Palm Island, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Palm Island is an Aboriginal community located on Great Palm Island
, also called by the Aboriginal
name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef
in North Queensland
, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm Community.
Palm Island is often termed a classic "tropical paradise" given its natural endowments, but it has had a troubled history since the European settlement of Australia
. For much of the twentieth century it was used by the Queensland Government
as a settlement for Aboriginals considered guilty of such infractions as being "disruptive", being pregnant to a white man or being born with "mixed blood
".
The community created by this history has been beset by many problems and has often been the discussion point of political and social commentators. Of significant sociological concern is a lack of jobs and housing. Since its creation as an Aboriginal reserve, Palm Island has been considered synonymous with Indigenous disadvantage and violence. At the same time it has been at the forefront of political activism which has sought to improve the conditions and treatment of Australia's Indigenous peoples as well as redress injustices visited on them broadly as a race and on Palm Island specifically.
folklore the Palm Island group were formed in the Dreamtime
from the broken up fragments of an ancestral spirit, Rainbow Serpent
.
The island was named by explorer James Cook
in 1770 as he sailed up the eastern coast of Australia on his first voyage
. It is estimated that the population of the island at the time of Cook's visit was about 200 Manbarra people. Cook sent some of his men to Palm Island and 'they returned on board having met with nothing worth observing.'
From the 1850s locals were recruitment targets to leave the island to be involved with bêche-de-mer and pearling
enterprises with Europeans and Japanese.
By the end of the 19th century the population had been reduced to about 50. In 1909
the Chief Protector of Aborigines
visited the Island, apparently to check on the activities of Japanese pearling crews in the area, and reported the existence of a small camp of Aborigines.
In 1916 Queensland's Chief Protector of Aborigines found Palm Island to be 'the ideal place for a delightful holiday' and that its remoteness also made it suitable for use as a penitentiary' for 'individuals we desire to punish'.
on the Hull River
near Mission Beach
on the Australian mainland. On 10 March 1918, the structures were destroyed by a cyclone
and were never rebuilt. Subsequently, the settlement relocated to Palm Island with the new population referred to as the Bwgcolman
people. In the first two decades of its establishment the population of Indigenous inmates increased from 200 to 1,630. People from at least 57 different language speaking regions throughout Queensland were relocated to Palm.
By the early 1920s Palm Island had become the largest of the Government Aboriginal settlements. Administrators found its location attractive as Aboriginal people could be isolated, but Palm Island quickly gained a reputation amongst Aborigines as a penal settlement
. They were removed from across Queensland as punishment; being "disruptive", falling pregnant to a white man or being born with "mixed blood
" were included in infringements which could lead to the penalty of being sent to Palm Island. New arrivals came after being sentenced by a court, or released from prison, or were sent by administrators of other missions wishing to weed out their more ill-mannered or disruptive Aboriginals. These removals to the Palm Island Mission continued until the late 1960s.
On arrival, children were separated from their parents and then segregated by gender. Aborigines were forbidden to speak their language and from going into "white" zones. Every day activity was highly controlled by administrators including nightly curfews and the vetting of mail.
In the 1930s a local doctor highlighted malnutrition
on the island, and demanded that the Government triple rations for the islanders and that children be provided with fruit juice
, but the request was denied.
A bell tower was built to dictate the running of the mission. It would ring each morning at eight; a signal for everyone to line up for parade in the mission square. Those who failed to line up had their food allocation cut. At nine each evening the bell would ring again signalling the shutting down of the island’s electricity. The bell tower still stands in the local square to this day, a relic of Palm's history. It was recorded at the time that there was almost military-like discipline in the segregation between white and black, and that inmates "were treated as rather dull retarded children".
In 1927 a hospital was built at nearby Fantome Island
; Aborigines were sent there mainly for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. In 1936 Fantome Island became a medical clearing station where people sent to Palm Island were examined and treated if necessary. A leprosarium was established on Fantome in 1939. After World War Two the hospital was closed, and by 1965 only the leprosarium remained on Fantome, it was administered by a Roman Catholic nursing order until 1973 when the inhabitants were moved to Palm Island.
The administrators had complete and unaccountable control over the lives of residents, punishments included the shaving of the girls' heads. On a surprise inspection of the Palm Island Prison during an official visit in the late 1960s, Senator Jim Keeffe and academic Henry Reynolds
discovered two 12-13 year old schoolgirls incarcerated in the settlement's prison by the senior administrator on the island (the superintendent
), because "they swore at the teacher".
The following letter was written to a new bride by the 'Protector';
from the Queensland government.
Self-appointed "president" of Palm Island, Jeremy Geia, symbolically declared independence from Australia in 2001. The "Peoples Democratic Republic of Palm Island" was an expression of grievances against the Australian and Queensland Governments for neglect of Palm Islanders. There were concerns at the time that this activism would interfere in a major Government investigation into sexual abuse
by making victims too uncomfortable to come to the mainland for examination.
In 2001 The Palm Island State Emergency Services Cadet Group was formed.
The Palm Island Community Council became the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
in 2004 under the Queensland Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act. Like the other Aboriginal Shire Councils that were created, this Act gave the Council full status as a Local Government on a par with other Councils in Queensland.
An official inquiry by the Queensland Attorney General followed. Those involved in the shooting of the Superintendent, including the Deputy Superintendent and the Palm Island Medical Officer, were charged with murder. During the trial the Crown Prosecutor was directed by the trial judge to drop the charges, stating that the shooting was justified.
at Palm Island, with facilities to operate and overhaul Catalina
flying boat
s and patrol boats. The air station was built at Wallaby point, an isolated area of Palm Island, overlooking a large stretch of sheltered water in Challenger Bay, which was ideal for flying boat operations. The station was built by two officers and 122 enlisted men of Company C of the 55th Seabee Construction Battalion, and a similar detachment that left Brisbane later with 1,500 tons of construction material.
A 1,000 man camp was constructed at the point. Concrete flying boat ramps to the ocean were built with a tarmac parking area for up to 12 flying boats. Moorings for 18 flying boats were provided in Challenger Bay, and 3 nose hangars were also built. Coral aggregate from coral reefs at low tide was used to manufacture concrete.
A series of fuel tanks were constructed to hold 60,000 barrels of aviation fuel. Steel rail lines were installed to launch the PBY Catalinas back into the water.
By September 1943 the majority of the facilities were finished, and large numbers of operational and maintenance personnel began to arrive to commission the station. The Palm Island US Naval Air Station was fully operational from 25 October 1943, and could repair an average of four aircraft per day. The last personnel of the 55th Seabees left Palm Island on 8 November 1943.
US Navy Patrol Squadron 101, Patrol Wing 10, with 8 PBY Catalinas as briefly stationed at Palm Island in December 1943, before relocating to Perth
.
US Navy Patrol Squadron VP-11 arrived at the station in late December 1943 where they were taken off combat duties. The squadron comprised 13 PBY-5 Catalinas, 46 officers and 99 enlisted men. They carried out training and routine flights between Port Moresby
, Samari
and Brisbane
. They were assigned to Fleet Air Wing 17 while at Palm Island, and left in February 1944.
The Naval Air Station closed in May 1944. In June 1944, Company B of the 91st Seabee Construction Battalion moved in to demolish the station, removed 5,000 tons of materials and equipment, and left in August 1944.
The remains of the steel rails and submerged wrecks of a number of Catalinas can still be seen today. Live ammunition is occasionally found by locals.
All Islanders were required to work 30 hours each week, and up until the 1960s no wages were paid for this work. The catalyst for the strike was the attempted deportation of Indigenous inmate Albie Geia who committed the offence of disobeying the European overseer. The strike continued for five days and was broken with dawn raids to remove the families involved by boat to the mainland.
Seven families were banished from the Palm Island in 1957
for taking part in a strike
organised to protest against the Dickensian working conditions imposed by the Queensland Government under the reserve system. Athlete Cathy Freeman
's mother, Cecilia Barber, and the family of strike ringleader Frederick William Doolan including Billy Doolan
Jnr. were among those banished from the island.
In a 2007 commemorative ceremony the Queensland Government apologised to the surviving wives of two of the strikers for the actions of the Government in the 1950s.
In 1985 then Associate Professor of Sociology Paul Wilson
published a criminological
analysis of criminal statistics averaged over the period of January 1977 to May 1984.
Wilson considered the Palm Island rates to be a gross underestimate, as the figures provided by the Legal Aid Office only counted cases that went to court, whereas the Queensland rates, provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
, were based on reported incidents.
The Palm Island figures demonstrated that 86% of violence involved the offender exhibiting heavy drinking patterns and in most cases the victim was also drinking. 38% of incidents involved people who were married or in a de facto relationship, and, of those, 90% of the offenders were male.
Wilson attributed the extreme crime rates to historical, social, economic, housing and educational factors, and an "alcohol culture" that perceived not drinking to be antisocial. Further contributing factors were the employment circumstances of Palm Island and the destruction of society and traditional culture and structures. He cited research rejecting an Aboriginal propensity for violence and contrasted the Aurukun
community where no homicides had been recorded in the period from the 1950s.
At the time alcohol was limited to beer sold in the canteen between the hours of 5pm and 9pm. Spirits were banned, however there was a flourishing sly-grog
trade.
and five from Palm.
In 1884 Kukamunburra died at 21 years old of pneumonia
in Cleveland, United States of America. The rest of the circus group carried on to the European leg of the tour; by the end of 1885 only three of the Murris were still alive.
Kukamunburra's body was embalmed; 109 years later, in 1993, the body was discovered in a local funeral parlour. His remains were returned to his homeland and buried on Palm Island in February 1994.
and the Palm Island Council initiated the Palm Island Public Mental Health Project aimed at overcoming serious social problems, particularly the suicide rate.
This Project led to the May 1998 community development of a planning document, Palm Island Vision Plan. The planning document contained a series of visions and objectives as well as the nominated action group responsible for actioning each of them.
Objectives included strategies to address a broad range of issues such as; significantly 'Aboriginalising' the local hospital within ten years, establishing a whole-of-government forum, economic development strategy and a program to combat youth suicide.
The Queensland Health initiative gained momentum and support throughout 1998 and 1999 implementing a consultative process and it was met with optimism from a cross section of the community. Unfortunately the project did not gain full support from other Departments and had objectives and timeframes which were in retrospect seen as unrealistically ambitious. The project failed to secure funding for training for the community ‘facilitators’ and key people were forced to withdraw. The project became unsustainable by the end of 1999 due to ad hoc funding and high demand on human resources.
A subsequent Federal (Dillon) report alleged that Queensland Health employees appeared to question the program’s worth and began to undermine it. In response to a perception of this undermining, community leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Vision Plan and requested the Department to instruct their Palm Island employees to ‘cease denigrating it’ in November 1999. By February 2000 Queensland Health withdrew from the project.
The Dillon Report acknowledged that both the community and Queensland Health had invested a considerable amount into this project to provide developmental support to residents. However it observed that the project was overly ambitious and the strain this placed on staff and resources meant that it was not likely to succeed. Particularly where the projects objectives came into conflict with government bureaucracy which presented conflicts for Queensland Health.
In 1999 the Queensland Government apologised and gave $7,000 compensation each to former Indigenous Palm Islander employees in recompense for underpaid wages between 1975 and 1986. The payment was ordered by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
in a case first brought to the Commission by seven Palm Islanders in 1986.
The Australian
newspaper hypothesised that the Guinness Book of Records statement was based on an article in a London newspaper. The article from The Sunday Times stated that Palm Island had one of the highest crime rates in the world and that "boys ride bareback on horses through the near-derelict civic centre as infants ambush passing cars with slingshot
s." It referred to violence statistics and stated that "the white overseers" left the island in 1985 removing most of the island's assets and resources, only allowing a pub
to remain. The Sunday Times claimed that up to 30 people live in each house, without sufficient drinking water.
The Guinness Book of Records figures were strongly disputed at the time by the Queensland Government, the Police Commissioner and the Palm Island Community Council. However, it was conceded by the Queensland Aboriginal Policy Minister, Judy Spence
, that Palm Island "can be violent at times", particularly for women and children, but that the situation was being improved.
Zen Pearls Pty Ltd and Indian Pacific Pearls Pty Ltd (both controlled by Michael Crimp) established pearl farms
in 1998 with the permission of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (which controls the sea waters around the islands), despite the opposition of, at least some, of the people of Palm Island. On 24 September 1998 the Manbarra elders passed a resolution opposing the farms on the basis of;
Subsequently the Park Authority refused to extend the pearl farming permits and Crimp took action before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
to have this decision reversed. On 15 March 2004 the Tribunal agreed that the permits should be terminated but allowed the existing pearling operations to continue to 1 December 2005. This decision was substantially upheld by the Federal Court
on 21 October 2004.
A week after the death the results of the autopsy
report were read to a public meeting by then Palm Island Council
Chairwoman Erykah Kyle. A succession of angry young Aboriginal men subsequently spoke to the crowd and encouraged immediate action be taken against the police. Mulrunji's death was repeatedly branded "cold-blooded murder", and a riot
erupted. The local courthouse, police station and police barracks were burned down and 18 local police and their families were forced to withdraw and barricade themselves in the hospital. Later the same day approximately 80 police from Townsville and Cairns were flown to Palm to restore order.
In April 2005, in response to the riot, Premier Beattie established the Palm Island Select Committee to investigate issues leading to the riot and other problems. Their report was tabled on 25 August 2005, detailing 65 recommendations which seek to reduce violence and overcrowding, and improve standards of education and health. In achieving these objectives, issues such as drug and alcohol abuse and unemployment would also be addressed.
In late September 2006, coroner Christine Clements found that Doomadgee was killed as a result of punches by the Senior Sergeant arresting officer. Despite the finding of the coroner, Leanne Clare, the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions
(DPP), announced on 14 December 2006 that no charges would be laid. After media and public pressure, the Queensland Attorney-General appointed former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
, Sir Laurence Street
to review the decision. The Street Review resulted in the overturning of the DPP's decision, with a finding that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute for manslaughter
. A high profile trial in the Townsville Supreme Court ensued. In June 2007 the jury found the Senior Sergeant not guilty of manslaughter and assault charges. On 24 October 2008, a jury found Lex Wotton
, a two-time councillor on the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
, guilty of inciting the 2004 riot that resulted in the destruction of the island's police station, the courthouse, and an officer's residence. Wotton then was sentenced to seven years in prison, reduced to six years for time already served.
on the island is provided by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
, created under the Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act (2004). Previously, Palm Island was a community council without the same powers as other Queensland Shire Councils. It was constituted under the authority of the Queensland Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 as the Palm Island Aboriginal Council and had a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) for ten islands in the Palm Island Group.
The Current civic Cabinet consists of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and three Councilors:
Councilors (undivided council without divisions):
The structure of the Aboriginal Shire Council (or Community Council as it was previously) has been criticised for the following reasons:
Final transition to full Shire Council status was completed in January 2007. The Shire's core business is the provision of housing. It recently conducted an audit of its houses and the people living in them; the audit found that 120 new homes were needed, however the Council primarily relies on income from rent and Government subsidies and can only afford to build one or two new houses a year. The Council has jurisdiction over the islands of the Palm Island Group other than Orpheus and Pelorus
Islands.
Palm Island falls in the federal Division of Herbert
and the Electoral district of Townsville
. Peter Lindsay
(Liberal Party of Australia
) is the Federal Member and Mike Reynolds
(Australian Labor Party
) is the State Member.
Peter Lindsay has claimed that Palm Island is a hopelessly dysfunctional community and that either the Island economy/landholdings should be mainstreamed or the Indigenous population
should be relocated to the mainland. The Palm Island Council and Mike Reynolds reacted with outrage calling the idea racist and lacking cultural competency, the Queensland Government has ruled out forced relocation.
land title
on Palm Island, with property owned by either the Local or State Government. More than 90% of the adult population is unemployed. There is no industry on the island despite rich natural resources such as crayfish
worth $150 each and enormous tourism potential.
Carpentaria Land Council chief executive Brad Foster in 2004 summarised their economic standing thus; "This island has 4000 residents, and the services applicable to a community with 500 people. That has to change and businesses have to be able to invest here, make profits, employ and train locals — get part of the real world."
Cost of living is relatively very high on Palm Island due to the remoteness of island living and the general lack of private enterprise. At the island store bread costs approximately $4.20 a loaf, about twice the average in Australia. Goods in general, particularly essential food items, cost considerably more than similar products in mainstream Queensland, sometimes two to three times higher. The cost of living issue is exacerbated by economic loss to alcohol, drug dependence and gambling, and the fact that crops and livestock are not cultivated locally on the island.
Around the island there are failed or abandoned ventures, the relics of which are still there; a piggery, chicken farm, disused stockyards, market garden and a joinery works.
A presently abandoned oyster farm is an example of one of the failed ventures on Palm Island. The natural environment of Palm Island and adjacent Halifax Bay
is ideal for the aquaculture
of oysters, shrimp
, prawns and mackerel
. Over a five year period in the 1970s Applied Ecology Pty Ltd (an organisation designed to assist Aboriginal communities to develop sustainable industries, funded by the Government) established an oyster lease on Palm Island. At one point the lease had $600,000 worth of oysters. Unfortunately due to alleged poor management and lack of interest among the community the oyster lease fell into disrepair. The farm is purported to have cost $20 million.
Research by the Centre for Tropical Urban and Regional Planning at James Cook University
has concluded that Palm Island has most of the resources it needs to be largely self-sufficient through housing, agriculture and tourism. However Barry Moyle the Chief Executive Officer
of the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
and former Mayor of Johnstone Shire Council suggests that the tourism potential of the island is hindered by the negative reputation that Palm Island is considered to have. Moyle asserts that once potential tourists get past that negative image "they will find really nice and beautiful people, with a rich culture, living on this untouched tropical gem of North Queensland
". Further, according to Moyle, "it could be considered a big ask that people will get past the perception that the people are all no-hoper alcoholics and perpetrators of domestic violence, which is considered to be the general reputation that Palm Islanders have in broader Australia. Locals say that there are bad eggs, but that is the same in all communities."
claims do not apply to most residents as they are not the original inhabitants
of the land, the general community (Bwgcolman
people) do have a strong historical connection to the land, most having been born there. Having historical (as opposed to traditional) rights recognised is a legally grey area. Free hold title does not apply either; most land is controlled by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council. The land is held by the Council for the benefit of the community in trust
, through a "Deed of Grant in Trust" (DOGIT). This in practice means that, for example, a third party would not be able to lease and develop land on Palm Island without the permission of the community and even then leases are limited to 30 years.
A basic three bedroom house costs approximately $350,000 to $400,000 to build on Palm Island (not including sewerage, power, phone and water, and the cost of the land). Federal Minister Mal Brough
has stated that building prices on Palm (or in indigenous communities in general) are over inflated and that it could be done for half the cost. All homes are on crown land and are owned by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council and are rented at a Government-subsidised rate of $44 to $60 a week to residents. There are 320 rental houses under this arrangement.
Most businesses are owned by the Council and land title restrictions hinder private investment; approval to build a house or start a business can take up to three years.
There is widespread frustration with the land title system. Privatising home ownership and the creation of a market economy with long term leases is seen by some commentators as the best option to move forward on Palm. This proposal is described as giving Indigenous people "skin in the game" and empowerment. In the period 1999 to 2007 35 houses were replaced due to damage. Noel Pearson of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership
argues that housing degradation in these communities has more to do with overcrowding and poor construction than it does with poor tenancy. However he adds that Aboriginal people naturally take much better care of property that they have constructed or paid for themselves, than they do that which has been handed to them 'on a plate' and which they have had little personal engagement in. The push for privatisation of title was led by the Australian Government (through Mal Brough
, Indigenous Affairs Minister), Noel Pearson, and some families on the island (the community is very divided on this issue). The proposal had partial (or cautious) support from the then Federal Australian Labor Party
Opposition.
However other Islanders are suspicious of these moves as an opportunity for the more powerful families to gain more power through land ownership or even worse a way of taking land off the Palm Islanders, who in desperation may sell to the highest bidding developer even if that bid significantly undervalues the land in question. Professor Mick Dodson
, director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies at the ANU
, argues that the people on Palm Island do not have the financial capacity to compete in the housing market on a commercial basis: He asserts that the only solution to the problem of overcrowding lies in increasing the level of public housing, there are not the jobs to build capacity among locals to become home owners.
There is an alternative option under the push for privatising landholdings which addresses fears of the land being lost from the community: a closed market system where caveats restricting ownership to members of the community are placed on 99-year leases. This would mean that land could be bought and sold but only between Palm Islanders. It is unclear whether this arrangement would allow for mortgages as the banks who give the loans are outside the community and would require security for their loan that they can legally collect.
Traditional ownership of the Manbarra
people complicates debate about Palm Island land title. There is no registered Native Title claim and only seven traditional owners still live on the island, however there could be a valid claim. Professor Dodson argues that the historical international experience is that once communal title is extinguished then the indigenous people lose the land permanently. Minister Brough argues that 100-year leases will not extinguish Native Title over the land.
The Queensland Government, which has constitutional responsibility for land tenure, holds the position that this issue is extremely complex and that it will not be bullied by the Commonwealth. The former state Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Warren Pitt
, in 2007 said that all parties have matured since Native Title was introduced and can recognise that while the issues are complex, the betterment of Aboriginal people can be realised.
rate.
These figures do not necessarily reflect the war like violence that is commonly associated with Palm Island. St Michael's Catholic School Principal, Lil Mirtl, has stated that people visiting or living on the Island just need to take sensible precautions such as not walking alone at night, similar to precautions that people should exercise in most places.
The most successful program implemented to reduce the high levels of crime is the Palm Island Community Justice Group. The Justice Group has existed since 1992, it is a committee of elders on the island who, it is said, have far more influence over young offenders on the island than the police or courts. The Justice group has a statutory role within the judicial system in administering justice on the island. The group is funded by the Queensland Government to administer the program, created in response to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
, with the aim of keeping indigenous children on Palm out of the criminal justice system. Under the program the Palm Island community is encouraged to devise their own systems for dealing with offenders. In the three years after the Community Justice Group was established, Palm Island juveniles appearing before magistrates courts fell by a third. Police and the courts often refer offenders to the Community Justice Group.
In December 2001 the Community Justice Group assisted a five day investigation by a team of Queensland police and Department of Families officers. The investigation discretely collected information from Islanders about suspected child sexual abuse in the community, resulting in a number of arrests. The investigation was accompanied by a serious of allegations suggesting that almost 100% of girls between 13 and 16 years old had contracted sexually transmitted diseases. It was also alleged that girls as young as 12 had been trading sex for cigarettes and alcohol and that children as young as five were being molested.
There are various other local programs which have assisted with lowering the crime rate of Palm Island: The Men's Group is coordinated by former Mayor Robert Blackley, it runs a prison cell visitors program, a support service, and a children's night patrol. In 2000, the Palm Island Council used a $40,000 State Government grant to establish a community-run re-orientation program for youths to help reduce youth crime and suicide, by relocating wayward youths to a new youth and cultural camp where they would be taught their culture, language and art on neighbouring Fantome Island
, a former leprosarium. The Coolgaree nippers club is the first indigenous club in Surf Lifesaving Queensland; Coolgaree is affiliated to Arcadian surf lifesaving club in the first year of the nippers club operating (1999) juvenile crime rates on Palm Island dropped from 186 offences to 99.
Tony Fitzgerald
QC investigated alcohol abuse in indigenous communities and was shocked by the extent of the State-wide problem. He recommended to the Queensland Government that unless things improved dramatically within a period of three years than alcohol should be banned in consultation with the communities. Like other community councils (in 2001
) the Palm Island Community Council relied on revenue generated by alcohol sales at the Hotel, the investigation report recommended this perceived conflict of interest end.
The Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy commissioned a further report in 2005 and, as a result of its recommendations, the islands in the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
became the 19th Queensland community to become a restricted area for possession of alcohol
from 19 June 2006. These restrictions include a limit of one carton of beer
disembarking from the ferry service. The alternative source of alcohol is the Palm Island Hotel / canteen, for either on site consumption or on a retail basis. Alcohol sales from the canteen are again restricted to one carton per person, or per vehicle.
Palm Island had 1,984 residents, 93.4% of whom are of indigenous origin
. However, there are various conflicting estimates of the population size; 3,000-3,500 residents is a figure which has been regularly quoted by local, state and federal politicians. There is controversy over the common practice of referring to Palm Island as the largest Indigenous community in Australia, with census figures from 2001 and 2006 showing the Yarrabah
community as slightly larger.
The indigenous population generally identify with either the Bwgcolman
(historical connection with Palm Island) or Manbarra
(traditional connection) people. Compared with other parts of Australia, the Palm Island community is young with 35.6% under 15 and only 6.4% over 55. Only 5.1% of the population describe themselves as being non-religious compared with 18.7% of Australians, 42.6% are Catholic (25.8% Australia wide), 23.2% Anglican
and 11.2% being other Protestant.
The community, consisting of approximately 42 mainland and Torres Strait Islander clan or family groups, suffers from chronic alcohol
, drug
and domestic abuse, has an unemployment
rate of 90% and an average life expectancy
of 50 years, thirty less than the Australian average.
The 2006 census was conducted on 8 August; unlike mainstream Australia, Palm Island figures were not be based on forms filled out by each household on census evening. Instead Palm Island was singled out for the population to be verbally interviewed individually over a ten day period due to past controversy about the accuracy of census details for Palm Island. Between ten and fifteen Indigenous census interviewers took the households' details from one adult from each house, interviews took between an hour and an hour and a half each and were conducted during business hours.
and the subsequent Mission policies of prohibiting the expression of traditional cultural
has seriously eroded the cultural base of Palm Island. Many of the contemporary issues of substance abuse, law and order problems and the high suicide rate have been attributed in part to this absence of culture
.
Amongst sporting activities on Palm Island boxing
features prominently (both men's and women's) in 2006 11 young Palm Islanders represented Queensland at national boxing championships for the first time. The Barracudas are the local rugby league team, with Vern Daisy as a notable ex-player. In June 2005 the inaugural 3 on 3 Basketball competition was held, attracting over 300 locals.
Many of the sporting activities are actively supported by or managed through the Queensland Police Citizens Youth Welfare Association facility; the Palm Island Community and Youth Centre (PICYC). The Centre was opened by the then Premier Peter Beattie
in February 2005 over strong community objections due to animosity towards the Queensland Police
following the November 2004 death in custody
and the Police response to the subsequent riot. Having moved on from a dispute between the State Government and the Palm Island Council over who should run the facility, the situation has become very positive and cooperative, the Centre is used for its intended purpose of youth and community engagement through sport and education. Adults and youth use the facility heavily, including a gym for boxing training, facilities for; women's aerobics, ballroom dancing, Indoor Volleyball, 5 on 5 Indoor Soccer, Old-time Dancing, and a mix of conventional and traditional games.
The PICYC, home to the Palm Island Police Citizens Youth Club, is considered to be a great success story, especially considering its controversial beginnings soon after the 2004 death in custody and riot. The Centre is mostly staffed by community members who teach the younger generation both traditional and life skills such as weaving and cooking in a safe and comfortable environment. The Centre has an atmosphere of respect and traditional culture which tries to build children's confidence and self-esteem. Additionally to the sporting activities, the Centre hosts community growth projects, services and facilities such as a radio service (Bwgcolman Radio), an Internet Café, TAFE cooking classes, after-school and vacation care, monthly discos, drumming groups
($8,000 worth of drums donated by the Queensland Police), Family Movie Nights, and Bingo. The PICYC employs a paid staff of nine locals and one volunteer.
Facilities operated by the State Government on the island include a hospital, a Prep to Grade 10 school, the Palm Island Community and Youth Centre (PICYC), a sewage treatment
plant, a local supermarket store and (new) police station and courthouse.
The Palm Island Council operates the Palm Island Hotel (also known as the Coolgaree Bay Hotel and previously known as the canteen), the community's only outlet with a liquor license. The Council owns various other local services and businesses such as the garage and the Commonwealth Bank agency.
Private retail enterprise on the Island is limited to a butcher
, a fish-and-chip shop, a clothes shop, the Post Office and a BP
service station that sells petrol
at about $.50 a litre more than Townsville. Non-Government services which are standard for population bases of this size in Australia are absent on Palm Island include a baker, hairdresser and newsagent.
In 2004 the army completed $10 million worth of work constructing a permanent water-supply dam on the island and upgrading a number of roads. Other transport infrastructure includes Palm Island Airport
on the South-West of the Island from which Skytrans flies to and from Townsville up to four times each day. Palm Island's pier is in Challenger Bay, a ferry
-boat service operated by Sunferries
makes a return trip from Townsville four times a week. A barge service operates twice a week from Townsville operated by Palm Island Barge Services bringing food, machinery and fuel to the island. Also there is another barge that operates from Lucinda
.
Transport on Palm Island is primarily walking with few private cars on the island, in 2005 the Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC), with Queensland Transport, purchased a 23 seat community bus which runs a school bus service and transport to PCYC events.
primary education locally and secondary education
offered up to year ten on the Island with provisions for students to complete their year 12 senior certificate on Palm through the State education and TAFE systems or to board on the main land at private schools.
However educational outcomes are adversely affected by problems faced in home life, particularly; being exposed to serious alcohol and other substance abuse, family violence, exposure to suicides and attempted suicides, balancing cultural and educational demands, living with poverty, child abuse and overcrowded housing. These problems can result in high rates of absenteeism, low self-esteem and little concentration on education. Alternatively school can be a haven from these external problems; there are many dedicated educators and concerned parents interested in contributing to an effective, viable and culturally appropriate education system on Palm.
The island has two schools; St Michael's Catholic School (Prep to grade 7) and the Education Queensland
Bwgcolman Community School (Prep to Grade 10). The Bwgcolman Community School includes the Bwgcolman Community Library which is jointly managed and funded by the Council and State Government.
The Bwgcolman Community School has 350 students with 50 Indigenous and 27 non-Indigenous staff. Palm Island, like most Aboriginal communities, has difficulties with school attendance, the Principal of St. Michael's has stated that absenteeism averages about 30% among their 160 students. A 2005 test at Bwgcolman school (leaked
to the media) showed that the primary school students score "significantly less" than Queensland average in literacy and numeracy. St Michael's have a program of teaching students "dainty" (Australian English
) as a third language in addition to the communally spoken "Island English
" and the particular language group that the child belongs to.
and a 15-bed general ward. The service is named for Joyce Palmer, a health worker who commenced her work in the 1940s at the Island's old grass hospital, and provided health care to the people of Palm Island for over 40 years.
The hospital provides a primary level of acute care services and provides secondary services such as community health
, X-ray
, pharmacy
, dental, child health, sexual health, and antenatal
and specialist clinics. There are two doctors based on Palm Island. Critical patients are stabilised and transferred to Townsville Hospital
by Royal Flying Doctors Service
or the Air Sea Rescue
. There is a community mental health
team based at the Palm Island Hospital with nurses and indigenous health workers. A consultant psychiatrist visits for one day every 6 weeks.
The Queensland Ambulance Service
(QAS) began operations on Palm Island in 2000 and took over from the hospital based service. Presently staffed by two paramedics and three ambulance attendants, they average approx 2200 cases per year. One paramedic is qualified as a Paramedic Practitioner and practice's under the guidelines of paramedic practitioners giving the community more health resources and options - this officer assists with sexual health cases and general medical cases including suturing at the local Joyce Palmer Health Service. The QAS is also involved in teaching First Aid
to the community, "Adopt an Ambo" programs with both schools, motivational camps for teenagers and local football competitions and works closely with allied health services on the island. The QAS has also started a stinger
prevention program with stinger stations having been established in different locations around the island. Funding has been raised to provide stinger suits to the communities children and adults through the PCYC and through funding grants obtained for the cause with the main one being the medicare benefit fund. A Joint Emergency Services Complex has now been completed and is located opposite the CDEP and at the old piggery site at the Farm Area - this complex house's the Qld Ambulance Service, The Qld Rural Fire Brigade and the Local SES unit, and is fully functional.
Despite the healthcare facilities, a report tabled in the Queensland Parliament on 21 April 2006 claimed that conditions at Palm Island resembled those of a third world
country.
In 1979 an outbreak of hepatoenteritis
, also known as the Palm Island mystery disease, was reported and described a hepatitis
-like illness (associated with dehydration and bloody diarrhoea) in 138 children and 10 adults of Indigenous descent. This was proposed to have been caused by the toxin cylindrospermopsin
, which was released from lysed
cyanobacterial cells after the addition of excessive doses of copper sulfate to the water supply of Solomon Dam to target a bloom of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii
. A later report alternatively proposed that the excess copper in the water was the cause of the disease. The excessive dosing was following the use of least-cost contractors to control the algae, who were unqualified in the field.
In December 1934 there was a major outbreak of Influenza with a large number of residents hospitalised.
Articles produced by The Brisbane Institute
think tank
Great Palm Island
Great Palm Island, also known as Palm Island, or by the Aboriginal name Bwgcolman; is a tropical island with a resident community of about 2,000 people. The island has an area of . The official area figure of 70.9 km² refers to Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island and includes nine smaller islands...
, also called by the Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
name "Bwgcolman", an island on the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
in North Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia The settlement is also known by a variety of other names including "the Mission", Palm Island Settlement or Palm Community.
History of Australia (1788-1850)
The history of Australia from 1788–1850 covers the early colonies period of Australia's history, from the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Sydney to establish the penal colony of New South Wales in 1788 to the European exploration of the continent and establishment of other colonies...
. For much of the twentieth century it was used by the Queensland Government
Government of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
as a settlement for Aboriginals considered guilty of such infractions as being "disruptive", being pregnant to a white man or being born with "mixed blood
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
".
The community created by this history has been beset by many problems and has often been the discussion point of political and social commentators. Of significant sociological concern is a lack of jobs and housing. Since its creation as an Aboriginal reserve, Palm Island has been considered synonymous with Indigenous disadvantage and violence. At the same time it has been at the forefront of political activism which has sought to improve the conditions and treatment of Australia's Indigenous peoples as well as redress injustices visited on them broadly as a race and on Palm Island specifically.
History
Pre-settlement
In ManbarraManbarra
The Manbarra people are the original inhabitants of Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.It is estimated that there were about 200 Manbarra people at the time of James Cook's visit in 1788. By the end of the 19th century they numbered about 50, apparently because many had left the island to go...
folklore the Palm Island group were formed in the Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
from the broken up fragments of an ancestral spirit, Rainbow Serpent
Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent is a common motif in the art and mythology of Aboriginal Australia. It is named for the snake-like meandering of water across a landscape and the colour spectrum caused when sunlight strikes water at an appropriate angle relative to the observer.The Rainbow Serpent is seen as...
.
The island was named by explorer James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
in 1770 as he sailed up the eastern coast of Australia on his first voyage
First voyage of James Cook
The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, from 1768 to 1771...
. It is estimated that the population of the island at the time of Cook's visit was about 200 Manbarra people. Cook sent some of his men to Palm Island and 'they returned on board having met with nothing worth observing.'
From the 1850s locals were recruitment targets to leave the island to be involved with bêche-de-mer and pearling
Pearl hunting
Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...
enterprises with Europeans and Japanese.
By the end of the 19th century the population had been reduced to about 50. In 1909
1909 in Australia
See also:1908 in Australia,other events of 1909,1910 in Australia and theTimeline of Australian history.-Incumbents:*Monarch – King Edward VII*Governor-General – William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley...
the Chief Protector of Aborigines
Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protectors of Aborigines resulted from a recommendation of the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Aborigines . On 31 January 1838, Lord Glenelg, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies sent Governor Gipps the report.The report recommended that Protectors of...
visited the Island, apparently to check on the activities of Japanese pearling crews in the area, and reported the existence of a small camp of Aborigines.
In 1916 Queensland's Chief Protector of Aborigines found Palm Island to be 'the ideal place for a delightful holiday' and that its remoteness also made it suitable for use as a penitentiary' for 'individuals we desire to punish'.
'Penal settlement' 1920s-60s
In 1914 the Government established an Aboriginal settlementHull River Aboriginal Settlement
Hull River Aboriginal Mission was an Aboriginal Mission located at what is now referred to as Mission Beach in the Hull River National Park, Queensland, Australia.-Aboriginal History:...
on the Hull River
Hull River National Park
Hull River is a national park in Queensland , 1275 km northwest of Brisbane. GIS mapping data from Queensland Department of Natural Resources showed an area of 3,240 hectares, of which about 2,100 hectares are estuarine mangroves, with the remainder being swamp forests dominated by Melaleuca and...
near Mission Beach
Mission Beach, Queensland
Mission Beach is a small village along the Coral Sea in Queensland, Australia. The popular tourist destination of Dunk Island lies 4 km offshore.-History:...
on the Australian mainland. On 10 March 1918, the structures were destroyed by a cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
and were never rebuilt. Subsequently, the settlement relocated to Palm Island with the new population referred to as the Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman people is the name given to the indigenous Australians who were resettled on the Palm Island group after establishment of a reserve there in 1914. The original inhabitants of Palm Island are the Manbarra people...
people. In the first two decades of its establishment the population of Indigenous inmates increased from 200 to 1,630. People from at least 57 different language speaking regions throughout Queensland were relocated to Palm.
By the early 1920s Palm Island had become the largest of the Government Aboriginal settlements. Administrators found its location attractive as Aboriginal people could be isolated, but Palm Island quickly gained a reputation amongst Aborigines as a penal settlement
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
. They were removed from across Queensland as punishment; being "disruptive", falling pregnant to a white man or being born with "mixed blood
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
" were included in infringements which could lead to the penalty of being sent to Palm Island. New arrivals came after being sentenced by a court, or released from prison, or were sent by administrators of other missions wishing to weed out their more ill-mannered or disruptive Aboriginals. These removals to the Palm Island Mission continued until the late 1960s.
On arrival, children were separated from their parents and then segregated by gender. Aborigines were forbidden to speak their language and from going into "white" zones. Every day activity was highly controlled by administrators including nightly curfews and the vetting of mail.
In the 1930s a local doctor highlighted malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
on the island, and demanded that the Government triple rations for the islanders and that children be provided with fruit juice
Juice
Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...
, but the request was denied.
In 1927 a hospital was built at nearby Fantome Island
Fantome Island
Fantome Island is one of the islands in the Great Palm Island group. It is neighboured by Great Palm Island and is north-east of Townsville, Queensland on the east coast of Australia. The Aboriginal name for this island is Eumilli Island. The island is small with an area of and is surrounded by...
; Aborigines were sent there mainly for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. In 1936 Fantome Island became a medical clearing station where people sent to Palm Island were examined and treated if necessary. A leprosarium was established on Fantome in 1939. After World War Two the hospital was closed, and by 1965 only the leprosarium remained on Fantome, it was administered by a Roman Catholic nursing order until 1973 when the inhabitants were moved to Palm Island.
The administrators had complete and unaccountable control over the lives of residents, punishments included the shaving of the girls' heads. On a surprise inspection of the Palm Island Prison during an official visit in the late 1960s, Senator Jim Keeffe and academic Henry Reynolds
Henry Reynolds (historian)
Henry Reynolds is an eminent Australian historian whose primary work has focused on the frontier conflict between European settlement of Australia and indigenous Australians.-Education and career:...
discovered two 12-13 year old schoolgirls incarcerated in the settlement's prison by the senior administrator on the island (the superintendent
Superintendent (police)
Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police...
), because "they swore at the teacher".
The following letter was written to a new bride by the 'Protector';
"Dear Lucy, Your letter gave me quite a shock, fancy you wanting to draw four pounds to buy a brooch, ring, bangle, work basket, tea set, etc, etc. I am quite sure Mrs. Henry would expend the money carefully for you, but I must tell you that no Aborigine can draw 4/5 of their wages unless they are sick and in hospital and require the money to buy comforts... However, as it is Christmas I will let you have 1/5/ - out of your banking account to buy lollies with."
'Path to self governance' 1986 - present
In 26 October 1986 ownership of the island was transferred to a newly formed Palm Island Community Council under a Deed of Grant in TrustDeed of Grant in Trust
A Deed of Grant in Trust is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in Queensland to administer former reserves and missions...
from the Queensland government.
Self-appointed "president" of Palm Island, Jeremy Geia, symbolically declared independence from Australia in 2001. The "Peoples Democratic Republic of Palm Island" was an expression of grievances against the Australian and Queensland Governments for neglect of Palm Islanders. There were concerns at the time that this activism would interfere in a major Government investigation into sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
by making victims too uncomfortable to come to the mainland for examination.
In 2001 The Palm Island State Emergency Services Cadet Group was formed.
The Palm Island Community Council became the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special Local Government Area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. It is located on Palm Island, near the north Queensland city of...
in 2004 under the Queensland Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act. Like the other Aboriginal Shire Councils that were created, this Act gave the Council full status as a Local Government on a par with other Councils in Queensland.
1930 Palm Island Tragedy
In 1930, the Superintendent of the settlement shot and wounded two people, and set fire to several buildings, killing his two children. Later in the day, the Superintendent was shot dead.An official inquiry by the Queensland Attorney General followed. Those involved in the shooting of the Superintendent, including the Deputy Superintendent and the Palm Island Medical Officer, were charged with murder. During the trial the Crown Prosecutor was directed by the trial judge to drop the charges, stating that the shooting was justified.
World War 2 use as a Catalina airbase
In July 1943 the US Navy built a Naval Air StationNaval Air Station
A Naval Air Station is a military airbase, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of their Navy...
at Palm Island, with facilities to operate and overhaul Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s and patrol boats. The air station was built at Wallaby point, an isolated area of Palm Island, overlooking a large stretch of sheltered water in Challenger Bay, which was ideal for flying boat operations. The station was built by two officers and 122 enlisted men of Company C of the 55th Seabee Construction Battalion, and a similar detachment that left Brisbane later with 1,500 tons of construction material.
A 1,000 man camp was constructed at the point. Concrete flying boat ramps to the ocean were built with a tarmac parking area for up to 12 flying boats. Moorings for 18 flying boats were provided in Challenger Bay, and 3 nose hangars were also built. Coral aggregate from coral reefs at low tide was used to manufacture concrete.
A series of fuel tanks were constructed to hold 60,000 barrels of aviation fuel. Steel rail lines were installed to launch the PBY Catalinas back into the water.
By September 1943 the majority of the facilities were finished, and large numbers of operational and maintenance personnel began to arrive to commission the station. The Palm Island US Naval Air Station was fully operational from 25 October 1943, and could repair an average of four aircraft per day. The last personnel of the 55th Seabees left Palm Island on 8 November 1943.
US Navy Patrol Squadron 101, Patrol Wing 10, with 8 PBY Catalinas as briefly stationed at Palm Island in December 1943, before relocating to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
.
US Navy Patrol Squadron VP-11 arrived at the station in late December 1943 where they were taken off combat duties. The squadron comprised 13 PBY-5 Catalinas, 46 officers and 99 enlisted men. They carried out training and routine flights between Port Moresby
Port Moresby
Port Moresby , or Pot Mosbi in Tok Pisin, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea . It is located on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, on the southeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, which made it a prime objective for conquest by the Imperial Japanese forces during 1942–43...
, Samari
Samari
Samari may refer to:*Samari, Nepal*Samari Rolle, American football player...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. They were assigned to Fleet Air Wing 17 while at Palm Island, and left in February 1944.
The Naval Air Station closed in May 1944. In June 1944, Company B of the 91st Seabee Construction Battalion moved in to demolish the station, removed 5,000 tons of materials and equipment, and left in August 1944.
The remains of the steel rails and submerged wrecks of a number of Catalinas can still be seen today. Live ammunition is occasionally found by locals.
1957 Strike
Seven families were banished from the Palm Island in 1957
1957 in Australia
-Incumbents:*Monarch – Elizabeth II*Governor-General – Sir William Slim*Prime Minister – Robert Menzies-State Premiers:*Premier of New South Wales – Joseph Cahill*Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IV...
for taking part in a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
organised to protest against the Dickensian working conditions imposed by the Queensland Government under the reserve system. Athlete Cathy Freeman
Cathy Freeman
Catherine Astrid Salome "Cathy" Freeman, OAM is former Australian sprinter, who specialised in the 400 metres event. She became the Olympic champion for the women's 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics, at which she lit the Olympic Flame.Freeman was the first ever Aboriginal...
's mother, Cecilia Barber, and the family of strike ringleader Frederick William Doolan including Billy Doolan
Billy Doolan
Frederick William "Billy" Doolan Jnr is an Australian Indigenous artist who lives in Townsville, Queensland but does most of his current artwork in Melbourne, Victoria...
Jnr. were among those banished from the island.
In a 2007 commemorative ceremony the Queensland Government apologised to the surviving wives of two of the strikers for the actions of the Government in the 1950s.
Wilson's criminological analysis
Paul Wilson (criminologist)
Paul Richard Wilson OAM is a New Zealand-born Australian author, sociologist and criminologist.-Biography:Pasul Wilson was born in New Zealand. He currently holds the Chair of Criminology at Bond University. Prior to this he held academic appointments at the University of Queensland and several...
published a criminological
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
analysis of criminal statistics averaged over the period of January 1977 to May 1984.
| Aboriginal Communities |
Queensland | Palm Island | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 39.6 | 6.15 | 94.3 |
| Serious Assault | 226.1 | 45.9 | 929.9 |
Wilson considered the Palm Island rates to be a gross underestimate, as the figures provided by the Legal Aid Office only counted cases that went to court, whereas the Queensland rates, provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
, were based on reported incidents.
The Palm Island figures demonstrated that 86% of violence involved the offender exhibiting heavy drinking patterns and in most cases the victim was also drinking. 38% of incidents involved people who were married or in a de facto relationship, and, of those, 90% of the offenders were male.
Wilson attributed the extreme crime rates to historical, social, economic, housing and educational factors, and an "alcohol culture" that perceived not drinking to be antisocial. Further contributing factors were the employment circumstances of Palm Island and the destruction of society and traditional culture and structures. He cited research rejecting an Aboriginal propensity for violence and contrasted the Aurukun
Aurukun, Queensland
Aurukun is an Indigenous community, situated approximately south of Weipa in far North Queensland, Australia. The town faces west to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and during the wet season, roads are impassable....
community where no homicides had been recorded in the period from the 1950s.
At the time alcohol was limited to beer sold in the canteen between the hours of 5pm and 9pm. Spirits were banned, however there was a flourishing sly-grog
Sly-grog shop
A sly grog shop is an Australian term for an unlicensed hotel or liquor-store, often with the added suggestion of selling poor-quality liquor; a place where alcoholic beverages are sold by an unlicensed vendor....
trade.
Kukamunburra remains returned
A burial site and headstone is located in the "Mission" area of Palm Island. It tells the story of a young Palm Island man of the 19th Century called Kukamunburra who was renamed "Tambo" by a circus agent for the "Barnum, Bailey and Hutchinson's Greatest show on earth". He was toured along with eight other Murris, three of whom were from Hinchinbrook IslandHinchinbrook Island
Hinchinbrook Island lies east of Cardwell and north of Lucinda, Queensland Australia. Hinchinbrook Island is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and wholly protected within the Hinchinbrook Island National Park, except for a small resort. It is the largest island on the Great Barrier Reef...
and five from Palm.
In 1884 Kukamunburra died at 21 years old of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in Cleveland, United States of America. The rest of the circus group carried on to the European leg of the tour; by the end of 1885 only three of the Murris were still alive.
Kukamunburra's body was embalmed; 109 years later, in 1993, the body was discovered in a local funeral parlour. His remains were returned to his homeland and buried on Palm Island in February 1994.
Palm Island Vision Plan
In December 1997 Queensland HealthQueensland Health
Queensland Health is the department of the Government of Queensland responsible for operating and administering the public health system of the Australian State of Queensland. It is responsible to the State's Health Minister Geoff Wilson and its Director-General is Tony O'Connell.Queensland Health...
and the Palm Island Council initiated the Palm Island Public Mental Health Project aimed at overcoming serious social problems, particularly the suicide rate.
This Project led to the May 1998 community development of a planning document, Palm Island Vision Plan. The planning document contained a series of visions and objectives as well as the nominated action group responsible for actioning each of them.
Objectives included strategies to address a broad range of issues such as; significantly 'Aboriginalising' the local hospital within ten years, establishing a whole-of-government forum, economic development strategy and a program to combat youth suicide.
The Queensland Health initiative gained momentum and support throughout 1998 and 1999 implementing a consultative process and it was met with optimism from a cross section of the community. Unfortunately the project did not gain full support from other Departments and had objectives and timeframes which were in retrospect seen as unrealistically ambitious. The project failed to secure funding for training for the community ‘facilitators’ and key people were forced to withdraw. The project became unsustainable by the end of 1999 due to ad hoc funding and high demand on human resources.
A subsequent Federal (Dillon) report alleged that Queensland Health employees appeared to question the program’s worth and began to undermine it. In response to a perception of this undermining, community leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the Vision Plan and requested the Department to instruct their Palm Island employees to ‘cease denigrating it’ in November 1999. By February 2000 Queensland Health withdrew from the project.
The Dillon Report acknowledged that both the community and Queensland Health had invested a considerable amount into this project to provide developmental support to residents. However it observed that the project was overly ambitious and the strain this placed on staff and resources meant that it was not likely to succeed. Particularly where the projects objectives came into conflict with government bureaucracy which presented conflicts for Queensland Health.
Compensation by Queensland Government for underpaid wages
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
The Australian Human Rights Commission is a national human rights institution, a statutory body funded by, but operating independently of, the Australian Government. It has the responsibility for investigating alleged infringements under Australia’s anti-discrimination legislation...
in a case first brought to the Commission by seven Palm Islanders in 1986.
Guinness Book of Records controversy
The 1999 edition of the Guinness Book of Records brought international attention to Palm Island when it named the island the most violent place on earth outside a combat zone. To support this claim it stated statistics such as a murder rate 15 times higher than that of the entire state of Queensland, a life expectancy of 40 years, the highest rate of youth suicide per capita in the world, and a total of 40 suicide fatalities over a period of only five years.The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
newspaper hypothesised that the Guinness Book of Records statement was based on an article in a London newspaper. The article from The Sunday Times stated that Palm Island had one of the highest crime rates in the world and that "boys ride bareback on horses through the near-derelict civic centre as infants ambush passing cars with slingshot
Slingshot
A slingshot, shanghai, flip, bean shooter or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame held in the off hand, with two rubber strips attached to the uprights. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket which holds the projectile...
s." It referred to violence statistics and stated that "the white overseers" left the island in 1985 removing most of the island's assets and resources, only allowing a pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
to remain. The Sunday Times claimed that up to 30 people live in each house, without sufficient drinking water.
The Guinness Book of Records figures were strongly disputed at the time by the Queensland Government, the Police Commissioner and the Palm Island Community Council. However, it was conceded by the Queensland Aboriginal Policy Minister, Judy Spence
Judy Spence
Judith Caroline "Judy" Spence is an Australian politician and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the Australian Labor Party since the 1989 election. She represented Mount Gravatt until 2009, but after a redistribution she switched to Sunnybank, which covered much of the same territory...
, that Palm Island "can be violent at times", particularly for women and children, but that the situation was being improved.
Legal action in relation to pearl farming
Cultured pearl
A cultured pearl is a pearl created by a pearl farmer under controlled conditions.-Development of a pearl:A pearl is formed when the mantle tissue is injured by a parasite, an attack of a fish or another event that damages the external fragile rim of the shell of a molluc shell bivalve or gastropod...
in 1998 with the permission of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (which controls the sea waters around the islands), despite the opposition of, at least some, of the people of Palm Island. On 24 September 1998 the Manbarra elders passed a resolution opposing the farms on the basis of;
"the historical and cultural significance of the Juno Bay site for both the ManbarraManbarraThe Manbarra people are the original inhabitants of Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.It is estimated that there were about 200 Manbarra people at the time of James Cook's visit in 1788. By the end of the 19th century they numbered about 50, apparently because many had left the island to go...
and BwgcolmanBwgcolmanBwgcolman people is the name given to the indigenous Australians who were resettled on the Palm Island group after establishment of a reserve there in 1914. The original inhabitants of Palm Island are the Manbarra people...
Peoples, the sense of trespass on traditional ownership rights, concerns that the cultural connection to the area would slip away and a strong feeling that the provision of a small number of employment opportunities offered by the pearling operations would not adequately compensate the damage to cultural values."
Subsequently the Park Authority refused to extend the pearl farming permits and Crimp took action before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal is an Australian tribunal which provides for quasi-judicial review of administrative decisions by the Australian federal government. It is not a court and not part of the Australian court hierarchy, however its decisions are subject to review by the Federal...
to have this decision reversed. On 15 March 2004 the Tribunal agreed that the permits should be terminated but allowed the existing pearling operations to continue to 1 December 2005. This decision was substantially upheld by the Federal Court
Federal Court of Australia
The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law , along with some summary criminal matters. Cases are heard at first instance by single Judges...
on 21 October 2004.
2004 death in custody controversy and riot
Australian Aboriginal Palm Island resident, Mulrunji (known as Cameron Doomadgee while alive), aged 36, died in November 2004 in a police cell on Palm Island, one hour after being picked up for allegedly causing a public nuisance. The family of the deceased were informed by the Coroner that the death was the result of "an intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by a ruptured liver and portal vein".A week after the death the results of the autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
report were read to a public meeting by then Palm Island Council
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special Local Government Area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. It is located on Palm Island, near the north Queensland city of...
Chairwoman Erykah Kyle. A succession of angry young Aboriginal men subsequently spoke to the crowd and encouraged immediate action be taken against the police. Mulrunji's death was repeatedly branded "cold-blooded murder", and a riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
erupted. The local courthouse, police station and police barracks were burned down and 18 local police and their families were forced to withdraw and barricade themselves in the hospital. Later the same day approximately 80 police from Townsville and Cairns were flown to Palm to restore order.
In April 2005, in response to the riot, Premier Beattie established the Palm Island Select Committee to investigate issues leading to the riot and other problems. Their report was tabled on 25 August 2005, detailing 65 recommendations which seek to reduce violence and overcrowding, and improve standards of education and health. In achieving these objectives, issues such as drug and alcohol abuse and unemployment would also be addressed.
In late September 2006, coroner Christine Clements found that Doomadgee was killed as a result of punches by the Senior Sergeant arresting officer. Despite the finding of the coroner, Leanne Clare, the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
(DPP), announced on 14 December 2006 that no charges would be laid. After media and public pressure, the Queensland Attorney-General appointed former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
Supreme Court of New South Wales
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales...
, Sir Laurence Street
Laurence Street
Sir Laurence Whistler Street AC, KCMG, QC is an Australian jurist and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.-Family:...
to review the decision. The Street Review resulted in the overturning of the DPP's decision, with a finding that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute for manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. A high profile trial in the Townsville Supreme Court ensued. In June 2007 the jury found the Senior Sergeant not guilty of manslaughter and assault charges. On 24 October 2008, a jury found Lex Wotton
Trial of Lex Wotton
The trial of Lex Wotton relates to the events surrounding the Townsville, Queensland proceedings in the Federal Magistrates Court concerning the actions taken by Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council member Lex Wotton during the 26 November 2004 Palm Island riots.Lex Wotton was a two-time councillor...
, a two-time councillor on the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special Local Government Area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. It is located on Palm Island, near the north Queensland city of...
, guilty of inciting the 2004 riot that resulted in the destruction of the island's police station, the courthouse, and an officer's residence. Wotton then was sentenced to seven years in prison, reduced to six years for time already served.
Governance
Local GovernmentLocal Government Areas of Queensland
This is a list of local government areas in Queensland, sorted by region. For the history and responsibilities of local government in that state, see Local government in Queensland.-LGAs sorted by region:...
on the island is provided by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special Local Government Area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. It is located on Palm Island, near the north Queensland city of...
, created under the Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act (2004). Previously, Palm Island was a community council without the same powers as other Queensland Shire Councils. It was constituted under the authority of the Queensland Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 as the Palm Island Aboriginal Council and had a Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) for ten islands in the Palm Island Group.
The Current civic Cabinet consists of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and three Councilors:
- Mayor: Alfred Lacey (Administration & Finance, Alcohol Management, Youth Affairs, Health, Government Coordination & Community Engagement)
- Deputy Mayor: Raymond Sibley (Education, Land, Sea & Environment, Housing)
- CEO: Barry Moyle
Councilors (undivided council without divisions):
- Ruth Gorringe (Commerce & Economic Development, Education, Employment & Training, Health)
- Zina Prior (Commerce & Economic Development, Sports & Recreation, Land, Sea & Environment, Housing)
- Mick Thaiday (Community Justice, Cultural Heritage Events & Planning, Emergency Services, Planning & Infrastructure)
The structure of the Aboriginal Shire Council (or Community Council as it was previously) has been criticised for the following reasons:
- Comparatively broad responsibility: it holds responsibility for policy portfolios which go far beyond what is expected of other Local Government Authorities, such as being the trustee of the DOGIT land, the provision of housing infrastructure, previously the running of the canteen and currently the running of the general store, law and justice, health, maintenance of culture and language, etc. The Council is designed under the model of a mainstream Local Government Authority which structurally does not provide the latitude to address those functions which are not normally expected of mainstream Councils.
- Culturally inappropriate decision making: The Organisation is not designed to deal with cultural issues or complex social problems; the normal Indigenous decision-making processes and protocols such as consultation and input from family groupings are not structurally accommodated.
- Unrealistic local expectations: It is of concern that even greater expectations are put on the Community Council by their own constituents. The Council is seen to have responsibility for all the community's needs and issues, ignoring the legislative limitations of the Council, the complexity of issues impacting on the community, the impact of past and present governments' policies and the skill level of respective Councillors. This leads to Palm Island Councillors having far higher expectations put on them than mainstream Councillors and deflects responsibility away from Government Agencies, which could lead to Councillors considering that their role was a do 'what-ever' was required to meet the diverse needs of residents.
- Red tape: The Council is overburdened with accountability and reporting requirements which detract from the role of consulting with constituents over their needs and aspirations and strategies to address them.
Final transition to full Shire Council status was completed in January 2007. The Shire's core business is the provision of housing. It recently conducted an audit of its houses and the people living in them; the audit found that 120 new homes were needed, however the Council primarily relies on income from rent and Government subsidies and can only afford to build one or two new houses a year. The Council has jurisdiction over the islands of the Palm Island Group other than Orpheus and Pelorus
Pelorus Island
Pelorus Island is the northernmost island of the Great Palm Island group. It is located 800 meters north of Orpheus Island. Pelorus is surrounded by spectacular fringing reefs that can be accessed by snorkeling right off the beach...
Islands.
EWLINE
|
|||||||||||||||
EWLINE
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Palm Island falls in the federal Division of Herbert
Division of Herbert
The Division of Herbert is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives. The division was first contested at the 1901 election...
and the Electoral district of Townsville
Electoral district of Townsville
The district of Townsville is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. The seat is one of four within the Townsville urban area in North Queensland, and covers the Eastern and Northern suburbs of the City of Townsville as well as Magnetic Island and...
. Peter Lindsay
Peter Lindsay
Peter John Lindsay , Australian politician, was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to July 2010, representing the Division of Herbert, Queensland. In January 2007 he was appointed to the position of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister...
(Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
) is the Federal Member and Mike Reynolds
Mike Reynolds (politician)
Michael Reynolds is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2009, representing the district of Townsville. He served as Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2009.- Biography :Reynolds has first elected to...
(Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
) is the State Member.
Peter Lindsay has claimed that Palm Island is a hopelessly dysfunctional community and that either the Island economy/landholdings should be mainstreamed or the Indigenous population
Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman people is the name given to the indigenous Australians who were resettled on the Palm Island group after establishment of a reserve there in 1914. The original inhabitants of Palm Island are the Manbarra people...
should be relocated to the mainland. The Palm Island Council and Mike Reynolds reacted with outrage calling the idea racist and lacking cultural competency, the Queensland Government has ruled out forced relocation.
Economy
There is no freeholdFee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
land title
Title (property)
Title is a legal term for a bundle of rights in a piece of property in which a party may own either a legal interest or an equitable interest. The rights in the bundle may be separated and held by different parties. It may also refer to a formal document that serves as evidence of ownership...
on Palm Island, with property owned by either the Local or State Government. More than 90% of the adult population is unemployed. There is no industry on the island despite rich natural resources such as crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
worth $150 each and enormous tourism potential.
Carpentaria Land Council chief executive Brad Foster in 2004 summarised their economic standing thus; "This island has 4000 residents, and the services applicable to a community with 500 people. That has to change and businesses have to be able to invest here, make profits, employ and train locals — get part of the real world."
Cost of living is relatively very high on Palm Island due to the remoteness of island living and the general lack of private enterprise. At the island store bread costs approximately $4.20 a loaf, about twice the average in Australia. Goods in general, particularly essential food items, cost considerably more than similar products in mainstream Queensland, sometimes two to three times higher. The cost of living issue is exacerbated by economic loss to alcohol, drug dependence and gambling, and the fact that crops and livestock are not cultivated locally on the island.
Around the island there are failed or abandoned ventures, the relics of which are still there; a piggery, chicken farm, disused stockyards, market garden and a joinery works.
A presently abandoned oyster farm is an example of one of the failed ventures on Palm Island. The natural environment of Palm Island and adjacent Halifax Bay
Halifax Bay
Halifax Bay is a region located around a bay in the Coral Sea, situated on the Australian coast in Far North Queensland. It is bordered by the town of Ingham to the north, city of Townsville to the south and Great Palm Island off the coast to the east....
is ideal for the aquaculture
Aquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
of oysters, shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
, prawns and mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
. Over a five year period in the 1970s Applied Ecology Pty Ltd (an organisation designed to assist Aboriginal communities to develop sustainable industries, funded by the Government) established an oyster lease on Palm Island. At one point the lease had $600,000 worth of oysters. Unfortunately due to alleged poor management and lack of interest among the community the oyster lease fell into disrepair. The farm is purported to have cost $20 million.
Research by the Centre for Tropical Urban and Regional Planning at James Cook University
James Cook University
James Cook University is a public university based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The university has two Australian campuses, located in Townsville and Cairns respectively, and an international campus in Singapore. JCU is the second oldest university in Queensland—proclaimed in 1970—and the...
has concluded that Palm Island has most of the resources it needs to be largely self-sufficient through housing, agriculture and tourism. However Barry Moyle the Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special Local Government Area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. It is located on Palm Island, near the north Queensland city of...
and former Mayor of Johnstone Shire Council suggests that the tourism potential of the island is hindered by the negative reputation that Palm Island is considered to have. Moyle asserts that once potential tourists get past that negative image "they will find really nice and beautiful people, with a rich culture, living on this untouched tropical gem of North Queensland
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the state of Queensland in Australia. Queensland is a massive state, larger than most countries, and the tropical northern part of it has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and...
". Further, according to Moyle, "it could be considered a big ask that people will get past the perception that the people are all no-hoper alcoholics and perpetrators of domestic violence, which is considered to be the general reputation that Palm Islanders have in broader Australia. Locals say that there are bad eggs, but that is the same in all communities."
Land title
Native TitleNative title
Native title is the Australian version of the common law doctrine of aboriginal title.Native title is "the recognition by Australian law that some Indigenous people have rights and interests to their land that come from their traditional laws and customs"...
claims do not apply to most residents as they are not the original inhabitants
Manbarra
The Manbarra people are the original inhabitants of Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.It is estimated that there were about 200 Manbarra people at the time of James Cook's visit in 1788. By the end of the 19th century they numbered about 50, apparently because many had left the island to go...
of the land, the general community (Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman people is the name given to the indigenous Australians who were resettled on the Palm Island group after establishment of a reserve there in 1914. The original inhabitants of Palm Island are the Manbarra people...
people) do have a strong historical connection to the land, most having been born there. Having historical (as opposed to traditional) rights recognised is a legally grey area. Free hold title does not apply either; most land is controlled by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council. The land is held by the Council for the benefit of the community in trust
Trust law
In common law legal systems, a trust is a relationship whereby property is held by one party for the benefit of another...
, through a "Deed of Grant in Trust" (DOGIT). This in practice means that, for example, a third party would not be able to lease and develop land on Palm Island without the permission of the community and even then leases are limited to 30 years.
A basic three bedroom house costs approximately $350,000 to $400,000 to build on Palm Island (not including sewerage, power, phone and water, and the cost of the land). Federal Minister Mal Brough
Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland...
has stated that building prices on Palm (or in indigenous communities in general) are over inflated and that it could be done for half the cost. All homes are on crown land and are owned by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council and are rented at a Government-subsidised rate of $44 to $60 a week to residents. There are 320 rental houses under this arrangement.
Most businesses are owned by the Council and land title restrictions hinder private investment; approval to build a house or start a business can take up to three years.
Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership
The Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership is a public policy organisation formed in partnership between the people of Cape York, Griffith University, and Federal and Queensland Governments....
argues that housing degradation in these communities has more to do with overcrowding and poor construction than it does with poor tenancy. However he adds that Aboriginal people naturally take much better care of property that they have constructed or paid for themselves, than they do that which has been handed to them 'on a plate' and which they have had little personal engagement in. The push for privatisation of title was led by the Australian Government (through Mal Brough
Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas "Mal" Brough is a former Australian politician and Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 to November 2007, representing the Division of Longman, Queensland...
, Indigenous Affairs Minister), Noel Pearson, and some families on the island (the community is very divided on this issue). The proposal had partial (or cautious) support from the then Federal Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
Opposition.
However other Islanders are suspicious of these moves as an opportunity for the more powerful families to gain more power through land ownership or even worse a way of taking land off the Palm Islanders, who in desperation may sell to the highest bidding developer even if that bid significantly undervalues the land in question. Professor Mick Dodson
Mick Dodson
Professor Michael James "Mick" Dodson, AM is an indigenous Australian leader, a member of the Yawuru peoples in the Broome area of the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia. His brother is Patrick Dodson, also a noted Aboriginal leader.Following his parents' death, he boarded at Monivae...
, director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies at the ANU
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
, argues that the people on Palm Island do not have the financial capacity to compete in the housing market on a commercial basis: He asserts that the only solution to the problem of overcrowding lies in increasing the level of public housing, there are not the jobs to build capacity among locals to become home owners.
There is an alternative option under the push for privatising landholdings which addresses fears of the land being lost from the community: a closed market system where caveats restricting ownership to members of the community are placed on 99-year leases. This would mean that land could be bought and sold but only between Palm Islanders. It is unclear whether this arrangement would allow for mortgages as the banks who give the loans are outside the community and would require security for their loan that they can legally collect.
Traditional ownership of the Manbarra
Manbarra
The Manbarra people are the original inhabitants of Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.It is estimated that there were about 200 Manbarra people at the time of James Cook's visit in 1788. By the end of the 19th century they numbered about 50, apparently because many had left the island to go...
people complicates debate about Palm Island land title. There is no registered Native Title claim and only seven traditional owners still live on the island, however there could be a valid claim. Professor Dodson argues that the historical international experience is that once communal title is extinguished then the indigenous people lose the land permanently. Minister Brough argues that 100-year leases will not extinguish Native Title over the land.
The Queensland Government, which has constitutional responsibility for land tenure, holds the position that this issue is extremely complex and that it will not be bullied by the Commonwealth. The former state Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Warren Pitt
Warren Pitt
Frederick Warren Pitt is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1989 to 1995 and 1998 to 2009.Born in Cairns, Pitt was a school teacher before entering politics...
, in 2007 said that all parties have matured since Native Title was introduced and can recognise that while the issues are complex, the betterment of Aboriginal people can be realised.
Law and order
Palm Island has an extreme level of theft, domestic violence, sexual assaults against children and abject drunkenness. This behaviour is attributed locally to boredom, aimlessness, lack of education, absence of role models and a complete loss of self-worth. Another important factor is bitter family divisions which rule the social fabric of the island and a complex web of historical disputes between those families, some going back decades. Criminologist Dr Paul Wilson found Palm Island to have one of the highest rates of violent crime in the world. He suggested that the problems could be tied to repression of the past and colonial practices. In the December 2004 to December 2005 period there were 76 admissions to the hospital for assault involving residents, 26 times the standard QueenslandQueensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
rate.
These figures do not necessarily reflect the war like violence that is commonly associated with Palm Island. St Michael's Catholic School Principal, Lil Mirtl, has stated that people visiting or living on the Island just need to take sensible precautions such as not walking alone at night, similar to precautions that people should exercise in most places.
The most successful program implemented to reduce the high levels of crime is the Palm Island Community Justice Group. The Justice Group has existed since 1992, it is a committee of elders on the island who, it is said, have far more influence over young offenders on the island than the police or courts. The Justice group has a statutory role within the judicial system in administering justice on the island. The group is funded by the Queensland Government to administer the program, created in response to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody studied and reported on the high level of deaths of Aboriginal people whilst in custody after being arrested or convicted of committing crimes. This included suicide, natural causes, medical conditions and injuries caused by police...
, with the aim of keeping indigenous children on Palm out of the criminal justice system. Under the program the Palm Island community is encouraged to devise their own systems for dealing with offenders. In the three years after the Community Justice Group was established, Palm Island juveniles appearing before magistrates courts fell by a third. Police and the courts often refer offenders to the Community Justice Group.
"These older ones have the wisdom and knowledge, and they can sit around the table and talk, and bring feuding parties together. .. When they come before us they can't bluff us, because it's black on black." Peena Geia, Chairwoman of the Community Justice Group, 2001
In December 2001 the Community Justice Group assisted a five day investigation by a team of Queensland police and Department of Families officers. The investigation discretely collected information from Islanders about suspected child sexual abuse in the community, resulting in a number of arrests. The investigation was accompanied by a serious of allegations suggesting that almost 100% of girls between 13 and 16 years old had contracted sexually transmitted diseases. It was also alleged that girls as young as 12 had been trading sex for cigarettes and alcohol and that children as young as five were being molested.
There are various other local programs which have assisted with lowering the crime rate of Palm Island: The Men's Group is coordinated by former Mayor Robert Blackley, it runs a prison cell visitors program, a support service, and a children's night patrol. In 2000, the Palm Island Council used a $40,000 State Government grant to establish a community-run re-orientation program for youths to help reduce youth crime and suicide, by relocating wayward youths to a new youth and cultural camp where they would be taught their culture, language and art on neighbouring Fantome Island
Fantome Island
Fantome Island is one of the islands in the Great Palm Island group. It is neighboured by Great Palm Island and is north-east of Townsville, Queensland on the east coast of Australia. The Aboriginal name for this island is Eumilli Island. The island is small with an area of and is surrounded by...
, a former leprosarium. The Coolgaree nippers club is the first indigenous club in Surf Lifesaving Queensland; Coolgaree is affiliated to Arcadian surf lifesaving club in the first year of the nippers club operating (1999) juvenile crime rates on Palm Island dropped from 186 offences to 99.
Tony Fitzgerald
Tony Fitzgerald
Gerald Edward Fitzgerald, AC, QC is a former Australian judge, who presided over the Fitzgerald Inquiry.-Life and career:...
QC investigated alcohol abuse in indigenous communities and was shocked by the extent of the State-wide problem. He recommended to the Queensland Government that unless things improved dramatically within a period of three years than alcohol should be banned in consultation with the communities. Like other community councils (in 2001
2001 in Australia
-Incumbents:*Monarch – Queen Elizabeth II*Governor General – Sir William Deane, then Peter Hollingworth*Prime Minister – John Howard*Premier of New South Wales – Bob Carr*Premier of South Australia – John Olsen, then Rob Kerin...
) the Palm Island Community Council relied on revenue generated by alcohol sales at the Hotel, the investigation report recommended this perceived conflict of interest end.
The Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy commissioned a further report in 2005 and, as a result of its recommendations, the islands in the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council
The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special Local Government Area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. It is located on Palm Island, near the north Queensland city of...
became the 19th Queensland community to become a restricted area for possession of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
from 19 June 2006. These restrictions include a limit of one carton of beer
Beer
Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
disembarking from the ferry service. The alternative source of alcohol is the Palm Island Hotel / canteen, for either on site consumption or on a retail basis. Alcohol sales from the canteen are again restricted to one carton per person, or per vehicle.
Demographics
At the 2006 censusCensus in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
Palm Island had 1,984 residents, 93.4% of whom are of indigenous origin
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. However, there are various conflicting estimates of the population size; 3,000-3,500 residents is a figure which has been regularly quoted by local, state and federal politicians. There is controversy over the common practice of referring to Palm Island as the largest Indigenous community in Australia, with census figures from 2001 and 2006 showing the Yarrabah
Yarrabah, Queensland
Yarrabah is an Aboriginal community situated approximately by road from Cairns CBD on Cape Grafton. It is much closer by direct-line distance but is separated from Cairns by the Murray Prior Range and an inlet of the Coral Sea. At the 2006 census, Yarrabah had a population of 2,371...
community as slightly larger.
The indigenous population generally identify with either the Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman
Bwgcolman people is the name given to the indigenous Australians who were resettled on the Palm Island group after establishment of a reserve there in 1914. The original inhabitants of Palm Island are the Manbarra people...
(historical connection with Palm Island) or Manbarra
Manbarra
The Manbarra people are the original inhabitants of Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.It is estimated that there were about 200 Manbarra people at the time of James Cook's visit in 1788. By the end of the 19th century they numbered about 50, apparently because many had left the island to go...
(traditional connection) people. Compared with other parts of Australia, the Palm Island community is young with 35.6% under 15 and only 6.4% over 55. Only 5.1% of the population describe themselves as being non-religious compared with 18.7% of Australians, 42.6% are Catholic (25.8% Australia wide), 23.2% Anglican
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
and 11.2% being other Protestant.
The community, consisting of approximately 42 mainland and Torres Strait Islander clan or family groups, suffers from chronic alcohol
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
, drug
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
and domestic abuse, has an unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
rate of 90% and an average life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
of 50 years, thirty less than the Australian average.
The 2006 census was conducted on 8 August; unlike mainstream Australia, Palm Island figures were not be based on forms filled out by each household on census evening. Instead Palm Island was singled out for the population to be verbally interviewed individually over a ten day period due to past controversy about the accuracy of census details for Palm Island. Between ten and fifteen Indigenous census interviewers took the households' details from one adult from each house, interviews took between an hour and an hour and a half each and were conducted during business hours.
Culture and sport
Many residents consider that the introduction of Western cultureWestern culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
and the subsequent Mission policies of prohibiting the expression of traditional cultural
Australian Aboriginal culture
Aboriginal Australia comprises hundreds of tribal divisions and language groups, with a diverse range of cultural practices.-Practices and ceremonies:*A Bora is an initiation ceremony in which young boys become men....
has seriously eroded the cultural base of Palm Island. Many of the contemporary issues of substance abuse, law and order problems and the high suicide rate have been attributed in part to this absence of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
.
Amongst sporting activities on Palm Island boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
features prominently (both men's and women's) in 2006 11 young Palm Islanders represented Queensland at national boxing championships for the first time. The Barracudas are the local rugby league team, with Vern Daisy as a notable ex-player. In June 2005 the inaugural 3 on 3 Basketball competition was held, attracting over 300 locals.
Many of the sporting activities are actively supported by or managed through the Queensland Police Citizens Youth Welfare Association facility; the Palm Island Community and Youth Centre (PICYC). The Centre was opened by the then Premier Peter Beattie
Peter Beattie
Peter Douglas Beattie , Australian politician, was the 36th Premier of the Australian state of Queensland for nine years and leader of the Australian Labor Party in that state for eleven and a half years...
in February 2005 over strong community objections due to animosity towards the Queensland Police
Queensland Police
The Queensland Police Service is the law enforcement agency responsible for policing the Australian state of Queensland. In 1990, the Queensland Police Force was officially renamed the Queensland Police Service and the old motto of "Firmness with Courtesy" was changed to "With Honour We Serve"...
following the November 2004 death in custody
2004 Palm Island death in custody
The 2004 Palm Island death in custody incident relates to the death of Palm Island, Queensland resident, Mulrunji on Friday, 19 November 2004 in a police cell. The death of Mulrunji led to civic disturbances on the island and a legal, political and media sensation that continued for three years...
and the Police response to the subsequent riot. Having moved on from a dispute between the State Government and the Palm Island Council over who should run the facility, the situation has become very positive and cooperative, the Centre is used for its intended purpose of youth and community engagement through sport and education. Adults and youth use the facility heavily, including a gym for boxing training, facilities for; women's aerobics, ballroom dancing, Indoor Volleyball, 5 on 5 Indoor Soccer, Old-time Dancing, and a mix of conventional and traditional games.
The PICYC, home to the Palm Island Police Citizens Youth Club, is considered to be a great success story, especially considering its controversial beginnings soon after the 2004 death in custody and riot. The Centre is mostly staffed by community members who teach the younger generation both traditional and life skills such as weaving and cooking in a safe and comfortable environment. The Centre has an atmosphere of respect and traditional culture which tries to build children's confidence and self-esteem. Additionally to the sporting activities, the Centre hosts community growth projects, services and facilities such as a radio service (Bwgcolman Radio), an Internet Café, TAFE cooking classes, after-school and vacation care, monthly discos, drumming groups
Drum circle
A drum circle is any group of people playing hand-drums and percussion in a circle. They are distinct from a drumming group or troupe in that the drum circle is an end in itself rather than preparation for a performance...
($8,000 worth of drums donated by the Queensland Police), Family Movie Nights, and Bingo. The PICYC employs a paid staff of nine locals and one volunteer.
Infrastructure
Palm Island has no urban planning to speak of (most of the town has not been surveyed), although they officially have names there are no street signs or even traffic signs which are standard on most other Queensland roads.Facilities operated by the State Government on the island include a hospital, a Prep to Grade 10 school, the Palm Island Community and Youth Centre (PICYC), a sewage treatment
Sewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
plant, a local supermarket store and (new) police station and courthouse.
The Palm Island Council operates the Palm Island Hotel (also known as the Coolgaree Bay Hotel and previously known as the canteen), the community's only outlet with a liquor license. The Council owns various other local services and businesses such as the garage and the Commonwealth Bank agency.
Private retail enterprise on the Island is limited to a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
, a fish-and-chip shop, a clothes shop, the Post Office and a BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
service station that sells petrol
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
at about $.50 a litre more than Townsville. Non-Government services which are standard for population bases of this size in Australia are absent on Palm Island include a baker, hairdresser and newsagent.
In 2004 the army completed $10 million worth of work constructing a permanent water-supply dam on the island and upgrading a number of roads. Other transport infrastructure includes Palm Island Airport
Palm Island Airport
Palm Island Airport is an airport in Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.- Aerial photos and maps :...
on the South-West of the Island from which Skytrans flies to and from Townsville up to four times each day. Palm Island's pier is in Challenger Bay, a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
-boat service operated by Sunferries
Sunferries
Sunferries is a ferry company based in Townsville, Queensland.It operates both ferry services to Magnetic Island and Palm Island, as well as charter and tour vessel services to the Great Barrier Reef....
makes a return trip from Townsville four times a week. A barge service operates twice a week from Townsville operated by Palm Island Barge Services bringing food, machinery and fuel to the island. Also there is another barge that operates from Lucinda
Lucinda, Queensland
Lucinda is a coastal town in the state of Queensland, Australia, located at the southern entrance to Hinchinbrook Channel near the town of Ingham. A sugar-exporting town, Lucinda is noted for its 6km-long sugar jetty, the world's largest bulk sugar loading facility...
.
Transport on Palm Island is primarily walking with few private cars on the island, in 2005 the Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC), with Queensland Transport, purchased a 23 seat community bus which runs a school bus service and transport to PCYC events.
Education
Education infrastructure is comparatively high on Palm Island for a remote low population base. There is State and privatePublic and private education in Australia
Schools in Australia can be classified according to sources of funding and administrative structures. There are two broad categories of school in Australia: Public schools and Private schools, the latter of which can be further subdivided into Catholic schools and Independent...
primary education locally and secondary education
Queensland State High Schools
Queensland State High Schools cater for Years 8 to 12 . Years 8 and 9 are known as Junior and Years 10, 11 and 12 are known as Senior. The term "Senior" is widely applied to those in Years 11 and 12...
offered up to year ten on the Island with provisions for students to complete their year 12 senior certificate on Palm through the State education and TAFE systems or to board on the main land at private schools.
However educational outcomes are adversely affected by problems faced in home life, particularly; being exposed to serious alcohol and other substance abuse, family violence, exposure to suicides and attempted suicides, balancing cultural and educational demands, living with poverty, child abuse and overcrowded housing. These problems can result in high rates of absenteeism, low self-esteem and little concentration on education. Alternatively school can be a haven from these external problems; there are many dedicated educators and concerned parents interested in contributing to an effective, viable and culturally appropriate education system on Palm.
The island has two schools; St Michael's Catholic School (Prep to grade 7) and the Education Queensland
Queensland State Schools
Queensland State Schools are schools that are part of the Queensland, Australia State Government provided universal free education system.Primary Schools cater for Preparatory Year and Years 1 to 7 . PY, Years 1, 2 and 3 are sometimes known as Infants. Highschools cater for Years 8 to 12...
Bwgcolman Community School (Prep to Grade 10). The Bwgcolman Community School includes the Bwgcolman Community Library which is jointly managed and funded by the Council and State Government.
The Bwgcolman Community School has 350 students with 50 Indigenous and 27 non-Indigenous staff. Palm Island, like most Aboriginal communities, has difficulties with school attendance, the Principal of St. Michael's has stated that absenteeism averages about 30% among their 160 students. A 2005 test at Bwgcolman school (leaked
News leak
A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information.-Types of news leaks:...
to the media) showed that the primary school students score "significantly less" than Queensland average in literacy and numeracy. St Michael's have a program of teaching students "dainty" (Australian English
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
) as a third language in addition to the communally spoken "Island English
Australian Aboriginal English
Australian Aboriginal English is the name given to a dialect of Australian English used by a large section of the Indigenous Australian population. It is made up of a number of varieties which developed differently in different parts of Australia...
" and the particular language group that the child belongs to.
Health
Palm Island is serviced by the Joyce Palmer Health Service based at the Palm Island Hospital, completed in 2000, which has an emergency departmentEmergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
and a 15-bed general ward. The service is named for Joyce Palmer, a health worker who commenced her work in the 1940s at the Island's old grass hospital, and provided health care to the people of Palm Island for over 40 years.
The hospital provides a primary level of acute care services and provides secondary services such as community health
Community health
Community health, a field of public health, is a discipline that concerns itself with the study and betterment of the health characteristics of biological communities. While the term community can be broadly defined, community health tends to focus on geographic areas rather than people with shared...
, X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
, pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
, dental, child health, sexual health, and antenatal
Obstetrics
Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
and specialist clinics. There are two doctors based on Palm Island. Critical patients are stabilised and transferred to Townsville Hospital
Townsville Hospital
The Townsville Hospital is a public tertiary care hospital in the city of Townsville and serves patients from the entire North Queensland region, with patients from as far as Mount Isa and Cape York being airlifted or transported to the Hospital on a daily basis. The hospital is relatively new and...
by Royal Flying Doctors Service
Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia is an emergency and primary health care service for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia...
or the Air Sea Rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
. There is a community mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
team based at the Palm Island Hospital with nurses and indigenous health workers. A consultant psychiatrist visits for one day every 6 weeks.
The Queensland Ambulance Service
Queensland Ambulance Service
The Queensland Ambulance Service is the chief provider of out-of-hospital emergency care and ambulance transport in the state of Queensland, Australia...
(QAS) began operations on Palm Island in 2000 and took over from the hospital based service. Presently staffed by two paramedics and three ambulance attendants, they average approx 2200 cases per year. One paramedic is qualified as a Paramedic Practitioner and practice's under the guidelines of paramedic practitioners giving the community more health resources and options - this officer assists with sexual health cases and general medical cases including suturing at the local Joyce Palmer Health Service. The QAS is also involved in teaching First Aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
to the community, "Adopt an Ambo" programs with both schools, motivational camps for teenagers and local football competitions and works closely with allied health services on the island. The QAS has also started a stinger
Box jellyfish
Box jellyfish are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their cube-shaped medusae. Box jellyfish are known for the extremely potent venom produced by some species: Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi and Malo kingi are among the most venomous creatures in the world...
prevention program with stinger stations having been established in different locations around the island. Funding has been raised to provide stinger suits to the communities children and adults through the PCYC and through funding grants obtained for the cause with the main one being the medicare benefit fund. A Joint Emergency Services Complex has now been completed and is located opposite the CDEP and at the old piggery site at the Farm Area - this complex house's the Qld Ambulance Service, The Qld Rural Fire Brigade and the Local SES unit, and is fully functional.
Despite the healthcare facilities, a report tabled in the Queensland Parliament on 21 April 2006 claimed that conditions at Palm Island resembled those of a third world
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
country.
In 1979 an outbreak of hepatoenteritis
Hepatoenteritis
In 1979 an outbreak of hepatoenteritis, also known as the Palm Island mystery disease, was reported and described a hepatitis-like illness in 148 people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent in Palm Island, Queensland.-Causes:The cause of the outbreak was determined to be...
, also known as the Palm Island mystery disease, was reported and described a hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
-like illness (associated with dehydration and bloody diarrhoea) in 138 children and 10 adults of Indigenous descent. This was proposed to have been caused by the toxin cylindrospermopsin
Cylindrospermopsin
Cylindrospermopsin is a cyanotoxin produced by a variety of freshwater cyanobacteria. CYN is a polycyclic uracil derivative containing guanidino and sulfate groups. It is also zwitterionic, making it highly water soluble. CYN is toxic to liver and kidney tissue and is thought to inhibit protein...
, which was released from lysed
Lysis
Lysis refers to the breaking down of a cell, often by viral, enzymic, or osmotic mechanisms that compromise its integrity. A fluid containing the contents of lysed cells is called a "lysate"....
cyanobacterial cells after the addition of excessive doses of copper sulfate to the water supply of Solomon Dam to target a bloom of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii
Cylindrospermopsin
Cylindrospermopsin is a cyanotoxin produced by a variety of freshwater cyanobacteria. CYN is a polycyclic uracil derivative containing guanidino and sulfate groups. It is also zwitterionic, making it highly water soluble. CYN is toxic to liver and kidney tissue and is thought to inhibit protein...
. A later report alternatively proposed that the excess copper in the water was the cause of the disease. The excessive dosing was following the use of least-cost contractors to control the algae, who were unqualified in the field.
In December 1934 there was a major outbreak of Influenza with a large number of residents hospitalised.
External links
- Bwgcolmacom Community School website
- Local Council information
- Palm Island PCYC webpage
- Database of Agreements to which the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council are parties
- Joyce Palmer Health Service webpage
- Dunn, Peter "WW2 Palm Island naval base" Australia @ War, 22 May 2004 (and updated since)
- Queensland Government information webpage on Palm Island and alcohol management
- Queensland Government information webpage on Community Renewal on Palm Island
- Queensland Government map of alcohol restriction zone
- Australian Government Shared Responsibility Agreement - Palm Island our horses, our responsibility
Articles produced by The Brisbane Institute
The Brisbane Institute
The Brisbane Institute is an independent think tank based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, founded in 1999. It holds various talks, functions, debates and similar activities on average once every 2 to 3 weeks...
think tank
- Professor Steffen LehmannSteffen LehmannSteffen Lehmann is a German-born architect and urban designer, born 19 June 1963 in Stuttgart, Germany.-Biography:Lehmann holds the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific, the Professorial Chair in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of...
, Lessons from Palm Island, The Brisbane Institute, 17 November 2005 - Boe, Andrew, Palm Island: something is very wrong, The Brisbane Institute, 21 April 2005
- Boe, Andrew, Palm Island Inquest findings – the unacceptable political inertia, The Brisbane Institute, 6 October 2006