Palm Island, Queensland
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- This article is about the Queensland, Australia island. For other uses, see Palm Island.
Palm Island (postcode: 4816, ) is 65 km north-east of Townsville, Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Palm Island is the main Island of the Greater Palm group and takes in 64 square km of small bays, sandy beaches and steep forested hills rising to a peak of 548 metres.
Neighbouring islands (outside the Palm group) include Rattlesnake Island (currently used for RAAF bombing) and Magnetic Island.
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[edit] Overview
The Island is a classic "tropical paradise" in its natural endowments, but has had a troubled human history. Palm Island is now home to 4,000 Indigenous Australians, making it the largest Aboriginal community in Australia. The community, deriving from about 42 mainland tribes, 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 national average. In 1999, the Guinness Book of Records listed Palm Island as the most violent place on earth outside a combat zone.
Criminologist Dr Paul Wilson found Palm Island to have one of the highest rates of violent crime anywhere in the developed world and possibly in the undeveloped world as well. He suggested that the most plausible explanation of the homicide and assault rates lies with the recent destruction and disorganisation of traditional society that accompanied white settlement and conquest.[citation needed]
[edit] History
The island was named by explorer Captain Cook in 1770. In 1909 the Chief Protector had 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 Aboriginals (Manbarra people). At the time of Captain Cook's visit the population was estimated at 200 but by the late 19th century the population had been reduced to about 50, apparently because many had left the islands to go fishing for bêche-de-mer with Europeans [1].
In 1914 a government settlement was established on the Hull River near Mission Beach and was aptly named the Hull River Aboriginal Settlement. On the 10th March 1918 (before cyclone naming conventions), the structures were destroyed by a cyclone and never rebuilt. Subsequently, the settlement relocated to Palm Island with the new population referred to as the Bwgcolman people.
Since the early 1920s Palm Island has been the largest of the Government Aboriginal settlements. Administrators found its location particularly attractive as Aboriginal people could be isolated there. Palm Island quickly gained a reputation amongst Aboriginals as a penal settlement. They were removed there from all parts of the State as punishment for a large range of offences/nuisances. Removals to Palm Island continued until the late 1960s. [2].
In 1927 a hospital was built at nearby Fantome Island and many Aboriginals were sent there, mainly for treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. In 1936 Fantome Island became a medical clearing station where all people sent to Palm Island were examined and treated if necessary. In 1939 a leprosarium was established. After the war the hospital was closed and by 1965 only the leprosarium remained to be administered by a Roman Catholic nursing order until 1973 when the inhabitants were moved to Palm Island.
[edit] Aboriginals Protection and Restrictions of the Sale of Opium Act 1897
As a result of dispersal, malnutrition, opium and diseases, it was widely believed in Queensland that Aborigines were members of a 'dying race'. Pressure from some quarters of the community saw the Queensland government commission Archibald Meston to look at the plight of these dispossessed people. He made a number of recommendations. Some of these became the basis of the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act which was passed in 1897. The creators of this Act really saw it as a solution to a short term problem. The administrators of the legislation however had a different idea and from the beginning, used it as a device for social engineering and control. It became the instrument with which Aboriginal people could be stripped of the most basic human rights. The Act was the first measure of separate legal control over the Aboriginal people and as Reynolds has pointed out it 'was far more restrictive than any [contemporary] legislation operating in New South Wales or Victoria, and implemented a system of tight controls and closed reserves.
Administrators were able to gain control of Aboriginal affairs through the extensive use of Regulations which could be made lawful simply through proclamation by the Governor-in-Council. In this manner, decision-making passed from politicians to the public servants. The welfare of Aborigines was, after all, only one small part of a busy member's portfolio. But not only did public servants have responsibility for a huge amount of delegated legislation, individual protectors had extensive autonomy in administering the Act and Regulations[3].
[edit] Palm Island riot
A riot erupted on the island on November 26, 2004 after the results of the inquest in to the death in custody of Cameron Doomadgee were revealed to the local aboriginal community. During the rioting police and journalists had their lives threatened. Australian media reports that the local police station and some other government buildings were burned to the ground. The Queensland Police Service flew in approximately 80 additional police officers to restore order. Most of the police who were stationed on the island before the riot have reportedly declined to return. The Queensland Government has admitted it may be difficult to find police prepared to serve on the island at this time but has repeatedly stated it is committed to a continued police presence on the island.
In late September 2006, coroner Christine Clements found that Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley caused Mr Doomadgee's death, and accused the police of failing to investigate his death fully. She also said that Mr Doomadgee should not have been arrested in any case, and that local police had not learned from the findings of a 1980s Royal Commission on the deaths of young Aboriginal men in custody. In response to the coroner's findings, Queensland Police Union president Gary Wilkinson was highly critical, saying that the coroner's use of "unreliable evidence from a drunk" was "simply unbelievable". [4] However, despite the finding of the coroner, the DPP announced on the 14th of December 2006, that no charges would be laid.
[edit] Administration
The island is administered by the Palm Island Aboriginal Council. The island has two primary schools (Bwgcolman Community School & St Michaels Catholic School) and a small range of shops, a hospital and services. There is an airport from which Inland Pacific Air flies to and from Townsville up to 4 times a day 7 days a week. There is also a ferry-boat service which makes a return trip from Townsville to Palm Island on Fridays and Sundays. A barge service operates weekly from Lucinda bringing food, machinery and fuel to the island.
[edit] Cyclone Justin
In March 1997 Cyclone Justin passed over the Cairns coastline and hovered near Palm Island causing a great deal of flash flooding.
Although only a ‘Category 2’ cyclone, it caused significant damage in the Cairns region which it approached on two occasions during its long (3½ week) life. Houses were undermined by huge waves, a marina and boats were severely damaged, roads and bridges suffered from flood and landslide damage and huge losses were inflicted on sugar cane, fruit and vegetable crops. The death toll of 7 in Queensland included 5 on a yacht which sank. 26 died in Papua New Guinea which was also severely affected. Total estimated costs in Australia were $190 million (1997 values).
 Cyclone Justin on Palm Island. Photographed 1997 |
 Cyclone Justin. Photographed 1997 |
[edit] WW2 Catalina Airbase
The information below is drawn from Australian's at war. The island has many isolated areas, one of which is Wallaby Point. This area contains numerous submerged and visible remains of Catalina flyingboats.
In 1943 the US Navy built a naval air station at Palm Island. The 55th Seabee Construction Battalion created a 1000 person camp and would house 12 flying boats and store 60,000 gallons of fuel and would repair an average of 4 per day.
Remains of the steel rails and some planes can still be seen today.
[edit] Health Issues
A report tabled in the Queensland Parliament (21/4/06)[1] quotes conditions at Palm Island like a third world country.
In 1979 an outbreak of hepatoenteritis, known as the Palm Island mystery disease, was reported and described a hepatitis-like illness (associated in many cases with dehydration and bloody diarrhoea) in 138 children and 10 adults of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent.
This was caused by the addition of excessive doses of copper sulfate was added to the water supply of Solomon Dam to target a cyanobacteria bloom of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. [2].
According to Pilotto et al (1999) the perinatal effects of cyanobacteria contamination of drinking water include prematurity, low birth weight and congenital defects detected at birth. In 1996 there were 63 deaths attributed to drinking water contamination in Caruaru, Brazil.
[edit] Significant cases
[edit] Manburra People v GBRMPA
[edit] Zen Pearls Pty Ltd
Zen Pearls Pty Ltd sought review of one decision refusing to extend its existing permission to conduct pearling operations in Palm Island waters[5]
They also seek review of the other decision that permits a company associated with Zen Pearls, Indian Pacific Pearls Pty Ltd, to continue to conduct pearling operations on an enlarged permit area[6].
[edit] Environmental Clean Up
A significant effort (pre-riot) was made to clean up the island utilising the Australian Army. The below images depict some examples of what the army was faced with across the island.
 Native grasstrees (Xanthorrhoea) over 100 yrs old. Photo 1997 |
 Earthmoving equipment 1960's. Remains of a Euclid dump truck. Photo 1997 |
 Car bodies. Pre-Army, this was the typical view of the dump. Photo 1997 |
[edit] Tambo
A burial site/headstone is located in the "Mission" area of Palm Island. The following text is taken directly from that headstone:
"A young man called Kukamunburra was renamed "Tambo" by Robert A Cunningham. Cunningham was a circus agent for Barnum, Bailey and Hutchinson's Greatest show on earth. Tambo's embalmed body was found in a funeral parlour in Cleveland Ohio (1993) more than 109 years after he died of pneumonia at 21 years in 1884.
"Tambo was one of nine Australian Aborigines taken by Cunningham, three from Hinchinbrook Island and six from Palm Island. The tribe that inhabited the Palm Island group were the Manbarra people. After Tambo died, the rest of the group was taken on the European leg of the circus tour and by the end of 1885 only three of the Aborigines were alive. MAY HE REST IN PEACE"
[edit] Aerial photos & maps
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
[edit] References
- ^ Auslii website
- ^ Reconciliation and Social Justice Library (1996) Auslii website
- ^ Reynolds, H. RCIADIC Appendix 1a
- ^ Police accused of Aborigine death, BBC News, September 27, 2006.
- ^ The Manbarra People and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Anor [2004 AATA 268 (15 March 2004)]
- ^ The Manbarra People and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Anor [2004 AATA 268 (15 March 2004)]
[edit] External links
- Bwgcolmacom Community School homepage
- Sydney Morning Herald (3 December 2004) article on riot following release of a post-mortem examination of Cameron Doomadgee
- WW2 Palm Island naval base
- Local Council information
- Islands Horse population
| Great Palm Island group, Queensland |
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| Palm Island | Havannah Island | Pelorus Island | Orpheus Island | Curacoa Island | Fantome Island | Falcon Island | Esk Island | Brisk Island | Eclipse Island | Acheron Island | Rattlesnake Island | Herald Island |
| edit box |
