Our Islands Our Home

$40,000 | July 2021

What do Our Islands Our Home do?

Our Islands Our Home is a climate justice campaign led by Torres Strait Islanders to protect their island homes. Project of 350 Australia. Their mission is to build a grassroots movement to stand up to the fossil fuel industry, and support a just transition from coal, oil and gas to a renewable-energy future for all.

Why is this work important?

Torres Strait Islanders are on the frontline ofthe climate crisis, and urgent action is needed to ensure they can remain on their islands. Right now, king tides, erosion, droughts and coral-bleaching are threatening the homes and cultures of Torres Strait Islander people, while the Australian Government refuses to address the climate crisis.

Our goal is to ensure in the lead up to the next Federal election candidates from all parties in the Leichhardt electorate commit to funding for adaptation to climate impacts in Zenadth Kes (the Torres Strait), support community-owned renewable energy, and champion stronger national climate policy.

This feeds into the longerterm campaign goals of shifting the story on climate with key audiences on the Australian mainland and building a sustainable, community organising program led by Torres Strait Islanders.

How is Groundswell supporting this work?

Groundswell will support OIOH’s Federal election project to ensure candidates from all parties in the Leichhardt electorate commit to funding for adaptation to climate impacts in Zenadth Kes (the Torres Strait), support community-owned renewable energy, and champion stronger national climate policy. Their plan is as follows:

In October 2021 we kick off our powerful local organising election campaign in Leichhardt, the Federal electorate that stretches north from Cairns and includes Zenadth Kes. Key interventions include:

• Hosting storytelling events to engage canditdates and community

• Elevating Torres Strait Islander voices at a local and national level thorugh digital communications, advocacy and media engagement

• Supoorting Torres Strait Islander volutenteers to formelection action groups across the Torres Strait and Cairs

• Engaging with voters through a network of key partners and Traditional Owners in the lead up to the election.

Grant update

On the back of the substantial movement building and community campaigning that the Our Islands Our Home team has built over the past few years, the Ailan Pawa election campaign aimed to mobilise community members in Zenadh Kes (the Torres Strait) to take action during the federal election and ensure that climate impacts in Zenadh Kes were on the forefront of every candidate's agenda in Leichhardt, the seat which covers the Torres Strait.

We saw the impact of our campaign on candidates directly, with Warren Entsch, the Labor candidate, and the Greens candidates all responding to the campaign demands with public comments.

Perhaps the greatest impact has and will come from the tireless work of the Our Islands Our Home team building relationships with key ALP members including Linda Burney and Chris Bowen and key members of the crossbench such as Zali Steggall who have all expressed their support for the campaign.

Our next steps are to build on these existing relationships to deliver policy outcomes in the months ahead. We are currently lining up advocacy meetings in June with key members of the ALP and Crossbench with representatives from the Torres Strait 8 and Our Islands Our Home team to discuss a pathway for the campaign’s key demands.

As expected, Warren Entsch was returned as the sitting Liberal MP for Leichhardt - we are currently commissioning a report and analysis on the breakdown of the Leichhardt vote to give further detailed insight.

There are several other areas where we can see the clear impact of the Ailan Pawa campaign, both in Leichhardt and nationally contributing to this being the “climate election.”

Direct pressure on Warren Entsch and all candidates in Leichhardt

Building on the work of the last two years, we ramped up the pressure on all candidates in the Leichhardt electorate to support the key demands of the campaign, including the local action needed in the Torres Strait to secure funding for adaptation programs and moving towards community owned renewables, as well as the national demands of a fast transition to 100% renewables and a just transition away from fossil fuels.

Demonstrating climate action as top priority in the Torres Strait

We continued to see significant local media coverage with the campaign featuring most weeks in the Torres News, as well as the Cairns Post, Channel 7, NITV, SBS World News.

Amplifying the voices of Torres Strait Islanders nationally

This election was overwhelmingly the ‘climate election’. According to the ABC's Vote Compass, more people listed climate change as their most important issue this election than any other topic.

Our national network of activists showed up in solidarity with the Torres Strait, delivering the joint statement written by Torres Strait Islander people in conjunction with the Climate Council to their local MPs. This included Dave Sharma, Josh Burns, Mark Dreyfus, Ged Kearney, Peter Khalil, Jana Stewart, and Alan Tudge. These actions secured commitments from ALP MPs to support the campaign if forming Government, and builds on existing commitments and engagement from incoming Ministers, the Greens, and Independents.

Art and culture has always been a significant part of Our Islands Our Home and as part of the Ailan Pawa election campaign we formed a partnership with First Nations Fashion and Design which culminated in the campaign being the theme of the closing show for Afterpay Australian Fashion Week on the 13th May. This was a significant win for the campaign as the closing show was streamed globally, and received both national and international attention as well as being a huge source of pride for First Nations designers and communities.

The show featured design collaborations drawn from the stories and lived experience of climate impacts from Torres Strait Islanders, and an incredibly moving performance from Torres Strait 8 claimant and 350 Australia Organiser Yessie Mosby and his son. This partnership brought the campaign to a wealth of new audiences including an exclusive with Harpers Bazaar and mainstream online publications such as Urban List.

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