KCP - Catholic Diocese of Broome

The tragedies and violence plainly evident in all Kimberley towns and many settlements have been quietly left aside for the time being while the media glare remains firmly focused on Halls Creek in the eastern part of the region. Accusing fingers are being pointed at a variety of causes for the overwhelming anger that has so defined the town. The chain of events there began with the death of a girl who was brutally murdered. Widespread fights followed bringing to the place an alarming notoriety once more. Hastily put together assessments, and emergency meetings of service providers and town citizens have thankfully been well attended and an uneasy calm appears to have percolated through - at least for the time being. On closer examination it becomes obvious that the major cause of this appalling state of affairs is grinding poverty and all that goes with it.

If you take away from ‘the Halls Creek troubles’ the matter of the murder and the all too prolonged public riotous behaviour that followed, what you have left is a familiar scenario common to any Kimberley town. Threatening tensions continue to exist and flare-up throughout the region on a regular basis - in the streets, on reserves and in the homes. Fights in the open, drunken bashings, abused and damaged children, volatile arguments, harmful and violent relationships, a widespread illicit drug culture and its accompanying crime threaten to overwhelm the town communities regularly and the remote locations all too often.

Broome’s sheer size, by regional standards, and its careful crafting as a witless playground for the socially insulated, means that many indicators of community unrest pass unnoticed in that town for those who would prefer it that way. Occasionally the Police paddy wagons muster public drinkers and the very untidy to locations away from the gaze of the big spending visitors. Just the same, the problems remain as poverty and marginalization continue to grind away behind the chic holiday facade of the Pearl Capital.

The massive growth that has overtaken the Kimberley in mining and tourism is arguably good for the country as it is for all participants. But the reality is that the vast majority of the marginalized, those entrapped by poverty, are not enjoying the
rewards of the growth they see around them. In every town on the tourist highway money flows through daily but those at the bottom of the economic pile continue to be unwashed with the new affluence.

It is a disgraceful fact that there is severe overcrowding in substandard accommodation for those in public housing while the limited private rentals available are generally overpriced and out of the range of the poor. This situation of overcrowding not only diminishes the chances of a wholesome family life but impacts on each individual's personal health.

An enlightened approach to solving the troubles of remote settlements including Halls Creek will first need to acknowledge unbridled violence as the social dividend arising from the injustice of poverty. Unemployment, third world health standards, a chronic public housing crisis and substance abuse combine to defeat the wellbeing
of families and the promise of peace. The sooner we realise that there can be no peace without justice the better for all and the better particularly for those suffering in our midst.