Traditional owners take over North Stradbroke Island home

Nearly one-quarter of North Stradbroke Island has been handed back to its Aboriginal traditional owners.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the Quandamooka land handover ceremony on North Stradbroke Island. Picture: Jack Tran / Office of the Premier

Nearly one-quarter of North Stradbroke Island has been handed back to its Aboriginal traditional owners, as residents prepare for the end of its major ­industry: sandmining.

Queensland Premier Annas­tacia Palaszczuk and her deputy, Jackie Trad, on Thursday handed over land deeds for nearly 6500ha of North Stradbroke Island to the Quandamooka people, who call the Moreton Bay island Minjerribah.

The move was historic and symbolic, representing the transition from sandmining, which started on the island in 1949, to a tourism-based economy on the ­island, 30km east of Brisbane. Yet the event attracted local protesters concerned about North Stradbroke’s economic future.

Sibelco’s mine will shut at the end of December after a promise made by former Labor premier Anna Bligh’s government in 2011 — 400 new jobs had been promised, helped along by a $25m government transition package, but Ms Trad on Thursday said only 160 had been created so far.

Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Cameron Costello said: “In terms of Aboriginal employment, the transition is happening, it’s real, and our people are in jobs.”

A new cultural centre will be built next year, along with a whale watching station and extra ranger facilities. The traditional owners will work with Sibelco over the next decade to rehabilitate the mine site.

Ms Palaszczuk defended the millions spent by government to shift the island’s economy, despite fewer-than-expected jobs.