Locals in the small Queensland town of Toobeah—pronounced “two beer”—400 kilometres southwest of Brisbane on the Queensland/New South Wales border, have been surprised by plans to hand over “95 percent” of freehold town land to a local Aboriginal corporation.
They claim they were not consulted during discussions between the Goondiwindi Regional Council and the Queensland Labor government to hand over the 220-hectare Toobeah Reserve to the Bigambul Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC).
“[They] have been doing a plan to give away all of the crown land around our town,” according to Michael Offerdahl, owner of the Toobeah Hotel.
“Our town common, rodeo ground, town hall, town dump. We’ve only got like 12 to 14 houses in our town, we don’t have sewerage, potable water, anything. They’ve been doing this plan up, it’s all been secret, no community consultation,” he claimed.
Gazetted Only for Livestock Use
In fact, Toobeah Reserve—which has been used as a recreational area by residents, and includes a pipe that delivers water to the town—is officially gazetted for livestock use.
“Historically for 115 years these have been parts of our town. The hotel was built in 1911. No one in the Bigambul tribe lives in Toobeah, they’re based in Brisbane. Historically they were in this area but not specifically in Toobeah.”
The Bigambul people have been recognised as native title holders over the majority of the Goondiwindi region—of which Toobeah is a part—following a federal court decision in 2016.
Not 95 Percent of the Town
Goondiwindi Mayor Lawrence Springborg said the council had “turned a blind eye” to illegal use of the reserve in the past, and accused residents of misrepresenting the situation.“[Claiming it is] 95 percent of the town, it’s just completely not true,” he said. “The reserve is not the town.”
He did, however, admit that residents had a right to be concerned about the lack of transparency.
He said while it was “widely known” that the BNTAC applied for joint trusteeship over the reserve four years ago, “the process then transferred into a freehold application in 2021 which carries with it confidentiality.
“Unfortunately there is a privacy provision that exists with virtually all government dealings, not just Indigenous title. I’ve got no doubt ... some people ... didn’t know about this until earlier this year. Our view is these decisions should be in open meetings.”
The mayor said that the native title holders had so far been open to the potential transfer of some of the land for future town expansion but “if this [public campaign] keeps going we could end up with nothing of what’s been talked about.”
But Mr. Offerdahl, who has lived in Toobeah since he was a child, said locals had been trying to work with the Bigambul people “because we wanted to tell the history of the area—theirs, ours—but they just don’t want a bar of it.”
An Aboriginal freehold is a form of collective title that prevents the owners from selling, mortgaging or transferring it, but it can be leased to another party.
