Mayor Jenny Hill isn't listening, we need to raise our voices again!!

Dear Supporters,

We are still waiting for a response from the Mayor and Townsville City Councillors, to a letter we sent (26 September 2020) about this issue. The September letter (some of which is included below) was in response to the Mayor’s reply (18 August 2020) to this petition, which was submitted on 9 August 2020. 

When we lodged this petition to Mayor Hill and the Townsville City Councillors, in the accompanying letter we wrote:

“Our intention is to progress discussion and action on this matter in order to tell the truth, acknowledge the wrongs exacted by our city’s founders, and assist our community in the healing process. As we state: It is time to relocate the Blackbirder Robert Towns’ Statue from the CBD of Townsville and put it in a museum—such as the Museum of Tropical Queensland—with the true story of place, people, and history voiced around it. We need to tell the bigger story of our entangled past, so that all of us can embrace a shared aspiration of reconciliation, here and now.”

We explained that “it is a necessary step towards a more inclusive local society that is grounded in actual history, not on ideologies or narrow-focussed values. In the bigger picture, it is a factual and intrinsic part of the development of Australia as a nation, where human rights and the fair treatment of all before the law are defining parts of our national identity. ”

We called on the Townsville City Council to hold a community meeting to discuss this further with the local Traditional Owners, Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and historical others who have a personal and / or cultural interest in the matter. 

In the Mayor’s reply she wrote:
“ In relation to the purpose of your petition, the statue of Robert Towns, who financed the establishment of the port of Townsville, is not a solitary memorial but is one of nearly a dozen memorials that form the Pioneer Walk, with additions continuing to be made over time. The Pioneer Walk highlights the significant contribution of various people to the City of Townsville and was created to encourage residents and tourists to explore a little visited part of the CBD alongside the Ross Creek… Interpretive signage next to the Robert Towns statue both highlights the controversy created by his judgement on contracted labour from the South Sea Islanders and also lauds the contribution of the South Sea Islanders, stating “without Towns’ South Sea Islanders their enterprise would have failed.

Investigations are occurring into how additional information about Robert Towns’s association with the South Sea Islanders can be made available, including more information about how the South Sea Islanders contributed to the development of the city. Consultation has been occurring with representatives of the Australian South Sea Islander National Secretariat.”   Mayor Hill to Petitioners, 18/8/2020

Since then, nothing has happened. Mayor Hill doesn’t seem to be able to listen to her constituents and instead continues to barge ahead with her own business and politically motivated agendas. In her reply, she has seemingly outright dismissed (on their behalf) what we have asked the Council to consider. 

Mayor Hill has again demonstrated her: ignorance of the facts; unwillingness to consult, negotiate and be properly informed; lack of care about the health and well-being of a large section of the community. What we are proposing will not hurt others (it will instead educate them), but if nothing changes it will continue to hurt and upset many!

We responded stating:
“Councillor Hill, we encourage you to remember that you are under tenure in your role, and in this shared place. Through your actions and words you have continued to demonstrate a lack of first principles, as laid out in the city’s Reconciliation Action Plan, and persist with a colonising lack of respect for many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in this town. Your Council does not speak for any of us in regards to this matter."

We asked:
"Why is the Council contradicting its own Reconciliation Action Plan? 

It’s time to act on these words pledged by the Townsville City Council, https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/3776/TCC_Reconciliation_Action_Plan_2015-17_Web.pdf:

“The Townsville City Council would like to acknowledge the Bindal and Wulgurukaba peoples as Traditional Owners of the land on which our Council operates. We pay respect to Elders past, present and future and value the traditions, cultures and aspirations of the First Australians of this land. We acknowledge and hold in great significance the valuable contribution that Traditional Owners have made and continue to make within the Townsville Community.”

“We aspire to encourage active participation from all community members including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to ensure inclusive engagement and contribution to a community that is safe, resilient and prosperous for all. We endeavour to build a solid foundation of mutual respect, increased communication, recognition and ethical conduct which develops and strengthens our relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and community and helps the wider community work towards a deeper understanding of First Australian Peoples’ histories and cultures. Together we can work towards building a strong and prosperous society.”

"We want to see TCC take the following action (and will keep campaigning until this occurs):

• Actively engage in genuine and appropriate consultation with Townsville's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders / Traditional Owners, and other interested and concerned community members to review and change the situation of the statue.
• This all needs to be community-led, in order to achieve the appropriate outcomes for this matter, e.g. context of the statue (surrounding information, its accuracy, accompanying signage, etc).
• Facilitate collaborative action (between the community, TCC and the Museum of Tropical Queensland) by developing a plan around moving the statue and finding the best solution for presenting it in a public space that is surrounded by the full and factual history that surrounds it. If in doubt, ask the descendents who still live this history as present day, every day, real-world life. And who will, in turn, continue this legacy through their own generations to come.
• Contribute funds to the Gallery’s Public Arts program to enable this course of action.

And, we call on TCC to address TCC’s RAP Priority Area deliverables: Influencing change:

1.2 Explore opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural naming of buildings, infrastructure or signage within Townsville city.

We are all keen to have this most recent proposal taken very seriously, and are willing to engage with Townsville City Council in proper consultation around it."

The Pioneers Walk that Mayor Hill keeps deflecting towards, is irrelevant to many in the city. We asked: 
“Whose idea was this? Where is the money coming from to fund it? What is the commercial value of this project? We do not support this project and yet you are using our public money towards it. And where is the documentation of this project? (It certainly isn't easily accessible on the TCC website or elsewhere).”

And concluded:
“Crucially, we suggest that you apprise yourself more rigorously on the subject of Towns and why he is not someone to be revered here: Why is there a Statue of the Slaver Robert Towns (1794–1873) . It is simply no longer okay for the Mayor of Townsville to conveniently ignore, brush over or deflect from this matter.”  Petitioners to TCC, 26/9/2020

We are yet to receive a reply from anyone in Council to our letter and questions. It’s not surprising, as Mayor Hill is obviously hoping this issue will just ‘go away’.... This issue will not go away until it is resolved, and therefore further action and more inclusive discourse is required. 

Two days ago, on the occasion of Invasion / Survival Day 2021, we heard again from Dr. Gracelyn Smallwood AM about this issue and why it needs to be addressed by Townsville City Council in consultation with local Traditional Owners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and historical others:

“This town is named after Robert Towns. A lot of non-Indigenous Australians regard him as an entrepreneur. Well First Nations people don’t regard him as an entrepreneur. He owned the slave ships that went over to Vanuatu or the New Hebrides and brought our little people back to Australia. First of all to Port Jackson in NSW and then up and down the coast - the young children that were bought and many were never returned back to Vanuatu. And they were slave laboured in the sugar cane industry. And Townsville was named after Robert Towns.

That’s why we’ve been fighting about his statue, because we don’t believe in his statue. We believe that the true history has to be told. When non-Indigenous Australians bow down to this entrepreneur, he became a multi-billionaire on the slave trade of the Kanaka Black Birding. My great grandfather was a young boy when he was brought back over here…”  Gracelyn Smallwood, extract from her Survival Day 2021 Speech, 26/1/21 

This petition has 1246 signatures. Will you help us to get more support by sharing this petition with ten other people? If enough of us sign and we keep this petition alive, we can’t be ignored! It’s time our elected politicians listened to the people!!

With your support we will continue to agitate to be heard by Townsville City Council and convince them to honour their RAP Priority Area deliverables and take the necessary action as outlined above. 

Please feel free to share this update and help to spread the word that we are still waiting for change.

Yours sincerely,

The Petitioners:
Bernadette Boscacci - bernadetteboscacci@gmail.com
Dr Louise Boscacci - louiseboscacci@gmail.com
Dr James G Barrett - didgebaba@gmail.com