Indigenous leaders say Aurukun is “broken” following New Year’s alleged grog-induced violence

Years after the fatal culmination of grog and tribal tensions shook this community, alcohol-fuelled chaos has struck again.

Grog is to blame.

Not tribal warfare, not jungle justice, not ancient blood feuds.

It took a night and a day of wild, crazed binge-drinking on bootleg rum to destroy almost five years of peace and order in Aurukun, population 1300.

“Our town is broken,’’ one indigenous leader told Insight.

“It’ll never be the same. This has ripped the community apart.’

Some believe the latest outbreak of mob violence and the unprecedented exodus of more than 350 familial clan members out of town spells a dire fate for the strife-torn Aboriginal community on western Cape York, 850km north of Cairns.

At least 30 homes have been abandoned and tenancies terminated in the aftermath of the New Year’s Day killing and riots.

“That’s about 240 people who are not coming home,’’ the elder, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, said.

“We expect more will do the same.

“They fled in fear of their lives. May are still too unsettled, too uneasy, to come back.

“They’re too scared.”

In the unfolding calamity of an alleged fatal stabbing, rioting, torching of eight houses, a vengeful mob of 250 people armed with axes and iron bars storming the streets, and ongoing threats and intimidation, there is no solution in sight.

Houses burn during riots in Aurukun on January 1. Simmering clan tensions, fuelled by black market alcohol, erupted after the alleged murder of Austin Woolla. Picture: Supplied

Today those 30 abandoned homes have been targeted by looters, broken into, trashed, mud and excrement thrown on the walls.

“It’s ongoing harassment,’’ the elder said.

“Even if it is kids, they are being goaded on by older clan members.

“People are too scared to report it, everyone is living in fear of retribution, if anyone speaks out a mob armed with spears and star pickets go around and threaten and terrorise the families inside.

“We all known each other since we were kids.

“But now we’ve gone beyond the point of no return.”

Some of the 350 refugees are sheltering with relatives in Coen, Weipa and Pormpuraaw, but the vast majority of them are in emergency shelter in Cairns. Tensions are high there, too.

Yesterday elders and leaders were struggling to keep order after three weeks in a motel-type of accommodation in the city.

Drinking, fights, boredom, cabin fever and visible anger at their displacement was evident in the impotent fury over their limbo. Little children ran from door to door of the row of one-bedroom apartments.

“It’s a tricky situation,’’ a brother of one of the accused told Insight.

“We’ve got nowhere to go. Don’t know what to do.

“We’re stuck.’’

One of eight houses destroyed during riots in Aurukun on New Year. Picture: Queensland Police Service

Two teenagers, 17 and 18, have been charged with murder, and 29 people have been charged over the rioting, arson, and violence.

In a stand-up effort, the father of the killed 37-year-old has pleaded for calm, urged against payback, and begged the refugees to come home.

“Bless him,’’ an Aurukun local said.

“He’s telling the others to come back, that this is their home.

“But he’s too emotional. He needs to step-back, take time to grieve his son.’’

Insight understands the funeral has been delayed in an effort to broker peace talks and will likely be held mid-February.

It is also possible the two accused killers may have a strong case of self-defence in the alleged stabbing murder, senior legal sources say.

“Alcohol did play a huge part in all of this,” a witness to the violence said.

Feuding and drunken fights carried over into New Year’s Day after a load of bootlegged rum entered the dry community.

When the drunk 37-year-old victim confronted the two young men at their home because he felt slighted by one of them, he was backed by a mob baying for blood, and armed with bricks, metal bars and a spear gun.

Trouble had been brewing for months before the shocking violence.

Reports filed to council and the state government show rising tensions, daily street fights, and consumption of sly grog and home brew, a potent mix with a high alcohol content known as “monkey’s blood”.

Map of Queensland showing the location of Aurukun and basic statistics from the 2016 census.

In the Wet Season, Aurukun gets cut-off by flooding, and as the heat soars to high 30 degrees in summer, tempers get frayed.

Five years earlier, fist fights and grog turned deadly. In 2015, a 30-year-old man was run over and killed after he’d gone about town blazing away with a shotgun at houses and police.

It was another fist fight that turned into a tribal clash and a full-scale riot that smashed up the town and police station.

The driver was sentenced to nine years jail.

Sources confirm the same families were involved in the New Year’s Day incident, except this time the roles were in reverse.

Cape York aboriginal leader Noel Pearson wrote how physical violence was part of traditional life, before the mission and during.

“But with grog the violence is more severe, more frequent, arbitrary and sadistic. Mechanisms for regulating and intervening in fights fell apart,’’ the Cape York Institute founder said.

“The cultural and mission-era institutions for mediating and settling disputes between families collapsed under the sheer onslaught of grog-induced chaos.

“The legacy of this terrible history is now evident (in the children). The trauma is written on their brains and bodies.”

Queensland Police Superintendent Geoff Sheldon has co-ordinated police efforts to contain and reduce rioting in Aurukun, following the stabbing murder of a 37-year-old man in the indigenous community. Picture: Brendan Radke

Tens of millions of dollars have since been spent on Aurukun to broker peace and deliver better outcomes.

It took five years to settle that down, but in a day and night of booze-fuelled madness, all that goodwill is now gone.

Retired Supreme Court Judge Stanley Jones, who headed a top-level inquiry into Aurukun, fears there is no easy way to resolve tribal conflict.

“It has to come from within the community,’’ he said.

“We’ve got young leaders like Bruce Martin and Keri Tamwoy doing their best, but we’ve got to find another 10 leaders to show some unity.”

Police acting Inspector Duane Amos is an old-school bush cop and knows the personalities, the conflicts, and the double-edged sword of Aurukun.

The 30-year veteran of working in indigenous townships in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York has been given the unenviable task of disaster response under the title of “whole-of-government co-ordinator”.

“Some refugees have had enough, don’t want to go back, and we’ll help them settle into accommodation here, and find schools, health services, and so on,’’ he said.

“Others just want some down time, to let things blow over.

“But what we can’t miss is the human factor in all of this.”

It’s a man-made disaster.