Saibai Elder, Aunty McRose Elu supports quest to take government to court over inaction on climate change

For Sabai Elder Aunty McRose Elu the fear of seeing inhabitants of some low-lying Islands in the Torres Straits in the future is an understatement as this has been a reality for many an islander for decades now. Aunty McRose’s family left Saibai Island in the 1940s because their ancestral lands had become unsuitable for any economic activity (growing crops or construction). She says the situation has gone from bad to worse with the rising sea waterline threatening livelihoods. There are 17 inhabited islands in the Torres Strait with seven of them now inundated.