Photo: ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross. Retrieved from abc.net.au

Excerpt from abc.net.au

An Aboriginal community in northern NSW has voted to rebuild its island home almost three years after it was abandoned due to flooding.

Nineteen houses will be rebuilt on Cabbage Tree Island near Ballina at a cost of $30 million, funded by the New South Wales Reconstruction Authority and the National Emergency Management Agency.

A further $13 million has been allocated to the rebuild of community infrastructure including the Cabbage Tree Island Public School and local health centre.

Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council said the decision marked a momentous turnaround from 12-months ago when the state government and the land council deemed the island too high risk for habitation.

At the time the NSW Planning and Environment Department wrote to the land council saying the “risks are so high they cannot in good faith financially support a rebuild on the island for residential purposes”.