Alice Springs Return to Home Program Failing

After yet another night of vandalism and violence in Alice Springs the Territory Opposition is calling on the Chief Minister to detail how effective his Government's return home program is.

"It is widely believed that much of the recent mayhem has been caused by people who are from out of town,” says Ms Carney, Shadow Attorney General.

"There's no doubt there are increased numbers of visitors from remote communities and that they are staying in town for longer periods of time.

"The Territory Government's recent self-congratulatory pamphlet boasts of spending "$600,000 to increase Bus Services to assist people return to their communities as soon as their business is done”.

"The large numbers of visitors on the streets of Alice raises a number of questions the Chief Minister should answer, including:

· What is the total amount of money allocated to assist people return 'to country' this financial year?
· Has Tangentyere Council actually received the money Government has announced, and if so, how much of it has actually been spent?
· What is Government doing to assess if the Bush Bus is working?

"Alice Springs desperately needs an honest appraisal of the problems gripping our town.

"Unfortunately frank and forthright are not words to be associated with the current Government.

"Indeed, it has a disturbing habit of simply ignoring unpleasant facts. It refuses to admit its Alcohol Courts are barely functional, that despite the dry town legislation violence is on the rise and to provide the 20-30 extra police that are required to improve the situation in Alice.

"The longer the Labor Government pretends everything is fine, the greater the cost to the entire community.”

2008-04-02