It seems the local council, led by Mayor Lawrence Springborg, is working with the Miles Labor State Government to transfer ownership of the nearby Toobeah Reserve to an Aboriginal corporation headquartered more than 400 km away.

For four years, the residents who call Toobeah home have been kept in the dark about the future of this land. So, on their behalf, I’ve written to the State Government and Goondiwindi Regional Council, asking that the transfer be paused until residents in Toobeah are given the opportunity to be consulted on how this will affect their community’s wellbeing.

The lack of local consultation on the transfer of Toobeah Reserve land to the Bigambul Aboriginal Corporation has left the community with no answers about future access to the popular recreation area.

This land has been the heart of the Toobeah community for more than a century. Residents have paid good money to keep it well maintained, and they make regular use of it for a range of recreational pursuits.

Now they’re wondering if they’ll have access to this community land again, with the Queensland Labor Government about to transfer ownership to an Indigenous corporation with an office more than 400 km away. What ‘connection’ to this land could they have, working more than 400 km away?

I'll be headed out to Toobeah on the 6th of March to consult with the locals, hear what they have to say, and listen to their concerns.

More than half of Australia is already under native title, and another 12% is under claim. At some point, Australians are going to have to say that enough is enough. Australia is home to all Australians and belongs to all Australians.

This was an important message implicit in the rejection of the voice of Parliament at last year’s referendum. Toobeah is in the Federal electorate of Maranoa, which had the highest ‘no’ vote in Australia.

Labor’s referendum failed spectacularly because it only consulted with the activists and academics who stood to gain a voice in Parliament. Labor didn’t listen to the rest of Australia and provided no details, despite being reasonably asked countless times.

Labor, and many in the Coalition, it seems, need to re-learn the fact that governments must govern for all citizens equally.