Where is the world’s lowest life expectancy? Not in Africa but in Wilcannia—the canary in the coal mine for Australia’s managed decline.
This once thriving town in northwest New South Wales has been described by Josephine Cashman, an Indigenous Australian lawyer, as a community in a continual state of mourning with unsafe water and decades of broken promises.
Wilcannia was once home to 3,000 people and was the third largest port on the Darling River, with 222 steamers stopping there. It was known as the “Queen City of the West” and boasted 13 hotels and its own brewery, the Red Lion, built by Edmund Resch. However, after the Federation Drought that ended in 1903, the population was reduced significantly.
However, according to a local man from the area, this figure has not been proven by proper data.
If correct, this is 34 years less than the average life expectancy for Indigenous males in 2015–2017, which was 71.6 years and 75.6 years for Indigenous females.
This drop in life expectancy could be, in part, due to the water supply to the town. Ms. Cashman said in her Twitter feed that the water is toxic and has caused the Indigenous to lose their hair and stop their menstrual cycles.
“After decades of broken promises and lies. They do not believe the public servants’ reassurances that the water is safe. Refusing to drink toxic water, families search for “churchie” coins to scrap up $7 for a 5-litre flagon of drinking water. To have the privilege of not being poisoned to death,” Ms. Cashman said.
Wilcannia was to be part of a multi-million-dollar deal building three treatment plants to improve the quality of water across the Central Darling Shire. This would have improved potable water for the town.
What Do The Locals Say?
The Epoch Times contacted locals in the town to learn their views on Wilcannia and was told by the Aboriginal Land Council that they were “far too busy to speak to you.”One local told the Epoch Times that with at least 11 of the council workers not living in the shire but working from places such as Byron Bay, Adelaide, Orange, Dubbo, Brisbane, and Sydney, they are not living and understanding what is necessary for Wilcannia to continue and build.
A worker from the Ampol Roadhouse said that the water was fine, as did a local tourism operator.
The Epoch Times also spoke to a local clothing store called Cooee, who said they needed to go through official channels in order to make any comment.
A local octogenarian who was born in Wilcannia and who asked not to be named told The Epoch Times that life in Wilcannia was blown out of all proportion by the ABC 7:30 report.
He said Wilcannia was far safer than a number of other towns, such as Dubbo, Walgett, and Bourke and that it had everything one could need. There was a well-stocked supermarket, a doctor who visited three days a week, a pharmacist, and a hospital.
He said that housing had been a huge problem, but there was movement on that front, with five new houses being built at a cost of $250,000 per house and five independent units for elderly indigenous people at $550,000 per unit.
There is also BAAKA Cultural Centre being built in the main street at a cost of $9.5 million. He said the Indigenous community in Wilcanna were being catered for, but there were no places for elderly white people to go, and there were a number who needed care but were living in their own homes without it.
Even with such a good community spirit in the town and people keeping an eye out for each other, the lack of assistance for elderly white people, he acknowledged, was a problem.
Other problems residents have noted are the cost of living, long-term employment, housing and healthcare.
Residents met with a not well-publicised visit to Wilcannia in July by Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, assistant minister for Indigenous health.
Word spread that she was in Wilcannia, and she was confronted by locals who informed her about the need for holistic drug and alcohol rehabilitation support, renal dialysis support, and emotional and well-being support.
However, locals are sceptical as to whether their pleas on these issues will make any difference to their lives.
Ms. Cashman said that Indigenous elders had travelled over 15 hours to Canberra in 2023 to speak with politicians.
“Yet [Prime Minister] Anthony Albanese and [Minister for Indigenous Australians] Linda Burney refused to hear their voice,” she said.
“Our Wilcannia family survey highlighted the practical nature of the needs: clean water, affordable food and power, privacy, housing and personal autonomy. Not Albo’s hidden agenda voice/treaty/truth. This is the truth.”
