There are too many dead bodies on Mornington Island.
At least 16 people have died within three months due to a "health pandemic" in the predominantly Indigenous Queensland Gulf community, leaders say.
The spike in recent deaths has been attributed to poor healthcare; specifically, a lack of access to renal dialysis on the island, where many residents suffer from chronic kidney disease.
"Our morgue and emergency facilities are full. Sixteen deaths before April is ridiculous," Mornington Shire Mayor Kyle Yanner said.
In 2019, millions of dollars were allocated to install dialysis chairs in several vulnerable communities around north-west Queensland, all of which were scheduled to be operating in mid-2021.
Six hundred kilometres south of Mornington Island, in Cloncurry, two chairs were installed, but are not yet working.
Of the four chairs allocated to the remote Indigenous community of Doomadgee, two are working.
Mornington Island was allocated six dialysis chairs.
Only one chair is available.
Mornington Shire Councillor David Barnes said the situation was creating stress on patients and their families.
"This means sick patients are having to travel to the mainland to receive treatment and, unfortunately, some are passing away off the island, leaving their grieving families to organise repatriation home for burial," Mr Barnes said.
He's one of several community leaders calling on Queensland Health and the region's North West Hospital Health Service (NWHHS) to make available the island's five other renal chairs.
"I am directly appealing to the government, Department of Health, anyone who'll listen – they need to go through the final stages of activating these chairs for the sake of the community," he said.
A NWHHS spokesperson said the service was "focused on full implementation and operation [of the renal chairs] in the near future".
Mr Barnes said acquiring staff to operate the chairs had been a barrier, while health officials have blamed water quality for the delays.
Short-term solutions
To help ease pressure at the morgue and speed up burial processes, Mornington Shire Council is covering the cost of funerals with a plan to invoice families in six months' time.
"The average cost of a funeral here is around $5,000," Mr Barnes said.
What is being done?
In March, a scathing Four Corners investigation revealed negligent healthcare practices by the NWHHS resulted in the deaths of Indigenous girls and women in the north-west community of Doomadgee.
Since then, the NWHHS and Queensland Health have announced several measures aimed at improving services in Indigenous communities across the region.
Last month, the NWHHS began conducting First Nations Health Equity consultations on Mornington Island to reform its approach to Indigenous health.
In April last year, Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath refused requests from Mr Yanner for an audit of local, state and federal government services on the island.
However, in late March 2022, after National Close the Gap Day, Ministerial Champion for Mornington Island Meaghan Scanlon announced the audit would go ahead.
"If we're ever to close to the gap, then we need to make sure the services being delivered on the island are meeting the community's needs," she said.
No Gulf representation on new board
Last month, the NWHHS announced a new board, nine months after the previous board was dismissed by the Health Minister citing concerns around sustainable governance and financial decisions.
Less than half of the new board members are north-west Queensland residents, while there is no representation for the Gulf Country.
"After watching that Four Corners release on the Doomadgee deaths, it's quite disappointing that the Gulf has no representation, given our statistics of chronic health issues," Mr Yanner said.
"There's not going to be any consistency. Even if members visit the island for a day or two, history has shown that they go away and forget.
"They didn't even invite us to nominate someone. It's just not right.
"We've been overlooked again," he said.
Hopes pinned on government audit
As for the future, Mr Yanner is hoping the audit will reveal how bureaucratic processes and breakdowns in communication lead to failed services.
"The renal chairs are an example of how government are trying to treat these issues, rather than focusing on prevention," he said.
"Everything has failed: health, education, justice – every system here is failing us.
"One thing I've learnt is that the local government has all the problems, the state government has all the power, and the federal government has all the money," he said.
"We lobbied in Canberra for this audit, and half the mob there couldn't answer our questions on how much money was going where.
"I believe that this audit will give us the answers as to why service delivery is failing us."
