Overcrowding contributes to people dying young in Yarrabah. Residents hoped a Voice to Parliament would help
Yarrabah looks like a tropical paradise — but here danger lurks, and not in the dense rainforest or the sea.
"This year we had about 40 deaths, and sometimes the funerals would be two a week," says local Anglican pastor Father Les Baird.
In a town of about 4,000 people, that's significant. The cemetery will be full in two years, according to Father Baird.
A type of heart disease, eradicated in much of Australia, is contributing to poor health outcomes and deaths on the lands of the Gunggandji people.
It's called rheumatic heart disease, and it's an illness of poverty and disadvantage, not genetics, caused by living in overcrowded homes.
"The people are dying young, and it’s not good," Father Baird says.
"The statistics continue to widen, and that’s the reason why the community was hoping for a Yes vote at the referendum."
'Rejected' by referendum result
Like many remote Indigenous communities, Yarrabah voted overwhelmingly in favour of the referendum proposal for a Voice to Parliament, with more than 75 per cent voting Yes, in stark contrast to their fellow Queenslanders, who delivered the highest No vote in the country, currently sitting at 68.9 per cent.
In the wake of the referendum result, the week of silence observed by many First Nations peoples ended on Sunday with an unsigned letter to Australia from Indigenous leaders, calling the Voice rejection "appalling and mean-spirited".
The ABC could not confirm any leaders in Yarrabah were co-authors of the letter, which went on to thank those "who voted Yes to recognition".
Agreeing in sentiment to the shock expressed in the letter, Yarrabah’s mayor of the Aboriginal Shire Council, Ross Andrews, described the result as "extremely disappointing".
"We feel rejected," Cr Andrews said.
"People are wounded."
Compounding the result shock, the federal opposition immediately called for a royal commission into the alleged sexual abuse of children in Indigenous communities.
One person well-placed to know if a royal commission is justified in Yarrabah is the chief executive of the health service, Suzanne Andrews, a resident of Yarrabah since childhood.
She characterised the call by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton — echoed by Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and prominent No campaigner Warren Mundine — as "a political stunt".
The timing of the call, issued days after the referendum result, was intended "to come out firing and kick us while we are down," said Ms Andrews, adding that targeting Indigenous communities with claims of sexual abuse "demonises" Aboriginal men.
"Think about what these children are hearing and thinking about themselves," she said.
"Stop using our communities as a political football for your cause to move forward or get votes."
5,000 people in 400 homes
The community of Yarrabah is united in the view that the most urgent issue of concern is the lack of housing for the population, which anecdotally can reach up to 5,000, according to Cr Andrews.
Data published in the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council social infrastructure report for 2023 indicates 330 families are on a waitlist for a home.
Inside virtually all of the 400-odd homes in Yarrabah are more people than the house was designed for. The council reports up to 12 people live in each three-to-five-bedroom home.
Residents told the ABC as many as 20 people could be living in one house.
Having space is a "huge privilege that many take for granted", Cr Andrews said, adding that a lack of space caused “challenges around mental health” and relationship dynamics.
The impact on families includes "not having enough washing [facilities] and clean sheets", which can then exacerbate the transmission of skin infections.
In the worst cases, skin infections can develop into rheumatic fever and heart disease.
For the Gunggandji people, their phrase for good healing is Gurriny Yealamucka — and this is the name they’ve proudly assigned to their medical service.
According to the service's 2022/23 annual report, it has 4,192 patients, of whom 167 suffer from acute rheumatic heart fever and the more severe rheumatic heart disease.
Even the organisation's lead, Ms Andrews, carried the burden of this disease "when I was seven years old".
"I’ve come through that," she said.
"The thing that impacts rheumatic heart [disease] is overcrowding in the homes."
Truth and Treaty next
Yarrabah leaders are now coming together to regroup and strategise over their next steps, with Cr Andrews calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to implement the remaining reforms in the Uluru Statement: treaty and truth-telling.
Yarrabah traditional owner Percy Neal voted Yes for a Voice, but said he would have rather seen truth-telling inquiries take place before Australia went to a referendum, so the country could have been more educated on First Nations history before voting.
"But I don't get into a blame game," Mr Neal said.
"The next step we're going to do, and that is to get the truth-telling.
"We'll be in a better position there to actually move on with us as Australians."
Despite feeling devastated over the referendum result, Father Baird has hope for the future.
"We want to try and stop the deaths that are happening, and we want to try and move on so that the country will hear our voice," he said.
"Yarrabah has the Yarrabah Leaders Forum, which is quite an important body, and they've already begun to speak into government.
"I believe our voice is already being heard, not only in Brisbane but also in Canberra."