[6] Saibai is a fairly large low-lying island located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the Papua New Guinea mainland.

[8] The island is an average of 1 m above sea level and consists largely of mangrove fringe, flood plain and brackish swamps.

Two South Sea Islander lay pastors named Josaia and Sivene were appointed to work as missionary teachers at Mt Cornwallis and Saibai.

LMS missionaries revisited Mt Cornwallis and Saibai in 1872 and found that Josaia and Sivene had been accepted by the Islanders and given land by the local chiefs.

[12][13] However, increased contact with the outside world brought new diseases to the islands and, during the 1870s, a measles epidemic significantly reduced the population of Saibai.

[14] Letters Patent were issued by the British government in 1872 creating a new boundary for the colony which encompassed all islands within a 60 nautical mile radius of the coast of Queensland.

[16][17] It included the islands of Boigu, Darnley, Murray and Saibai, which lay beyond the previous 60 nautical mile limit[clarification needed].

The new legislation enabled the Queensland Government to control and regulate bases for the beche-de-mer and pearling industries, which previously had operated outside its jurisdiction.

A retaliatory expedition led by British officials based in Daru in 1896 diminished the threat of the Marind-Anim but sporadic raids on Saibai, Boigu and Mt Cornwallis islands and Papua continued well into the 1920s.

The expedition collected artefacts, took down genealogies, re-created ceremonies and used wax cylinders and early movie cameras to make the first sound recordings and films in the Torres Strait.

[21][22] Over time, the Queensland Government began to exert more influence on the lives of Torres Strait Islander people.

The Wislin believers predicted that the Germans would win World War One and reward the people of Saibai with a cargo of gifts which would be brought to the island by steamer.

The strike was a protest against government interference in wages, trade and commerce and also called for the lifting of evening curfews, the removal of the permit system for inter-island travel and the recognition of Islanders' right to recruit their own boat crews.

Unpopular local Protector J D McLean was removed and replaced by Cornelius O’Leary who established a system of regular consultations with elected Islander council representatives.

After lengthy discussions, unpopular bylaws (including the evening curfews) were cancelled and a new code of local representation was agreed upon.

[33][34] In 1939, the Queensland Government passed the Torres Strait Islander Act 1939, which incorporated many of the recommendations discussed at the conference.

A key section of the new act officially recognised Torres Strait Islanders as a separate people from Aboriginal Australians.

[35][36] During World War Two, the Australian Government recruited Torres Strait Islander men to serve in the armed forces.

[42][43] The first families left Saibai on the pearl luggers Millard and Macoy and arrived at Muttee Heads in June 1947, where they established a temporary settlement in abandoned army facilities.

In December 1978, a treaty was signed by the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments that described the boundaries between the 2 countries and the use of the sea area by both parties.

[49][50] The Torres Strait Treaty, which operated from February 1985, contains special provision for free movement (without passports or visas) between both countries.

Free movement between communities applies to traditional activities, such as fishing, trading and family gatherings, which occur in a specifically created Protected Zone and nearby areas.

This Act conferred local government type powers and responsibilities upon Torres Strait Islander councils for the first time.

[58] They are of Melanesian origin and lived in village communities following traditional patterns of hunting, fishing, agriculture and trade for many thousands of years before contact was made with the first European, Asian and Pacific Island visitors to the region.