Remote Far North Queenslanders resort to crime to eat
People are selling drugs or sly alcohol, breaking into shops and letting the electricity go out just so they can eat, as cost of living soars in remote Far North Queensland, townspeople say.
Cairns
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People are selling drugs or sly alcohol, breaking into shops and letting the electricity go out just so they can eat, as cost of living soars in remote Far North Queensland, townspeople say.
In Kowanyama, an Indigenous community 700km northwest of Cairns, baby formula is selling for $59.
On Mornington Island, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, food is 70 per cent more expensive than in Cairns with a trolley costing $1000 to fill.
Tim Tams are $10, a rump of steak is $30 and toothpaste is $15 a tube.
Kyle Yanner, outgoing mayor of Mornington Island Shire Council who sits on the board of his local general store, said freight costs for the food meant people coming to his house at “2am looking for some fresh fruit or some steak”.
“People are always begging for food because they can’t afford it,” he said.
In October last year the state government announced a $64m package which has brought down prices by 5.2 per cent.
But Mr Yanner said “that was a joke”.
“Inflation has already left us further behind. We have to go through three legs of freight to get the food here. Freight prices have gone up 20 per cent since then. Petrol is $2.70 a litre here,” he said.
“We need a scheme to subsidise the freight, 5 per cent subsidy is just not enough.
“We have a massive issue with diabetes in the community, and it’s because people just aren’t able to afford nutritious food.”
A Kowanyama woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said $26 baby formula is selling for $59 per tin at the Pormpuraaw Anglican Convenience Store.
“People are selling drugs and alcohol just to buy food,” she said.
“People drive to Pormpuraaw from Cairns, Mareeba, Atherton, Lockhart River, Napranum and Weipa to sell sly grog and marijuana.”
In Aurukun, 800km northwest of Cairns with a population of 1200, townspeople say sly grog is smuggled in from Weipa or Cairns. It costs $700 for a bottle of rum or $300 for a carton of XXXX Gold.
The current rate of unemployment in Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw (on the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula) is at 48 per cent — the second highest in the nation.
In one example, a 22-year-old Pormpuraaw man told a court last week he sold cannabis so he could eat.
Jerry Tarpencha was caught selling 12 grams of cannabis. He made a profit of $666.
Doomadgee Shire Council chief executive Troy Fraser said with electricity prices going up, families in the community were having to make a choice between letting their power go out or eating food.
“It’s not right, we are talking about some very basic human right,” Mr Fraser said.
“What happens when you don’t have food on the table for kids? They start breaking into places. We have had a couple of cases of young people breaking into places here and we’ve seen it on cameras here, they are going straight to the fridge. Kids are breaking into shops just to feed themselves.”
Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter, who has long advocated for the creation of community market gardens so people can grow their own food, said he was concerned about the high rate of nutrition-related diseases — particularly diabetes — across remote Queensland.
“In Aurukun the mayor told me she would not eat the meat because of the amount of shelf time it had,” he said.
“Of all the things that I’m worried about in those remote communities is that we are dying. It is just 54 years of age across the far north community areas. I am not sleeping well at night having this on my conscience.”
Transport and Main Roads Minister Bart Mellish said: “I know the Member for Cook works hard every day to reduce the cost of living for people in her community.
“Last year, in response to cost of living pressures in Far North Queensland, the Miles Government introduced a $64 million freight subsidy for some of Queensland’s most impacted communities.
“I’m very happy to work with the Member, listening to the community to deliver better outcomes for Far North Queensland residents including improvements to the Remote Communities Freight Assistance Scheme.”
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Originally published as Remote Far North Queenslanders resort to crime to eat
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