cost of living down<\/a>.<\/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.<\/p>\n
“In Aurukun we struggle; the food I buy, I have to share with the family next door.<\/p>\n
“Nobody goes hungry.”<\/p>\n
![\"Aurukun](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGL_wik4_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nAurukun is on the western side of Cape York and can be cut off by road for several months during the wet season.
\nPhoto: ABC News: Billy Cooper\n<\/p>\n
‘Ridiculous’ prices hitting Aurukun families<\/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.<\/p>\n
The town’s Island and Cape supermarket\/general store and the Kang Kang Cafe takeaway services the population of around 1,100 people.<\/p>\n
When the ABC visits Aurukun in May, the prices listed on the supermarket shelves are notably higher.<\/p>\n
“It’s ridiculous,” says Eloise.<\/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.<\/p>\n
![\"Aussie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGL_wik5_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nAussie staples like Vegemite, Weet-Bix and Bushells Tea bags are approximately 50 per cent more expensive.
\nPhoto: ABC News: Billy Cooper\n<\/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.<\/p>\n
Aussie staples like Vegemite, Weet-Bix and Bushells Tea bags are approximately 50 per cent more expensive.<\/p>\n
High sugar items like soft drink are priced as part of a ‘nutrition strategy’; a four pack of premium lemonade is around $25 in Aurukun compared to $7.50 listed online by the major supermarkets.<\/p>\n
A 10 x 375ml pack of Coke is around $40, compared to $12-20 online.<\/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.<\/p>\n
In May, locals described how feeding a family here can cost thousands of dollars a month, even after state subsidies.<\/p>\n
“Most of our families receive family tax benefits and it’s not much to get them through several weeks,” Eloise said.<\/p>\n
“It’s all spent in one, two days.”<\/p>\n
Nappies, coffins and everything in between<\/p>\n
Aurukun’s 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.<\/p>\n
It’s part of the Island and Cape chain, owned by the not-for-profit Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA).<\/p>\n
![\"Aurukun](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGL_wik6_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nAurukun has just one supermarket selling everything from frozen food to freezers.
\nPhoto: ABC News: Billy Cooper\n<\/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.<\/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.<\/p>\n
“If you talk to any retail operator in a remote community, our margins are more compressed than they’ve ever been.”<\/p>\n
Cape and Island have six stores spread across Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands.<\/p>\n
Mr King says they don’t have the same buying power as the larger chains.<\/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.<\/p>\n
“Then on top of that [you’ve got] to get your product out to the community.”<\/p>\n
Aurukun is on the western side of Queensland’s Cape York and is classified as ‘very remote’ by the ABS.<\/p>\n
Food, fuel and other supplies arrive in Aurukun via a mixture of road, air and sea barge, which further adds to prices.<\/p>\n
![\"Aurukun](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGK_wik7_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nAurukun is surrounded by rivers and marshland, even during the dry season.
\nPhoto: ABC News: Billy Cooper\n<\/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.<\/p>\n
“The wet season can be quite challenging just to cover those costs.”<\/p>\n
When the ABC is in store in May it’s the dry season, so roads are open and fresh produce is available.<\/p>\n
But Aunty Phylis says those prices can be beyond some locals operating with a tiny food budget.<\/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.<\/p>\n
“In Aurukun, we struggle.”<\/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’, Neale Dahl.<\/p>\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGK_wik8_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nUsing 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.
\nPhoto: ABC News Billy Cooper\n<\/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.<\/p>\n
The seed collection program has been running for around 20 years.<\/p>\n
Mr Dahl visits communities across Cape York once a fortnight to weigh the collected seeds.<\/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.<\/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.”<\/p>\n
The seeds are bound for Rio Tinto’s bauxite mine north of Aurukun in Weipa.<\/p>\n
The mining operation there is as vast as the company’s multi-billion-dollar profits.<\/p>\n
The seeds collected in Aurukun and other communities are used to regenerate the country damaged by mining.<\/p>\n
Aunty Phylis says some of the revenue from the bauxite mining should flow back through the Cape’s remote communities.<\/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.<\/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.”<\/p>\n
![\"Wik](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGK_wik9_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nWik Elder, Aunty Phylis Yunkaporta, says most Australians would have little understanding of the cost-of-living challenges in Aurukun.
\nPhoto: ABC News: Billy Cooper\n<\/p>\n
Subsidising the high cost of living<\/p>\n
The federal government’s Low-Cost Essentials Subsidy Scheme started in July.<\/p>\n
The scheme ensures the price of 30 grocery categories in remote communities “are comparable to prices in urban areas”.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGK_wik10_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nThe 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.
\nPhoto: ABC News: Billy Cooper\n<\/p>\n
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy agrees prices in remote stores are “very stark” when compared to the city.<\/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.<\/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.<\/p>\n
![\"Some](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4JZGAGK_wik11_avif\")
<\/p>\n
\nSome of the items included in the federal government\u2019s Low-Cost Essentials Subsidy Scheme. (Supplied: NIAA)
\nPhoto: NIAA\n<\/p>\n
“We’ve seen over 110 stores sign up to it, and Aurukun is one of those,” she said.<\/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.<\/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.<\/p>\n
“The approximate cost of the selected basket of items decreased from $163 to $109 after applying the savings from the Scheme.<\/p>\n
“Overall, savings of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent are being observed.”<\/p>\n
The federal government says the basket of items being subsidised could expand in the future.<\/p>\n
The ABC has approached Rio Tinto for comment.<\/p>\n
– ABC<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the Wik community in Aurukun set out to gather seeds during the dry season. Photo: ABC…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[1735,79,1734,179,18,19,17,5,1113,1733,1731,1732],"class_list":{"0":"post-124572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-current-affairs","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-podcasts","17":"tag-public-radio","18":"tag-radio-new-zealand","19":"tag-rnz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}