Police sent to quell Aboriginal riots

BRISBANE - Twenty-four people have been arrested after a series of riots in the remote Queensland Aboriginal community of Aurukun.

Up to 200 people pelted houses and cars with projectiles and lit fires. There were no reports of injuries. Fifteen police were sent from Cairns to the Cape York Peninsula community to quell the violence, bringing the number of officers in Aurukun to 22.

Co-ordinator of the Aurukun community justice group, Brian Healy, said a family squabble between two clans was the likely cause of the disturbance.

Unrest also occurred there in January.

- AAP