Arabic version: إصلاحات باباليا تعيد تشكيل خدمات كيمبرلي، والنقاد يتساءلون عن الأثر
Paul Papalia’s resignation from WA parliament leaves a suite of policies in the Kimberley under scrutiny, with reforms felt on red dirt streets, in outback prisons and in remote communities grappling with alcohol-fuelled harm.
According to ABC News, during his tenure Mr Papalia held influential portfolios and introduced sweeping changes in youth crime, corrections and alcohol restrictions that now present unresolved questions for the region.
Operation Regional Shield, rolled out in 2022 to deploy city-based officers to regional locations, has been credited by the government with reducing burglaries and vehicle thefts and received a $24 million funding boost in May. Yet offences against a person or property in the Kimberley remained about 13,100 in both 2021–22 and 2024–25, and WA Police Union president Simone Taplin called the program a “band-aid solution” that raises sustainability and staffing concerns. Mr Papalia has said escalations in criminal activity “isn’t just a policing problem” and requires a multi-agency approach.
The state’s regional corrective and youth detention system has experienced long-standing failures that disproportionately affect First Nations people. Two teenage boys died in custody within a 12-month period, prompting criticism that conditions had worsened even as Mr Papalia insisted improvements had been made. Kununurra Aboriginal Legal Service senior managing lawyer Sally Oliver described the adult corrective system as “appalling” and “inhumane”, citing overcrowding, prolonged lockdowns, limited social visits and inadequate forensic capacity — one forensic facility with 30 beds in a system with over 7,000 people incarcerated, about 50% of whom have mental health issues. The government has committed more than $158 million to build a new youth detention facility in Perth, with a contractor appointed and onsite from last month.
The Banned Drinkers Register (BDR) and limits on takeaway alcohol purchases and trading hours were introduced across the Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields, including Carnarvon and Gascoyne Junction. Mr Papalia said Derby and Broome saw a 26 per cent drop in alcohol-related crime and similar falls in family and domestic violence after restrictions were introduced. Local leaders voiced mixed views: Broome Shire president Chris Mitchell praised the register, while rehabilitation centre chair Kathy Watson supported the measure but warned it “only targets Indigenous people” and called for more wrap-around services and education. What happens next: his successors will inherit the question of whether these policies solved the problems they set out to fix.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | New South Wales | Western Australia | General | Social/إجتماعية
