0:00:18 > 0:00:21You're looking out at the Torres Strait.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24It's a narrow passage of water encircled by the Coral Sea.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27There's over 100 separate islands
0:00:27 > 0:00:30scattered across 48,000 square kilometres.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35We've come here to unlock the secrets
0:00:35 > 0:00:37of this far-flung archipelago.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41Part of yet so unlike the rest of Australia, Torres Strait has
0:00:41 > 0:00:46long been a place of both opportunity and peril.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Where vital chapters in Australia's history were written
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and where people uphold ancient traditions,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55forged by centuries of isolation.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Joining me on this journey, Professor Tim Flannery
0:01:00 > 0:01:02enters the realm of the head hunters.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05They were cruelly murdered and beheaded.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09Dr Xanthe Mallett investigates a maritime disaster.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I can't imagine what it would have been like for a young girl
0:01:12 > 0:01:13to be tossed from a sinking ship.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Dr Alice Garner is off on a very different border patrol.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21No X-rays or scanners here.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26And I find out what happened when war came to paradise.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30This was the only indigenous battalion ever formed
0:01:30 > 0:01:31by the Australian Army.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39This is Coast Australia.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Our journey stretches across the Torres Strait,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12from Possession and Thursday Islands in the south,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14to Mer Island on the far-eastern fringe,
0:02:14 > 0:02:19and Saibai Island, just off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26It's hard to believe the shadow of war once loomed
0:02:26 > 0:02:28over such a tranquil place.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38But as Australia's northern-most outpost
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and its first line of defence,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Torres Strait became a World War II battlefield.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49Greenhill Fort on Thursday Island is a stark reminder of those dark days.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55This place was originally fortified in the 1890s
0:02:55 > 0:02:58when there were fears of an invasion by Russia,
0:02:58 > 0:03:03but it wasn't until the 1940s that the place saw any real action.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05By this time, the threat was from the Japanese
0:03:05 > 0:03:08and the fort was manned by Australian and US troops
0:03:08 > 0:03:11anxiously scanning the horizon to the north.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16That sky was soon filled with Japanese bombers,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19on raids from bases in Papua New Guinea.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Between March 1942 and June 1943,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29neighbouring Horn Island came under withering attack.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33500 bombs were dropped, making Horn Island the most shelled site
0:03:33 > 0:03:36in Australia, after Darwin.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41I want to find out why.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42Hi, Vanessa.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45'One person who's studied Horn Island's wartime role is
0:03:45 > 0:03:47'historian Vanessa Seekee.'
0:03:47 > 0:03:50It's hard to imagine this as a war zone?
0:03:50 > 0:03:53I know it's idyllic and very beautiful,
0:03:53 > 0:03:54but, yes, it was a war zone.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58It was the most advanced Allied airbase that we had to PNG
0:03:58 > 0:04:00while still being in Australian waters.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06That very fact made the Horn Island airbase a target.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09In particular, this runway.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Why did Horn and the runway matter so much?
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Because from here you could easily reach Japanese bases in PNG
0:04:17 > 0:04:21and get back here in one day, but the Japanese on the other hand
0:04:21 > 0:04:24looked at Horn Island and thought they could launch from here,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27they could launch all the way down the east coast.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29So, what it all boiled down to is everyone knowing that
0:04:29 > 0:04:33if you had aircraft in this area, you wanted that runway
0:04:33 > 0:04:35- to have them land and take off from? - Yes, exactly.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42At the height of the Japanese bombardment,
0:04:42 > 0:04:465,000 Australian and US troops were stationed here.
0:04:51 > 0:04:56Amongst these was the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion for which
0:04:56 > 0:05:00almost all the combined islands' eligible men folk had volunteered.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03All the more remarkable when you consider that this was
0:05:03 > 0:05:07the only indigenous battalion ever formed by the Australian Army.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Nearly 900 islanders answered the call to arms.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The highest rate of enlistment per population in Australia.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23They volunteered at a time when they didn't have the right to vote,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26they weren't considered citizens of Australia, they weren't
0:05:26 > 0:05:30on the Commonwealth census, but they still volunteered in such numbers,
0:05:30 > 0:05:31and I think that points to
0:05:31 > 0:05:35the honour and integrity of the Torres Strait people as a whole -
0:05:35 > 0:05:37as a culture and as a people.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43The islanders were also deemed unworthy of equal pay,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47receiving just a third of the regular army wage.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Well, this is document of the time.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52"If such natives were paid at such rates far above the rates
0:05:52 > 0:05:55"earned by them in civilian life before the war, it would cause
0:05:55 > 0:05:58"considerable trouble when they eventually left the army."
0:05:58 > 0:06:00That's amazing.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03They admit that when they go back into peacetime life,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06they'll want the same again, and we can't have equality.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08That's right.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Did they see action, in as much as,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12were there bullets and bombs flying around them?
0:06:12 > 0:06:14During the air raids, yes, for sure.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17I spoke to one Torres Strait veteran who was in the first air raid
0:06:17 > 0:06:19and he was on a machinegun and he can remember
0:06:19 > 0:06:22the bullets zipping around and he said they make
0:06:22 > 0:06:24little puffs of smoke as they hit the grass and the ground.
0:06:27 > 0:06:3013 members of the battalion paid the ultimate price
0:06:30 > 0:06:32for their extraordinary loyalty.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Even today, the island is littered
0:06:37 > 0:06:41with rusting reminders of a violent past.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44It's just an open-air museum of World War II, isn't it?
0:06:44 > 0:06:46It is. It's a time capsule sitting in the bush.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54What was this place?
0:06:54 > 0:06:59This is the command post of the 34th Australian heavy anti-aircraft battery.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02So, if you picture a circle, around the edge of the circle are four
0:07:02 > 0:07:063.7-inch anti-aircraft guns. This is the centre, the hub of the wheel.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08This is where all the decisions were made.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18Were these jobs being performed by Torres Strait islander men?
0:07:18 > 0:07:21This unit had non-indigenous and indigenous soldiers
0:07:21 > 0:07:23so, yes, it's a perfect example of Horn Island being
0:07:23 > 0:07:27the only place in Australia where they came together in such numbers
0:07:27 > 0:07:30for a common goal, and that's exactly what happened here.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37While the site's remained remarkably intact,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40the men themselves have all but disappeared.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42- How do you do, Mebai?- Good.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46'90-year-old veteran Mebai Warusam was just 18 years old
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'when he left his island home to serve as a gunner on Horn Island.'
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Why did you join? Was it something you wanted to do?
0:07:54 > 0:07:58Yeah, everybody agreed, everybody agreed to join to defend our country.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03In the army, we used to call ourselves all brothers.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10It doesn't matter, American or Indian or New Zealand,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14- if there is one blood inside. - One blood?- One blood, yeah.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- No other colour.- How did you feel
0:08:17 > 0:08:19knowing that you were getting less pay?
0:08:19 > 0:08:23No, we never feel anything but we want to defend our country.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27I think people got that mind.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29So, even with the unequal pay,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- you were still determined to defend your country?- Yeah.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Are there other veterans of the battalion here on the islands now?
0:08:37 > 0:08:42- No, there's nothing. There's only me, the last one.- Just you?- Yes.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46- Last of the line?- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50That's why you ordered me to come here for this!
0:08:50 > 0:08:51THEY LAUGH
0:08:51 > 0:08:54I don't order soldiers around, I can tell you.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00The immense challenges that faced Australia's only indigenous battalion
0:09:00 > 0:09:04make it hard to resist the impression that the Pacific war
0:09:04 > 0:09:08and their role in fighting it was ultimately empowering.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11Not just in terms of the way those Torres Strait islanders
0:09:11 > 0:09:12learned to see themselves,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16but in the way the whole of the rest of Australia saw them too.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35Just a stone's throw off Cape York Peninsula lies Possession Island.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39Uninhabited now, this non-descript nub of land once played
0:09:39 > 0:09:41a fascinating role in Australia's history.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Tim Flannery's off to uncover the remarkable story of how
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Possession Island earned its name.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55By mid 1770, Captain James Cook's
0:09:55 > 0:09:58voyage of discovery had become a nightmare.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02He'd been trapped in a great coral labyrinth that we now know
0:10:02 > 0:10:06as the Great Barrier Reef and his ship had been holed.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09If it wasn't for the fact that a lump of coral the size of a human fist
0:10:09 > 0:10:12had stuck in the hull, the Endeavour would have sunk then and there.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14They managed to link to the coast
0:10:14 > 0:10:18at a place near present-day Cooktown, make some repairs
0:10:18 > 0:10:22and then set off again to find a way out of the great coralline maze.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26Before long though,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30mountainous waves were driving the vessel towards yet another reef.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32All looked lost.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Cook wrote in his journal,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38"We hardly had any hopes of saving the ship.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42"All the dangers we'd escaped were little in comparison of being
0:10:42 > 0:10:43"thrown on this reef."
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Just as the ship was about to be dashed to splinters,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51her sails caught a sudden, unexpected gust.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Cook and his crew had been saved at the last possible moment.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02They made safe passage to here, Possession Island,
0:11:02 > 0:11:05and the first thing they did was head off to the highest point.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18From here you can see the way out of that endless maze of reefs
0:11:18 > 0:11:22and islands that had threatened so often to finish his voyage,
0:11:22 > 0:11:23not to mention his life.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34But before leaving, Cook had to claim this newly-charted land
0:11:34 > 0:11:36for king and country,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40and I'm keen to find out exactly what that involved.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Historian Katrina Schlunke is something of a Cook scholar.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46Now, I understand it was somewhere near here that
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Captain Cook claimed Australia for Great Britain. What happened?
0:11:50 > 0:11:52He showed the colours on land.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56It was answered by a flag being raised on the ship.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59He had the marines let off three volleys of fire,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02which was answered on ship, and then there was a big shout
0:12:02 > 0:12:04from the sailors on board, up in the shrouds.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Well, I suppose the story's up here, really, isn't it?
0:12:07 > 0:12:09"Lieutenant James Cook,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12"in the name of His Majesty King George III, took possession
0:12:12 > 0:12:19"of the whole eastern coast of Australia. August 22nd 1770."
0:12:19 > 0:12:21One thing that's always intrigued me, Katrina,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23is why Cook choose this place to take possession?
0:12:23 > 0:12:25He could have done it anywhere on the coast,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29- and yet he chose this little island here.- I know.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32He's got the Dutch maps that are showing that he's reached
0:12:32 > 0:12:34the, sort of, end of what has already been mapped.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38It's almost like a recuperative point. He's got this moment
0:12:38 > 0:12:40to sum up all that's happened so far,
0:12:40 > 0:12:45and he himself is very modest. He believes... You know, he says,
0:12:45 > 0:12:46"I've made no great discoveries,"
0:12:46 > 0:12:50and yet what he's done is fill in that missing east coast,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53which has been missing for over 250 years
0:12:53 > 0:12:54and so it's an incredible feat
0:12:54 > 0:12:57and he knows that this is the moment to do it.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04Two years earlier, Cook had set out on his South Seas voyage
0:13:04 > 0:13:06with two distinct objectives.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11The first - to observe the transit of Venus - was public knowledge.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13His second task was a secret.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17Cook himself didn't know what was in his sealed orders.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20He unfolded another set of instructions
0:13:20 > 0:13:24and on that he was told to go discovering, to 40 degrees south,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28in the hope of finding the great south land.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35Cook's secret orders also contained clear instructions on what to do
0:13:35 > 0:13:38should he find that land was already inhabited.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43The instructions from Morton, who was president of the Royal Society,
0:13:43 > 0:13:44were very clear -
0:13:44 > 0:13:48to make an alliance with, or to make a treaty with,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53and those two terms were repeated in the so-called secret instructions
0:13:53 > 0:13:55that Cook unfolded after Tahiti.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Cook ignored those instructions.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Despite meeting many indigenous people
0:14:01 > 0:14:04on his voyage up the East Coast,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07he declared this vast place to be terra nullius -
0:14:07 > 0:14:09a land that belonged to no-one.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14And that was contrary to both his secret instructions
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and the hints from the president of the Royal Society.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21So in that sense, it still remains in doubt -
0:14:21 > 0:14:24did really what Cook do... was it really legal
0:14:24 > 0:14:27in any sense of the word, and should he have done it?
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Two years after Endeavour left England, it was time to go home.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Cook had mapped so much of the South Pacific and Australia
0:14:46 > 0:14:48that he'd changed the map of the world
0:14:48 > 0:14:50and was the last person to do so on such a scale,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53but here on Possession Island he missed something.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Something that might have changed the whole course of history,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58particularly here in Australia.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02That something was gold.
0:15:02 > 0:15:06Between 1896 and 1906,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11Possession Island yielded more than 150 kilos of the precious metal,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15worth a staggering 7 million in today's money.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17So this is the goldmine.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21It's completely deserted now, but this was it.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25Wow. But are you telling me that Cook, when he landed here
0:15:25 > 0:15:29- and claimed Australia, was literally standing on a goldmine?- I am.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32I am astonished. Can you imagine what would've happened
0:15:32 > 0:15:35if he'd put the flag pole in and come up with a nugget?
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- The sailors would've gone crazy. - A mutiny, that's all I can imagine.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48It's hard to believe how profoundly important
0:15:48 > 0:15:51this forgotten island is to Australian history,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and it's important not just for what happened here,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56but for what didn't happen.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00But for a puff of wind, Australia may never have been British.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03But for a missed goldmine, Possession Island might been
0:16:03 > 0:16:05the capital of Australia.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Given that Torres Strait is so remote and isolated,
0:16:14 > 0:16:18it's remarkable how many major events have unfolded here.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21Events that altered the destiny of Australia.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24200 years after James Cook stood on Possession Island
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29the people of Mer, or Murray Island,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32on the eastern fringe of Torres Strait,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35spearheaded an unlikely land-rights revolution.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43In 1982, this extinct volcano erupted once again,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46becoming the centre of a legal maelstrom,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48whipped up by one islander.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52His name was Eddie Mabo.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Although he spent much of his life on the mainland,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Eddie always considered this place home.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06As does his daughter, artist Gail Mabo.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Thank you for having me to this fantastic place.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11- Not a problem. Welcome to Murray Island.- It's a bit special.- It is.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16How long have your people been on this island?
0:17:17 > 0:17:20- Since time immemorial, mate. - So, for ever?- For ever.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25With my dad, he researched and he found that he is the 16th generation,
0:17:25 > 0:17:27so I am 17th generation.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29- 16 generations.- Yes.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32- OK. So that's reaching back quite far?- That's right.
0:17:35 > 0:17:36But in 1981,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Eddie Mabo learned that his beloved Mer Island belonged,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43not to the people who'd lived there forever,
0:17:43 > 0:17:45but to the Australian government.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49It was when he was invited as a guest to speak
0:17:49 > 0:17:53at James Cook University Land Rights Conference,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and he was talking about his land in the Torres Straits
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and at the end of the conference, they said,
0:17:58 > 0:18:00"You actually don't own that."
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Was your dad, in some ways, the first of the people
0:18:05 > 0:18:09of Mer Island to even learn this fact,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11that someone believed
0:18:11 > 0:18:14- that they owned the land, and not people of the island?- Yes, he was.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18You know, because it's Crown land people can put in for it
0:18:18 > 0:18:20and, you know, they could get it.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23I suppose, by saying that, that the only way we can prove
0:18:23 > 0:18:27that the system do exist, is to convince the white man's law system.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And so began a David and Goliath battle.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38300 islanders, led by Eddie Mabo,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41taking on the might of the Australian legal system,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45setting out to prove that a method of land ownership
0:18:45 > 0:18:48had existed here long before the arrival of Captain Cook.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59In 1989, as part of Eddie's claim,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04the Supreme Court of Queensland came to Mer Island to hear evidence.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Most importantly,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11it enables the people of Murray Island to participate
0:19:11 > 0:19:15in the process of justice that's been worked out in these proceedings.
0:19:16 > 0:19:19The court heard that the island had been divided between Mer's
0:19:19 > 0:19:23eight clans by a God called Malo,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26who'd arrived centuries before in the form of an octopus.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I'm meeting Mer Island elders Alo and Meb
0:19:31 > 0:19:36to find out why the Malo story was crucial to Eddie's land claim.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38- I'm Meb.- Hi.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Who is Malo?
0:19:41 > 0:19:47He gave the order of how to exist,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50coexist.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Magaram ,this tribe, Peibre tribe is this one.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58The spaces between the octopus's tentacles
0:19:58 > 0:20:01are the different portions of the island.
0:20:01 > 0:20:07So that's why Malo was relevant to Eddie Mabo's claim on the land.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09Yes.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14It took nearly ten years for the Mabo case
0:20:14 > 0:20:17to wind its way through the courts.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22Finally, in November 1992, the High Court handed down its decision.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25The finding had rested upon
0:20:25 > 0:20:26two simple questions -
0:20:26 > 0:20:31did the community of Mer Island have a system of land ownership
0:20:31 > 0:20:36that predated white conquest, and was it still valid?
0:20:36 > 0:20:39The answer to both questions was yes.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45But that wasn't all.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48The court decided its findings applied not just to Mer Island,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50but to all Australia.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Paving the way for indigenous people across the country
0:20:56 > 0:20:58to claim native title.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04For Eddie Mabo, it was a stunning victory.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08But it was one he could never savour.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16In January 1992, just months before the High Court decision,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Eddie died after a battle with cancer.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25His grave lies on a hill overlooking the land,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29which the Mabo decision finally confirmed was his.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34You know, and where he's now buried, behind him, the warriors,
0:21:34 > 0:21:36the past warriors of Murray Island,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39are all buried behind him here in the bush.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Right. So, this is hallowed ground?
0:21:41 > 0:21:43This is, yes.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46He is he is here because he is the last of the warriors.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52The Mabo case changed history.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56More than 200 years previously, James Cook had come to Australia
0:21:56 > 0:21:59and the place had been declared terra nullius -
0:21:59 > 0:22:03an empty land. But, of course, it wasn't empty. James Cook knew that.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06What he meant was that it was populated
0:22:06 > 0:22:09by people who would cause no trouble, who had no voice.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11But then along came Eddie Mabo
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and he had a voice, not just for himself or for the people
0:22:15 > 0:22:19of this island, but for indigenous people right across the continent.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22And at the end of the day, what he had to say with that voice
0:22:22 > 0:22:26was something very simple - we have always been here.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31This land has always been ours. It will always be ours.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39Living on an isolated island on Torres Strait
0:22:39 > 0:22:43there's no popping downtown for a spot of shopping.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Everything you need, from fuel to four-wheel drives
0:22:46 > 0:22:47must be shipped in.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Each year, around 3,000 ships pick their way through Torres Strait,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58but busy shipping lanes and reefs are a hazardous mix.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03Dr Xanthe Mallett's heading east of Cape York,
0:23:03 > 0:23:05into the Adolphus Channel,
0:23:05 > 0:23:10the site of Queensland's worst peace-time maritime disaster.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15125 years ago, a 3,000-tonne ship called the RMS Quetta
0:23:15 > 0:23:19came steaming north through these waters.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23Just nine years old, she was a fast, modern vessel
0:23:23 > 0:23:27carrying cargo and 292 passengers.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34On that fateful February night back in 1890,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37the Quetta was on her way from Brisbane to London.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39It was the 12th time that she'd made that run.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45It would become a voyage of the dammed.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50The terrible events that unfolded that night have long
0:23:50 > 0:23:54fascinated historian and former reef pilot John Foley.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57What happened the night she sank?
0:23:57 > 0:24:01She had to come through this channel to get to Torres Strait
0:24:01 > 0:24:03to Thursday Island, the next port of call.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07The only known danger was a rock over here called Mid Rock
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and so they knew there was good deep water over this side of the channel,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14so what they did, they kept over that side of the channel.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Not knowing that there was a rock right in the middle of the channel.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19On this particular night,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she struck the rock.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25What kind of damage did that rock do?
0:24:25 > 0:24:30It just opened up a big rent on the starboard side.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32- So it basically disembowelled her? - Yes. Oh, yes,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35she was doomed from the moment that happened.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42Nobody knew it existed. Bad luck. There was the rock sticking up.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46The top of the Quetta is just 12 metres down, but diving her
0:24:46 > 0:24:50can be really dangerous and it's just too rough for me today.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54There are also rips that would have played havoc with the passengers.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57On our dive boat is engineer Hubert Hofer
0:24:57 > 0:25:00who has written about the wreck.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05For 35 years he's been fascinated by why it sank so quickly,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07claiming so many lives.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12In search of answers, he's dived it more than 80 times.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Back on solid ground,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02Hubert gives me more details about the Quetta's final moments.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04So you've got a diagram here.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09Can you show me on this what you think happened to her that night?
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Where was she damaged?
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Well, you can see on the picture of the rock here.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16That's the actual rock she hit, the one that wasn't charted.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18Yes, she came from this side, from the south,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21she struck the rock and it actually split it.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23It went all the way back to the engine room,
0:26:23 > 0:26:29- which is a distance of 55 metres. - Wow.- So it's a long gash.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34- How quickly do you think - point of impact to sinking?- Three minutes.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Three minutes.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41- This must have been terrifying. - Unimaginable. Unimaginable.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51Of the nearly 300 people on board, 158 were rescued,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54some boasting incredible tales of survival.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59One girl who lost her sister and uncle in the tragedy
0:26:59 > 0:27:03was found drifting nearly two days later.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06I can't imagine what it would have been like for a young girl to be
0:27:06 > 0:27:12tossed from a sinking ship and then to be left alone out here at night.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Emily Lacy was just 16.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19For 36 hours, she drifted, naked and unsupported,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21in shark-infested waters.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27By the time the crew finally got her aboard, she was delirious,
0:27:27 > 0:27:29telling them that she'd been living
0:27:29 > 0:27:31in a hotel at the bottom of the ocean.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Later she wrote,
0:27:33 > 0:27:38"I was nearly suffocated. I thought I would be drowned.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41"In fact every second I thought would be the last in this life."
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Emily rarely spoke of her ordeal.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51Her account was only made public after her death in 1951, aged 77.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00The Quetta tragedy claimed 134 lives.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02Three years after the sinking, in 1893,
0:28:02 > 0:28:06this tiny cathedral was built on Thursday Island
0:28:06 > 0:28:09as a permanent memorial to the victims.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16These are some of the items that have been recovered
0:28:16 > 0:28:18from the wreck of the Quetta.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Poignant reminders of one of the blackest days
0:28:21 > 0:28:24in Australia's shipping history.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45In 1792, 22 years after Captain Cook,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49another famous English naval officer, William Bligh,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54spent three weeks in Torres Strait, charting its islands and channels...
0:28:54 > 0:28:58and narrowly escaped death at the hands of native head hunters.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02Other mariners weren't so lucky.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09Venturing into the heart of the strait, on his own quest,
0:29:09 > 0:29:11is Professor Tim Flannery.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14I've been fascinated by the head hunters of Torres Strait
0:29:14 > 0:29:16ever since I read about them as a kid.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Going on a head-hunting expedition must have been
0:29:19 > 0:29:21just about the most exciting thing a young man could do.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24You'd get aboard a canoe that would hold 30 warriors, go out,
0:29:24 > 0:29:26and after an ambush, or a raid,
0:29:26 > 0:29:30out would come the gabba-gabba clubs and then the bamboo knives.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35'Flying from Horn Island, my companions on this expedition
0:29:35 > 0:29:40'are Ned David, descendant of a 19th century warrior chief called Kebisu.'
0:29:40 > 0:29:41Great to meet you. Thank you for this.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43I'm really looking forward to it.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45'And professor of indigenous archaeology Ian McNiven.'
0:29:45 > 0:29:48- This is going to be a great day. - Absolutely.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54We're on our way to Yam Island,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57ancestral home of the Kulkalgal people, and they were considered
0:29:57 > 0:30:00the fiercest head hunters in all of Torres Strait.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06The Kulkalgal mounted long-range raids as far as New Guinea
0:30:06 > 0:30:11and mainland Australia, with one gruesome objective -
0:30:11 > 0:30:13to harvest heads.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17The headhunting habits of the Torres Strait islanders
0:30:17 > 0:30:20had shot spectacularly to world attention with
0:30:20 > 0:30:22the wreck of the Charles Eaton in 1834.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25She'd foundered on the Great Barrier Reef, but a raft full
0:30:25 > 0:30:30of survivors were taken to a nearby island by a party of Kulkalgal.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33There, they were cruelly murdered and beheaded, and their skulls
0:30:33 > 0:30:38brought to Torres Strait and used to decorate an ancestral fetish mask.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43When the mask was discovered in 1836, it was brought back to Sydney
0:30:43 > 0:30:44and put on display at the museum,
0:30:44 > 0:30:48and I can only imagine the horror of those passengers at Circular Quay
0:30:48 > 0:30:51who were waiting to embark on a journey to Singapore, or Mumbai,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55or London, that knew they would have had to pass through the strait.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Hidden on this island are remnants of this ferocious warrior culture.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10Gentlemen, welcome to Table Stone.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15This is where all the locals would have gathered
0:31:15 > 0:31:18to shape their weapons to go to war, et cetera.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20- We've actually got one here.- Ah!
0:31:20 > 0:31:24'This was the business end of a weapon called a gabba-gabba.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28'A warrior clubbed his victim with this, before using a bamboo knife
0:31:28 > 0:31:30'to take the head.'
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Look at that, it's so beautiful.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36You can see how it would have been... maybe it was shaped like that.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39- Exactly right. - With great precision, look at that.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42- So, for getting different angles and getting the right shape.- I see.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45Including, like a thin one here.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Yeah. We call it the Stone Age but that is high technology.
0:31:48 > 0:31:49It's an absolutely work of art.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54I've been told if I hold it, I've got to hold it really firm.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57'This complete gabba-gabba holds a special significance.'
0:31:57 > 0:32:01The chief himself would've owned that. It would've been great King Kebisu himself.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04Kebisu? I'm just blown away, I mean, this is...
0:32:04 > 0:32:08It's like the royal sceptre of Torres Strait, isn't it?
0:32:08 > 0:32:11It's one of the treasures of the Torres Strait.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Oh, it's such an honour and privilege to hold it.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16It's a privilege to be in its presence.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26So, I guess from a modern perspective,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30it's really hard for people to understand why human heads
0:32:30 > 0:32:33were so important to the Kulkalgal culture.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35- Yeah.- Because these heads, or these skulls,
0:32:35 > 0:32:38- actually had a value to people. - It could be a currency.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42Certainly, heads could be used in the big trade system that sort of
0:32:42 > 0:32:45operated throughout Torres Strait, connecting different communities.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48There's certainly status in taking heads for young warriors,
0:32:48 > 0:32:53but there's also a requirement that these heads go into these special headhunting shrines,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56which then gives power and energy to the communities.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59So, it's not just an act of going and sort of killing people.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01Heads are absolutely essential
0:33:01 > 0:33:03to the proper functioning of these societies
0:33:03 > 0:33:07and, unfortunately, early Europeans had no sort of concept of that
0:33:07 > 0:33:10and didn't understand it properly, and were on the receiving end of it.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Shipwreck survivors were especially vulnerable.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19You're seen to be spiritually very dangerous.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23Because the sea has rejected you, people see you as being somehow
0:33:23 > 0:33:25almost metaphysically unstable
0:33:25 > 0:33:28and they don't want that sort of person in their community
0:33:28 > 0:33:30because it's a danger to the community,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33and the best way to process that person
0:33:33 > 0:33:36is they have to be executed on the spot and there's
0:33:36 > 0:33:39a number of important religious shrines on these islands
0:33:39 > 0:33:42where the heads were taken to and buried in those shrines,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44to give power to the shrine
0:33:44 > 0:33:47and then the shrine would sort of give power to the community.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50Such places were sacred and secret.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54But Ned's agreed to show us a head-hunting shrine
0:33:54 > 0:33:56on his spiritual home, Tudu Island.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01About 30km east of Yam, Tudu was once known,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04more ominously, as Warrior Island.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10What we're about to go in to now,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14it's of immense cultural significance for my people.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17I ask you to watch where you step and try not to dislodge anything.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26My goodness! I wasn't expecting that.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32We're confronted by scores of trumpet shells,
0:34:32 > 0:34:34untouched for more than a century.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Under each shell is meant to have generally a skull.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Right. A human skull under every one. Wow.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43Under the arrangement.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47So, Ned, why were the skulls kept in a place like this?
0:34:47 > 0:34:52The skulls, I think, you know, channel through the energy for...
0:34:52 > 0:34:56And guidance I think, you know, to make the right decisions.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00This place, known as a kod, was both the parliament
0:35:00 > 0:35:03and the spiritual centre of life on Tudu.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07You can imagine how sacred it must have been for the people.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11They wouldn't have come here lightly. This would have been something almost too powerful.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15- So no-one would come anywhere near this place.- Right.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18And how many heads do you think are here then in this...
0:35:18 > 0:35:20under this great circle of shells?
0:35:20 > 0:35:22There would be more than 200.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Yeah, right. Almost one for every shell.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28Probably a thousand plus scattered throughout the island.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32I can confidently say that the mix of skulls here would be
0:35:32 > 0:35:34- people of status.- Yes.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37And maybe a mix of people who had been killed in battle
0:35:37 > 0:35:39- or trophies that had been brought back.- Right.
0:35:42 > 0:35:48As warrior culture faded, European interest in skulls increased.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50Many ended up in museum collections.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Well, it seems to me there's an irony in that
0:35:54 > 0:35:57because 150 years ago, you were seen as the head hunters
0:35:57 > 0:36:00taking European heads, and now we're the head hunters.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03We've got museums full of skulls from people from Torres Strait islands
0:36:03 > 0:36:06- and you're trying to get them back. - Well, yeah. Funny that.
0:36:06 > 0:36:08So, what have you got here in your hand?
0:36:08 > 0:36:11These are where they have them in storage.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14'Ned is working to have those remains returned.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18'Already, the British Museum of Natural History has agreed
0:36:18 > 0:36:21'to send back the remains of 138 Torres Strait islanders.'
0:36:21 > 0:36:24And look at the number in there. There's bay after bay after bay.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27So, what will it mean to you to get all these remains back?
0:36:27 > 0:36:31I think it would be a great deal for Torres Strait islanders,
0:36:31 > 0:36:33certainly for the Kulkalgal.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36I think, I, you know, extremely optimistic
0:36:36 > 0:36:39we could do this, my generation can achieve this.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Ned expects those belonging to Tudu
0:36:43 > 0:36:46will be placed back in the earth of their ancestors.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52It's hard to understand head hunting, but with the help of an island elder
0:36:52 > 0:36:57and an archaeologist I feel like at least I've made a beginning.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59And more importantly than that, I've seen how my own culture's
0:36:59 > 0:37:03determination to collect the heads of Torres Strait islanders
0:37:03 > 0:37:04has caused distress here
0:37:04 > 0:37:08and how a new generation of elders is starting to put that right.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18While Asian sailors explored this region long before Europeans,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22the strait bears the name of the Spanish navigator
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Luis Vaez de Torres, who sailed through here in 1606.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Nearly 300 years later, at federation,
0:37:28 > 0:37:32the Torres Strait islands all became part of Australia,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35even though some lie just off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43Dr Alice Garner is on her way to one such island, to find out
0:37:43 > 0:37:46about an unusual form of border patrol.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51It's market day on Saibai Island.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58As they've always done, people from villages on the southern coast of PNG
0:37:58 > 0:38:01make the easy four-kilometre jaunt across the water
0:38:01 > 0:38:05to trade with local islanders like Mariana Baba.
0:38:05 > 0:38:12Mussel shells. We've got crabs and woven mats, baskets and brooms.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15- And these are coming over from Papua New Guinea?- Yes.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19We have a long history of... In alliance with them
0:38:19 > 0:38:23for trade purposes and bartering.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25So it would supplement the local...
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Local produce, yes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32It makes sense for such close neighbours to be trading partners
0:38:32 > 0:38:36until you remember that Saibai Island is part of Australia
0:38:36 > 0:38:40and that these visitors are entering Australian territory
0:38:40 > 0:38:43with no passports or visas.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46With border security such a hot-button issue,
0:38:46 > 0:38:49why are they allowed such freedom?
0:38:50 > 0:38:53The answer lies in a really unusual deal.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58A 1978 landmark agreement, known as the Torres Strait Treaty,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01which radically redefined maritime boundaries.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10In a world first, the Torres Strait Treaty was set up to preserve
0:39:10 > 0:39:12this traditional way of life.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17Clayton Harrington is treaty liaison officer.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20It's his job to oversee this unusual arrangement.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24And coming up here we can see Papua New Guinea there, 3.7 kilometres.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27- So, that's it right there? - Right there.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29They'll come at about 9.30 or ten in the morning
0:39:29 > 0:39:32and then they'll depart at about four o'clock in the afternoon.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34So, Clayton, how does this treaty work?
0:39:34 > 0:39:37What we've got here is the protected zone.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39Arguably the most important
0:39:39 > 0:39:42and certainly most recognisable provision of the treaty is
0:39:42 > 0:39:45the provision that allows free movement within the protected zone
0:39:45 > 0:39:50for traditional inhabitants from Australia
0:39:50 > 0:39:54and from PNG coastal villages without passport or visa.
0:39:56 > 0:40:01Were it not for the treaty, a PNG national in Sigabaduru
0:40:01 > 0:40:04would have to travel via Port Moresby,
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Cairns International airport
0:40:07 > 0:40:08and Thursday Island
0:40:08 > 0:40:10in order to reach Saibai.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14A ridiculously roundabout route which would soon put an end
0:40:14 > 0:40:16to the traditional way of life.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19What are the traditional activities that are allowed
0:40:19 > 0:40:21under the framework of the treaty?
0:40:21 > 0:40:24Fishing, gardening, hunting and gathering.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29Visiting families for cultural events such as deaths,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32births, marriages. Religious events
0:40:32 > 0:40:36and anything that they've been doing and accessing the Torres Strait
0:40:36 > 0:40:40region for a long, long period of time.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45How unique is this treaty?
0:40:45 > 0:40:49This is the first international agreement that sought to protect
0:40:49 > 0:40:54and preserve the traditional way of life across an international border.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58It really is ahead of its time and so special and unique,
0:40:58 > 0:41:00it really is a triumph in doing that.
0:41:03 > 0:41:07Each year, there are about 45,000 movements in the shared zone
0:41:07 > 0:41:10between PNG and the treaty islands.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Saibai alone receives about 15,000 visits.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22This is the immigration checkpoint on Saibai. No X-rays or scanners here.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27- Good morning.- Good morning.
0:41:27 > 0:41:33- OK, purpose of visit? Barter and trader?- Yes.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35But there is still paperwork.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Everyone must show proof that they come from a treaty village
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and have prior permission to visit Saibai.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Yep, good to go.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47Yeah, good to go.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54While the treaty promotes freedom, there are limits.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59PNG villagers cannot come to Saibai to work or get medical help,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02and they can only trade on treaty islands.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09In a world of heavily policed borders and stifling bureaucracy,
0:42:09 > 0:42:15it's hard to believe that a treaty like this can work, but it does
0:42:15 > 0:42:18and it seems to live up to its mighty ideals -
0:42:18 > 0:42:22being in a spirit of co-operation, friendship
0:42:22 > 0:42:23and goodwill between neighbours.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41Arrive in Torres Strait and one thing is soon clear,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45without a boat you're going nowhere fast.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49Every day, rain, hale or shine, vessels of all shapes and sizes
0:42:49 > 0:42:51plough through these waters.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55It's peak hour on Horn Island
0:42:55 > 0:42:58and there on the wharf is the ferry MV Australia Fair,
0:42:58 > 0:43:03bound for Thursday Island, the administrative hub of the Torres Strait.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06Now, as administrative hubs go, Thursday Island is an unusual one
0:43:06 > 0:43:10in that you can't access it by aeroplane, only by ferry.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14One of only a handful of wooden ferries left in Australia,
0:43:14 > 0:43:18the MV Australia Fair first graced the waters of Sydney Harbour.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20About 80 years ago,
0:43:20 > 0:43:22she was de-commissioned and brought up to the strait
0:43:22 > 0:43:27and for the last ten years, she's been skippered by Daniel Takai.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30- Hi, Daniel.- Good day, Neil. How are you?
0:43:30 > 0:43:31Good. Great. Some office.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Beautiful, isn't it? Fantastic!
0:43:33 > 0:43:35I noticed as soon as I came on board
0:43:35 > 0:43:38there was kind of a happy atmosphere. It's like a happy place.
0:43:38 > 0:43:39It's got the right ambience
0:43:39 > 0:43:41for people to just come on and enjoy the travel.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44I get a real sense that between the islands nothing happens
0:43:44 > 0:43:46without this link.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48- That's it.- They're stranded.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51Yeah, we've got no bridges, we've got no causeways.
0:43:51 > 0:43:53This is it. This is it.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58The ferry makes the round trip between Horn and Thursday Islands
0:43:58 > 0:44:0312 times a day, 364 days a year.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05So I thought Daniel might need a break.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08- Can I take the helm?- Why not? - Brilliant.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12- I think we should go somewhere different though.- What, fishing?
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Yeah, let's shake the passengers up a bit.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18- You're enjoying this mate, aren't ya? - Yeah.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20- Could be a second job. - I do like boats.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31There's one type of vessel you don't see in Torres Strait any more
0:44:31 > 0:44:34and that's a pearling lugger.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36Pearling was once big business.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39At the industry's height in the late 1800s,
0:44:39 > 0:44:4316 pearling firms operated on Thursday Island,
0:44:43 > 0:44:47and Torres Strait supplied more than half the world's pearl shell.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53The people who flooded here from all over the world,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56brought with them their songs...
0:45:00 > 0:45:04..turning Thursday Island into a musical melting pot.
0:45:04 > 0:45:08Traditional island music blended with blues, folk, country
0:45:08 > 0:45:11and a dozen other styles, forming a heady brew,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14which is at once familiar yet all its own.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17# I want to dance... #
0:45:18 > 0:45:21# Welcome
0:45:21 > 0:45:25# We say welcome to the Torres Strait... #
0:45:25 > 0:45:29I'm on my way to meet a musician who's spent a large part of his life
0:45:29 > 0:45:31writing music about this place.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33At 84 years old,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36he's one of Australia's oldest recording artists.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42With two ARIA awards under his belt, Torres Strait islander,
0:45:42 > 0:45:46Henry Gibson, or Seaman Dan as he's much better known, has helped
0:45:46 > 0:45:49take the music of his homeland to the world.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54# ..For a happy memory. #
0:45:55 > 0:45:58How long have you been making music?
0:45:58 > 0:46:02Oh, started at eight and...
0:46:02 > 0:46:04started recording about 70.
0:46:06 > 0:46:07That's a bit of a gap.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11- Started making music at eight and started recording at 70?- Yes.
0:46:12 > 0:46:16# Once he was a young man... #
0:46:16 > 0:46:21Dan filled that lengthy gap with a succession of different jobs.
0:46:21 > 0:46:26In the 1950s, he strode the seabed as a pearl diver.
0:46:27 > 0:46:29Which is you?
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Right. Now that's a diver. That's proper.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33That's the real thing. That's the real thing.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37Yeah, that's the one where you've got a cable going up to the boat
0:46:37 > 0:46:38and people with pumps.
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Those seven years spent underwater seeped into Dan's song writing.
0:46:43 > 0:46:44# ..Is a young man
0:46:44 > 0:46:48# When he talks about the sea. #
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Some of my songs is all about pearl diving and what I see
0:46:52 > 0:46:57on the bottom - sharks and gropers - and they come into my music too.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Dan's life changed in 1999,
0:46:59 > 0:47:04when music producer Karl Neuenfeldt happened to catch him live.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06The minute he started singing I thought,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09"Well, this gentleman has an excellent voice,
0:47:09 > 0:47:11and he was writing songs about his life experience
0:47:11 > 0:47:14as a diver and then I said,
0:47:14 > 0:47:17"Well, I think I'll take a punt on this one."
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Half a dozen albums later, this man from TI
0:47:22 > 0:47:26has found an audience well beyond Torres Strait.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28It makes people happy.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32When I'm performing, doing a gig and people are smiling, I think
0:47:32 > 0:47:36to myself I must be doing something right, everyone is smiling.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38Do you think you'll ever retire?
0:47:38 > 0:47:42Er...no. While the voice is still there, I'll keep singing.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48# Are you from TI? Are you from TI?
0:47:48 > 0:47:53# Well, I'm from TI too Pleased to meet you
0:47:53 > 0:47:57# Well, I'm from TI too. #
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Take it home!
0:48:05 > 0:48:11If I had to sum up Torres Strait, I'd say it's a world between worlds.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15Sandwiched between oceans, this island-flecked passage,
0:48:15 > 0:48:20so steeped in history, is a source of never-ending surprise and wonder.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25The Torres Strait has been unforgettable for me.
0:48:25 > 0:48:31The tropical heat, the humidity, a sense of a place apart.
0:48:31 > 0:48:36The strait has seen many people come and go for thousands upon thousands of years
0:48:36 > 0:48:38and many of them have claimed ownership,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42but spend some time here and one simple thing seems obvious -
0:48:42 > 0:48:46the islands belong to the islanders just as they always have.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52Next time, we're off to Norfolk Island.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55Dr Alice Garner meets the descendants
0:48:55 > 0:48:58of mutineers on the bounty.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00It's just amazing what he did.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02I mean, it was a hanging offence to mutiny.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07And I discover the man behind
0:49:07 > 0:49:10a chilling account of Norfolk's cruel convict past.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14"I have suffered both mental and otherwise.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17"These are trials which no heart can know of."