LIQUOR PROBLEM ON THURSDAY ISLAND
[By DESMOND ROBINSON] 'THURSDAY ISLAND, key to Torres Strait and x cradle of the Australian pearling industry, isn’t the colourfully lawless place it was 50 vears ago. But it has one big headache left over from the rip-roaring days—the liquor problem.
Few visitors go to "T. 1. now. Before the war five passenger ships called each month. There are none today. The bullying white pearler has been replaced by a worried businessman.
The cannibals whose mother-of-pearl knives could cut off a man’s head with one deft slash have been replaced by a mild coloured citizen, in drab singlet and pants, who loves to play pool, go to the pictures, ride in taxis, and drink beer when he can get hold of it. When he can’t get hold of it, he falls back on a corrosive and poisonous substitute—methylated spirits. The trouble is that, while the majority of the 2000-odd native Torres Strait islanders who drift in and out of Thursday Island are not allowed into bars, some are. The natives who are banned from the bars of the island’s four hotels are those under the protection of the Queensland Department of Native Affairs, which virtually runs the island. Black Market Those who are not banned, ironically enough, are mission natives from such places as St. Paul’s on Moa Island, rim by the Anglican Church. They have been declared “free.” This is one of the anomalies that befog a visitor on this somewhat unkempt little island, and lead to tensions and jealousies among the inhabitants. Anybody not of pure island blood can also drink in bars. These include—to name a few— Malays, Cingalese, Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, and blends of some or all of them.
It also includes Australians, who are very much. in a minority. The onus is on a hotel licensee to decide who may be served and who may not—a delicate task requiring considerable local knowledge. There is a brisk illicit resale of liquor bought from the hotels. The methylated spirit sales by the island stores are brisker still. The leaders of the three churches on the island—Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian —are unanimous in saying that more metho is imported than any other spirit. It drives islanders berserk, disrupts their family life, leads occasionally even to murder. Efforts to find an additive which will make the spirit revolting even to the toughest stomach have so far been unsuccessful. The C.5.1.R.0. is working on the problem, though, and if it finds a satisfactory solvent which will make metho undrinkable it will have performed a service to Sydney as well as to Thursday Island. Many of the white islanders, including at least some of the religious leaders, favour a controlled beer ration for all the natives, and this may eventually be introduced if the Department of Native Affairs can be persuaded to approve. The big obstacle seems to be that the Australian aborigines of the mainland, who are also under the department’s wing, would then demand beer also. Actually the Torres Strait natives, while they have many childlike qualities, often show a sense of responsibility which would shame a white man. Voluntary Ban Mission boys who find they are becoming too fond of liquor sometimes go voluntarily before the local magistrate, Mr V. Daly, and have an order taken out against themselves requiring them to abstain for, say, 12 months. This costs them £3, but they pay it cheerfully. I met one of these men, “Cookie” Ware (he works in a local bakery). He told me with a grin
that the order against him had • already expired, but he was stlE , not drinking because he wanted to test his will-power. Would he drink again? £ He nodded' happily. “Exptt so,” he said. “Saving up thirst* Gales of laughter. Another island vice is harm- > less but expensive—riding in the ■ taxis with which the place ' abounds. . The coloured islanders ride f ■ everywhere they can—even H • they have to travel only a few? . hundred yards for the minimum . fare of 3s. I They ride to work while white■ 1 clerks and officials—even the magistrate in his ducks—tmd|e ■ in the steamy heat. Loyal Subjects Once a bus service started on the island. The natives loved this. If they missed the bus—aft® the pictures, say—they would take a taxi to pursue it, and then change into it even if they didn't catch up with it until it was quite near their homes. But times are good for the cot oured islanders. They are better off and better treated than any comparable native community in the world—certainly they are more secure than the white inhabitants. Are they grateful? The most powerful man on the island says they are. This is Patrick Killoran, Protector of : Islanders, Deputy-Director of ; Native Affairs, and chairman of the Island Industries Board. “They are loyal subjects of the Queen,” he says, “and mighty proud of it, too.” It is not a serious movement At the moment it is probably just idle boasting, as a child might boast. But some day ... ■■ b —Associated Newspaper! Feature Services.
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Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28262, 27 April 1957, Page 6
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847LIQUOR PROBLEM ON THURSDAY ISLAND Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28262, 27 April 1957, Page 6
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