A small town in outback Queensland has been flooded after Native Title aboriginal land rights prevented residents from building a proper levee.
Thargomindah’s entire population of more than 200 was forced to flee their homes this week after the swollen Bulloo River broke through an emergency dirt wall that locals built and flooded 90% of residences.
Now furious Bulloo Shire Council Mayor John Ferguson has revealed that plans to build a levee high enough to protect the town came to nothing due to a Native Title ruling.
“A few years ago, we were going to put a levee up, we got the plans, we got everything ready to go,” Mayor Ferguson told The Courier Mail.
“But there’s a fence around the town and virtually anything outside of that fence is Native Title. You just can’t go and move dirt.”
He said as a result residents had to use dirt from inside the town limits to prepare for the current floods, and that the aboriginal land rights restrictions were to blame for the emergency earthworks’ inevitable collapse.
“The impact it had on us was that we just couldn’t build a levee,” he said.
“It’s ridiculous, something has got to happen with this Native Title. You just can’t keep saying that this can’t happen, that can’t happen. We’ve got to sit down and have a good conversation about it.”
Photos shared by Bulloo Shire Council show locals constructing a long dirt wall with heavy machinery as water levels rose, along with others of the town underwater.
The Federal Court in 2014 ruled that about 29,600 square kilometres of land across the Bulloo, Paroo, and Quilpie Shires, including Thargomindah and surrounds, belonged to the Kullilli people.
After the makeshift levee broke the townspeople first fled to the local airport but about half have since been evacuated. The floods are the worst in Thargomindah’s history, with waters almost a metre higher than the previous high of 6.78 metres in 1974.
Residents have started a GoFundMe to raise money for flood recovery, and have raised $58,000 at the time of writing.
“Bulloo Shire is current experiencing its worst flood in history with many residents evacuated, homes and businesses inundated with flood water and landholder suffering home, infrastructure, and stock losses,” wrote Thargomindah local Jackie Dare.
“Our community have received many calls from people offering support so I decided to create this page. I will work with Council to identify needs and ensure all funds are distributed fairly to residents to support their recovery efforts.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to all those people who have already offered support their support during this very trying time.Your concern and support for our community is what makes Australia the great country it is.”
Header image: Left, locals building a makeshift levee. Right, the town inundated with water (Bulloo Shire Council).
