Better life a ripple effect, says Aurukun dad

For Aurukun father of six Gerald Tamwoy, jobs are the key to stemming the rivers of grog smuggled into his community.

Elisha, left, Stephanie and Gerald Tamwoy with their parents Keri and Gerald Snr at Aurukun. Picture: Brian Cassey

For Aurukun father of six Gerald Tamwoy, employment is the key to stemming the rivers of grog smuggled into the Cape York community.

In the dry Aboriginal township, where three serpentine water­courses meet on the western coast of the far north Queensland peninsula, sly grogging is big business and sparks street fights, domestic violence, truancy and chronic health problems.

Depending on the season, a bottle of rum can sell for $280 on the streets of Aurukun, where the local school was shut last week after teenagers armed with mach­etes twice carjacked the principal.

Mr Tamwoy, an activity supervisor at the town’s work-for-the-dole program, and his wife Keri, a mediation co-ordinator at the local justice group, also run a small trucking business.

In a town where more than half the adults are unemployed, their six children — aged between 23 and nine — are bright and ­ambitious, and either in school or working. Their eldest, Olive, is based in Sydney for the navy; 22-year-old Stephanie is on maternity leave from a job as a mine operator for Rio Tinto in Weipa; 20-year-old Kemuel is studying for a ­justice ­degree at university; 17-year-old Elisha has finished at Brisbane Boys College and is working at the local shop; daughter Imani, 15, is at boarding school in Brisbane, and ­Gerald Jnr, 9, is in primary school in Aurukun.

“Here in Aurukun, we are a living example in this community,” Mr Tamwoy told The Australian yesterday.

“We’re not perfect, but Keri ­always says it starts in the home. I see it as a ripple effect: if we’re fin­ancially stable in Aurukun, and people have jobs, they won’t need to make money smuggling grog.”

At the weekend, The Australian accompanied local police — who have been under fire from ­indigenous leader Noel Pearson and Malcolm Turnbull for failing to manage the unrest in Aurukun — as they patrolled for sly groggers.

The single road connecting Aurukun and Weipa, the mining town two hours’ drive north, is the key route, but smugglers also bring in contraband alcohol by boat and plane.

Police numbers in Aurukun have been bolstered to 20, enough for around-the-clock patrols and staffing of the police station. Usual­ly it’s about half that, which made it easier for smugglers’ accom­plices to lure away the two-officer team on duty.

Smugglers adapt to police tactics. It’s not unheard-of for police to be called away to a hoax report of a child hanging themselves in the bush, only for smugglers to sneak in untouched.

In the most recent bust, a week ago, police intercepted two cars — one carrying 12 bottles of spirits, the second with nine.

Eight teenagers have been arrested­ over the two alleged car-jackings of principal Scott Fatnowna.

Two were involved in both, and it’s understood both have been denied bail and are being held in the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre in Townsville.

Ms Tamwoy said it was important that parents set the right example for their children. “When all the children are seeing is drug abuse, alcohol abuse, their mother gambling, then the fighting, the arguing, the domestic viol­ence, the elder abuse, and no one practising their culture, what are they going to learn? That this is the norm.”

Locals are hopeful that projects from two mining giants — Rio Tinto and Glencore — will deliver jobs and hope. However, industry sources caution against the belief that the sector was the magic bullet.

Both companies have conducted audits in Aurukun and have found that only a small number of locals would be ready for demanding and highly structured roles. More training is required.

Glencore’s Aurukun bauxite project proposal is still in its infancy, is tied up in a Native Title Tribunal case, and is battling ­opposition from a local rival, the Noel Pearson-backed Aurukun Bauxite Development.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said yesterday a review into Aurukun’s only school would begin this week. Ms Palaszczuk said the government would not “rush” the review as it wanted to “get it right”.