Thesis (Master of Letters)--Central Queensland University, 1998. / "A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Letters in History. Central Queensland University." Cover title.

The aim of my study is to comprehend why there is a significant gap in the economic development of Torres Strait. It questions why it is that Torres Strait Islanders as a whole remain largely economically unproductive in their present situation in contrast to the political beliefs of Islanders and their struggles for self-determination. It questions why Island leaders continue to accept policies of external control even though the guidelines for self development maintain the situation, rather than transforming it. Thus this thesis examines contemporary and traditional history of the Torres Strait in order to analyse and evaluate the development of the political structures of the Islands and how colonialism has influenced the politics of Torres Strait Islanders. I shift through the recorded layers of myths and legends for my interpretation and analyse the ethnographic accounts about Torres Strait from past archival reports, academic literature and the oral accounts from interviews. From the local media, I have examined the recent views of both the contented and discontented Islanders and other people reported in the local Torres News. From these records, I bring into perspective the historical processes of a capitalist economic system which has so deeply penetrated Islander culture. / Commencing in the 1860s, at the onset of the Torres Strait beche-de-mer and pearl shell industry, the system has so failed Torres Strait Islanders' social development that it moved Islander leaders in the 1980s to push for cessation from Australia and, in the mid 1900s to seek "autonomy and self government" to remain within the Australian political system. In this thesis, I use this evidence to bring into perspective the concept of development with awareness to the colonial history of Torres Strait in comparison with oral history interpreted as the culture of my people. The theme my thesis implicates the contestation between Torres Strait Islanders and governments who impose administrative policies through the Islander system of political representation (regarding Islander culture and resources).

During 1996 and 1997 an Australian parliamentary committee conducted an inquiry into greater autonomy for Torres Strait Islanders, but by 2000 the future of the issue seemed unclear. This thesis explores what the notion of autonomy has meant for Torres Strait and for Torres Strait Islanders in the past, and what it might mean in the future. The thesis uses material from the period before European contact to just after the end of the parliamentary inquiry. ¶ Several analytical tools were utilised to explore the concept of autonomy. Major among these to propose and then analyse the relationship between autonomy’s economic and political components. The thesis also introduces the paired concepts of negative and positive autonomy to provide a counterpoint to ideas of welfare colonialism. Cross cutting these economic and political elements is a consideration of both regional and corporate forms of autonomy. The thesis argues that it is necessary to consider the factors which people can use to legitimise a case for autonomy and these are identified and discussed. ¶ Although previous research and historical material are utilised, unique parts of the thesis include an analysis of: the formal submissions and hearings associated with the parliamentary inquiry; the Torres Strait’s location between Australia and Papua New Guinea; and the Strait’s small-island make-up. In this latter regard, comparisons are made with models and examples of autonomy found in small island states and territories in the Pacific. ¶ The findings include that we must consider two groups of Torres Strait Islanders, those in Torres Strait and those on mainland Australia. Whereas those in the Strait have been able to legitimise a case for a form of autonomy those on the mainland have not. Islanders in the Strait have achieved a degree of regional autonomy; those on the mainland are unable to make a case to be part of this regional autonomy, or to achieve a form of corporate autonomy. The status of Islanders in the Strait is influenced by several factors including the Strait’s location on the border with Papua New Guinea, the associated Treaty with that country, and the nature and the accessibility of the in-shore fishery. A major finding however is that although Islanders have achieved a degree of regional political autonomy, which may be progressed yet further, they have been unable to embrace non-Indigenous people within this. Their present aspiration for regional political autonomy therefore is limited to one that would apply only to Indigenous-specific affairs. This stands in some conflict with their aspiration for regional economic autonomy which would include their control over the entire regional fishery which they presently share with non-Islanders. ¶ Though Islanders have achieved some degree of political autonomy, they depend on substantial government financial transfers to the region. Despite this they have also achieved some economic autonomy, particularly through being involved in the region’s fishery. Juxtaposing negative and positive autonomy with political and economic autonomy shows that a dependence on government economic transfers does not preclude gains in political autonomy. This can be contrasted with the notion of welfare colonialism.

The intention of this study is to examine the relevance of applying the Queensland Adoption Act 1964-1988 to the traditional adoption practice of Torres Strait Islanders. The concept of adoption as defined by the Queensland adoption legislation reflects the cultural context of “white Australia” and the intention of the Adoption Act 1964-1988 is to legalise a specific concept of adoption. This study will show that the Queensland Government, through the Department of Family Services, the Department which has the responsibility for implementing adoption legislation, does not make any allowance for differing views of adoption. The accepted definition of adoption is biased toward the dominant white culture in Queensland and the legislation was intended to service the needs of the dominant white culture.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Australian Centre for Educational Studies, School of Education, 2004. / "November 2003". Bibliography: leaves 243-267.

Douglas was born in London in 1828 and migrated to New South Wales in 1851 where he represented both the Darling Downs and Camden districts in the New South Wales parliament before embarking on a lengthy parliamentary career in Queensland, one that culminated in the premiership from 1877 to 1879. He was subsequently appointed government resident for Thursday Island in 1885, a position he held until his death, nearly 20 years later, aged 76, in 1904. During this period he also served as special commissioner for the protectorate of British New Guinea, administering the territory prior to it being formally proclaimed a crown colony. Douglas’s involvement in Queensland public life was significant and encompassed the entire period from the colony’s formation in 1859 to the federation of the Australian colonies in 1901. In this respect, his career allows, through a study of his long, eventful and varied life, for this thesis to examine aspects of the development and progression of Queensland’s political system as a nascent yet robust, representative democracy, through most of the second half of the nineteenth century until the colony’s incorporation in the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia. This thesis argues that John Douglas was an uncompromising Liberal in an age of Liberalism, a principled politician in an era of pragmatic factionalism and shifting political allegiances. Perhapsbecause of this he was more popular with his electorate than with his parliamentary colleagues. Douglas’s contribution to Queensland life was in large measure shaped by his character and the formative influences on it. This included his aristocratic upbringing, his public school and university education, his abiding religious faith, a profound sense of fair play, and a desire to participate fully and selflessly in the life of the community he lived in, despite the vicissitudes of his personal life. As this thesis further demonstrates, an examination of Douglas’s life affords us an insight into an energetic, accomplished, erudite, and compassionate man. Yet while his intellectual curiosity, thirst for knowledge and wide-ranging interests marked him as a Renaissance man, he also had many failings, most noticeably that of extreme obstinacy. Therefore, this thesis will analyse Douglas’s convictions and beliefs while examining the strengths and flaws inherent in his character. It is because Douglas lived a life characterised by complexity and contradiction, leavened by a mixture of accomplishment and failure, that his life, and the times he lived in, are worthy of examination.

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