Rural Crime and Law Photo Competition Gallery
What characterises crime in the rural as conveyed through photographic imagery?
This Australia-wide photo competition aimed to collect and curate original photographs depicting crime in rural settings.
The photographs submitted to this competition contribute to efforts to define and debate perceptions and representations of rural crime, and outline the diverse nature of rural offending and victimisation.
Winners
1st Prize and Tertiary Award - Counting Sheep, by Miranda McGufficke
2nd Prize and Secondary School Award - Under Investigation, by Lachlan McGilvray
3rd Prize - Dumped and Forgotten, by Sharon Perry
People's Choice Award - Dedication to Duty, by Andrew McLean
Exhibition of Winners and Finalists
Counting sheep is not an unusual process for farmers. Counting sheep is almost therapeutic. The rushed headcount of sheep bounding by. Count by 2s, count by 1s, count 1 as 3 and multiply the choice is yours - the only requirement - you have to get it right! A calm sense arises when the numbers match up but a sense of unease and trepidation, an unknown sense of something wrong appears when the numbers don’t match. Stock theft is no joke, imagine taking the hard work and livelihood of someone else - do they feel guilty, do they have an unsolved problem, an urge to steal, a need to act criminally? What happens if that was their stock, their livelihood, their passion. It’s greedy, it’s unjust and it’s despicable for them to go about their day knowing that they have committed unjust crimes.
Winner, Overall and Tertiary Prize
JUDGES' COMMENTS
The judges thought this was an extremely engaging photograph firmly holding the viewer’s attention and clearly embedded in the rural landscape. While the image did not explicitly indicate the crime addressed, the title plus the composition of the flow of sheep diagonally across the space provoked a question and sense of mystery. The blurb firmly placed it in context-of crime having occurred under the radar. We can almost taste, smell and hear what the image is presenting, of the sheep moving between the man and the leaning trees and horses that are engagement with the dynamics. The image provokes an anticipatory feeling of realisation if the count indicates other things have occurred.
Illegal dumping of rubbish and household items is a widespread issue in rural areas. Besides being unsightly, illegal dumping can result in damage to the environment and wildlife or can cause health issues to livestock if it occurs on grazing property. Illegal dumping is a costly crime, with local councils spending millions of dollars each year collecting and correctly disposing of the rubbish. Although fines for illegal dumping have increased in an attempt to curb this behaviour, the number of reports of this crime have not reduced, but in fact increased as well. This may be due to the fact that the perpetrators are rarely caught in the act and are hard to track down afterwards. Some of the most commonly dumped objects are disused whitegoods, and old car bodies which can oden be disposed of at the local council tip for no charge, which makes illegal dumping an incredibly senseless crime. The judges felt this entry caught this type of rural crime in an original and engaging way with interesting inuendoes. The foreground focus and the blurring away into a larger space brings to mind how dumping of rubbish can slowly become a familiar part of the landscape. These angular, naturally foreign to the natural environment, items are becoming submerged and overgrown, being a metaphor for how familiarity evokes acceptance. The existence of the tape is a warning to revolt against this practice. The tape being installed upside down adds a poignant comment on how out of place the practice of dumping rubbish should be.
Winner, Second Prize Overall and Secondary Prize
JUDGES' COMMENTS
The judges felt this entry caught this type of rural crime in an original and engaging way with interesting innuendos. The foreground focus and the blurring away into a larger space brings to mind how dumping of rubbish can slowly become a familiar part of the landscape. These angular, naturally foreign to the natural environment, items are becoming submerged and overgrown, being a metaphor for how familiarity evokes acceptance. The existence of the tape is a warning to revolt against this practice. The tape being installed upside down adds a poignant comment on how out of place the practice of dumping rubbish should be.
Dumped vehicles are forgotten vehicles. Once dumped, these vehicles are forgotten as the owners do not know the whereabouts plus after the insurance companies have paid out the money lost from these vehicles all is forgotten, they are in the past. Nobody comes looking for these dumped vehicles once insurance is paid out, everyone is happy to continue on with their lives. So therefore dumped and forgotten, a shameless crime which unfortunately still continues today.
Winner, Third Prize
JUDGES' COMMENTS
While this entry addresses a similar topic to the second prize, it does focus on different aspect of the crime of using our environment as a sink or a place to hide what might want to be discarded. As the blurb states, cars are normally dumped because of illegal activity or to falsely claim against insurance companies. They are dumped in the bush-a crime upon crime. The judges felt the aesthetics of the image was almost sculptural like in the landscape, placed there to enjoy, metaphorically in a way as it seems to belong and enhance the landscape yet has no place there.
The photo was taken in 2021 and depicts the NSW Police Rural Crime Prevention Team training at a location near Tumbarumba in rural NSW to become qualified as HARCI accredited members of the team. HARCI means “Horse Accredited Rural Crime Investigator”, and these are the officers who deploy on horse back to investigate rural crime throughout NSW. This type of duty is carried out by a small, highly trained team within the Rural Crime Prevention Team. The theme in terms of rural crime for me, is “dedication to duty”. These officers provide an invaluable and unique skill to NSW Police. They also provide all their own equipment, including their own horses?
Winner, People's Choice Award
June 1908, Tasmania's Far North-West. Fratricide: An intriguing case with a reasoned outcome. The Robertsons lived in Fahey’s Lane with their two boys, Robert Davis, 8, and his half-brother Alick Robertson, 2 1/2. Mr Robertson walked a mile and a half to work as Mrs Robertson packed up the family washing and walked the mile or more to Irishtown, leaving Alick in Robert’s care. During the morning, the two boys went to their father, but were soon sent home. Tha tevening, there was no sign of Alick. When asked, Robert said, “A hyena took him in the bush,” then “(He) was on my back and fell off.” Alick was found hidden in a depression, his head severely battered. He died two hours later. Robert was charged with murder and sent to trial. At trial, it was evident the lad “...was quite unaware of the nature of proceedings. His demeanour gave no indication of a troubled mind... betraying not the slightest fear.” The Solicitor-General approached the trial judge, Mr Justice McIntyre. Following discussion, and with agreement Robert spend a period in a boys’ home or similar, Mr McIntyre issued a nolle prosequi to enable its passage.
Dingoes are listed as a threatened species and they are protected under the Wildlife Act of1975. Their main threat is genetic dilution by domestic dogs. The resulting cross-bred "wild dogs" can be immensely harmful to farm animals. Landholders have a legal responsibility to control wild dogs on their land under the Biosecurity Act of 2014 and in some shires a bounty is paid on presentation of a scalp and tail. Are the animals in this photo dingoes, deserving of protection? In that case a crime has been committed. Are they wild dogs? In that case a crime would have been committed if they'd been allowed to roam free.
This image represents mismanaged rural practices and the limitation of specialised facilities in agriculturally remote areas. As shown is the lay of old fumigant barrels that are unable to be disposed of in a timely manner due to limited amounts of chemical drum disposal sites. It represents broadly the environmental changes that are continuing to rear its head at us everyday due to un-educated methods. The ability to capture a chemical pollutant and its affection nature in one image allows us to be warned of the consequences not only on the culprits back but also our common home. Earth. This image begs the questions of the viewer ; Who has committed the rural crime here?, The government's organisations that do not provide adequate support for the disposal of harmful substances? The culprit who has misplaced these drums? Or even the merchants and manufacturers of these chemicals? This image not only begs us questions that we long the answer for, but also leaves us second guessing what lays in our dystopic future that we have been warned about before.
The Green Line (TGL) is a decade-strong community Landcare biodiversity corridor between Koroit and Minhamite in SW Victoria. It is part of an old railway line built in the 1880s which closed 1977. Its 110ha preserves a unique range of rare, threatened, and endangered ecological communities that are extinct in the surrounding district. Some of the remnant trees here are Aboriginal Heritage trees. 3 days after Covid lockdown eased in 2020, a local resident drove 12km from Koroit, accessed TGL and illegally hacked down old native trees from it to sell commercially as firewood. Including a stand of 11 Acacia melanoxylon that had regenerated since TGL closed in 1977. This tree had the nest of the resident Brown Goshawk pair in it. The crime is common in linear reserves like roadsides. Locals say it’s a harmless, justified, harvesting right. But. Removing old trees decimates whole ecological processes in a cascade over time. Rare fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, birds, reptiles – whole trophic layers become locally extinct. What was sheltered becomes exposed and vulnerable. Turning these matriarchs into firewood extinguished their life-giving ability forever. We cannot buy back the years of life and heritage they were, from anywhere.
We see too many cases where criminals are taking advantage of opportunities such as unattended properties, allowing them to easily steal guns from the properties of licensed firearm owners. All firearms owners are urged to Store your firearm, bolt and ammunition securely and separately; Ensure tools which could be used to break into safes are not stored nearby, Ensure any keys or combinations for gun storage safes are kept secure and separate from the safes; and, Be cautious about who has knowledge of your firearms licence status and where your firearms are stored.
Blue and white checks/The iconic sign/Always on standby/Whatever the time/ There to help/Was a good friend of mine/Policing the community/Fighting the crime/ Respected by many/She had earned her stripes/Always lent an ear/Listening to peoples gripes/ Alone in her squad car/Policing her patch/Supporting her community/She was hard to match/ A policewoman in her uniform/Gun at her hip/A striking profile/Don’t give her no lip/ So proud of her are we/Taking the post at/Maree/With the surrounding desert/As far as the eye can see/ Rural policing is so different/From the city ways/Alone in your duties/With support up to 500kms away/ Became part of the community/And learnt all their quirks/
Judging panel
Graham McBride (Artist) was born in Cairns, Queensland, and grew up in and around the tropical and desert landscapes of rural northern Australia. Nature and place reoccur in his work, influenced not only by extensive travelling throughout his native country but also through Europe, Asia, and the United States. He has a particular interest in the concept of place and in the different ways, it is created and conceived.
Joe Donnermeyer (Rural Criminologist) is a Professor Emeritus/Academy Professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University, and an adjunct professor at both the Research Center on Violence at West Virginia University and the Centre for Rural Criminology, University of New England, Australia. He is the author/co-author of over 100 peer reviewed publications issues related to rural crime and rural societies.
Marian Macdonald (Rural Journalist) is the national rural property writer for the ACM stable of agricultural mastheads, including The Land. Marian has decades of experience writing for farmers as a journalist, communicator and advocate. Importantly, Marian is a farmer whose family has been on the land for generations. She knows just how crucial trust is in small communities and why it’s so important to feel safe on farm.
Caitlin Davey (Rural Criminology PhD student) is a University of New England graduate with a Bachelor of Criminology and has experience working in correctional centres across various levels of security in both Victoria and Queensland. Caitlin is a current PhD student with UNE and a research associate with the Centre for Rural Criminology. Caitlin’s PhD project explores punitive attitudes and prejudice towards Indigenous Australians, with a specific focus on these issues within rural spaces.
