Key Points
- Me-Mel is also known as Goat Island, and is located in Sydney Harbour.
- It is an important site for Aboriginal people and is in the process of being returned to Aboriginal ownership.
- The NSW government has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Me-Mel Transfer Committee.
The NSW government has signed an agreement to facilitate the transfer of an island on Sydney Harbour to Indigenous ownership.
The memorandum of understanding with the Me-Mel Transfer Committee is part of a multi-step process to return Me-Mel, also known as Goat Island, to Indigenous ownership.
The formal ‘handback’ process was started by then-NSW Labor MPs Luke Foley and Linda Burney on 26 January 2015, and was pushed forward with a plan announced by then-Liberal Premier Mike Baird's government in 2016.
On Saturday, NSW Premier Chris Minns announced the memorandum signing, saying it was a "significant step".
"The island will be a symbol of reconciliation in the heart of Sydney Harbour," he said.
"We are listening to the Aboriginal community through this process. That is what the signing of this agreement is all about."
Me-Mel is reportedly the site of the first penal colony. It is a Gadigal word for eye.
About $43 million in government funds have been allocated towards the island's remediation and restoration over four years.
A research project is also underway to determine who the traditional owners of the site are.
The Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council has been heavily involved in the hand-back process and is part of the 14-member transfer committee.
The committee will explore how the island can be used for cultural, tourism and public use and provide advice on the site's management.
It also needs to develop and present a business case to the NSW government.
Me-Mel has built structures dating back to the 1830s which will be handled by a "conservation program." Source: AAP / David Finnegan
As well as Aboriginal communities, the broader public and other stakeholders will be consulted on the plans for future site ownership and management.
Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council CEO Nathan Moran told NITV in 2016 that Me-Mel was sought by the organisation since its inception in 1983.
He said the hand-back would have benefits for Aboriginal people.
"Metropolitan have long advocated for a central and visible site for Aboriginal people to show our culture, resilience and innovation, to increase our health and well-being through acceptance and acknowledgement as original peoples of Australia, to celebrate our survival and to end centuries of dislocation from Sydney Harbour."
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating campaigned in favour of returning the site to Aboriginal owners since the mid-1980s.
Which Byron Bay sites are getting additional names?
Cape Byron will also be known by its Aboriginal name Walgun. Source: AAP / Dave Hunt
Nearby Julian Rocks Nature Reserve, home to some of the most diverse marine wildlife on the planet, will be officially known as Nguthungulli.
The traditional name for the imposing outcrop 2.5km off Cape Byron translates as Father of the World in a number of Dreaming stories of the Bundjalung of Byron Bay (Arakwal) people, while Walgun, an important gathering site, means shoulder.
The changes were also announced on Saturday.
Brent Emmons from Bundjalung of Byron Bay Aboriginal Corporation, which worked alongside the NSW government, Cape Byron Trust and National Parks and Wildlife Service on the dual name project, said it reflects the Native Title of the record in the area.
"But also bringing, I guess, Aboriginal culture to the forefront and part of the acknowledgement and acceptance in moving forward in that area," he said.
- Additional reporting by AAP
