Calls to make FNQ home to First Nations Culture Centre Be fair dinkum

l FAR NORTH

| Nick Dalton

PRESSURE is being put on the Palaszczuk government to place the state’s First Nations Cultural Centre in the Far North – not Brisbane.

The Queensland Government has announced it was considering a centre for Cairns along with the main one in Brisbane, setting aside $2 million for business cases for both.

But community and Indigenous leaders say the region is home to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, so the principal centre should be in the Far North.

After a proposed $1 billion Global Tourism Hub, involving a casino, hotel and retail developments, was axed in 2020, a

First Nations’ heritage centre was back in the spotlight.

Mayor Bob Manning said Cairns Regional Council had been advocating for a First Nations Cultural Centre since 2019.

He said the location of such a centre had to be “authentic” and highlighted the Cairns 2050 Shared Vision document endorsed by federal and state governments. “Cairns has the highest proportion of population that is Indigenous of any city in Australia. Cairns is also the only region with direct connectivity to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture,” Cr Manning said.

He said Longreach became the home of the Stockman’s Hall of Fame because of the authenticity of the location – not Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or

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Rockhampton. Cr Manning said an Indigenous centre of such significance didn’t need to be built in a capital city and could be anywhere in the Far North, not necessarily in Cairns.

“Cairns/TNQ provides an authentic location for the establishment of such a National Indigenous Heritage Centre,” he said.

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