General News
29 January, 2025
Outback at Isa suffers from youth crime attack
The popular tourism hotspot has been targeted by vandals, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
Outback at Isa staff are speaking out after “senseless” acts of theft and vandalism caused thousands of dollars worth of damage in a spree that lasted less than an hour.
The Mount Isa tourist hub was targeted by a group of three youths earlier this month who broke into a storage donga and stole power tools, knives, a tomahawk and other items, smashed the windscreen of a donated truck and deliberately threw dozens of rocks to destroy five of the six large solar panels that power the Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group hatchery.
The brazen crime spree, which took place in daylight hours on January 14, was the latest in a spate of disturbances at Outback at Isa, which forced the tourist centre to erect a 150-
metre fence around the facility last year in an attempt to keep out potential trouble makers.
According to witnesses who spoke to North West Weekly, the youths appeared to have jumped the fence at the southern end of the Outback at Isa block before purposely throwing dozens of rocks at the solar panels in a fenced off area at the hatchery.
Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group secretary Steve Farnsworth said there were a group of young people still in the area when he was alerted to the vandalism.
“I pretended to take a photo of them – one of them tried to hide behind a tree and then they all run off,” he said.
Mr Farnsworth said he was awaiting confirmation that the solar panels could be replaced under the not-for-profit group’s insurance policy and did not expect the damage would affect the hatchery process.
The youths are then suspected of switching their focus to a storage donga outside the perimeter fencing on the western side of the Outback at Isa building where they pried open the door, taking numerous items, including power tools, a range of knives and a tomahawk.
It is the second time the donga has been targeted in the past four months.
Outback at Isa groundsman Raymond Dubbins said he was still undertaking a full audit of the total items stolen from both recent thefts.
“I keep going to look for a tool or something and then I realise I will have to borrow it from somewhere else because it has been stolen,” he said.
Long-serving Outback at Isa worker Alan Rackham said he would be out of pocket for hundreds of dollars after one of the youths threw a rock that cracked his tipper truck windscreen.
Mr Rackham, whose truck was parked next to the donga and was loaded with rubbish set for the city dump, donates his collection of machinery for use at the tourist site.
He said there was not enough being done to address youth crime in the city.
“These kids just keep getting away with it and they keep coming back and acting out over and over again,” he said.
A police spokesman said a 13-year-old boy had been “dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act for the offences of wilful damage, entering premises and trespass”.
Despite this, multiple witnesses who spoke to North West Weekly said it was three youths who participated in the offences.
Security footage of the offenders moving through the grounds was provided to Mount Isa police a fortnight ago, but it remains uncertain whether any investigations are in progress.
Outback at Isa centre manager Martin Turner said the 2.4 metre fence was erected late last year in an attempt to end illegal camping on the Outback at Isa grounds, mostly from itinerant people who arrived via bus from the Northern Territory.
“What is happening is sickening,” he said.
“We built the perimeter fence because we had to do something to stop tourists from being accosted and for our staff, including many of our Indigenous staff, from being abused by the people coming off the buses.
“Tourists were being harassed – people were begging for money or getting into the tourists’ cars as they tried to leave and asking to take them to the bottle shop.
“We had to do something because we have over 40,000 tourists who come through this centre every year and it is central to the tourism industry in the city.”
Mr Turner said the fence, combined with the recent decision to relocate kidney dialysis services in the city, had resulted in a reduction of incidents at the Outback at Isa bus terminal.
A police spokesperson said police usually increase patrols in areas of concern.
“Generally speaking, if an area is causing concern, district-based tacticians will set patrol objectives for both uniformed and plain clothes police to conduct proactive patrols in the areas of concern if they are able and speak with persons of interest in those areas,” they said.