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Two Woppaburra elders think Altum Property Group should better consult them about resort plans on Great Keppel Island, but the developer insists it has had several meetings with Indigenous representatives and considers it too early for formal negotiations, as it does not yet have the leases for the project.
Altum and the recently-formed GKI Progress Association held a meeting last week explaining the various stages of the resort proposal.
At the forum, Altum construction director Rob McCready said the following about Indigenous consultation:
“This is ongoing dialogue. We’ve met, as I’ve said, with many of the Woppaburra including Auntie Glenice and Bobby Muir and his son Robert and his nephew.
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Subscriber only Goats roaming Great Keppel Island will not be culled on the spot, although no final decision has been reached as to how to deal with them. Livingstone Shire Council held a meeting on January 15 with GKI stakeholders to discuss what to do about the goats. Councillor Andrea Friend, the water, waste management, and environment portfolio holder, presided over the meeting. The problem with the goats, she said, was that they caused erosion and ate native vegetation. It was great for a first meeting, Cr Friend said. What we discussed is we started off with the history of the feral goats on the island and where they may have come from and how they impacted the environment over a decade.
Altum Property Group and Capricorn Coast businesses last month formed an association to advocate the development of Altum’s planned resort on Great Keppel Island.
The GKI Progress Association Inc.’s stated aims are to increase awareness of the resort project, to provide stakeholders a forum to discuss it, and to speak with all levels of government about their island investments.
The group’s secretary is Altum’s revitalisation project general manager Leigh McCready.
Its president is Ross O’Reilly and its treasurer is Gerry Christie, both of whom are also on the association’s committee, which consists of those who signed an open letter drafted by Ms McCready in September last year.