Economic collapse blamed for violent unrest in remote Wadeye

Traditional owners in the remote community of Wadeye have blamed economic decline, collapsing services and the coronavirus pandemic for an outbreak of unrest that has seen at least 37 homes burned and hundreds of residents forced to flee to the bush.

Traditional owners Steven Pultchen, Stephen Bunduck, Anne Marie Nudjulu and Margaret Perdjert in Wadeye. Picture: Supplied

Traditional owners in the remote community of Wadeye have blamed economic decline, collapsing services and the corona­virus pandemic for an outbreak of unrest that has seen at least 37 homes burned and hundreds of residents forced to flee to the bush.

The trouble erupted after weeks of escalating tensions related to longstanding factional ­rivalries and a recent death.

Extra police and other support have been sent to the town, but ­locals say fundamental change is needed to ensure trouble does not flare again.

In a statement given to The Weekend Australian, four prominent traditional owners described Wadeye as “suffering for a significant period of time with a decline in economic activity and deteriorating … community services”, adding that those problems had “played out in community unrest, disengagement, violence and property damage”.

Stephen Bunduck said the fighting flared over a dispute between two males. “They had a ‘one-on-one’ fight that simmered on … involving other families over a period of weeks,” he said.

“Eventually, many more people became involved until it broke out into the altercation where the man was killed. From that point (on), many more people became involved.”

Steven Pultchen said destroying houses was a form of “payback” and “hurting” another family group. “It is actually safer for many young people involved to burn a house rather than hurt or injure another person,” he said.

A major co-ordinated NT Police operation is under way in the remote community of Wadeye in response to months of violent unrest. Picture: Facebook

“The main road has cameras now, and this was once where disputes were settled. Now it (dispute settlement) has been pushed to outer areas to avoid being caught, so we are fighting near the homes.”

Margaret Perdjert said many in the community “respect each other, but the young people cause the trouble”. Wadeye has long struggled to control gang violence. “They should fix the houses quickly (because) some people out bush are on medications (and) some families have lost everything,” she said.

“We need to get more kids up to school, fix the swimming pool and the roads. (There are) not enough nurses (and), not enough doctors – they need to stay in town.”

Police charged an 18-year-old Wadeye man with serious harm over an alleged April 16 altercation that resulted in head injuries to a 32-year-old man who later died in hospital. A 24-year-old man was also injured. The 18-year-old’s charge was later upgraded to manslaughter.

Police have made 21 arrests since the start of March for various offences related to violence, criminal damage and engaging in riotous behaviour in Wadeye.

Mr Pultchen said people were “stressed because the houses are damaged, toilets not fixed”. “The houses are not fixed for eight months sometimes,” he said.

Wadeye, about 400km southwest of Darwin, began as a mission in the 1930s and now houses several clan groups in proximity. In their statement, written over several days, the four leaders referred to confusion and stress related to the pandemic, erratic services, the passing of elders and other issues such as poor infrastructure.

“The ongoing unrest in our community is related to many ­issues, including historical tensions,” they wrote. “As the traditional owners, we need to be heard, and we are not being engaged with enough.

“We need better development on the homelands, but that is not the only answer. We need to fix this town to lift the pressures of daily living … a lot of our programs have lost meaning due to lack of mentorship. We too, as people, must take responsibility and push hard for our community.”

The remote community of Wadeye has called for government intervention after months of violent unrest. Picture: Supplied

They called for direct engagement with NT and federal politicians because “we do not want to just engage with public servants who have little power”.

“Importantly, we need to foster economic development,” they wrote.

“Unless the town develops like a true town, residents will continue to move into Darwin and other centres where they can access mainstream services.”

Mr Bunduck said he had lost three uncles to community conflict.

“We need to change this life,” he said.

“We want (to stop) all the young boys from fighting – we need to stop it.”

Anne Marie Nudjulu called for governments to “please support our people”.

NT Police Minister Nicole Manison said there were still “very tense times” in Wadeye. She said her government had an agent living in Wadeye to work with locals directly and added that she had ­recently visited the community in person.

“It’s fair to say that there’s a lot of grieving, there’s a lot of sorrow on the ground, and there’s, frankly, still some people who do not feel safe,” she said.

“We’re working with all these different family groups to try to bring life (in) Wadeye (back) to as normal as possible,” she said.

NT Police Acting Commissioner Michael Murphy told a Darwin radio station it was “pleasing” to see Wadeye calm for almost a week.

He urged more investment in education, employment and housing, adding that “when (the) police are arresting people, it’s ­(already) too late”.

“I think there are about 700 children enrolled in school, and there’s only 10 per cent attending – or possibly less,” Mr Murphy said.

“It’s quite sad to see all the young kids out there who are bright-eyed, very intelligent, energetic, love their footy, being displaced from what they can see as what might be normal – and it is absolutely not.”

Clancy Dane, principal with Territory Criminal Lawyers, a firm that has worked with clients from Wadeye over many years, called for a community-led inquiry into the problems.

“Whatever the causes might be, the human and economic impacts of the situation are undeniable: lives have been lost, and homes have been destroyed,” Mr Dane said.

“Less significant but still ­important to recognise is the ­inescapable fact that vast amounts of taxpayer money is being spent on law enforcement, criminal ­justice, emergency health, and house repairs as a direct result of these conflicts.

“‘Business as usual’ is an immoral response when the terrible consequences of that approach have been demonstrated.”

The Northern Land Council has been involved in supporting those displaced by the conflict.

A spokeswoman said the unrest “has a long history (and) answers lie in more support for homelands as well as the opportunity for mediation of family disputes before they escalate to intra-family violence”.

“There has been a long recognised need for a well-supported law-and-order strategy in Wadeye, and more effort needs to be put into that work,” the NLC spokeswoman said.

“We also support the police and community leaders in ensuring that offenders damaging property and creating violent situ­ations are held to account.”

An Australian Electoral Commission spokesman said the ­agency was “working towards ­delivering a polling service” in Wadeye despite the ongoing risk of unrest.