Palm Island, Queensland

Palm Island, also known as Great Palm Island, or by the Aboriginal name Bukaman, is an island with about 2,000 people living on it.

Names

The small town on the island has many names such as Palm Island, the Mission, Palm Island Settlement or Palm Community.

Location

The island is 65 kilometres north-west of Townsville, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. It is the biggest of the Greater Palm group of islands. It has small bays, sandy beaches and steep forested mountains rising to a 548 metres high. Other close by islands outside the Palm group include Rattlesnake Island and Magnetic Island.

History

Palm Island is often called a "tropical paradise" because of its natural beauty, but it has had a sad past since Europeans arrived in Australia. For much of the 20th Century it was used by the Queensland Government as a town for Aboriginals thought to be guilty of such crimes as being "disruptive", being pregnant to a white man or being born with "mixed blood".

The community created by this history has had many problems and has often been debated about by political and social writers. Of major concern is a lack of jobs and housing. Since it became a Aboriginal reserve, Palm Island has been a symbol of aboriginal hardship and violence. At the same time it has been at the centre of political campaigning to improve the lives and treatment of Australia's Indigenous peoples as well as seeking people to recognise the bad history which lead to the Palm Island of today.

References

• Bindloss, Joseph (2002). Queensland. Lonely Planet. ISBN 0864427123.
• Dillon, Colin (April 2000). FINAL REPORT - REVIEW OF THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES OF DOOMADGEE AND PALM ISLAND. Phillip, A.C.T. : ATSIC. Review commissioned by the then Australian Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Senator John Herron March 1998.
• McDougall, Scott (January 2006). Palm Island: Future Directions - Resource Officer Report. Brisbane, Queensland: (the former) Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy. http://www.datsip.qld.gov.au/resources/publications/documents/future-directions-palm-island-resource-officer-report.pdf.
• Palm Island Select Committee (August 2005). Report - August 2005. Tabled in the Queensland Legislative Assembly 25 August 2005. http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/PISC/view/committees/documents/PISC/reports/report.pdf.
• Queensland Government (November 2005). Queensland Government Response to the Palm Island Select Committee. Tabled in the Queensland Legislative Assembly 10 November 2005.
• Queensland Government (November 2006). Queensland Government Progress Report on implementation of the Government Response to the Palm Island Select Committee. Tabled in the Queensland Legislative Assembly 28 November 2006.
• Wilson, Paul (1985). BLACK DEATH WHITE HANDS REVISITED: THE CASE OF PALM ISLAND. Aust. & NZ Journal of Criminology (March 1985) 18 (pages 49-57).

Other websites

• Bwgcolmacom Community School website
• Local Council information
• Palm Island PCYC webpage
• Database of Agreements to which the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council are parties
• Joyce Palmer Health Service webpage
• Dunn, Peter "WW2 Palm Island naval base" Australia @ War, 22 May 2004 (and updated since)
• Queensland Government information webpage on Palm Island and alcohol management
• Queensland Government information webpage on Community Renewal on Palm Island
• Queensland Government map of alcohol restriction zone
• Australian Government Shared Responsibility Agreement - Palm Island our horses, our responsibility

Articles produced by The Brisbane Institute think tank

• Professor Steffen Lehmann Lessons from Palm Island The Brisbane Institute, 17 November 2005
• Boe, Andrew Palm Island: something is very wrong The Brisbane Institute, 21 April 2005
• Boe, Andrew Palm Island Inquest findings – the unacceptable political inertia The Brisbane Institute, 06 October 2006