DEPUTY Opposition leader Tim Mulherin has sent a veiled apology to Redland mayor Karen Williams after he made claims council should pay to provide basic services at One Mile on North Stradbroke Island.
Cr Williams said Mr Mulherin was incorrect to claim council was responsible for providing basic services at One Mile, which is on state government land.
The indigenous settlement, one mile north of the Dunwich township, has no running water, sewers, electricity or roads.
Mr Mulherin made the statement in a letter to Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Cameron Costello this week.
"Unfortunately, Mr Mulherin's letter shows a lack of understanding about the One Mile area," Cr Williams said.
"It is part of the 2011 Indigenous Land Use Agreement that the former ALP state government signed with the Quandamooka people - a very important agreement.
"To write a letter, only days from an election, advising that residents of Redland City would bear the cost of this infrastructure, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, is unacceptable.
"Our Council simply could not afford to pay that and nor has it ever been expected to - it is state government land and this responsibility should not be passed to local ratepayers."
Hours after Cr Williams wrote to Mr Mulherin, he replied saying he now realised the settlement was on state land and not council's responsibility.
He said if the ALP were elected, he would work closely with the council to rectify problems at One Mile.
Quandamooka chief executive Cameron Costello agreed with Cr Williams and said the settlement was a state responsibility after the state moved indigenous people there for cheap labour in the 1940s.
"Despite requests from Quandamooka people over time for infrastructure, the state denied it and blocked it," Mr Costello said.
The Greens pledged $20million to infrastructure at One Mile if they took government at Saturday's election.
