Mrs Lambley’s monthly newsletter is quite a production, some 2000 words of news and opinion, some community advertising and a bit of cheek. FACT: The fine for not voting in the NT Election is $25. Or: Expansion South of the Gap – Is it Siberia or common-sense? “If people can drive to Bunnings for a sausage sandwich and a browse, then they can easily drive to modern new sporting facilities at Kilgariff to enjoy sport.”
Araluen Member Robyn Lambley clearly takes great pleasure in not being in a party: Her thoughts are her own, and as the longest serving of the current crop of politicians in The Centre, those thoughts are based on unparalleled experience.
When DON FULLER spoke with her this week he found her views on crime and social issues to be compassionate but resolute and untainted by sentimentality.
Mrs Lambley – yes, Mrs not Ms – entered Parliament with the CLP in a by-election in 2010 and was at various times the Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer and Minister for Health. She became an Independent in 2015 and is seeking re-election.
FULLER: With regard to community crime, your recent August Newsletter makes the point that the NT Police are over extended in Alice and having difficulty dealing with issues. You mention the need for more government support from the NT government. What sort of things?
LAMBLEY: We need to ensure the conditions offered to NT Police in Alice Springs are competitive and desirable and encourage them to stay in Alice Springs and the Northern Territory. We used for example, to offer a good housing package but, I have heard that this has slipped compared to other jurisdictions.
FULLER: Anything else that the NT Government could be doing?
LAMBLEY: We know that police are subject to break-ins like the rest of us. Police also need good quality housing with security. But one of the main problems with government in the Northern Territory is that you never get clear, honest answers regarding the numbers of police operating in a particular area and the amount of attrition, for example. The numbers are always rubbery.
FULLER: In what way?
LAMBLEY: For example, the government may claim that it is going to spend $570 million over the next four to five years on policing. This is really hard to believe or understand. Often the figures provided by the government do not agree with those provided by the Police Association. We need far more honesty on numbers such as recruitment rates and attrition rates. I am at the point where I know what I am hearing is not the truth. We would all appreciate more honesty in this.
FULLER: Do you think the Police could involve the community more by letting people know what their strategies are and how the community can assist?
LAMBLEY: Yes. They don’t involve me at all, for example. I have been excluded from all discussions over the last eight years.
FULLER: That’s ridiculous. Is it for political reasons do you think?
LAMBLEY: I have no doubt it is for political reasons. Once you criticize this government in terms of how they are operating you are quickly left off invitation lists.
FULLER: That could be one of the problems of how governments in the Territory approach their government responsibilities. Rather than taking on board criticism or suggestions not meant to be destructive or negative they react against the messenger. They don’t seem to handle this at all well.
LAMBLEY: No. The result of actively ignoring me for eight years is that they didn’t listen to my concerns that crime had been escalating from 2017, despite the fact that I was yelling and shouting about the emerging problems at every opportunity. Michael Gunner, as Chief Minister and Nicole Manison as Police Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, used to laugh and dismiss me.
FULLER: What has been the main effect of this?
LAMBLEY: This behaviour toward me and Alice Springs in general, has led to the dire position we are now in as a community. But now crime has extended to Darwin, all of a sudden it is on the agenda. Hansard will show how over the last eight years I have been demanding they take action to prevent crime from escalating – but to no avail, because the government ignored me and other people from this town.
FULLER: Why do you think crime escalated from 2017?
LAMBLEY: One of the reasons in my view, was the release of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the Northern Territory in 2016. These recommendations were tabled in the NT Parliament in 2017 and a main thrust of the recommendations was to soften the approach toward children and juvenile offenders. So, these recommendations were rolled out in good faith.
FULLER: What were the implications?
LAMBLEY: Blind Freddy could see that the unintended consequences of the Royal Commission’s recommendations, was that crime was going to increase and that all hell could break loose, and that is exactly what happened.
FULLER: Were there other reasons?
LAMBLEY: Another important reason was due to social media. Around that time it became commonly used by everyone, including young Aboriginal people, living in remote communities. I think this generated anger, particularly amongst young Aboriginal people, who feel that they live in horrible conditions and they don’t think that is fair, leading to a sense of injustice and anger.
FULLER: I would like to come back to that but before leaving comments about policing, do you think that the senior ranks of the NT Police have become politicized? If so, this is going to impact on their ability to perform according to the Law.
LAMBLEY: I think the NT Police Executive has had a terrible run for a very long time, with serious leadership problems. Now we have the Police Commissioner parading around at Garma making political statements and apologies.
FULLER: What should be done about this?
LAMBLEY: Law and Order is a massive problem. It has always been challenging in the Territory, but 10 years back we didn’t know it was going to get to this point. Given the position the community is in, the Police Commissioner and the Executive need to not worry about their image. Rather, they should be operating so that they can deliver on their core business. They need to remember that they are public servants and just get back to work.
FULLER: Going back to your comments about Aboriginal young people feeling there are significantly different living conditions they have compared with other people in the community – a lot of people might say they are provided with education, health care, a lot of job opportunities in communities and housing. They are not taking advantage of these things. What would you say to this?
LAMBLEY: We all know that a huge amount of funding and resources are thrown at closing the gap, particularly in the Northern Territory. Outcomes remain abysmal and an embarrassing failure to all governments involved. We can only conclude that what we are doing is not working. It’s time we had governments that were frank and fearless about this and we need to try different approaches.
FULLER: What sort of things should we do differently? For example, do you think governments should aim to have Aboriginal people address some of the consequences of their behaviour?
LAMBLEY: I think to change things we need to do a complete audit of where all this money is going. If organisations that have been given government money are not delivering, then that money should be taken away and redirected. Continuing to provide funding to organisations based on relationships with particular government ministers and politicians is a big part of the problem. There is nepotism, conflicts of interest we see all the time. It is wrong and needs to be stopped.
FULLER: There are two possible areas of concern here aren’t there? First you have the government departments delivering education, health and other services. Second, we have Aboriginal organisations receiving very large amount of government funding. How would you first deal with the public sector. It is very large compared with other jurisdictions and does seem to be inefficient and ineffective.
LAMBLEY: There is an optimal size for any public service. Once we get beyond this optimal size it becomes very wasteful in using resources to maintain itself rather than using resources to deliver to the community. I think that is where we are and we can’t sustain this.
FULLER: Are there other problems associated with such a large public service?
LAMBLEY: A very important issue associated with the giant size of the public service is that it is killing private enterprise in Alice Springs and the Northern Territory. Private enterprise cannot compete with the public service in terms of employment terms and conditions.
FULLER: Are there examples where this has caused problems?
LAMBLEY: In a place the size of Alice Springs you see local businesses that require particular skills and expertise. For example, an IT company may have to look interstate or overseas for staff to recruit people. Within 12 months they are working for the NTPS because of better terms and conditions. This has to stop. NT governments have to recognise that this is a problem and this needs to change.
FULLER: With regard to the need for audits are you also including Aboriginal organisations?
LAMBLEY: Anyone who is getting public money. But in the NT where we have a large number of Aboriginal organisations, more and more we see funding going to Aboriginal organisations and businesses. A lot of people have been calling for greater transparency and accountability from Aboriginal organisations for a long time, including the CLP in opposition. I have heard Jacinta Price talk about it. I have too, as an Independent.
FULLER: What about the current government?
LAMBLEY: The response we’ve had from the NT Labor government is that audits occur. They say that there are checks and balances and that every contract needs to be reported. But, I think it’s time for a closer inspection of what is actually happening on the ground, not what is in a report.
FULLER: A huge amount of public resources appears to be going in to Aboriginal organizations. Some people are saying that some of these organizations, including the Central Land Council are becoming involved in land and property development and acquiring large amounts of assets. Why aren’t they providing more support to Aboriginal people in Alice Springs?
LAMBLEY: I don’t have an answer for that. I have never understood how the Central Land Council works. I have had quite a bit to do with the Tangentyere Council over the years. Under Adam Giles the CLP government took away some of the funding for their big contracts for managing the houses on Town Camps and their maintenance, because they were not delivering. But under this government they have these contracts back and have been given additional funding. However, life on the town camps has not particularly improved. While this organisation receives a very large amount of government funding they haven’t put in an annual report for years and many people in Alice Springs are very concerned about this organisation, calling for greater accountability and transparency.
FULLER: You mention that with regard to the Central Land Council it is very difficult to get an understanding of what they do. But isn’t this unacceptable given their control of significant land and resources in the NT? Hasn’t the time arrived where organisations such as the Central Land Council need to be a lot more open and transparent and work a lot more in partnership with the wider community? Shouldn’t this be a major focus of government in the NT?
LAMBLEY: Yes. I agree with that premise. They seem to operate as another layer of government in the NT.
FULLER: Is the trouble is that if this dual government happens in Alice Springs and the NT, then it acts to undercut efforts toward social cohesion and can result in quite a destructive situation?
LAMBLEY: Yes. We are seeing this more and more in the Territory – the separation between white people and black people. Policies that are meant to be a form of positive discrimination are often creating further division and animosity.
FULLER: With respect to alcohol you mention the need for mandatory treatment as an important way forward. What does this involve?
LAMBLEY: In 2013-14 I was the responsible Minister that rolled out mandatory treatment for the CLP. A main result was to get drunks off the street. But, it also gave those with a habitual alcohol problem and addiction an opportunity to stop drinking, seek medical treatment, to have food and accommodation and the basics of life necessary to improve decision making.
FULLER: Why did this program stop?
LAMBLEY: Labor chose to argue that the program was not effective and a waste of money.
FULLER: Was this reasonable?
LAMBLEY: No. I maintain it was effective, particularly compared with what we have now, which is nothing! We worked closely with the Central Australian Aboriginal Alcohol Programs Unit (CAAAPU) in a very good, collaborative program. We need something similar again. Currently, the town is back to where we were in 2012. We have set the bar so low over the last eight years that we are almost normalised to public drunkenness and disorder. It wears us all down to the point where there are 300 houses for sale in Alice at the moment. People want to move out but can’t sell their houses. Economically we have been smashed by crime.
FULLER: What about the cost of a mandatory alcohol program?
LAMBLEY: I would argue that the money we spent on this program is only a fraction of the current and past costs of the damage to the community caused by the major problems we face in terms of crime and disorder. Labor has ruined our town by not addressing crime when they should have and the cost of this is astronomical.
FULLER: You also mention in your newsletter that laws can be strengthened. Do you have a view as to which ones should be?
LAMBLEY: We have gone the full circle with bail laws in the Territory as a result of the Royal Commission. The bail laws need to reflect community concerns. In addition, laws around alcohol need to be strengthened because alcohol is at the core of the problems in Alice Springs.
FULLER: What do you think of the CLP policy of bringing down the age of criminal responsibility to 10 and the idea of a Skills Training Centre for young juvenile offenders because of the current gap between action on more minor offences and those that go into detention?
LAMBLEY: In an ideal world children as young as 10 should not be held criminally responsible for their behaviour. But how we live here is not ideal. I think what you see on the ground is kids under the age of 12 involving themselves in crime with absolutely no consequences. From a behavioural perspective then, kids are not learning to change their behaviour and understand the consequences.
FULLER: What has the current government done about this?
LAMBLEY: Although the current government said they would provide the necessary support services for kids under the age of 12, this just hasn’t happened. And given that young offenders are given the soft option over whether they attend services after they are involved in crimes, that doesn’t work for obvious reasons, as many don’t bother to attend.
FULLER: Will this result in more very young kids being locked up?
LAMBLEY: I don’t think the CLP is saying that they want to lock up more kids. Rather, that those involved in crime can be directed in a mandatory way, to participate in a training program and a form of rehabilitation. I think that makes sense. I don’t think you can expect kids to change their behaviour without some support and training and if that’s optional I don’t think kids are going to participate. While the Royal Commission and Labor’s approach may be well meaning it has no practical application.
FULLER: But these kids are still very young.
LAMBLEY: Yes. I do feel conflicted about this. I wish we didn’t have to talk about very young people involved in crime. But, unfortunately we need to. There is no future in “hoping for the best”. We need to address what is actually happening on the ground.
FULLER: Is this due to a lack of parental responsibility?
LAMBLEY: Yes. Trying to make some parents accountable for their children is extremely difficult. Interestingly during the curfews, I was told by government officials that some parents welcomed that fact that the government was telling their children that they couldn’t roam the streets of Alice Springs at night. They welcomed that their kids stayed home.
FULLER: Under existing legislation it is possible that a parent can be held responsible for their children.
LAMBLEY: Yes. There is existing legislation where a parent can be held responsible for an amount up to five thousand dollars for criminal damage by their children.
FULLER: Do you think that should be activated?
LAMBLEY: This sounds great in theory but would be very difficult to recover from many families.
FULLER: Finally, I would like to ask an overall question about governance in the Northern Territory and in particular, the NT Budget. Is the extremely high level of debt sustainable? We have had two previous Prime Ministers refer to the NT as a “failed state” and the first Chief Minister of the NT say that it is now time for the Territory to return under the Commonwealth.
LAMBLEY: I agree this is a major concern. When I was Treasurer in the CLP government we were hell-bent on reigning in the Budget in 2012. We thought we had a significant debt problem back then. In hindsight that was very low compared with now. When the CLP lost government in 2016 we handed over a debt level less than two billion. Now under Labor we have a debt level of around 11 billion.
FULLER: Should people be worried about this?
LAMBLEY: It is extremely concerning but what I learnt when I was Treasurer was that many people have no interest in this as long as the cost of living and doing business by government does not impact them. This view has been reinforced over the last eight years, watching how Labor has behaved in terms of the Budget and debt.
FULLER: How has this been?
LAMBLEY: Quite frankly they are like kids in a lolly shop. They show no restraint. They have no understanding of money and business and accountability and the implications of getting the Territory into serious levels of debt. They do not care. They make a mockery of past efforts to stop this major problem from occurring.
FULLER: What then does the future hold for the NT?
LAMBLEY: I don’t think the debt level will be addressed by either government. If the CLP for example, were to come in and try to implement an austerity program, or pass on the real costs to consumers of some services, like power and water for example, that is likely to have a major political impact, as it did with the previous CLP government. The future is likely to be that we will continue down this path I suspect for some years, until a courageous Federal government steps in and says this has gone way too far and makes a decision around mismanagement of finances in the Northern Territory.
“When we recruit staff our first question is, do you like people,” says Turkish-born train manager Zafer Tasci, looking after 211 passengers in a train that’s nearly a kilometre long.
And here is the kind of thing why. Police report September 16, 2024, three days before my train overnighted in Alice: “At about 5:00am on Sunday, four males unlawfully entered a hotel room while the occupant was asleep, stealing alcohol and personal belongings. 
Opportunities for Alice Springs clearly include enticing Ghan passengers to break the journey here and resuming it on the next service – or the one after.
Bradley Campbell, General Manager Rail Operations says: “Suppliers we have worked with in Alice over the last 10 years include Standley Chasm, Earth Sanctuary, Pyndan Camel Tracks, School of the Air, Reptile Centre and Tailormade Tours.”
One speaker at the protest said: “We won’t budge.”
Mr Stevens subsequently reverted to tacit support of the Anzac Hill site. Ms Stuart has remained adamantly opposed. She was not present yesterday because of illness but her family was strongly represented.
NEWS: What is Central Australia going to get out of the CLP government?
By ERWIN CHLANDA
By ERWIN CHLANDA
“
The conversation between the commissioner and his new boss – Ms Finocchiaro is also the Police Minister – is likely to have included issues raised by 
Mr Finn described police officers “
“Despite strong maximum penalties for assaults on police, it’s the Sentencing Act which lets police down, time and time again. 
Others to follow were Ian Tuxworth (Barkly) and Labor opposition leaders Bob Collins, Brian Ede and Maggie Hickey, who all led Labor to its worst election defeats last century.
And that’s when it all came unstuck, as only seven months later Mills was ousted as Chief Minister by the Member for Braitling, Adam Giles (at right).
Gary Higgins, the Member for Daly (a large Top End bush seat), took over the CLP leadership.
In Lia Finocchiaro (at right), we have yet another Chief Minister whose electorate of Spillett is a part of Palmerston, leading a new government with 16 members at latest count.
GERRITSEN: If you look at the Territory elections they really have about 10% and to win a seat they’ve got to get a vote higher than the CLP or the ALP candidates. And I don’t think they’ll do that.”
NELSON: I’m hard pressed to believe that Robyn Lambley would be unseated in this election. 
McCARTHY: I have to get the figures for you but what I can say is that I have raised the issue of poverty consistently, especially the cost of living situation.
COMMENT by DON FULLER
Ever since the event ended on August 5, every police media release has been prefaced with this: “An apology to Aboriginal Territorians. 
McFARLAND: They are hitting the ground two layers up. They are not addressing food security, or energy security. It’s really cold. If you have consistently not enough money to both feed your family and to keep the power on, then what respect are you going to have for the system? 
Internal road and tracks may serve as fire breaks but will be insufficient if a wildfire ignites in the dense metre-high dry grass, especially on a windy day.
Equally so, the high fence facing Mt Blatherskite boasts a large hole torn through the wire netting at one spot and an entire panel flattened by vehicles a bit further along.
St Mary’s is a place of immense local historical and cultural significance but is now in an appalling state.
UPDATE 19/8/24 at 11.15am
By MARK SMITH
1953 McArthur flew to London from Sydney airport. 
A spokesman replied: 
