A ute came along and we got a lift to the Burketown pub, where I’d made a reservation. The town’s “heart and soul”—as it’s described in the guidebook—was straight out of Crocodile Dundee. Spears hung along the railing of the bar, and the bar stools were upholstered in crocodile skin worn to a dirty suede. Buffalo horns and spinning fans were mounted on the walls, alongside photographs of winners of the annual barramundi fishing competition—Burketown was a “fishing Mecca”. My room, above the bar, had a single bed and an air-conditioner.
I went to look around. Burketown’s population was 235 people, but this toy town was the district’s administrative centre, and in contrast to the ex–mission community, all the buildings were bright and clean and neat."
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Podcast
Videos
John Safran chats to Chloe Hooper author of 'The Tall Man' [True Crime]
John Safran's True Crime series for RN explores the challenges and pitfalls of writing about real life murders. He interviewed Australian true crime author Chloe Hooper to find out how privileged and educated authors gain the trust of the impoverished communities to find the real story behind controversial killings.
SOURCE: ABC Arts Radio National (2013), posted on YouTube, [10:39 mins], URL: https://youtu.be/l0sSC_t904Y
Inside Story: Palm Island Riots 2004.
The ABC has obtained dramatic police footage from the 2004 Palm Island riot, which saw both the police station and the courthouse burned to the ground.
SOURCE: ABC News, Australia (2010), posted on YouTube, [7:28 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/3UVjzomYB7E
The Feed: Palm Island residents' civil case against police continues
11 years after police stormed Palm Island to quell a riot, residents are still fighting to have the response recognised as excessive and racialised.
SOURCE: The Feed SBS (2015), posted on YouTube, [12:14 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/HM3tSimjgnU
The Tall Man - Official Trailer
Based on the award-winning book by Chloe Hooper, The Tall Man is a gripping and provocative film that exposes the inescapable complexities of Australia's racial politics, and a haunting moral puzzle that no viewer will forget.
SOURCE: Penguin Books (2011), posted on YouTube, [2:31 mins] URL: https://youtu.be/yU9DpZV-UJg
The Tall Man
Interactive videos available on ClickView.
The Tall Man is the Walkley Award-winning documentary about the events on Palm Island that follow the death of local Indigenous man Cameron Doomadgee on November 19, 2004. When Cameron Doomadgee was found dead in the Palm Island police station his injuries were like those of someone who’d been in a fatal car crash. The police claimed he had tripped on a step. The Palm Islanders rioted and burnt down the police station. The subsequent trial of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley – who had been decorated for his work in Aboriginal communities – made headlines day after day, shadowed by Queensland police threatening to strike.
SOURCE: SBS ONE (2012) Rated M, posted on ClickView, [1:18:45 mins] URL: https://clickv.ie/w/yPNp