The so called "sea cow" that grazes the submarine grass meadows of Moreton Bay tastes like beef, but there is a "porky part" and "cured bacon" that is a "particular fancy".
When a dugong is caught, its mate "will frequent the area in a vain wait for reunion", according to a 1964 Brisbane newspaper.
The author, E.P. Brown, writes that the creature's devotion to its mates is only eclipsed by its commitment to its young, revealing that a mother dugong suckles its calf by holding the bub to the udder with its flippers, ensuring when she surfaces for air, the baby's snout snatches a breath also.
The articles explain how dugong oil provided the Quandamooka people of Minjerribah North Stradbroke Island with medicine. They did not over-exploit the dugong, they took only what they needed, and nothing was wasted.
Readers may not have realised at the time but the material in the news clippings informed audiences about a living Aboriginal culture.
I know this because E.P. Brown, or Edmund Patrick Brown, was my grandfather — a Quandamooka man, fisherman and freelance journalist who published his observations of country.
Twenty-nine years before the Native Title Act legislated how governments and developers should engage Traditional Owners on cultural heritage, my grandfather used a contemporary platform to share generations worth of intangible First Nations knowledge paired with research from the Western paradigm.
Edmond reported that at the end of the 1800s, dugongs roamed the floor of Moreton Bay in herds of "incredible numbers" before white settlers scaled up the commercial manufacturing of oil and "man's greediness caused its demise".
In the 1960s, he observed that dugongs were finally returning to the Quandamooka coast in "increasing numbers".
Sixty years later, Quandamooka man Mark Jones and his family are continuing a custom that has always been.
"My grandparents, my parents brought us up this way," Mark told 7.30, adding that he takes particular animals and won't hunt elder dugongs because they are full of knowledge.
"The biggest reason we're still doing it is because of the oil — it treats illness, aches, pains, flu and cold."
Mark's vessel quietly bobs on the crystal clear waters of a shallow channel of Moreton Bay while the sun rises behind the island and his eight-year-old grandson Cyrus keeps watch.
"There's one," Cyrus points to a cluster of dark shadows in the light blue water.
The best way to spot a dugong is to look for swirls at the water's surface before multiple pairs of grey, piggy nostrils snort in a large breath.
"First thing, we ask for that blessing and support from the old people," Mark explained.
"You then give blessings and gratitude to that animal for giving itself up for eating and medicine."
But Mark has been concerned about the future of this custom, having witnessed a decade-long bureaucratic fight over a nearby proposed development opponents called a "suburb on the sea".
Ten years ago, Walker Corp won the tender to build a $1.4 billion retail, residential and ferry precinct, including 3,600 units and berthing for 400 vessels on Toondah Harbour, the gateway between the mainland and Minjerribah/Terrangeri North Stradbroke Island — a Ramsar Convention-protected wetlands equivalent of a World Heritage site.
Eleven years after the Newman state government first mooted the development by declaring Toondah Harbour a Priority Development Area within Redland City Council's bounds, Walker Corp has withdrawn its application after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek indicated she would reject it due to the "unacceptable impacts on threatened and migratory species".
Walker Corp called the process a "long journey" and floated the idea of an alternative scheme.
Tensions over who can speak for Country
During the 10 years that environmental groups have been battling the project, there has been much focus on the critically endangered eastern curlew that use the Toondah Harbour tidal flats to fatten up over summer after flying thousands of kilometres from Siberia or Alaska.
While concerns over parking, impacts to a nearby koala colony and lack of road and community infrastructure took centre stage during the long Toondah Harbour narrative, some Quandamooka people feel their cultural concerns weren't heard.
Quandamooka elder Brian Moreton Coghill has grown up maintaining his direct connection to the cultural fabric of Moreton Bay and its islands.
He feels it's his obligation to care and speak for country but feels the current legislated consultation process doesn't require that his cultural knowledge is included.
"They've never spoken to myself or to other elders in regards to what they're proposing over there," he said of Walker Corp's engagement with Quandamooka individuals.
When a developer wants to build on Quandamooka Country, it is required to engage with the Aboriginal corporation responsible for managing Native Title and cultural heritage matters, Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation (QYAC). And in the later stages of the Toondah Harbour journey, it did.
But some senior Traditional Owners, including Brian, say that framework is not transparent and inclusive enough.
"They've not taken into measure everybody's input, and in particular, First Nations knowledge systems in regards to those particular locations," he said.
Over his lifetime Brian has observed huge changes in Moreton Bay such the waning number of Maroochys or black swans, unruly mangroves on the bayside of the island and a decline in the dugong's precious food source: seagrass.
Stories and observations passed down to Brian form part of his connection to country and is important cultural heritage worthy of protection, he said.
"A yuri system is what gives you your ecological connectedness to country," Brian said.
"As a First Nations person you have a particular yuri … you have to look after it.
"That's your spirit connecting to those animals.
"If we then have an impact on a particular food resource, then that impacts the web of life."
This is information Brian would have liked to independently and directly contribute to Walker Corp, Redland City Council and state government during the Toondah Harbour planning process.
Walker Corp declined an interview but told 7.30 it engaged in "ongoing and collaborative confidential discussions with QYAC" while preparing its Environmental Impact Statement for the federal government to consider before making its final approval decision.
Redland City Council says Walker Corp managed community consultation, and "followed procedure set out within the Queensland and Commonwealth legislation".
QYAC chair Cameron Costello confirmed QYAC was consulted in "good faith" and in line with what's required.
In 2014, after Toondah Harbour was declared a Priority Development Area, QYAC made a submission to local council raising a significant list of environmental and cultural concerns on behalf of the Quandamooka people.
"Immediately, our concern is around our rights and interests of the Quandamooka people," Cameron said, adding that QYAC launched the Quandamooka Coast Native Title claim as a response to Toondah Harbour redevelopment plans, and is also progressing World Heritage Status aspirations for Moreton Bay.
The battle to be included
Whether it was Walker Corp's Toondah Harbour plan or a future development proposal, Cameron has a clear goal.
"If a project was to go ahead, how do Quandamooka people, who have historically been excluded from the economy due to government policies, how are we going to be at the forefront of receiving the benefits of such a development?"
Cameron accepts that Traditional Owners want to be directly consulted – and not through QYAC — about development and cultural heritage but maintains the legislated consultation processes in place keeps stakeholders and government accountable when engaging custodians.
"We have a diverse community of views," he said.
"You've got Quandamooka people who are scientists and experts on wildlife and they might want to look at their own ways that they communicate their aspirations.
"At the end of the day, in terms of Native Title and cultural heritage, there's a process in place, we (QYAC) are the only authorised body in that regard from the Quandamooka people so it provides that certainty."
In 2020, Walker Corp and QYAC commissioned Everick Heritage to prepare a cultural heritage study of the Toondah Harbour boundary – as required by the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (ACHA).
These sorts of surveys are an example of how the official consultation process does not include the whole of Quandamooka, according Brian.
"Whatever happens to Toondah Harbour, impacts the whole of Quandamooka," he said.
Although Walker Corp has withdrawn its application to develop Toondah Harbour, the parcel of land is still a Priority Development Area, meaning state government has marked it for accelerated development that, it says, will lead to economic growth.
Many on the mainland and North Stradbroke Island are bracing for the next big development proposal on Quandamooka Country.
Cameron said there is room for improvement regarding developers connecting with Traditional Owners outside of QYAC.
"Community need to feel comfortable, and you've got to build a relationship with them," he said.
"That's a challenge for Walker Corporation (and all corporations)."
The Stradbroke (Terrangeri) Environmental and Cultural Protection Association (SECP), a group not involved with QYAC, has called on the Queensland government to revoke its Toondah Harbour Priority Development Area (PDA) declaration
"Revoking the PDA would put an end to any possibility of another plan to destroy a section of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site," Quandamooka elder Dale Ruska said.
In 2022, several Quandamooka elders wrote to the Queensland Cultural Heritage Acts Review calling for legislative reform so that Traditional Owners — outside the representative corporate bodies — are engaged in the identification and protection of tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
"You can have the legislative structure, that's okay, but for First Nations people our customary law has not been incorporated," he said.
"But what about these other families that have that connection to those particular locations as well? That has to be acknowledged because that's how you make an informed decision."
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