfare Fund, was held by a trust which had not developed the land in almost 40 years.

The land, commonly referred to as the Aitkenvale Reserve, fronts Ross River Rd and Charles St in Cranbrook and comprises some 20ha owned by the Bwgaman Aboriginal Land Trust.

It has been used as a campsite by visiting Aboriginal and Islander people and for a hostel, which was demolished about 15 years ago, and continues to have a dwelling.

Previously used for cattle agistment and once on the outskirts of town, it is now bushland in the centre of Townsville surrounded by suburbia and believed to be worth around $15m.

Dr Ernie Hoolihan says the Aitkenvale Reserve should be developed.

The Townsville Bulletin approached the trust but it was reluctant to comment.

One trust representative, land manager Obe Geia, questioned why the land would be of anybody’s interest but the people of Palm Island.

But he agreed to an interview about the trust and the land at a later time.

“My thing is why does everyone all of a sudden have an interest in that land when that land is in trust of the people of Palm Island who own the land. Why would everyone else have a vested interest?” Mr Geia said.

“It’s like me wanting to move you out of your land and house and take over it.”

Emmakita Pryor, who announced plans for the reserve’s development in 2016 but which have not proceeded, hung up when called for comment.

The entrance to the Aitkenvale Reserve on Ross River Rd.

On occasions, groups of young people can be seen mowing grass and there are large garden beds near a dwelling set back from Ross River Rd but much of the property is overgrown with vegetation.

Dr Hoolihan said nothing had been done with the land since its ownership was transferred to the trust, which had comprised of 43 trustees, all people from Palm Island, when arranged by former State Aboriginal and Islander Affairs Minister Bob Katter from the last 1980s.

Since that time many of the original trustees had died, Dr Hoolihan said.

Dr Hoolihan said he had expressed an interest in the land in the past, including before its transfer to the trust, but that whenever he sought information or approached trust members, he was told they had nothing to tell him.

He said it was “a ridiculous situation”.

“It’s a housing area and I think that’s what should happen there. There’s a shortage of housing, especially for Aboriginal people,” Dr Hoolihan said.

A view of the dwelling on the Aitkenvale Reserve from Ross River Rd.

Dr Hoolihan said while Palm Island people had been the main users of the land and had built structures on the land, they had not bought the land.

He said it was paid for with funds from the state government’s former Aboriginal Welfare Fund in 1947 with “money from stolen wages”.

The fund derived income from the sale of produce and enterprises on Aboriginal reserves, levies on Aboriginal wages, child endowment and the assets of unclaimed deceased estates and was shut down in the 1990s.

Mr Hoolihan said at one point the government had taken a portion of the reserve as a site for a planned hospital but instead about 50 private homes were developed.

He has approached politicians to have something done but “they seem to shy off Palm Island”.

“If they can take over the land like that (for housing development), surely they can appoint (a new trust) so somebody can do something with the land,” Dr Hoolihan said.

A view of the Aitkenvale Reserve from Ross River Rd.

Mr Katter, now the federal Member for Kennedy, said it had been his “monumental stupidity” to arrange the transfer of the land, thinking that people laying claim to it could agree on its development.

“It was Katter in his monumental stupidity wanting to be a good politician. I said nothing would happen until everyone was happy,” Mr Katter said.

The Aitkenvale Reserve in Cranbrook.

He said the Aitkenvale Reserve had been a “feeder station” to the Palm Island reserve and had been “always part of Palm Island”.

Mr Katter said a “brilliant concept” to develop housing, shops, a rugby league ground and club, offered by his then department officer Eric Law, had been “dashed by my stupidity”.

“That’s why it’s sitting there today and nothing’s happened, instead of 60 jobs and people running their own businesses. I think it needs a ruthless, brutal hand to develop a proposal and do it,” Mr Katter said.

An image of the 2016 development plans by Dreamtime Operations Pty Ltd.

In 2016, Ms Pryor, then Emmakita Geia, announced plans to develop more than 90 houses, a cultural centre and museum, a training academy and retail businesses.

There were also plans for a motel, student accommodation, health services, a retirement village and childcare services. Images of the plans were released.

According to council and company records, Dreamtime Operations Pty Ltd, applied for a preliminary development approval for the mixed-use development in 2015 but the company deregistered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 2017.

The preliminary development application was approved by the council in January 2018.

State Resources Minister Scott Stewart said he had spoken to Dr Hoolihan about the issue and “like him I would love to see this site developed”.

“However, this is a matter for the land trust and under the legislation there is no power to make the holders of this land develop it, which I have told Mr Hoolihan before,” Mr Stewart said.

“I’d encourage the trust to come together to discuss, consider and decide the benefits they could achieve from the land in the future.”

According to a resources department request form, the release of information on the trust’s executive, membership and financial statements requires the consent of the trust’s chairperson.

Originally published as Tenure of Aitkenvale Reserve ridiculous, says Aboriginal elder