It\u2019s just before dusk and a warm breeze is blowing off the Gulf of Carpentaria, carrying the voices of the Yunkaporta family in Wik Mungkan across the top of the scrub.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bare-footed and waist-high in the grass, they collect what looks like clumps of bird\u2019s nests.<\/p>\n
This is not a traditional practice, but a more contemporary way to make ends meet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Yunkaportas, just like many other families in Aurukun, are collecting grass seeds to sell to mining giant Rio Tinto.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The scene is peaceful but freighted with symbolism; they stuff the seeds into reusable shopping bags, and most of the money they earn will be spent on groceries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Yunkaporta family can potentially make thousands of dollars if they collect enough seeds. (ABC News: James Vyver)<\/p>\n
As Eloise Yunkaporta watches on with her baby daughter nestled on her hip, she says the cost of living crisis is hitting her community hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“A weekly shop would cost me about $1,000 for only seven or eight bags of shopping,” she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I do my shopping for the whole family, all the meat and vegetables, fruit … the basic needs for our household and [the cost] just blows my mind.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aurukun Shire Council member Eloise Yunkaporta can spent $1,000 a week on her weekly shop. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
Wik Elder Aunty Phylis Yunkaporta, Eloise\u2019s mother, says the community has to find ways to keep the cost of living down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I feel people in mainstream communities have no understanding of what goes on in Aboriginal communities and what we face every day,” she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In Aurukun we struggle; the food I buy, I have to share with the family next door.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Nobody goes hungry.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aurukun is on the western side of Cape York and can be cut off by road for several months during the wet season. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
‘Ridiculous’ prices hitting Aurukun families\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aurukun is one of the most disadvantaged communities in the country; the median weekly income for a household of four here is $1,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The town\u2019s Island and Cape supermarket\/general store and the Kang Kang Cafe takeaway services the population of around 1,100 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the ABC visits Aurukun in May, the prices listed on the supermarket shelves are notably higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s ridiculous,” says Eloise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I would rather look after my family than the whole family to starve, but as a community it’s hard living.”<\/p>\n
A loaf of bread in Aurukun can be as much as $7-8; a 1.8kg frozen beef roast around $80 and a bag of frozen vegetables $8.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aussie staples like Vegemite, Weet-Bix and Bushells Tea bags are approximately 50 per cent more expensive.\u00a0 (ABC News: Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
Some fresh produce is double or even triple the price advertised online by major supermarkets; a bunch of broccolini is $6.19 compared to $2 at Woolies; oranges are $7.15 per kg compared to $6.90 for a 3kg bag at Coles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aussie staples like Vegemite, Weet-Bix and Bushells Tea bags are approximately 50 per cent more expensive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
High sugar items like soft drink are priced as part of a ‘nutrition strategy\u2019; a four pack of premium lemonade is around $25 in Aurukun compared to $7.50 listed online by the major supermarkets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A 10 x 375ml pack of Coke is around $40, compared to $12-20 online.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Queensland state government subsidises the cost of fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy, frozen goods and other groceries to remote communities on Cape York.<\/p>\n
A discount of 20 per cent is applied at the check-out to most of the items listed above, but not those high in sugar.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In May, locals described how feeding a family here can cost thousands of dollars a month, even after state subsidies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Most of our families receive family tax benefits and it’s not much to get them through several weeks,” Eloise said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s all spent in one, two days.”Nappies, coffins and everything in between\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aurukun\u2019s general store sits in the centre of the community and is roughly the size of a small supermarket you would find in a major city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of the Island and Cape chain, owned by the not-for-profit Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA).\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aurukun has just one supermarket selling everything from frozen food to freezers.\u00a0 (ABC News: Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
Alastair King, the CEO of ALPA, says it is fair for people to question the prices in town, but the stores have to remain profitable or risk closing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“A remote supermarket is everything to everyone … we’ve got a cater for newborn babies, children, as well as carry coffins for end of life,” he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“If you talk to any retail operator in a remote community, our margins are more compressed than they’ve ever been.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Island and Cape have six stores spread across Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr King says they don’t have the same buying power as the larger chains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We buy through wholesalers [or] via manufacturers and we pay 20 to 30 per cent more than the big supermarkets, so the starting price is higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Then on top of that [you\u2019ve got] to get your product out to the community.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aurukun is on the western side of Queensland\u2019s Cape York and is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Food, fuel and other supplies arrive in Aurukun via a mixture of road, air and sea barge, which further adds to prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aurukun is surrounded by rivers and marshland, even during the dry season.\u00a0 (ABC News: Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
“The wet season is always a struggle; we operate stores that last year were cut off [by road] for 28 weeks, so then we’ve got to fly fresh produce in,” Mr King said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The wet season can be quite challenging just to cover those costs.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the ABC is in store in May it\u2019s the dry season, so roads are open and fresh produce is available.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Aunty Phylis says those prices can be beyond some locals operating with a tiny food budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They’d probably only have $20 to go to the supermarket to buy the basic food they’d need for the night to eat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In Aurukun, we struggle.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rio Tinto and the ‘The Seed Man’<\/p>\n
Collecting seeds en masse is not a traditional practice for the Wik people. Once gathered locals will sell the seeds to mining giant Rio Tinto via ‘The Seed Man\u2019, Neale Dahl.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Using shopping bags to collect the seeds helps to keep them dry before selling. Note: The bags are bought in bulk and Woolworths does not operate the supermarket in Aurukun. (\u00a0ABC News Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
“We probably collect about 35 or so different species and [locals] are paid various amounts per kilo depending on the difficulty of collecting that seed,” Mr Dahl says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The seed collection program has been running for around 20 years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr Dahl visits communities across Cape York once a fortnight to weigh the collected seeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“During the peak part there can be up to 40 or 50 collectors delivering on a fortnightly basis, I have several hundred on the books across the three communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s $300-$350 a kilo for the grass seeds, so some [locals] can get a couple of thousand dollars for the fortnight.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The seeds are bound for Rio Tinto\u2019s bauxite mine north of Aurukun in Weipa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mining operation there is as vast as the company\u2019s multi-billion-dollar profits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The seeds collected in Aurukun and other communities are used to regenerate the country damaged by mining.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aunty Phylis says some of the revenue from the bauxite mining should flow back through the Cape\u2019s remote communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I feel there really needs to be some sort of compensation deposited into a fund, to help lessen the load on the families,” she says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Because there’s people that are diabetic, that have type two diabetes, heart problems; Aboriginal communities are so prone to getting these diseases because the cost of living is too high.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wik Elder, Aunty Phylis Yunkaporta, says most Australians would have little understanding of the cost-of-living challenges in Aurukun. (ABC News: Billy Cooper\u00a0)<\/p>\n
Subsidising the high cost of living\u00a0<\/p>\n
The federal government\u2019s Low-Cost Essentials Subsidy Scheme started in July.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The scheme ensures the price of 30 grocery categories in remote communities “are comparable to prices in urban areas”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The federal government\u2019s Low-Cost Essentials Subsidy Scheme ensures the price of 30 grocery categories in remote communities ‘are comparable to prices in urban areas\u2019.\u00a0 (ABC News: Billy Cooper)<\/p>\n
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy agrees prices in remote stores are “very stark” when compared to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In particular our remote regions, which is why I’ve pursued the reduction in food prices in remote stores across Australia,” she told the ABC.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’ve been very concerned about the high cost of living for families in regional and remote Australia.”<\/p>\n
Operators are required to sign up to a code of conduct before accessing the $50 million subsidy scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some of the items included in the federal government\u2019s Low-Cost Essentials Subsidy Scheme.\u00a0 (Supplied: NIAA)<\/p>\n
“We’ve seen over 110 stores sign up to it, and Aurukun is one of those,” she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The scheme is administered by the not-for-profit Outback Stores; it told the ABC buying all 30 of the items listed would save someone about $50.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We compared basket prices at the launch of the Low-Cost Essential Subsidy Scheme in one of the NT stores,” a spokesperson told the ABC in a statement.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The approximate cost of the selected basket of items decreased from $163 to $109 after applying the savings from the Scheme.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Overall, savings of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent are being observed.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The federal government says the basket of items being subsidised could expand in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ABC has approached Rio Tinto for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s just before dusk and a warm breeze is blowing off the Gulf of Carpentaria, carrying the voices…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[104552,2840,45,49,48,10262,46,41525,22367,19603,104555,5142,404,104553,104554],"class_list":["post-216225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-aurukun","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cost-of-living","tag-economy","tag-grocery-prices","tag-grocery-shopping","tag-queensland","tag-rio-tinto","tag-rising-prices","tag-shopping","tag-supermarket-prices","tag-woolworths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}