End the COVID discrimination against blackfellas, says Barry Walden

Mr Walden is a traditional elder of the Gangalidda people of North West Queensland and he says he has had a gutful of the way the pandemic declared area laws are being applied in places like his native Doomadgee,

The designated biosecurity areas were declared by the Federal Government under the Biosecurity Act 2015 and Mr Walden says he and his people cannot move freely in and out of his community while many white workers deemed essential can and do come and go.

He says this defeats the purpose of the lockdown as these people could potentially spread the virus in the community, making it seem just like a racist application of law and harking back to colonial era laws which restricted the movement of Aboriginal people.

Despite the state lifting restrictions on Monday, strict rules still apply to declared areas which are mostly Indigenous communities such as Doomadgee, Burke Shire and Mornington Shire in the North West.

Stage 1 of the Roadmap enables people to enter a designated community to self-quarantine within that community under approved arrangements, removing a requirement to quarantine for 14 days before entering.

The Queensland Government has asked the Federal Government to remove Queensland's remote communities from the Biosecurity Determination from June 12 to enable Stage Two state-based arrangements to commence.

Under Stage 2, 'safe travel zones' will be established. Work is now underway on developing the list of Safe Travel Zones which can be made up of a single community, or several local government areas, depending on the risk profile of the area.

Stage 3 of the Roadmap for Queensland's remote communities will be implemented when the Chief Health Officer declares it is safe to do so.

With no date on that stage 3, it's no wonder people like Barry Walden are frustrated.

"We're sick of being treated like a blackfella all the time and feeling criminalised," Mr Walden said.

"People can travel whereever they like in Queensland except for us. This is a racist scenario."

Mr Walden rejected the suggestion that the pandemic areas were declared in the best interests of Indigenous health in case outsiders came in with the possibility of spreading the virus.

"This is happening already, these are so-called essential workers, they come in in droves," he said.

Mr Walden said these workers came into the community often without having to do 14 day quarantine or self-isolation and without any checks on where they had been.

Meanwhile Doomadgee people like Delphina Miles and Frank Banjo, are stuck in Isa for weeks on end waiting to get home after some health issues that required hospitalisation.

Mr Walden said his community needed the ability to travel freely in and out of Mount Isa

"It's cold here in Doomadgee but people can't buy winter clothes here," Mr Walden said.

"They prevent us from driving to Mount Isa to do that because 'we're at risk'. Well, hang on a minute, we are at risk everytime an essential worker flies in here.You have Save the Children here, you have essential workers coming out of Brisbane and there is no documentation of where they self-isolate."

Mr Walden said the premier and health minister should come out to Doomadgee and explain why they are in this situation,

"This is a fine opportunity for governments to do whatever they please on Aboriginal lands," he said.

"They are locking us up like dogs."

The North West Star sent the following eight questions to Health Minister Steven Miles office.

1 Why given North West, Central West and South West health services have no cases of COVID, are the indigenous communities of Doomadgee, Burke and Mornington treated differently?

2 What is the status of so-called essential workers in these communities, do they have to self-isolate, if so, who monitors or not who makes the call?

3 Does the government accept that if these people do not have to self-isolate there is a great risk of undermining the lockdown?

4 Does the government accept that whatever the best motives are for locking down Indigenous communities, it really does look like "whitefellas telling blackfellas how to live their lives?

5 Under the roadmap released Sunday, it says stage 2 can commence "following the Commonwealth removal of communities from the Biosecurity Determination." Do we know when this might happen or what trigger could cause it to happen?

6 Also under Stage 2 will the Safe Travel Zone for NW Qld areas Doomadgee, Burke and Mornington Shires include the nearest city, Mount Isa? Without that, the current anger will continue.

7 Do we have any indication of timing of Stage 3?

8 Lastly, can I ask if Minister Miles will accept Barry Walden's offer to visit the community so he can see the problems on the ground?

The questions were not answered directly but referred to the Queensland Health department and a Queensland Health spokesperson admitted these restrictions were tough but they hoped that as they stopped the spread of COVID-19, further changes will be made that allow everyone to return to their daily activities.

"The Queensland Government has worked with the mayors and local leadership in remote communities to agree on a three-stage plan to safely ease restrictions in Federal Government-designated biosecurity areas," the spokesperson said.

"A separate three-stage Roadmap to easing access restrictions for Queensland's remote communities has been introduced, enabling designated communities to transition from the current federal emergency biosecurity restrictions to state-based arrangements under Chief Health Officer public health directions."

"Some areas could move through the stages at different times, depending on the advice of the Local Disaster Management Group, assessment of the public health risk, appropriate enforceability and community consultation."

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