60-553: Solomon Dam is the main source of fresh water on Great Palm Island, Queensland , along with Francis Creek Dam. This article about a dam or floodgate in Australia is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a building or structure in Queensland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Great Palm Island, Queensland Great Palm Island , usually known as Palm Island ,
120-463: A circus agent for the " Barnum, Bailey and Hutchinson's Greatest show on earth ". After being kidnapped by United States circus agent R A Cunningham in 1883, he was toured along with eight other Murris , three of whom were from Hinchinbrook Island and five from Palm. In 1884, Kukamunburra died at 21 years old of pneumonia in Cleveland , United States. The rest of the circus group carried on to
180-465: A combat zone". To support this claim it stated statistics such as a murder rate 15 times higher than that of the entire state of Queensland, a life expectancy of 40 years, the highest rate of youth suicide per capita in the world, and a total of 40 suicide fatalities over a period of only five years. The Australian newspaper hypothesised that the Guinness Book of Records statement
240-644: A group of about 10,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who had launched a class action filed 2016 in the Federal Court of Australia . Their claim argued that the Queensland Government "breached the trust of Aboriginal people by failing to protect their money". The 1999 edition of the Guinness Book of Records brought international attention to Palm Island when it named the island "the most violent place on earth outside
300-444: A manoeuvre known as careening , or deliberately grounding a ship so that it could be repaired. The crew did not meet any of the local Wunambal people while they were stranded there for 18 days doing the repairs, but they observed that the area was occupied, with Parker commenting in his journal on the dwellings that they observed. He described not only bark shelters on the beach, but more larger and more substantial buildings on top of
360-413: A peak of 548 metres (1,798 ft). Topographically, the island is dominated in the centre by the tallest peak Mount Bentley, and in the southwest by Mount Lindsay. The surface is covered by rainforest , with small areas cleared for settlements and the airstrip. The Palm Island airstrip is on a long narrow strip at the southwest corner of the island. There are three man-made bodies of fresh water on
420-894: A position he held for ten years. King offered to resign from the council on accepting this appointment, but his resignation was not accepted until October. King was again appointed to the Legislative Council in 1850, and was elected as the member for the Counties of Gloucester and Macquarie in 1851. In 1855 King was promoted to Rear admiral on the retired list. King was a Fellow of the Royal Society . King died on 26 February 1856 at North Sydney. King married Harriet Lethbridge in 1817 prior to sailing to New South Wales. Harriet died at Ashfield, Sydney, on 19 December 1874. Together they had eight children including : King and his crew made valuable contributions had to
480-567: A ruptured liver and portal vein". A week after the death the results of the autopsy report were read to a public meeting by then Palm Island Council Chairwoman Erykah Kyle. A succession of angry young Aboriginal men subsequently spoke to the crowd and encouraged immediate action be taken against the police. Mulrunji's death was repeatedly branded "cold-blooded murder", and a riot erupted. The local courthouse, police station and police barracks were burned down and 18 local police and their families were forced to withdraw and barricade themselves in
540-573: A variety of infringements, including being " half-caste ", and sent to Palm Island. New arrivals came after being sentenced by a court or released from prison, or they were sent by administrators of other missions and reserves. On 3 February 1930, in an incident known as the 1930 Palm Island Tragedy , the first Superintendent of the Settlement, Robert Henry Curry , who had been a strict disciplinarian, shot and wounded two people, and set fire to several buildings, killing his two children. Later in
600-805: Is a language of the Palm Island region, which lies within the local government boundaries of the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council . The islands in the area were named the "Palm Isles" by explorer James Cook in 1770 as he sailed up the eastern coast of Australia on his first voyage . It is estimated that the population of the island at the time of Cook's visit was about 200 Manbarra people. Cook sent some of his men to Palm Island and "they returned on board having met with nothing worth observing". In 1819, Captain Phillip Parker King landed on one of
660-584: Is off the east coast of Northern Queensland , situated 65 kilometres (40 mi) northwest of Townsville , and 800 kilometres (500 mi) north of the Tropic of Capricorn . It consists of small bays , sandy beaches and steep forested mountains rising to a peak of 548 metres (1,798 ft). The ocean surrounding the island is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park , where extraction and fishing are regulated. Along with nine of
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#1732780924215720-719: Is the largest island in the Palm Islands group off Northern Queensland , Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal community, the legacy of an Aboriginal reserve , the Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement (also known as "the Mission"). The original inhabitants of the island (and others in the group) were the Manbarra people, also known as the Wulgurukaba, who were removed to the mainland by
780-574: The Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act 1939 and Torres Strait Islander Act 1939 were passed, the name changed from Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement to Director of Native Affairs Office, Palm Island. These Acts effected a change in policy: instead of protection and segregation of Indigenous people, it instead focussed on assimilation into the "white community". They gave freedom and full citizenship rights to Aboriginal people who qualified for these, but also streamlined
840-614: The Chief Protector of Aborigines 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 Aboriginal people. In 1916 he found that Palm "suitable for use as a penitentiary" for "individuals we desire to punish". On 10 March 1918, the Hull River Aboriginal Settlement on the Hull River near Mission Beach on
900-521: The Colonial Secretary asking for a reserve to be established on the Island, but no action was taken. By the end of the 19th century the population had been reduced to about 50. A burial site and headstone is located in the "Mission" area of Palm Island. It tells the story of a young Palm Island man of the 19th century called Kukamunburra [ de ] who was renamed "Tambo" by
960-544: The Hastings River on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales , and continued further up the coast to survey the coastline between Cape Wessel ( Northern Territory ) and Admiralty Gulf ( Western Australia ). King returned to Sydney on 12 January 1820. On King's third voyage, Mermaid ran aground on the Queensland coast, but the crew did not realise how badly it had been damaged until they had rounded
1020-549: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission found in favour of the applicants, in Bligh and Ors v State of Queensland [1996] HREOCA 28 that "...payment to be made to an Aboriginal worker doing the same work and providing the same level of skills had necessarily to be less". A$ 7,000 was awarded to each applicant, although the evidence suggested that the loss of income A$ 8,573.66 to A$ 20,982.97 . Following this case,
1080-880: The Indigenous peoples and the prospects of developing trade with them. From February to June 1818, the coast was surveyed as far as Van Diemen Gulf (between the Northern Territory and Timor ) and there were many meetings with Aboriginal Australians and proas sailed by Makassans . In June the Mermaid visited Timor before returning to Sydney using the same route, arriving on 29 July. In December 1818 and January 1819, King surveyed Macquarie Harbour in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), sailing north in May 1819 for Torres Strait . King took John Oxley as far as
1140-647: The Queensland Government in the 1890s. The island is also sometimes referred to as Bwgcolman , which is the name given to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from disparate groups who were deported from many areas of Queensland to the reserve in 1918, and their descendants. The island has an area of 55 km (21 sq mi). The official area figure of 70.9 square kilometres (27.4 sq mi) refers to Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island , which includes nine smaller islands. It
1200-584: The Queensland Police Service . After the graduation ceremony at Fred Clay Park, the group became the first SPSOs to provide security services for the community. At 55 km (21 sq mi), Great Palm Island is nearly twice the size of Norfolk Island and of a similar size to Magnetic Island . It is the main island of the Greater Palm group, and consists of small bays , sandy beaches and steep forested mountains rising to
1260-634: The Stolen Generation . In July 1943 the US Navy built a naval air station at Palm Island, with facilities to operate and overhaul Catalina flying boats and patrol boats . The air station was built at Wallaby Point, an isolated area of Palm Island, overlooking a large stretch of sheltered water in Challenger Bay, which was ideal for flying boat operations. The station was built by two officers and 122 enlisted men of Company C of
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#17327809242151320-624: The Torres Strait Islands – later referred to as the Bwgcolman people. In the first two decades of its establishment the population of Indigenous "inmates" increased from 200 to 1,630. By the early 1920s, Palm Island had become the largest Aboriginal reserve in Queensland and quickly gained a reputation among Aboriginal people as a penal settlement . Indigenous people were removed from across Queensland as punishment for
1380-542: The "ringleaders" and their families were deported in chains to other Aboriginal settlements. Seven families were banished from the Palm Island in 1957 for taking part in a strike organised to protest against the Dickensian working conditions imposed by the Queensland Government under the reserve system. Athlete Cathy Freeman 's mother, Cecilia Barber, and the family of strike ringleader Frederick William Doolan including Billy Doolan Jnr. were among those banished from
1440-504: The 1960s no wages were paid for this work. The catalyst for the strike was the attempted deportation of Indigenous inmate Albie Geia who committed the offence of disobeying the European overseer. The strike was also against the harsh conditions imposed by Bartlam, low or no wages, as well as poor housing and rations. Bartlam was forced to flee to his office and call for reinforcements. Armed Police arrived by RAAF launch from Townsville, and
1500-488: The 2004 riot that resulted in the destruction of the island's police station, the courthouse, and an officer's residence. Wotton then was sentenced to seven years in prison, reduced to six years for time already served. The Crime and Misconduct Commission examined police relations in Queensland and as part of this, conducted an inquiry into police handling of the Mulrunji investigation. In 2010 it reported that more work
1560-478: The 55th Naval Construction Battalion ( Seabee ) that arrived 6 July 1943, and a similar detachment that left Brisbane later with 1,500 tons of construction material. A 1,000-man camp was constructed at the point. Concrete flying boat ramps to the ocean were built with a tarmac parking area for up to 12 flying boats. Moorings for 18 flying boats were provided in Challenger Bay, and three nose hangars were also built. Coral aggregate from coral reefs at low tide
1620-470: The Australian mainland was destroyed by a cyclone . Palm Island had been gazetted as an Aboriginal reserve on 20 June 1914, although at the time there were few Aboriginal people living on Great Palm. After the cyclone, the residents of Hull River were relocated to Palm Island, with the new population from various Aboriginal peoples – from at least 57 different language groups throughout Queensland and
1680-587: The British penal colony which later became the city of Sydney in Australia ), which explains the difference in spelling of his and his father's first names. King was sent to England for education in 1796, and he joined the Royal Naval Academy , at Portsmouth , in county Hampshire , England in 1802. King entered the Royal Navy in 1807, where he was commissioned lieutenant in 1814. King
1740-661: The European leg of the tour; by the end of 1885 only three of the Murris were still alive. Kukamunburra's partner, Sussy Dakaro [ de ] died 1885 in Wuppertal , Germany, aged about 17 years. Kukamunburra's body was embalmed; 109 years later, in 1993, the body was discovered in a local funeral parlour. Anthropologist Roslyn Poignant was able to identify the body and his remains were returned to his homeland and buried on Palm Island in February 1994. For much of
1800-590: The Mission, Palm Island settlement, Palm Island Aborigines settlement, Palm Island Community, and Bwgcolman. Great Palm Island is often termed a classic "tropical paradise" given its natural endowments, but it has had a troubled history since the European settlement of Australia . In Manbarra beliefs the Palm Island group were formed in the Dreamtime from the broken up fragments of an ancestral spirit, Rainbow Serpent . Manbarra (also known as Wulgurukaba)
1860-622: The Queensland Government on the Palm Island reserve lodged a complaint of racial discrimination under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA), alleging underpayment of wages between 31 October 1975 (the RDA start date) and 31 May 1984, when the Palm Island Aboriginal Council took over governance of the Aboriginal reserve land on 10 of the islands in the group, including Great Palm Island. In 1996,
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1920-538: The administration and development of Aboriginal reserves. The Director of Native Affairs Office was superseded by the Aboriginal and Island Affairs Department on 28 April 1966. The functions were transferred to the Aboriginal and Island Affairs Department, District Office, Palm Island. Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement was mentioned in the Bringing Them Home Report (1997) as an institution that housed children removed from their families, part of
1980-764: The day, the Superintendent was shot dead. An official inquiry by the Queensland Attorney General followed. Those involved in the shooting of the Superintendent, including the Deputy Superintendent and the Palm Island Medical Officer, were charged with murder, but the Crown Prosecutor was directed by the trial judge to drop the charges, stating that the shooting was justified. A bell tower
2040-642: The decimal Australian dollar in 1966.) The Australian native orchid Dendrobium kingianum was named after him. King Sound in the Kimberley region was named after him. John Oxley named the waterway Kings River on 4 October 1818 after King. The name was changed from Kings Creek to King Creek at the request of residents and council on 19 January 2007. Six species of reptiles are named in his honour: Amphisbaena kingii , Chlamydosaurus kingii , Egernia kingii , Elgaria kingii , Hydrophis kingii , and Liolaemus kingii . Chlamydosaurus kingii ,
2100-650: The decision. The Street Review resulted in the overturning of the DPP's decision, with a finding that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute for manslaughter . A high-profile trial in the Townsville Supreme Court ensued. In June 2007 the jury found the Senior Sergeant not guilty of manslaughter and assault charges. On 24 October 2008, a jury found Lex Wotton , a two-time councillor on the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council , guilty of inciting
2160-400: The exploration and mapping of Australia, particularly the northern and western coasts. Because he and his crew were prepared to risk the danger of going in close to the shoreline, they were able to complete the valuable work of charting the entire coastline of Australia. King was honoured on the £2 postage stamp of Australia in 1964, and the $ 4 of 1966.(The Australian pound was replaced by
2220-533: The first Surveyor-General of Western Australia , and the Aboriginal man , Bungaree . The first three trips were in the 76-tonne cutter HMS Mermaid , but the vessel was grounded in 1829. The Admiralty had instructed King to discover whether there was any river "likely to lead to an interior navigation into this great continent". The Colonial Office had given instructions to collect information about topography , fauna , timber, minerals, climate, and
2280-492: The government settled 5,729 claims with a single payment of A$ 7,000 under the Award Wages Process, established in May 1999, to Indigenous people employed by the government on Aboriginal reserves between 1975 and 1986 (the date their policy of paying below-award rates to Indigenous people officially ended). In July 2019, it was announced that the Queensland Government had agreed to a A$ 190 settlement million to
2340-531: The hill. He also observed the remnants of sago palm nuts, which were commonly eaten along the coast. King was concerned at this point of the crew's vulnerability to the armed Makassan proas, as the Makassans harvested trepang (sea cucumbers) and traded along the northern Australian coast at that time, so he ordered the cannons to be mounted along the beach. They managed to repair the ship without incident and sailed away in early October 1820, but not before
2400-732: The hospital. Later the same day approximately 80 police from Townsville and Cairns were flown to Palm to restore order. In April 2005, in response to the riot, Premier Peter Beattie established the Palm Island Select Committee to investigate issues leading to the riot and other problems. Their report was tabled on 25 August 2005, detailing 65 recommendations which seek to reduce violence and overcrowding, and improve standards of education and health. In achieving these objectives, issues such as drug and alcohol abuse and unemployment would also be addressed. In late September 2006, coroner Christine Clements found that Doomadgee
2460-738: The island's assets and resources, only allowing a pub to remain. The Sunday Times claimed that up to 30 people live in each house, without sufficient drinking water. The figures were strongly disputed at the time by the Queensland Government, the Police Commissioner and the Palm Island Community Council. However, it was conceded by the Queensland Aboriginal Policy Minister, Judy Spence , that Palm Island "can be violent at times", particularly for women and children, but that
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2520-529: The island, including Bamboo Dam near the peak of Mount Bentley, and Solomon Dam . Phillip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. King was born on Norfolk Island , to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King née Coombe, and named after his father's mentor, Admiral Arthur Phillip (1738–1814), (first governor of New South Wales and founder of
2580-608: The island. In a 2007 commemorative ceremony the Queensland Government apologised to the surviving wives of two of the strikers for the actions of the Government in the 1950s. The Palm Island mystery disease was an outbreak of a hepatitis -like illness on Great Palm Island, reported in 1979. Associated in many cases with dehydration and bloody diarrhoea , 148 people (138 children and 10 adults) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were affected. 1985 and 1986, several Aboriginal people who had formerly worked for
2640-581: The islands and recorded seeing recently occupied circular huts, and canoes nearby their landing place. From the 1850s, locals were recruitment targets to leave the island to be involved with bêche-de-mer and pearling enterprises with Europeans and Japanese. Calls for Palm Island to be proclaimed as a reserve were made in 1889 when the Secretary of the Townsville Aboriginal Protection Association wrote to
2700-776: The other smaller islands within the Palm Islands group, it falls under the local government area of the Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island . It is the only inhabited island within the Shire. It is not known what the Manbarra people called the island before colonisation. The island group was named the "Palm Isles" by explorer James Cook in 1770 as he sailed up the eastern coast of Australia on his first voyage . The name "Great Palm Island" for this island goes back at least as far as 1866. Other names include or have included
2760-693: The ship's carpenter had been instructed to inscribe "Mermaid 1820" on an ancient boab tree, which still stands today. King's fourth voyage was undertaken in the 154-tonne sloop HMS Bathurst . The ship headed north, through Torres Strait and to the north-west coast of the continent, including the Dampier Archipelago . Further survey of the west coast was made after a visit to Mauritius . King had been promoted to commander in July 1821, and in April 1823 returned to England. He subsequently commanded
2820-512: The situation was being improved. Australian Aboriginal Palm Island resident, Mulrunji (known as Cameron Doomadgee while alive), aged 36, died in November 2004 in a police cell on Palm Island, one hour after being picked up for allegedly causing a public nuisance. The family of the deceased were informed by the Coroner that the death was the result of "an intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by
2880-476: The station's buildings and facilities, removing and crating over 5,000 tons of materials and equipment and loading it aboard ship before departing on 31 August 1944. The remains of the steel rails and submerged wrecks of a number of Catalinas can still be seen today. One of the harshest Superintendents was Roy Bartlam, who arrested workers for being a minute behind the roll call in the reserve. All Islanders were required to work 30 hours each week, and up until
2940-806: The survey vessel HMS Adventure , and in company with HMS Beagle , spent five years surveying the complex convoluted coasts around the Strait of Magellan (1826–1830) at the southern tip of South America . At the same time, King put together a unique collection of Patagonian objects from local tribes living in Tierra del Fuego , which was later donated to the British Museum in London . In addition to written records, King also lent his hand to drawing and watercolour painting for illustrations, some of which were later used to illustrate his accounts. The result
3000-600: The tip of the Cape York Peninsula , sailed through the Torres Strait and across the northern coast as far as the Kimberley in Western Australia . When the ship was taking on water faster than it could be pumped out by the crew, King selected a spot 600 km (370 mi) north-east of present-day Broome , now known as Careening Bay , on Coronation Island , after he was forced to execute
3060-469: The twentieth century it was used by the Queensland Government as a settlement for Aboriginal people considered guilty of such infractions as being "disruptive", being pregnant to a white man or being born with mixed blood (" half-caste "), a type of Aboriginal reserve that was also a penal settlement . Beginning in 1918, the island was used by the Queensland Government as a settlement for Aboriginal people from many different areas of Queensland. In 1909
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#17327809242153120-512: Was appointed to the first New South Wales Legislative Council in 1829, however he was absent from the colony and did not take his seat, and was replaced by John Campbell . When King returned to the colony in 1832 he pressed for his reappointment to the council, however he was not re-appointed until February 1839. In April the same year King was appointed resident commissioner of the Australian Agricultural Company ,
3180-400: Was assigned to survey the parts of the Australian coast not already examined by Royal Navy officer, Matthew Flinders , (who had already made three earlier exploratory voyages between 1791 and 1810, including the first circumnavigation of Australia ) and made four voyages between December 1817 and April 1822. Amongst the 19-man crew were Allan Cunningham , a botanist, John Septimus Roe , later
3240-402: Was based on an article in a London newspaper. The article from The Sunday Times stated that Palm Island had one of the highest crime rates in the world and that "boys ride bareback on horses through the near-derelict civic centre as infants ambush passing cars with slingshots ." It referred to violence statistics and stated that "the white overseers" left the island in 1985, removing most of
3300-446: Was built to dictate the running of the mission. The bell would ring each morning at eight, a signal for everyone to line up for parade in the mission square. Those who failed to line up had their food allocation cut. At nine each evening the bell would ring again, signalling the shutting down of the island's electricity. The bell tower still stands in the local square to this day, a relic of Palm Island's history. After 12 Oct 1939, when
3360-941: Was fully operational from 25 October 1943, and could repair an average of four aircraft per day. The last personnel of the 55th Seabees left Palm Island on 8 November 1943. US Navy Patrol Squadron 101 , Patrol Wing 10, with eight PBY Catalinas was briefly stationed at Palm Island in December 1943, before relocating to Perth . US Navy Patrol Squadron VP-11 arrived at the station in late December 1943, where they were taken off combat duties. The squadron comprised 13 PBY-5 Catalinas, 46 officers and 99 enlisted men. They carried out training and routine flights between Port Moresby , Samarai and Brisbane . They were assigned to Fleet Air Wing 17 while at Palm Island, and left in February 1944. The Naval Air Station closed in May 1944. On 18 June 1944, 177 men and 4 officers of Company B, 91st Naval Construction Battalion, arrived from Milne Bay to dismantle
3420-417: Was killed as a result of punches by the Senior Sergeant arresting officer. Despite the finding of the coroner, Leanne Clare , the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), announced on 14 December 2006 that no charges would be laid. After media and public pressure, the Queensland Attorney-General appointed former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales , Sir Laurence Street to review
3480-628: Was needed on police relations, while noting that some improvement had occurred, recommending 51 specific actions. The police raids and behaviour following the riot were found in December 2016 to have breached the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 , with a record class action settlement of A$ 30 million awarded to victims in May 2018. The raids were found by the court to be "racist" and "unnecessary, disproportionate" with police having "acted in these ways because they were dealing with an Aboriginal community". On 2 October 2020, six Palm Islanders graduated as Senior Protective Security Officers and joined
3540-490: Was presented at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society in 1831. His eldest son, also named Philip Gidley King, accompanied his father and continued as a midshipman on HMS Beagle (1832–1836) on the continuing survey of Patagonia under Robert FitzRoy , in the company of noted scientist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). King owned a property at Dunheved in the western suburbs of Sydney where he entertained Charles Darwin on Darwin's last night in Sydney in January 1836. King
3600-406: Was used to manufacture concrete. A series of fuel tanks were constructed to hold 60,000 barrels of aviation fuel . Steel rail lines were installed to launch the PBY Catalinas back into the water. By September 1943 the majority of the facilities were finished, and large numbers of operational and maintenance personnel began to arrive to commission the station. The Palm Island US Naval Air Station
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