Alice Springs Town Camp Visit Welcomed

Member for Lingiari and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Indigenous Affairs and Northern Australia Warren Snowdon said today's Alice Springs visit by Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough was a golden opportunity to develop partnerships to deal with the plight of the town camps

Mr Snowdon said he was hoping to see Mr Brough take the time to make a real contribution instead of just shooting from the hip for a headline.

'I think it's a positive move that he's taking an interest,' he said.

'But he's wasting time and resources if he doesn't take into account the facts that there are people there on the ground who have been putting in the hard yards and trying to make a difference.

'Government haven't been listening until recently and it's a bit rich if they now think they've got the answers or can find new solutions on the run.

'Meanwhile organisations like Tangentyere play the difficult role of being both service provider and advocate for the people of the town camps and for too long they've been battling official indifference.

"Many people in Alice Springs will be concerned, for instance, at Mr Brough's considering removing children at risk from families.

'If he knew what Tangentyere had been doing to support these kids, he'd recognise that what he proposes is inhumane, unrealistic and unworkable.

'Tangentyere is also dealing with severe and chronic overcrowding, because as their own study shows has shown, at any time 25 per cent of town camp people are visitors from remote communities.

'This puts huge strains on the infrastructure and adds immeasurably to the stresses people themselves face.

'If the problem has grown to the extent that Mr Brough is sitting up and taking notice, then it's clearly time for the NT and Federal Governments to work in partnership with Tangentyere to develop sustainable local solutions that start from dealing with the infrastructure need.

'The families of the town camps will be the winners,' Mr Snowdon said.

2006-05-02