Mango Theft A “Kick In The Guts” For Gudjuda Reference Group

Thousands of dollars’ worth of mangoes have reportedly been stripped from their trees on a property near Home Hill.

The Groper Creek Road property, which houses mango trees and cane fields, has been leased by Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation since December 2022 and the group were planning to use profits from the mangoes to maintain and upgrade the farm.

Bindal Traditional Owner and Gudjuda Reference Group Ranger Eddie Smallwood believes the theft  would have occurred within the last three weeks.

“It’s just a kick in the guts because we were utilising these resources to pay rates and upgrade the farm,” he said.

“People have to realise that if you see mango trees, you can’t just go and strip them.

“You’ve got to find out who owns them because people rely on mangoes; it only happens once a year in November and December.

“It if was a misunderstanding, that’s fine, we can have a yarn about it, but we were utilising that crop to help put the resources back into the land.”

The organisation hopes to develop the 24-acre property into a working mango and cane farm and training facility with plans to build accommodation, an event space and nursery, with the alleged theft potentially delaying these plans.

“We’re trying to utilise it as a big hub,” Mr Smallwood said.

“We’re going to turn it into a nursery where we’ll have native plants, bush tucker, native seedlings and grasses.

“That’s one of the opportunities we’ve got here to get training for our younger people and people who are willing to look at the cane industry.

“It’d be good to get people skilled up as the cane farmers are looking for workers all the time.

“It’s only early days yet, we’ve got to seek funding to get it up to scratch, but we were relying on this first lot of crop from the mango trees to help pay for the rates and other expenses on the property.”

Police have been informed of the incident and Mr Smallwood plans to install cameras on the property in the near future.

He is calling for anyone who may have information to get in touch.

“We’re right next to a loading dock where haul out drivers would’ve been coming in and out, so they might have seen someone here,” he said.

“If they have, it would be good if they could contact me or contact the Home Hill Police Station.

“I also want other mango farmers to be wary of thieves.”

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Bindal Traditional Owner and Gudjuda Reference Group Ranger Eddie Smallwood

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