Sleeping bags, tents, and empty alcohol containers are strewn across a patch of land beside the Leichhardt River that runs through the outback Queensland city of Mount Isa.
It is evidence of one of several makeshift camps that have appeared in the regional mining city over the past week.
Local leaders say new grog restrictions implemented in Alice Springs, about 1,200 kilometres away, are driving Northern Territory residents into Mount Isa where alcohol is more easily accessed.
The council, social service groups, residents and federal MP Bob Katter have criticised the alcohol restrictions and called for solutions to prevent even more NT residents from camping out in Mount Isa.
Overburdened social services
Mount Isa has a history of hosting Northern Territory itinerants.
In 2022, about 400 people, mostly from the NT, were camping out in the Leichhardt riverbed during the Mount Isa Rodeo week, according to the Mount Isa City Council.
A privately run "bush bus" regularly transports people from Alice Springs and Tennant Creek to the Leichhardt riverbed — a location in Mount Isa known for its population of Indigenous campers.
But numbers have increased in recent weeks.
"These restrictions are seeing more and more people come from Alice Springs into Mount Isa," said Father Mick Lowcock, head of social services group North-West Queensland Indigenous Catholic Social Services.
Several community support groups had reported a rise in the number of people trying to access services, according to the local council.
"The numbers are becoming increasingly concerning," Mayor Danielle Slade said.
"These are people who are not on our books, overwhelming social services that are meant for our local vulnerable people."
Linda Rose Aplin is an Indigenous woman from the Mount Isa suburb of Camooweal.
"I can't even access the public services available to me because they have told me they are overwhelmed with people coming from interstate," she said.
Urgent action needed
Father Lowcock criticised the Alice Springs alcohol restrictions, saying blanket bans did not address underlying issues of addiction or mental health issues.
"People go elsewhere to get alcohol which is what we're seeing right now," he said.
Mr Katter, meanwhile, said he expected to see even more people coming to Mount Isa.
"Alcohol bans spawn grog running, home brew, and addicts fleeing to neighbouring communities that don't have bans like Mount Isa," he said.
Ms Slade said the council was in the process of calling together all agencies to come up with a solution.
"That may look like bringing in the banned drinker register into Mount Isa or looking at what we can do with social housing," she said.
"One of the things we need to do is to map out the services … and then find the gaps.
"Whatever the solution is, we need to tackle this urgently but also put in strategies that will make a difference moving forward."
