By ERWIN CHLANDA
Families Minister and Member for Braitling Dale Wakefield (pictured) has agreed to be a member of a local group being formed to deal with juvenile delinquency, according to Wayne Thompson, who arranged a well-attended public meeting about the issues last Saturday.
He says feedback has included dissatisfaction with some language on the Alice Springs Open Forum page and as a consequence, further public discussion will be in a new Facebook group where comments will be moderated.
“People feel uncomfortable with aggressiveness and threats. The discussion needs to have substance, be smart and civilised, not a talkfest full of red herrings. We need to get things done,” he says.
Mr Thompson (at right), who is the manager of a large bus company in Alice Springs, says he will be a member of the committee, not its head.
Ms Wakefield’s membership will be “pivotal” as will be that of someone representing the Chief Minister’s Department.
Other members will be stakeholders including local Aboriginal elders.
Mr Thompson says he already has a list of interested people which he will not be making public for the time being.
I have attended numerous town meetings over the last decade. Congratulations Wayne Thompson for not allowing this meeting to degenerate into a shemozzle of frustrated voices who are promised short-term results and then, as happens too often, see nothing happen.
For the sake of the young people who are the future of this town, let us hope the focus of this group can be on developing a steady rollout of community-supported initiatives that result in positive systemic and social change.
Juvenile inmates should work on rural prison farms to create new businesses and learn new skills.
Budget flights into Central Australia are needed to boost tourism and create new jobs.