Decolonising Torres Strait : a moderate proposal for 2001

In December 1992 a delegation from the Islands Co-ordinating Council (ICC), at the time the superior representative body in “Torres Strait, met with Gareth Evans and Robert Tickner in Canberra to discuss a self-government proposal. They called for a form of association with Australia similar to that which existed with Norfolk Island. In the following year Getano Lui Jnr., Chair of the ICC, made a number of public statements about the aspirations of ‘Torres Strait Islanders for self-government, most notably in his Boyer lecture, which made the point that there were a number of Australian territories with ‘tailor-made’ constitutions, and that there was ‘noreason why a ‘Torres Strait regional government could not be devised’. He described the suggestion as moderate, and thought that it would be appropriate if it could be achieved in the year 2001, intime for the anniversary of the constitution.