The recent tragedy at Kowanyama makes us all too aware of the complex cultural dynamics operating in our remote Indigenous communities. We also know that incarceration is not the solution.
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The Indigenous communities with the highest rates of offending, according to police statistics tabled earlier this year by the LNP's Fiona Simpson, are Woorabinda (109,000 per 100,000) and Mornington Island (97,810 per 100,000).
Statistically, that means that everyone at Woorabinda has committed an offence; as has nearly everyone on Mornington Island.
In the critical area of offences against persons, Aurukun has the high rate of offences, and the second greatest number of offences: 233 in the reporting period. Only Palm Island has more offences: 262.
Seven of the communities have rates of offending around 20 times the rate for the general population of Queensland: Palm Island, Mornington, Doomadgee, Pompuraaw, Woorabinda, Koowanyma, Aurukun. For Palm Island such figures are a huge problem if it wishes to become a tourist destination.
The two most Pacific Indigenous communities are Mapoon and the islands of the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait Islands overall crime rate (7036 offences per 100,000 people), and a total number of 339 offences, (89 against persons), was below that of the Queensland wide rate.
Mapoon had a total of 14 offences in the reporting period, and a crime rate half that of the general rate for Queensland, (9293 offences per 100,000 people) and one tenth that of all Queensland Indigenous communities.
Mapoon has no permanent police presence. The nearest cops are an hour away at Weipa over a largely unsealed road.
The secret to Mapoon's harmony lies in the way the people re-settled their land. Dispossessed by the state government in 1963, the Mapoon people have returned to their land and established a sustainable and vibrant community.
The most recent telling of this story is in Mark Moran's Serious White Business published by Melbourne University Press. It's a refreshing read.
In summary, at Mapoon they have large blocks, with a mixture of individual ownership, social housing and community ownership. Plus a willingness to ignore unnecessary and unsuitable state regulations. There is clearly a correlation between land, housing and crime rates. Noel Preston has been making this case for decades now.
Given that housing, along with employment, is a key element of Indigenous disadvantage, it would seem that the goal of the Queensland Department of ATSI Partnerships to build 22 new houses for Indigenous people across Queensland in the current year is overly modest.
Finally, one of the criticisms of the Palaszczuk government is that the Treasurer Curtis Pitt is insufficiently assertive. Mr Pitt, who represents the northern seat of Mulgrave, is also Minister for Aboriginal and TSI Partnerships, a responsibility he discharges well.
His northerness and laid back public persona make him ideal for the Indigenous affairs portfolio. However, the attention required to persist in Closing The Gap suggests that more than 22 houses should be built by his department this year.
Dr John Harrison is senior lecturer in the University of Queensland's School of Communication and Arts.
