“It’s been unsettling for the first few years. I’ve been through depression. The beginning took a lot of toll on myself,” Rhodes says.
Delia Rhodes has been living in a temporary pod village since the 2022 floods destroyed her town. Source: SBS News
The 66-year-old lives in one of dozens of identical temporary houses lined up in a pod village in Wardell, NSW. It was set up by the state government after the .
For its Aboriginal residents, the area carries stories of kin and Country: it’s believed tens of thousands of First Nations people have an ancestral connection to Cabbage Tree Island.
Cabbage Tree Island residents have been living in pod villages in the nearby suburb of Wardell for nearly three years now. Source: SBS News
Its cushioning by the Richmond River means Cabbo is regarded as a fishing haven, but it’s also prone to flooding.
“There’s not much privacy and to be here this long wasn’t expected,” Rhodes says.
Even though I lived with my mob all my life, but to be in close proximity with everybody … it’s very uncomfortable.
The fight to overcome ‘complete dispossession’
The damage was consequential. In a September 2023 meeting, the former Jali board voted upon advice from the NSW government that Cabbage Tree Island was deemed too “high risk” and decided the village would not be rebuilt.
A year later, residents successfully lobbied to overturn the decision, and work is now underway to rebuild the Island with a flood-resilient plan in place.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred stirs uncertainty
Niki Gill, who has been managing the pod village with Christian not-for-profit Uniting since it opened in 2022, says residents were encouraged to evacuate the pods ahead of the cyclone for their safety.
Niki Gill says there was a lot of uncertainty over whether ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred would impact the temporary pod village. Source: SBS News / Patrick Thomas
“There was a lot of uncertainty … We didn’t know how [ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred] was going to land and what some of the impacts could be,” she says.
According to Rhodes, around 70 per cent of residents in the pod village moved to nearby evacuation centres, placing an emotional strain on the town and serving as a sobering reminder of how much longer it may take for them to return home.
Cabbage Tree Island now: a ghost town
A big toppled-over tree partially obstructs the town’s entrance; shattered windows adorn empty homes; and the once-lively school is fenced off.
Cabbage Tree Island was home to around 130 residents when flooding devastated the town in 2022. Source: SBS News
But Jackie says it won’t be this way for long. She believes the construction of some homes on high ground could be finished as early as this year.
“Cabbage Tree Island will be the only discrete Aboriginal community in NSW that’s been designed and rebuilt to be flood resilient,” she says.
That in itself is a real achievement; [it’s] something I’m really proud that we will achieve.
Kylie Jacky says she’s proud that Cabbage Tree Island could become the first discrete Aboriginal community in NSW designed to be flood resilient. Source: SBS News
A spokesperson for the NSW government told SBS News in a statement that it “was working closely with the Jali Aboriginal Land Council and Cabbage Tree Island community towards a safe future on the island”.
“As soon as we go home, I think my heart will be a lot lighter.”