Tony Barrass; 1/1/10
Fitzroy Crossing is finally “breathing” two years after becoming the first town in Western Australia to demand liquor restrictions, but local police are now confronting a new dilemma; how to stop Christmas hampers brimming with hard liquor being home-delivered to the town’s alcoholics. As one part of the community becomes more sophisticated in side-stepping the booze bans now in place across the Kimberley, another more dominant aspect of the town continues to grow by rediscovering its uniqueness and celebrating its strengths. At the Mangkaja Arts Centre, where dozens of indigenous artists from the Fitzroy Valley’s four main language groups gather to sit and paint images snapped up by galleries in Melbourne and Sydney, centre manager Katie McGuire says she noticed a big difference in some of the artists since the original alcohol restriction were trialled in October 2007.
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Drugs