From inconvenience to crisis, islands battle king tides

For the natives of the low-lying islands of the Torres Strait, or Zenadth Kes as they are traditionally known, the monsoon season is an anxious time.

Saibai, Boigu and many other islands between Queensland and Papua New Guinea have long been subject to humidity, heavy rains and high tides between December and April.

But as the planet warms and sea levels rise, tides are getting larger each year.

Last weekend, when major tides were predicted, water levels in Saibai, one of the lowest lying areas in the region, were reported to have reached 3.7 meters above average.

Senior Torres Strait Elder Auntie McRose Elu says the water has reached high enough to breach the sea walls protecting the vast coastline.

“There was water in the houses and on the roads,” he told AAP.

“It was more severe than last year,” he adds, before calling on state and federal politicians to come and see for themselves.

Dr Elu, who lives in Brisbane, said the cemetery where his grandfather was buried was flooded during a visit to his ancestral hometown of Saibai during high tides.

“Very, very emotional.”

The 2025-26 monsoon season marks the first since the Federal Court rejected the landmark climate case brought by two Torres Strait Elders.

The case, brought by Uncle Paul Kabai and Uncle Pabai Pabai, argued that the Commonwealth owed a duty of care to protect their Torres Strait homeland from the effects of climate change.

The court ultimately ruled that the government did not owe a duty of care; But Federal Court Judge Michael Wigney acknowledged the existential threat human-caused global warming poses to Torres Strait Islanders and that they risk becoming Australia’s first climate refugees.

Mr Kabai and Mr Pabai are now appealing the decision.

Barbara Ibuai, founder of Climate Collective Zenadth Kes, says monsoon high tides are not permanent and have been occurring for a long time, but they are no longer just a “seasonal disturbance”.

He explains that high tides can be particularly problematic when combined with stormy weather, potentially damaging infrastructure and disrupting essential services.

“When you’re on these islands you feel very lonely because there are often periods of downtime in the communications infrastructure,” he told AAP.

Even on calm days, floodwaters pose a health risk to people who have to walk through them, especially as the heat makes tropical diseases more common.

“If there’s a scratch and kids are getting scratches all the time, it’s very, very important to monitor that at this time of year because it can get very bad and turn into sepsis within a few days,” says Ms. Ibuai.

Food security is another issue as salt water seeps into the soil, making it difficult to grow food.

It is also now more difficult to catch seafood due to degraded marine environments.

“We cram everything in, all our stuff comes from the shops and when we finally get to the Torres Strait the cost of living goes through the roof.”

Ms Ibuai says climate change is being felt as a slow-moving crisis on the islands, both physically and spiritually.

“We are in dialogue with the environment,” he says.

“The environment tells us we are working on (borrowed) time here.”

Dr Elu was calling on federal and state governments to do more to tackle climate change and stop burning fossil fuels, urging the prime minister and other politicians to come and see the degradation for themselves.

“We’re a long way from Canberra, from Brisbane, where politicians make decisions on our behalf,” he says.

“So no one is coming here to see it with their own eyes.”