A day after a deadly brawl that left homes trashed and forced families to move into a community hall, the Catholic Church has warned Aboriginal residents of Kalumburu they are vulnerable while divided.
The church’s most senior figure in the vast north Kimberley region of Western Australia, Bishop of Broome Christopher Saunders, has addressed members of the sometimes-duelling Kwini and Gamberre language groups at the tiny Kalumburu chapel, telling them their survival as a community depends on peace.
“This could be used against you,” he said of the fighting that has sparked talk of payback.
A 24-year-old woman has been charged with the manslaughter of a 38-year-old woman and taken away on a plane to Kununurra, where she appeared briefly in court yesterday.
Police believe the 38-year-old woman, from the community of Mowanjum near the port town of Derby, died as a result of injuries she received during the violence in the streets of Kalumburu on Sunday. Kalumburu resident Justin Djanghara also died in a barricaded house, apparently as rocks rained down on it. He apparently had a heart attack.
Major Crime Squad detectives will examine his death in their investigation of the street fight.
The chaos erupted as a ministerial subcommittee prepares to make good on a threat to withdraw services from up to 150 remote communities. There are 272 remote communities in WA, including large centres of several hundred people and many outstations of just two or three houses inhabited seasonally.
Bishop Saunders said he spoke about long-term peace at a Monday church service. “I told them if they want to survive, they are going to have to at some point address the heart of this matter and look to heal,” he said.