From 1990, the old people of Cape York gathered at a series of summits, determined to stem the tide of misery and build a better future for their children and grand-children.
communities stood as a cruel testament to the failure of the rights agenda. They could now see that the good intentions had robbed them of the very thing they needed – the right to take responsibility. At the final summit, they presented the Premier of Queensland, Peter Bettie, with a Kaban – a formal communique. In it they stated:
“Increasingly we have come to understand that welfarism, however well intentioned, has stripped us of our honour and dignity and taken our future from us. “