A group of Torres Strait Islanders say they are disappointed to be leaving Canberra without the assurance of new funding to save their homelands from rising tides.
The Poruma Islanders visited Parliament House today to raise awareness of the threat to their small coral atoll.
They are calling for urgent funding for sand dredging and the construction of sea walls.
Joseph Elu, the mayor of the Northern Peninsular Area Regional Council, says there is great alarm among elders over climate change and the Federal Government needs to do more than monitor sea levels.
“But what do you do after you get those monitoring done and over with?” he said.
“We know it is going to rise 1.7 metres as scientists are predicting.
“We are going to monitor that, but what else?”
The group was unable to secure a meeting with Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin.
