ABSTRACT
This final tale comes from my own homeland of the Yugumbeh language speakers. I reference the language as it covers my many ancestors who have lived for over 50,000 years in the area of South-East Queensland, Australia. Part of that land includes the protected area of Guanaba, a peaceful piece of hilly, hidden bush landscape. Very few people have access to this land, so it has proved to be a place where little potoroos could breed – one of the last colonies in South-East Queensland at the time of writing this book. And just as this tract of wilderness is known to very few people, so too are some of the animals in this story. I wanted to let people from afar be aware of the small animals of Australia that hardly ever get a mention. Little potoroos, hopping mice, numbats, bandicoots and quolls are introduced in the hope that readers will venture to look them up and become acquainted with them. For it is their light touch upon the vast landscape that reminds us of lawful behaviour and how to step upon this land. The issue of biosecurity and the subsequent securitization came to my attention during the time I was writing stories for my grandchildren about these little creatures, due to the outbreak of the Hendra virus in our traditional homelands. The subsequent chapters give a tale from my homelands but also a jurisprudential reading. I felt more drawn to give a lawful reading as this issue affects the very homelands of my grandfather’s country – Munaljahlai country.
