Stories of Stradbroke: Emotional Geographies of an Island in Transition Author Osborne, Natalie Published 2015 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith School of Environment DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3025 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/365645 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Stories of Stradbroke: Emotional Geographies of an Island in Transition Natalie Osborne BUEP (Hons) (Griffith) Griffith School of Environment Griffith Sciences Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2014 WARNING TO READERS: Please be aware that this thesis contains names of people who have passed away, and images of people who may have since passed away. i Abstract Many cities, towns and communities in Australia are heavily reliant on the mining industry; mines provide well-paid, ‘family wage’ jobs and mining companies may invest in local social and community infrastructure and civil society organisations. However, this dependence may create vulnerability in those places and the impacts of the cessation of mining activities can be devastating. How such communities can effectively transition to a post-mining economy and a post-mining future is an increasingly urgent question. This critical phenomenological project draws from research on emotional geographies, island studies and collective trauma to explore lived experiences of a post-mining transition. It takes as its case study North Stradbroke Island/Minjerribah (Queensland, Australia), home of the Quandamooka Peoples and approximately 2,000 permanent residents (Indigenous and non-Indigenous). Specifically, it investigates the transition planning process on the Island that followed the State Government’s decision to expedite the closure of the Island’s sand mining industry. It explores the roles of place, history, context, shared identities, community, civil society, informal networks and structural power in shaping transition processes. Employing a storytelling approach to interviews, this project draws from the accounts of twenty-six participants to explore the emotional geographies of islandness. The complex, multi-faceted, and diverse set of relationships between people, place, and community — relationships for some which span millennia — was key to understanding the varied attitudes towards mining and to a post-mining transition, and the actions and experiences of individuals in the face of change. This research also considered the construction of lived experiences and of difference, and explored how those attitudes and actions were influenced by relationships to structural power. I found intimate relationships between place (in this case, islandness), histories, community, local knowledges, and shared identities in shaping responses to change and possibilities for the future. The emotional geographies of islandness, the effects it had on civil society, community, shared identities, and attitudes toward mining, tourism, and other forms of economic activity had a potent impact on transition planning. Civil society organisations ii and informal networks were mobilised in response to the mine closure decision — to oppose the decision and lobby for the continuation of mining, to organise involvement in transition planning, and to improve and expand upon the Queensland State Government’s official transition planning process. Their mobilisation highlights the critical importance of understanding emotional geographies when undertaking transition planning processes, and this work offers a methodological approach to effectively explore and express emotional geographies; one that may be readily adapted for use in other communities facing (post- mining) transitions. This research also found that during transition, communities — particularly close-knit communities with a shared identity — may be particularly vulnerable to collective trauma; that is, damage to the relationships, networks and identities that create ‘community’. Collective trauma presents a particular problem for transition planning, as effective transitions often rely on local actions organised and implemented through local networks and as such rely on a strong and relatively cohesive community. To explore this problem, this research draws on an understanding of the Island’s history and emotional geographies in order to understand the construction and experience of collective trauma. It considers how differences became divisions, the role of (mis)perceptions and misinformation in contributing to the conflict and damage and how conflict was connected to place and community dynamics, how ‘new’ collective trauma intersected with existing ones, and how the subsequent damage may be healed. Alongside the problem of collective trauma, it was also found that transitions offer an opportunity for engaging communities in a positive reimagining of their futures. Transitions may have transformative potential, and may offer a way to address existing inequalities and injustices, and to plan for and enact a more just future. iii Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.