'Moa Island' (Banks Island) is an
island 90 km north of
Thursday Island Queensland,
Australia in the
Banks Channel Torres Strait.
This island is one of the
Torres Strait Islands and is the largest of all Torres Strait islands and has 2 settlements connected by a gravel road.
Kubin is a community largely made up of people moved from
Prince of Wales Island, Torres Strait Muralag (Prince of Wales Island) and other nearby Torres Strait Islands in the early 1870s, along with survivors from
Hammond Island who were moved to
Poid, on the southwestern corner of Moa Island in
1921. Poid was abandoned after the
World War II; one group moving back to their
Narupai (Horn Island) homeland and the remainder moved east to Kubin under the leadership of
Wees Nawia. Kubin residents retained their links with the
Thursday Island,
Bamaga and Cowal Creek (
Injinoo) communities and with their help established a number of business enterprises.
St Pauls is the other settlement on Moa. After the forced repatriation of Pacific Islander labourers, following the federal government's introduction of a restrictive immigration policy in
1904, the
Queensland government set aside a reserve on Moa's eastern shore for those who managed to remain in
Queensland, many of whom had married Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal people. In
1908 the
Anglican Church began developing
St Pauls Mission. They also established the St Pauls Native Training College. A community council was established under the
Torres Strait Islander Act 1939, and in
1985, the St Pauls community gained ownership of their land through a Deed of Grant in Trust.
Significant Case Law
Mualgal People v State of Queensland (1999) FCA 157 (12 February 1999)
Aerial photos & maps
See also
Kubin State School