I was out of town when the group “Mount Isa’s Working Together For A Greater Future” held its first meeting in July.
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The group is looking at solutions to the serious problem of youth crime in the city and had previously been set up on Facebook by concerned local citizen Suzy Rossow with the name “Mount Isa’s Had Enough”.
As Ms Rossow explained after the first meeting, the name was changed so as to avoid the impression this was a vigilante group.
This was an excellent move as it shows the group is concerned with genuine solutions and not wanting retaliation for offenders by taking the law into their own hands.
This is not to say the problem should be underestimated and the second meeting which I attended on Thursday night heard some disturbing stories of why youths aged as young as eight are roaming the streets of Mount Isa when they should be home with families.
The meeting heard that many kids live in overcrowded accommodation or with parents and guardians who have alcohol and drug problems and are sometimes even denied access to food.
This is all hearsay and it is difficult to know how much of it is true but it is undeniable there are serious social issues in our town, especially in parts of the Indigenous community, and the factors that cause those issues are complex and will take a lot of effort and coordination to resolve.
We cannot descend into arguments over racism, but we must acknowledge there is a problem which all of us need to play a role in resolving.
The meeting I attended spent much of the time looking at possible curfews and I’m aware such proposals have been carried out with mixed success in places such as Woorabinda, Cloncurry and Longreach.
There was talk of overnight safe houses but however laudable these are beyond the scope of well-intentioned groups.
We need all of our organisations talking together: governments, councils, police, youth groups, Indigenous groups and community groups.
I understand there was such a group set up under then-Mayor McGrady but I’ve not anything emerge from that group in recent times.
These problems are solveable. But all groups need to come together and leave their own agendas behind.
Derek Barry
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
