By Kavina Kumar

ABC North West Qld

Topic: Vandalism

Monday, 8 June 2026, at 7:01 am

Ishani Harney kept a piece of glass from the first time her shop was broken into in 2023.

In short:

Ishani Harney, a cake decorator in Mount Isa, says three vandalism incidents have hurt her business.

She says it's hard to get help to make her shop safer.

What's next?

Police want businesses to report vandalism so they can understand crime trends.

Ishani Harney has helped her community celebrate special events for years.

She turned her hobby into a business in 2022 and has made cakes for birthdays and weddings.

Her business has been broken into and damaged three times in three years.

The latest incident cost $585 to fix, and the first one cost over $2,800.

Ishani Harney's shop was broken into just two months after she opened it in 2023.

The cost of the damage is not the only problem.

Ishani Harney said it was very sad to see her hard work damaged.

To see someone hurt a small business that helps the town is disheartening and stressful.

Broken window, just the start

After the first incident, Ishani reported it to the police, and someone was charged.

She went to the police station to try to get her $800 back.

She had to pay $800 to fix the window.

She asked the police to make the person who broke the window pay her back.

Ishani Harney had to pay for the damage herself.

The experience changed how she feels about reporting crimes.

A smashed glass door was the latest vandalism incident at Ishani Harney's business.

'Nothing gets done'

Ishani Harney didn't report the last incident because it would take too much time and nothing would happen.

She also tried to get a grant to improve her shop's security, but it was hard to do.

The grant process was confusing and took too much time.

Police officer Michael Hobden said police understand why people are frustrated, but they should still report crimes.

He said they need reports to understand crime trends and catch offenders.

If people don't report crimes, the police can't investigate them.

Mount Isa has a higher rate of solving crimes than the rest of the state.

Ishani Harney's cakes have been at many community events in Mount Isa.

Security comes at a price

The government has a program to give grants for security upgrades.

Businesses have to pay at least half of the cost of the upgrades.

Ishani Harney said better security would help, but it's too expensive.

A roller door for her shop would cost almost $9,000.

Despite the problems, Ishani Harney won't give up.

She said she provides something special to her town.

ABC North West Qld has local news.

Monday, 8 June 2026, at 7:01 am

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