The YMCA has withdrawn from its aquatic centre management contract more than two years before it was due to expire in July 2014.
The Town Council is now calling for tenders, seeking “professional and experienced managers of aquatic and leisure facilities for the contract which will commence on Sunday 1 July, 2012”.
This follows disclosure of financial difficulties first reported by the Alice Springs News Online and more recently, an intervention by WorkSafe in the handling of chlorine gas cylinders.
Earlier problems had been described as “major”.
Council CEO Rex Mooney says “council and the current contractor have agreed that a new management tender is in the best long term interest of the operations of the facility.”
Chair of YMCA Central Australia Fiona Davis says: “YMCA Central Australia would like to thank Alice Springs Town Council for the guidance and support with Alice Springs Aquatic and Leisure Centre, which is a wonderful facility and a valuable asset for Central Australia.”
The Y withdraws from town pool management
Dollars for the bush in NT budget
The sealing of the 157km Namatjira Drive, which began in 2006, will finally be completed in early 2014, according to Minister for Lands and Planning Gerry McCarthy. On Tuesday he announced $5m worth of funding will be in this year’s budget for sealing the final 7km stretch. Work won’t start however till mid 2013. An estimated 50 people will be employed on the construction.
The drive must be one of Australia’s most scenic, connecting with Larapinta Drive west of Alice Springs, heading along the MacDonnell Ranges to Glen Helen and beyond from where it heads southwards to Gosses Bluff. An estimated 41 to 183 vehicles travel the road per day.
The on-going sealing of the Tanami Road will also get an allocation of $2m in the budget. The Tanami runs from the Stuart Highway to the WA border, a distance of 703 kms. Sealing began in 2004. To date some 220kms have been sealed, in six separate stretches. The $2m will cover another 4kms. Vehicle numbers are from 37 to 124 per day.
The Tanami is the start of the journey to many Aboriginal communities to the west and north-west of Alice, including the Growth Towns of Papunya, Yuendumu and Lajamanu. As CEO of Central Desert Shire Roydon Robertson says, “You can’t have Growth Towns without decent roads to the get to them.”
Mr McCarthy said the budget will allocate about $21 million for roads maintenance in the Central Australian region.
The Growth towns of Lajamanu and Ntaria (Hermannsburg) will also get capital works funding in this budget for water infrastructure: $2.2m for bores and rising main at Ntaria and $3m at Lajamanu, according to an announcement by Minister for Essential Services Rob Knight.
Three new businesses in three weeks
Breathing new life into the CBD
By KIERAN FINNANE
There are ripples of activity at either end of Todd Mall. At the southern end, a new travel shop is shouting out from the corner of Gregory Terrace and Todd Street, the first business to open there after a string of closures and relocations. And at the northern end, there’s a new cafe, Ziggiz, and this week Piccolo’s restaurant relocated to where Oscar’s used to be.
No-one can have missed the artwork on the travel shop, but inside there’s more to it than its new look and the usual booking service. The core attraction is access to Wicked Campers. There are reasonably conventional-looking hatchbacks for two people, fitted out with a double bed and equipped with basic cooking gear, or else five-person vans with a rooftop tent. Both come at the same price, $299 for a round trip to The Rock over two nights and three days.
Manager Sara Bangs was head-hunted from Wicked Campers in Perth to manage the business, which also acts as an agent for Tribal Tours. The shop’s been open about two weeks. Customers are coming in off the street and online. There’s a good mix, she says: “We’ve had a couple in their sixties taking a car, it’s not just for backpackers.”
Quite a few locals have also looked in: “They’re glad someone has moved in and they like the artwork.”
Asher Tuzewski is the man behind Ziggiz cafe, tucked into a little shopfront of the cinema complex. He had his IT business in there before he moved it into a new location at the southern end, on the corner of the mall and Reg Harris Lane. That was six months ago – “it’s going great guns now” – and being a demon for work, he was ready to do something in the shopfront over which he still had a lease.
“I always had a yearning for the good old days,” he says, “when you could go to a cafe before or after the movies. It was one of the things I 
really liked to do, to have a chat with friends about the movie we’d just seen, but it didn’t exist anymore. That whole social experience of going to the movies was not there. And I thought if I was hankering for it other people probably were too.”
It opened about three weeks ago, at first selling only coffee, but not any old coffee. They tried lots of varieties before finally settling on their own special blend, sourced from a Brisbane roaster. Next they introduced cakes, baked daily and exclusive to them – things like chocolate eclairs, profiteroles, almond Florentines, chocolate-dipped meringues. Soon there’ll be hot breakfast foods: “I’m a ‘small steps’ kinda guy – one step at a time and get each one right,” says Asher.
They open early, by 7.30am, and close late, the exact time depending on what’s happening at the cinema.
“In the cities you can go to a cafe day or night but in Alice Springs there was nowhere like that. We’re the only non-alcoholic venue open late. It’s a cultural readjustment.”
They’ve got games, everything from chess and backgammon to pickup sticks and Uno: “People play them all the time, or just sit and have a chat – you don’t have to go to the movies.”
Being right next to the Todd Tavern and drive-in bottleshop, it’s not always an easy place to do business. The dark carparks in the vicinity are also a problem. The cafe has frequent contact with police and security services and Asher has been lobbying to have better lighting throughout the area.
But the simple fact of the cafe’s presence makes a contribution to improved security at the northern end: “We’re an extra pair of eyes in the area and we’ve been able to help clamp down on some issues.”
At present a team of nine people keeps Ziggis open, with one full-timer and hopefully a second in a few weeks’ time, as the cafe gets busier.
Asher, who grew up in Alice, sees the cafe as part of a big picture: “It’s the same as with the Mac shop. It supports the community, grows business and employment. It delivers better skills and more skills back into the town and creates opportunities for the next generation that didn’t exist for our own generation. I want people to believe in this town.”
Pictured, from top: Signage you can’t miss, the new travel shop on the corner of Gregory Terrace and Todd Street. • Finishing touches at Piccolo’s on opening day last Monday. • Manager of the travel shop, Sara Bangs. • Barista Melissa at Ziggiz cafe • Ziggis a welcome new presence at the northern end of the mall, often a hot spot for anti-social behaviour.
Past coverage of issues in Todd Mall on this site includes:
Nose-diving CBD: it happened on the 11th Council’s watch
We need public-friendly public places
Downward spiral or shuddering readjustment?
Revealing the spirit of Parsons Street
Will Alice Plaza businesses turn around?
Northern mall and Parsons Street get top priority in revamp of town centre
It's an A for 400 self-drivers to The Alice
By ERWIN CHLANDA
Why an A’van? That’s easy: you can fold it down to half its height in 20 seconds and it won’t cause the fuel-guzzling drag a normal caravan does.
The A’van – starting price $25,000 – is strong. None of the walls are made from canvas.
The triangles on either side fold on top of each-other, and so do the quadrangles front and back, all resting on the bench tops inside for towing.
They are great for two people on a trip of a couple of weeks (although too small for extended living, having no bathroom, for example).
Why these simple advantages spawned a veritable cult – very benign, to be sure – is a bit of a mystery, until you discover the friendly like-mindedness of the owners.
This week 200 of the 1200 trailers belonging to members of the A’van Club of Australia Inc are in Alice Springs for its annual convention.
The club was founded by Joan and Brendon Smith from Yarrambat, north of Melbourne, in 1999, after buying an A’van.
They asked manufacturer Jeff van Baardwyk if there was a A’van club. He said no but, not surprisingly, he liked the idea.
The rest is history.
Mr Smith says the nearly 400 delegates, between them, are traveling three quarters of a million kilometers to attend the convention, and will spend half a million dollars in town for petrol, food and caravan park site fees during their stay of no less than a week.
They come from all over Australia to attend this no-rush affair, settled into the MacDonnell Range Caravan Park.
The Smiths are full of praise for the park and its owner, Brendan Heenan.
He won hearts both as the Sunday morning pancake cook (he moved forward this free-of-charge event so some people could attend a church service), as well as the Deputy Mayor, welcoming the convention delegates together with Mayor Damien Ryan.
Mr Smith says they emphasized the town’s efforts in dealing with law and order issues, such as the Clontarf Foundation’s inroads on poor school results and attendance.
The business of the convention is strictly low pressure: election of officers, discussing the highlights of the year, thanking the presidents of the 13 sub-groups which are planning the many gatherings around the country, future outings, and so on.
“We’re a very caring group,” say the Smiths.
Mostly retirees, they assist each other in the event of illness or other problems.
Some people are so attached to the group that they flew to Alice for the gathering because they didn’t have time to do the long road trip.
There is plenty of time to “do” the tourist attractions in and near town.
Some 200 attended the Anzac dawn service and 20 marched.
But – a sign of the times, perhaps – the caravan park puts on lots of night-time entertainment, with the new “shed” available for when the weather doesn’t favour outdoor fun: a bush dance (hopefully with Ted Egan), a card night, a flora and fauna show, star gazing, a wine and cheese night on the hill, a jam session and an evening featuring digeridoo playing and music by Barry Skipsey.
“There is so much to do,” says Mrs Smith.
Organised daytime fun includes a heritage walk and bike rides in town, and a street breakfast in the tourist park itself.
The camaraderie extends well beyond the destination: on the trip up and down A’vanners casually get together, half a dozen vans, share a camping ground, sometimes just by the roadside, and “enjoy happy hours,” as the Smiths put it.
They praise the bitumen road to The Centre, the camping grounds, and are amazed by the green landscape after the record rains.
Exception: The flies are really bad right now between Port Augusta and Coober Pedy.
Photos: Like Doctor Who’s telephone box – it’s so much bigger inside: June Hicks in her A’van in Alice today, at the MacDonnell Range Caravan Park. Chilling outdoors in The Alice after couple of days of rain.
Shire vacancies set to be filled
All vacancies will be filled on shire councils, with enough nominations coming in by today’s deadline. In fact in Central Desert, MacDonnell and Barkly Shires supplementary elections will have to be held as there are now more nominations than vacancies.
In the Anmatjere Ward of Central Desert Shire four people have put up their hands for three seats. They include two former councillors, James Glenn and Dianne Martin. Mrs Martin stood in Southern Tanami Ward, where she lives, but missed out there. You have to live within the shire to stand, but not necessarily within the ward. Southern Tanami is adjacent to Anmatjere.
The other two nominees for Anmatjere Ward are Marlene Tilmouth and Benedy Bird.
In MacDonnell Shire’s Rodinga Ward, where there is one vacancy, Rosalie Riley and Louise Cavanagh have nominated.
In Barkly Shire, Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, its former president, did not stand March 24, but has now nominated for a councillor position in the shire’s Alyawarr Ward. There are two vacancies and four nominations. The others are Timothy Jakara Price, Leslie Morton and Eileen Bonney.
Pictured: Candidates in the Anmatjere Ward supplementary election: Dianne Martin (left) and James Glenn. Both served as councillors during the first Central Desert Shire Council.
See also our discussion of the shire reform and the recent election results.
Government debt drag on shire finances
By KIERAN FINNANE
Take a look at the Central Desert Shire’s “Accounts receivable” summary and you begin to get a picture of the complexity of shire operations. Their debtors range from small local businesses, a plethora of Aboriginal organisations and other NGOs to government departments. Most of it is quite in order, within the normal 30 day turnaround for accounts. But over $500,000 has been owed the shire for more than 90 days and a big swag of this is owed by Territory Housing. As at February 29 the amount was $403,992.06.
Some of that has since been paid. However invoices for over $300,000, relating to work done in 2010-11, are still being verified, according to a statement from the department.
At the last council meeting Councillor Liz Bird asked the executive whether it was concerned by size of the Territory Housing debt.
“Extremely concerned” was the answer.
Director of Corporate Services Cathryn Hutton said there had been “countless meetings” to try to resolve the problem. There were a number of invoices in dispute and some progress had been made recently.
She said Central Desert was not the only shire affected. CEO Roydon Robertson told councillors that a number of shire CEOs had met with the head of the department to try to resolve their “massive concerns”, as a result of which a working party was being formed.
This has apparently helped.
There were several meetings last week and it’s “just about sorted”, Mr Robertson told the Alice Springs News Online today.
The invoicing was for repairs to Territory Housing stock, which the shire carries out under contract. There are up to 21 bureaucratic steps involved for this work to be initiated, completed and paid for.
The Alice News asked the department whether this process could be streamlined.
This was the reply:
The process for reporting, actioning and paying for tenancy management repairs and maintenance services includes:
1. Repairs and maintenance work is requested from the tenant or tenancy manager.
2. Central Desert Shire raises a work request, and provides this to Territory Housing.
3. Territory Housing authorises works and raises a work order to the Shire authorising them to complete the works.
4. Work is complete and Territory Housing is invoiced.
“Includes” is the catch word.
“It can happen this way, ” says Mr Robertson, “but there are 21 steps in our agreement, it’s very complex.”
However, following a report by consultants KPMG, “we are expecting improvements”, he says.
Grog, residential land, law & order: More power to Alice under Country Liberals, says Terry Mills.
Central Australians would get much more influence over their affairs if the Country Liberals gained power in this year’s NT election, says Opposition Leader Terry Mills.
In an interview with the Alice Springs News Online yesterday he said locals and the town council will have a greater say about town planning, and stakeholders will be involved in decisions over tourism promotion.
Alcohol control measures will “bring back peace to the streets of Alice Springs” and will have strong mandatory elements. There is no mention of a take-away free day nor a floor price.
The big shires may be broken up so that decision making is brought “closer to the people”.
And while policies have yet to be fine-tuned, Mr Mills promises cheap residential land to enable young people to “get a stake in the Territory”.
He spoke with editor ERWIN CHLANDA.
NEWS: Robyn Lambley, when campaigning for Araluen, said it’s worth considering selling land in Kilgariff to first home buyers at the cost of development, around $60,000 to $70,000 per block. Would you be doing that?
MILLS: Given the importance of having particularly young people with a real stake in the Territory by giving them the ability to buy land we would be, as far as we can, heading in that direction.
We can’t damage the existing market but it is in that space that we will be working.
The main thing is, you’ve got to recognise the existing market but there are mechanisms that will allow people on modest incomes into the marketplace, namely through equity shares.
If you qualify as a first home buyer you [buy] property at cost but you are required to stay there for a set period of time.
You cannot sell it, you can’t speculate with it. You can’t take advantage of the concession you have been given for a set period of time. This is one of our most important areas of policy.
NEWS: Alcohol reform is one of the town’s major concerns.
MILLS: There will be alcohol reform. We will get rid of the banned drinkers register, we will have a genuine mandatory rehabilitation program, increase rehab support, build prison farms with a focus on rehab, and introduce licensed social clubs in communities.
NEWS: What will you do to revitalize the town?
MILLS: We will develop an overarching, coordinated strategic plan for Alice Springs, answering the question, what do the town’s people want Alice Springs to look like in the five, 10, 15, 20 years’ time?
We have already announced the Planning Commission which will develop town and region master plans from which will flow the approval of proposals by the existing Development Consent Authority (DCA).
At present planning is done on an ad-hoc basis.
The Planning Commission will involve Alice Springs people, professional planners and strategists. It will report to the Minister and its reports will be made public through the Parliament. There will be no politicians on it. It will have a representative of local government. It will be at arm’s length from the political process.
NEWS: Will local government get planning powers?
MILLS: Yes, by being involved in the Planning Commission.
NEWS: Currently there are two council members on the DCA but they are there in their own right, not representing the council. What influence, under your government, would the town council have on the DCA and the proposed Planning Commission?
MILLS: Local government will be represented on the Planning Commission.
NEWS: In a majority?
MILLS: No, it will be represented. The commission will also have other local professional people on it.
NEWS: Will the Minister be able to over-rule the Planning Commission as he can – and frequently does – the DCA?
MILLS: The Minister can, however the advice from the Planning Commission is made known to the Parliament and, consequently, to the public. Currently the DCA advice to the Minister remains confidential. The Minister has to wear the political risk of making a decision contrary to Planning Commission advice. The Commission will be an independent body.
NEWS: What would a CL Government do in the CBD?
MILLS: The CBD will benefit from law and order initiatives which flow from our alcohol reform. We’ll be taking out of circulation those who are coming before our courts, again and again. This intervention will strengthen the control of the streets. Prisoners will be deployed to assist with cleaning up the place.
NEWS: The tourism industry is in crisis.
MILLS: The marketing plans for Alice Springs must be set by Alice Springs people, by the stakeholders on the ground, who are selling the products.
NEWS: Would the local lobby, Tourism Central Australia, be given a greater role?
MILLS: Yes. Promotion must be driven, it must be owned by locals stakeholders. The process starts there.
NEWS: What would happen with the super shires?
MILLS: The shire reform has not worked. We’re not going back to the way it was before. There was obviously a need for reform. But on the principle of bringing the decision making closer to the people, we are working with traditional people to identify the best construct for local shires, moving away from the super shires to something that’s a better fit for local people. Recognising language and culture is a better way of delineating the boundaries of shires rather than something that sucks decision making authority away from local people. Traditional people can see where the lines should be drawn.
NEWS: If the shire boundary lines are drawn on language and tribal criteria, how many shires would there be?
MILLS: Couldn’t give you the number.
NEWS: The number of tribes and languages is known.
MILLS: Some can work with others and some can’t easily. It’s not a simple matter of getting out the ethnographic map. The decisions must ultimately be made by the people. Some may want the bigger shires arrangement, some may not.
NEWS: Will the people on the ground be making these decisions? How will they be asked? Will there be a plebiscite?
MILLS: We will be working with them. Alison Anderson will be able to give more details.
NEWS: Will some of the senior public servants who have been shifted to Darwin be returned to Alice Springs?
MILLS: Yes, they will be. Following our philosophical approach, you have got to have more decision making closer to The Centre. That’s the direction we would go in.
NEWS: Will the Mereenie Ring Road be built?
MILLS: It depends on the state of the books. I can’t say when. I’m genuinely concerned about the state of the books.
Photo: Mr Mills addressing protesters outside NT Parliament during its sittings in Alice Springs in last year.
Keep racist remarks off Facebook site, police officer appeals
By ERWIN CHLANDA
The Facebook site Assist your local Alice Springs Police is “not about presenting racist remarks. It is about reducing the harm associated with crime and anti-social behaviour”.
This appeal comes from Police Senior Sergeant Michael Potts (picture from Facebook) who earlier this week was listed on the site as its administrator.
Sgt Potts said in a posting yesterday, apparently referring to the Alice Springs News Online report, posted on Tuesday: “Due to a recent news article and some posts / comments that have been written I wish to clear up some issues.
“Firstly I am not an Administrator for this site although I have asked to be put back as one to enable me to make this post.
“The Administration of this group is now in the hands of the community and has been this way for about a week.
“It is clear that some people are using this forum for their own agenda and not for the aims that the group was developed for.
“For this reason I have requested the Administrators to remove the capability of people to add their own posts. You will still be able to comment but the Administrators will control the posts or topics of discussion.
“I would like to thank those people that are promoting positive community involvement in this group and I would urge you to continue this. The information that you are providing is assisting your local police.
“It is important that you remember that if you witness any illegal activity then you should report it on 131444 or if an emergency 000.
“Some comments made by people on this group indicate that they possibly witnessed the behaviour of offenders before, during or after an event, observations that were not reported to police.
“This group has enabled those persons to be identified and to further enable the police to contact them to assist in investigations.”
The News has contacted Sgt Potts for further comment.
A fence to play
This fence is not designed to keep people in or out; it’s designed to make them happy.
“It’s not a new idea,” designer Elliat Rich told the children. “It’s a small innovation of an old idea.”
She remembered how kids used to run with a stick along a fence making their own kind of music. What’s different about this fence is that every pipe, tubes of copper, aluminium, brass and steel, makes a different note.
So it’s called The Melody Fence. It’s situated at the front of Ross Park Primary School and while it’s bound to be a favourite for their students, it’s also open to the public, says Assistant Principal Elizabeth Verstappen. Just step inside the front entrance on Winnecke Avenue and enjoy!
Rich worked with musician Bree van Reyk to get her fence to sing. It’s in the key of C, so whatever combination of notes that is produced it will always sound harmonious. And if you happen to run along the fence from start to finish – some 15 metres – it plays a melody composed by van Reyk.
This afternoon, at the launch of this public art project, the children’s own compositions were centre stage. They had been at workshops with van Rejk this week but it wasn’t a matter of drilling them: “They did things I wouldn’t have got them to do. I’m more fixed in my ideas than they are. There’s a naivety in what they do that is really beautiful.”
Rich paid tribute to her collaborators: DNA Steel for their “attention to detail” and CAT Projects, a “formidable team”, for fabrication and installation.
She also thanked the children for testing the fence, looking after it, playing with it.
“Alice Springs is so unique and creative, public art is a great way to express that,” she said.
The Melody Fence was funded by Arts NT.
– KIERAN FINNANE
Pictured, from top: Bree van Reyk plays the fence with children from Class 2/3. • The Melody Fence team, from left: Derren Champness from DNA Steel, designer Elliat Rich, Ross Park Primary School Assistant Principal Elizabeth Verstappen , musician Bree van Reyk, and Emma Chessel from CAT Projects. • The fence takes effect: delight!
UPDATE, February 5, 2016: Watch this for a tuneful Melody Fence.
A stabbing that didn't happen?
By ERWIN CHLANDA
It seems a serious crime in our streets, where children were among the victims, remained unreported to both the police and to the children’s services of the NT Government.
We strongly believe the following occurred: A woman and her three young children were attacked by six to eight people in the Target carpark, Todd Mall, at 8.30pm on Saturday, April 7.
She received a wound, inflicted possibly with a knife, which required 14 stitches.
Her son, in his mid-teens, was apparently stabbed, and a younger son had his jaw broken. Another child and the woman were bashed.
The attackers demanded money and were given $50. They tore a gold chain off the woman’s neck.
We received this information from two people linked to the woman, one of them closely.
Both informants were known previously to the News and we have no doubt about their reliability.
They spoke to the News on condition of not be named.
We know the woman’s name but we will not be publishing it.
The crime was not reported to the police, and we don’t know why not.
Neither was it to the Department of Family and Children’s Services (
One reason why the woman is keeping mum could be that the perpetrators threatened her with further violence if she reported them.
The question that needs to be answered, but has not been, is this: Why did the hospital not tell the police what happened?
Russell Goldflam, the president of the NT Criminal Lawyers Association, explains the obligations: “Although there is no general duty to report a crime, mandatory reporting of both domestic violence and child abuse applies in the Northern Territory.
“Under these laws, all adults (including medical staff) who reasonably believe that a child under 18 has suffered harm are legally obliged to report this as soon as possible to police or child protection authorities.”
The News put the following questions to the hospital’s media people, both here and in Darwin:-
Were the woman and her children treated in the hospital?
Why was a report to the police not made?
What is the hospital’s policy about reporting to the police injuries that clearly, or most likely, are the result of a crime?
We gave the hospital the woman’s name but assured them she and her children would not be identified in our report.
The hospital’s response, given by Bridget Wild, can only be described as bizarre. In summary this is what it was:-
No information can be given because the woman and her children are not in the hospital at present.
If they were current inpatients, the only information that would be given is whether their condition is serious or stable, or serious but stable.
The spokeswoman gave no answer about the policy regarding reports to the police because “we are not dealing in hypotheticals. We are not able to discuss it at all. We are not commenting on anything”.
Have your say!
Call to close Northside liquor shop.
Inaction on all levels of government is hurting The Alice: Former resident.
Listen, act NOW, involve the town.
POSTED April 30, 2012 (This comment was posted in response to our report “Those in a hurry and those who are not”)
I left Alice Springs after 13 years, not because of the anti social behavior, not because because of the endemic drinking problem, not because of the myriad of social problems in Alice. I left Alice because of the inaction on all levels of government, from the CLC, to the council, to the minister, and a whole jumble of governing bodies of people, whose main objective in this whole mess is to bring home a big pay check, employ a countless numbers of consultants to do their job for them, and still not willing to make the hard decisions and put into action a plan to fix my town. A town and ALL its people who I love dearly, and sincerely think are the most unique and accommodating people that I have ever met in my life. LISTEN to my Model / Plan to secure a safe and thriving town for all.
1: Dismantle and throw out all the insane drinking regulations that cause a horrific backlash to the community, and replace it with the standard model that the rest of Australia uses make the offenders accountable. Just execute it! Simple. The existing regulations / prohibition only gives the impression to the rest of Australia that the NT Government cannot manage its own back yard and puts Alice Springs into the bad town to live in image, bad publicity brought about by fly in and out politicians who have not walked the walk or talked the talk, honestly what chance have we got!
2: Drinking in public. Again same law as the rest of Australia make the offenders accountable. Again Execute IT! SIMPLE, its not rocket science just common sense.
It is inconceivable that under the very noses of all government departments, best examples being all around the council chambers itself, the Todd River, and yes! even outside the very Police department that are charged with the enforcement of this law, that in any minute of any given day alcohol is consumed and the discarded bottles and cans are left in full view for all to see. As quick as the discarded cans and bottles hit the ground the council sneaks in every morning early and cleans the areas. What an insult to the Alice Springs people.
The Big problem here is not the fact that this is happening on a daily basics, it’s the dismay, the disappointment, the frustration that infiltrate the community as a whole which promote racial intolerance, a repulsive by product of yet another failed government process.
The Minister blames the people for talking down the town and instructs us to talk up the town and all will just go away. I say to you Minister, sit down and listen to the families of lost ones, injured ones and sick ones that are products of this mess, and think to yourself if this were my children my family my friends, would I just walk out silently into the night as I have done in the past?
3: Anti Social Behaviour: Again an existing Australian model exists for this – Execute it! And so on and on and on. Simplistic ideas? Not at all! Use what you have and get the job done! No more over complicating and procrastinating over all the issues make a stand now! The people of Alice stand with you, I know this for I have walked the walk and talked the talk.
The People of Alice Springs expect, no, demand that the government workers employed by the people for the people act now or move aside and let someone else have a go, that’s what Australians do, have a go and save our town.
Anthony de Souza
Formerly Alice Springs
New town pool failure: workers were in danger of being 'crushed'
By ERWIN CHLANDA
WorkSafe have issued a “prohibition notice” after observing manual handling of chlorine gas cylinders at Alice Springs Aquatic Centre, because workers were at risk of “being crushed by the cylinders if they got away from them”.
Laurene Hull, the Executive Director of the authority, says the prohibition notice does not affect public access to the pool as management is now chlorinating the water by other means.
This is the latest controversy involving the town council owned centre and its management by the YMCA.
The Y’s Helen Sargent, who is in charge of the pool contract, declined to comment when asked by the Alice Springs News Online.
Recently a letter leaked to the News revealed that there are significant cost overruns for the management, and the Y is seeking a higher fee from the council.
Council’s works manager, Greg Buxton, says the Y is obliged under the contract to comply within safe operating procedures which, relate also to the handling of the chlorine cylinders, and to comply with Occupational Health and Safety requirements under the Act.
“This is a matter between the Y and WorkSafe,” says Mr Buxton.
Poetry finds a welcoming hearth in Alice
Metal gig upstairs, poetry downstairs, crowds for both!
Last Friday’s poetry evening at Soma restaurant drew an unexpected crowd of over 70 people. At one point there seemed to be standing room only! The cold and blustery autumn night did not deter throngs of people seeking the pleasures of poetry in the warmth of Soma. As the new project officer for the NT Writers Centre in Alice Springs, Kelly-lee Hickey brings an enthusiasm and passion for the job that can only be found in a poet or writer. She was inspired to see so many people turn out for the first Off the Page event of the year. As Michael Watts said on the night, poetry has an important place in our society.
The experience also showed how even as adults we love to be read to. Perhaps the opportunities outside of the young child age bracket are limited. A new lover reads aloud from their favourite books as they reveal themselves to you, or you do as you read in your turn to them. It got me to thinking about how popular audio books are now. I’ve always loved listening and still being able to do something with my hands. I’ll bet the busier our lifestyles have become so too the popularity of audio books has risen.
I also wondered about the starts to our lives with wondrous tales and sleepy time stories told to us as vulnerable children, only to end our days with the same. I imagine little old vulnerable great grandmothers being read stories by grown up great grand daughters. As I imagine it, it looks nice.
Back at Soma though with glasses of red wine and hot toddys, the readers, Penny Drysdale, Blair McFarland, Jenny McFarland and Michael Watts, demonstrated the wonderfully authentic quality of writers in the Northern Territory who at times chose to tackle substantial matters and at others, delight with humour and wit. Laurie May, Kym and Ben McIntyre were the poetic souls brave enough to step up to the open mike. Laurie May’s reading was lyrical and rhythmic, recounting blunt truths of a woman’s experience and held the room captive through all four or five pages.
The double bill of poetry readings downstairs and a metal gig upstairs on the roof shows the lively and incredibly diverse arts scene that for many is a major part of Alice Springs’ appeal. And so it was with poetic phrases all jumbling away in my brain and the bent and grinding sounds of the metal gig kicking off … that a very satisfying evening concluded for some and for others was only just beginning!
Pictured: Poet Penny Drysdale in action. Photo by KIM HOPPER.
Treasures of our past and present
One of Alice Springs’ living treasures, local historian Jose Petrick, will wrap up Heritage Week with a talk about the Robert Czako Mural at St Mary’s Chapel this Sunday afternoon (April 22).
Says Mrs Petrick: “Hungarian artist, Robert Czako, painted this awe-inspiring religious painting on St Mary’s Chapel wall in 1958. About 24 biblical scenes and characters portray the young and old, rich and poor, people of all nations and cultures. In a kaleidoscope of flowing lines, garment folds, angry faces but also gentleness, radiance and grace, stories are told from the Book of Revelations and also the Old Testament.”
Mrs Petrick also has her own story to tell of how she came to uncover some of the detail of this little known chapter in Alice’s history.
St Mary’s is situated south of the Old Timers on the South Stuart Highway. Be there at 2pm for 2.30pm start. The talk will take about 40 minutes followed by refreshments. Enquiries to Jose Petrick, 08 8952 6041.
Pictured: Jose Petrick in front of the Robert Czako mural. From our archive, 2009.
Build a house for 15% of the going rate
By ERWIN CHLANDA
Twelve years ago, after an international career in show business, three brothers from Melbourne came to Alice Springs with a dream about sustainable living and the determination to make it come true.
Today Ben, 39, Dan, 37 and Tom Falzon, 36, with the hands-on help of their dad Joey, are a long way down that journey – which isn’t meant to have an end.
Their 40 hectare lease on a low hill of airport land at the end of Colonel Rose Drive has the grand name of Earth Sanctuary but its achievements are very much down to earth.
With solar cells and wind turbines, the brothers generate more power than they use.
They are connected to mains water but use it very sparingly, mostly relying on every drop of rain that falls onto the roofs their house, sheds and shelters, and collected in tanks with a combined capacity of 75,000 liters.
And they are building houses with linked together, Pine Gap style geodesic domes for just 15% of the cost of conventional homes.
And all that is put before up to 2000 school kids a year, from Alice Springs and around the nation, and several hundred “dinner and show” guests, mostly under a contract with AAT Kings.
Over the years, local schools have created budgets for visits to the sanctuary, but amazingly, more school groups come all the way from NSW and Victoria.
The brothers supplement this income with outside jobs that, too, are all about people.
Now they mostly work as paramedics with the St John Ambulance: the trauma they have to deal with every day contributes every bit as much to their understanding of the town as did being tour guides in earlier years, between them doing “thousands of trips to The Rock”.
They also worked as bouncers, but far from putting on a sullen gorilla act, the brothers would welcome patrons with a beaming smile, dazzle them with their good looks, shake them all by the hand and wish them a great evening.
How do you deal with the “issues” of Alice Springs? “You treat everybody like a person.”
The brothers’ approach to their mission is methodical, proceeding in six categories: Energy, water, shelter, food, utilities and well-being.
The bottom line is: Anyone should be able to use the systems and gadgets the brothers are promoting, creating, inventing, developing.
Their personal requirements and those of the tourism and education businesses need as much electricity as two “standard households”.
They started with a stand-alone photo-voltaic plant with batteries and back-up diesel generator.
As demand grew, the better option was to hook into the town grid: it supplies power at periods of high demand, such as functions or dinners for the groups, usually around 50 people, for a few hours at a time.
But during the rest of the time the solar plant generating 10.5 KW, and the wind turbines put power in excess of need back into the grid, always resulting in a credit from Power and Water.
The bang for buck calculations are interesting: the six wind turbines worth together $12,000, and the original stand-alone system, worth around $20,000, generate as much power as their new big solar plant which cost $65,000.
On the water ‘front’, given that they don’t have a bore and are not connected to the town’s supply, being frugal is the order of the day.
The dunnies are either the non-flush composting type or low-flow flush ones.
The complex doesn’t have any non-native gardens and lawns which elsewhere in town absorb about half of the water consumed.
The domes are a marvel of simplicity, inspired by the shape of the tipis of the American Indians, the eskimos’ igloos and the Germans’ VW beetle.
Their strength – they can withstand winds of up to 250 kmph – lies in their shape and the interlocked triangles of quite light steel or timber.
Triangles made from 0.75mm galvanised steel sheets sandwiching insulation material are then inserted into the dome’s skeleton, forming the inner and outer cladding. Some of the triangles are filled with glass.
The first big display home consisting of domes linked together sits on a platform on stilts. This enables the easy installation of piping and cabling underneath. No slab, no digging.
It is almost entirely built of steel.
On the southern side of the complex stands an impressive dome made almost entirely of wood, nine meters high, a two-storey construction, with double-glazed windows.
This $90,000 display home, nicknamed Desert Igloo, was bought from a long established firm in the USA, Timberline, imported to compare the two modes of construction and their relative suitability to the Central Australian conditions.
The electrical system of this dome is self-sustained, running on 12 volts throughout and powered by the sun.
The brothers grow cabbage, tomatoes, pumpkins and potatoes but the delicacies come with the land: quandongs, bush plums, native passion fruit, wattle seed and other bush foods.
Being frugal has many aspects to it: It ranges from using laptops not chewing up stand-by power, to running small vehicles and bikes.
But the brothers share more with their guests than their knowledge of self-sufficiency.
The talks range across much that’s good in The Alice, its unpolluted atmosphere, ancient Aboriginal culture, wonderful landscapes, “great people doing great things”.
But the brothers’ familiarity, through their outside jobs, with the town’s woes is getting equal time: “That’s the way it is. Keep your eyes open, a smile on your face, it’ll get you through the day.
“It’s all part of that great outback mix.”
What about that category six, “well-being”?
That’s what it’s all about: applying your own “total health of mind, body and spirit” to the state of the planet.
“Get up in the morning and make a difference.”
The sanctuary isn’t a fly-in, fly-out venture for the Falzons. They and their partners are here to stay.
Their mum is a teacher in Melbourne but a frequent visitor to the sanctuary.
Tom’s is married to Anna who moved here from Hastings, Victoria.
Ben’s long-time partner Michelle is also a paramedic with St John Ambulance. And this Saturday Dan is getting married to local girl Alana Naismith.
Photos (from top): Dan with wind turbines. The two story timber dome. Tom giving the photo voltaic array dust-off. The metal domes.
Leslie Oldfield, 1941-2012
The much loved former Mayor of Alice Springs has passed away.
Leslie Irene Oldfield (Huggins), former Mayor of Alice Springs from 1983 to 1992, died yesterday at Apollo Bay aged 71 years.
As a young woman Leslie traveled overseas.
She was the personal assistant to the Territory’s legendary aviation pioneer Eddie Connellan for many years, and a couple of years ago Leslie returned to give the keynote speech at an event at the aviation museum.
After being Mayor she married her sweetheart from youth, Alan Huggins, in the gardens of the Old Timers Museum and they recently celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary.
They went to live on Alan’s farm in Apollo Bay where they kept sheep and cattle.
Leslie settled easily into the life of the farm and cared for many lambs and baby alpacas.
She established a beautiful and productive garden around the homestead. She learned to spin and spun her own wool.
She became very much part of the community.
After being diagnosed with an aggressive form a cancer which was throughout her body, she spent the last few months of her life in a palliative care unit at Apollo Bay where until quite recently she continued her public life and charitable activities, in her inimitable style, from her bed.
Leslie leaves behind friends across the country, many of whom recently travelled to Apollo Bay to say their goodbyes.
(Contributed by Helen Fisher. Google the many references to this immensely popular public figure in our story archive. Feel free to click FULL STORY and leave your tribute in the comment box.)
Five medivaced to Adelaide after four road crashes
Five people were airlifted to Adelaide Hospital, one with life threatening injuries after three crashes in Central Australia and one on the Barkly.
A campervan with five people on board rolled on the Lasseter Highway, 52 kilometres east of Curtin Springs, at around 2pm yesterday afternoon.
The tourists, two men and three women, all in their early 20s, were travelling north when their Toyota Hiace rolled.
Four people were medivaced to the Alice Springs Hospital, with two 24-year-old men this morning airlifted to Adelaide in a serious condition. The 24-year-old male driver was unharmed.”
In a separate crash, two people suffered serious injuries when the Jeep they were travelling in blew a tyre and rolled at about 6.20pm yesterday.
The two, both 18-year-old women, were medivaced to Adelaide this afternoon.
The Jeep was traveling north when the crash occurred, around nine kilometers past Erldunda on the Stuart Highway.
A truck driver witnessed the crash and offered assistance to the five occupants, three 18-year-old women, a 26-year-old woman and the 21-year-old male driver.”
Meanwhile a 22-year-old man was flown to Adelaide Hospital this afternoon following a single vehicle rollover at 1am on the Barkly Highway.
The man was traveling towards Queensland, about 110km east of the Threeways junction, when the crash occurred.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash, however at this stage it seems the driver lost control of the in a Toyota Hilux causing it to roll.
Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance officers attended the scene after it was called through by another road user.
The two dogs that were traveling in the vehicle were uninjured.
A 41-year-old man received minor injuries when his Toyota Landcruiser struck a camel at 9.45pm on the Lasseter Highway, 17km east of the Ayers Rock Resort.
The vehicle was extensively damaged in the crash after the camel had impacted the windscreen and right hand side of the car.
Three other occupants of the vehicle, a woman and two babies, were uninjured.
The driver in this case is testament to safe driving practices, according to the police.
All passengers were correctly restrained; speed and alcohol were not a factor.
We have in the past seen people less prepared die from this type of incident, police say.
“We are coming up to our busiest time on Northern Territory roads and these incidents highlight the need for drivers to be aware of how fast conditions can change on our roads.
“Drivers unfamiliar to the long distances need to break their trip up into manageable pieces, ensure your vehicle is roadworthy, wear seat belts and drive to arrive.”
(Police media release.)
Alice Springs Facebook vigilantes or neighbourhood watch?
By ERWIN CHLANDA
From letting off steam about crime in The Alice to helping solve some of it – it’s all on a Facebook site called Assist your local Alice Springs Police.
It has 1143 members and local Police Senior Sergeant Michael Potts is the administrator.
Frustration and anger are the hallmarks of many of the posts: “id rather be in America cause while they can sue me they have to live to do that. Its legal to shoot them as they break in. Now thats really what we are coming to. no kidding. people are sick of being broken into by kids that are untouchable.”
Or: “do we get a government rebate on security devices and guns i got it for my solar panels to help the future of the town.”
Or: “if I catch anyone in my house I will be calling an ambulance not the police.”
Some members seem happy about stopping short about taking the law into their own hands: “Spent half my easter upgrading our security at home just going to do our shed and done if somone farts at night i will know :). Oh and smile for the infered camra. 🙂 and yes i cant beleve after living here all my life having to go to this extreme but stuff it im going to make it hard for them.”
Most posts are carrying the author’s full name – or seem to be.
This exchange is about a stolen car:-
Seen a gold commo Ute near aliron on side of road (31 minutes ago).
Do you know if it was north or south and how far away? (20 minutes ago)
Was bout 20 km south on the Stuart highway clear tail lights. (14 minutes ago).
That seems to have been an early warning effort: “What the heck just happened in town??????????/ police everywhere.” (59 minutes ago).
🙁 so glad I didnt take my day care kids on our usual excursion then. (23 minutes ago).
Any updates??? (8 minutes ago).
The site says this group should not be seen as an alternative method of reporting incidents.
“This group is a public forum to assist your local Alice Springs police with any information that you believe may be able to assist with reducing the harm assoicated with crime and anti-social behaviour.”
It’s an “open group” which means people can join to become members and post comments, but also to delete them.
And that sparks more anger: “Hmmmm, why are comments being deleted on this site?? I think you will find that there are a numerous ammount of people on this site that are frustrated and want to put their 2c in!! and why shouldnt we??
“everyone seems to be dancing around the facts here out of fear of being called/labelled Racist. it is the Aboriginal DRUNKS and youths that come from these disfunctional and abusive situations that cause these problems so my question to you Michael Potts what is being done about the bottleshops, pubs, clubs, and other venues selling alochol to VERY OBVIOUSELY People that are DRUNKS to stop this behaviour??
“I have lived in this town all of my life, and to not take my family out for dinner in fear of being attacked by drunk aboriginal people is a JOKE.
“So Obviousely this comment will be deleted and I may be called a racist but hey, oh well, I see first hand what the children in these families are put through, why should the poison be spread into a already failing community all because we are scared of saying the word Aboriginal. from my point of view this town is turing into one Great big town camp.”
Power struggle on Town Council: a sign of things to come?
By KIERAN FINNANE
The so-called Gang of Four were not going to accept the consolation prize. Councillor Liz Martin had said on this site that she would be nominating Cr Brendan Heenan for the role of Alice Springs Deputy Mayor and that runner-up in the mayoral race, Cr Steve Brown, would be ideally suited to chair the Technical Services Committee. Once Cr Heenan was elected by the predicted five / four split in votes, Cr Brown and his supporters, Crs Geoff Booth, Dave Douglas and Eli Melky, were ready.
The four proceeded to refuse all nominations to chair the standing committees in what was clearly a coordinated boycott.
Council has three standing committees – Finance, Corporate and Community Services, and Technical Services – through which is channelled all its business. All councillors are members and attend the meetings which take place a fortnight ahead of the formal monthly Ordinary Meeting. There are no standing orders for committee meetings and they are normally the place for more robust debate and thorough discussion of issues. Ordinary Meetings are normally chaired by the Mayor while committee meetings are chaired by councillors elected to the position.
When Mayor Ryan called for nominations to chair the Finance Committee, Cr Booth nominated Cr Chansey Paech. New to council and its youngest member, Cr Paech seemed surprised but chuffed and accepted the nomination. Cr Jade Kudrenko, also new and youthful, tried to head off the manoeuvre, nominating Cr Booth, an experienced businessman. He declined, so Cr Paech was elected.
Cr Paech then nominated Cr Liz Martin to chair the Corporate and Community Services Committee. She accepted and was declared elected.
Next, Cr Eli Melky nominated Cr Kudrenko to chair the Technical Services Committee. She was clearly startled. If the five who supported Cr 
Heenan to become Deputy Mayor had decided on this in advance, they hadn’t counted on such a reaction from the ‘Gang of Four’. Cr Kudrenko declined the nomination.
Cr Brendan Heenan then nominated Cr Brown, an electrician and builder who would certainly be on top of the issues of this committee. Cr Brown declined. Cr Martin had had her hand up to also nominate Cr Brown.
Cr Heenan then nominated Cr Melky. He declined. Tension was mounting. Cr Melky attempted to lighten the atmosphere: “We love you, Greg!” he told the Director of Technical Services, Greg Buxton.
Cr Martin then asked CEO Rex Mooney whether the same councillor could chair two committees, obviously thinking that she might have to take on Tech Serves as well.
Mr Mooney said that would be “very unusual”. He tried to encourage further nominations, saying that not a lot was required in the role between council meetings. But workload was clearly not the issue.
Mayor Damien Ryan called for nominations.
Cr Booth nominated the Deputy Mayor Heenan.
Cr Heenan said he would like to see a new member of council put their hand up; the role would be a good way of getting into council business. He declined the nomination, the fourth to do so.
Cr Paech nominated Cr Dave Douglas, who declined.
Cr Martin meanwhile was having a quiet word with Cr Kudrenko, who was seated next to her. Cr Martin then asked whether it would be possible to withdraw from Corporate and Community Services, to nominate Cr Kudrenko for that position and then to nominate herself for Tech Services.
She got the nod, duly nominated Cr Kudrenko, seconded by Cr Heenan. Cr Kudrenko accepted although her raised eyebrows suggested that she still felt taken aback by this tactical game playing.
Mayor Ryan then nominated Cr Martin for Technical Services which she accepted.
During the minute’s break that followed, there was a leaden atmosphere in the chamber. After the fine sentiments expressed by all councillors during the swearing-in ceremony, this procedure had felt like a fit of pique at best, outright bullying at worst. It did not augur well for a cooperative approach to council business.
The business of the Ordinary Meeting concluded, it was now time for the Corporate and Community Services Committee to convene. Cr Kudrenko stepped into the chair. She kept her head, deferred to CEO Rex Mooney whenever she was unsure and managed the next lot of business very well, all things considered.
On paper it looked innocuous enough, a matter of finding councillor representatives to sit on the very many other committees, both internal and external, where they are required.
It mostly went smoothly but for a few key committees there was again a power struggle.
The first was over representation on the Town Council and Tangentyere Council steering committee. Two councillors were required in addition to the Mayor. Cr Paech nominated himself (seconded Cr Martin); Cr Martin nominated Cr Kudrenko (seconded Cr Paech); then Cr Melky nominated himself (seconded Cr Brown).
It would have to go to a vote. This must be unusual as there was no clear voting procedure to follow. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, Mr Mooney suggested that the rest of the business continue, while officers put their heads together about how to conduct the vote.
The Town Council and Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation [the native title holders] partnership committee went the same way. It also requires two councillor representatives and the Mayor.
Cr Booth nominated Cr Brown; Cr Melky nominated himself; Cr Martin nominated Cr Paech; Cr Brown nominated Cr Booth; Cr Paech nominated Cr Kudrenko.
A number of other committees were also heading for a vote, including the Todd Mall Redevelopment Project team, for which four councillors were being sought and five nominated. Mayor Ryan headed off possible rancour over this one by suggesting that all five be allowed a seat on the team. This was unanimously agreed to.
What officers decided on as the way to take a vote was unfortunate as it did not allow a clear indication of the level of support for each nominee and discontent over this will possibly fester. There was a show of hands for candidates in order of their nomination, so it ended up being first in, best dressed. (In the course of the night, I had been reminded more than once of quiz shows, with councillors very keen to hit their buttons first – when they do a red light shows on their microphones, attracting the attention of the chair.)
For the Tangentyere committee Crs Paech and Kudrenko had been nominated first and each got five votes, so Cr Melky’s nomination did not go to the vote. He muttered something about a “block” to which Cr Martin took exception – fair enough really, given the coordinated tactics displayed earlier in the evening. Cr Martin asked Mr Mooney to give some direction to councillors about “smart comments” being made in her ear. She said she had had to put up with it for the last 12 months but was not going to “at all” in this term.
Mr Mooney asked Cr Melky, who sits next to Cr Martin and did during the last term, to “kindly refrain”.
The five / four split was then broken for the Lhere Artepe committee vote. Cr Brown won six votes, including those of Cr Martin and Mayor Ryan, and was duly elected. Cr Melky only got four votes, so this time the third nomination, of Cr Paech, was put to the vote. He got five votes and was thus elected.
Further tension was avoided by various nominees to other committees withdrawing before a vote was taken. The exception was for the Alice Springs Population Intelligence Working Group, for which Cr Kudrenko self-nominated and Cr Heenan nominated Cr Brown. Cr Brown won with five votes, including Mayor Ryan’s.
These votes where Mayor Ryan and Cr Martin voted with the “Gang of Four” avert for the time being the possibility of speaking of a Gang of Five. The four never broke ranks.
Pictured, from top: A happy Cr Steve Brown with Local Government Minister Malarndirri McCarthy after his swearing-in. The good cheer didn’t last. • The Greens’ Cr Jade Kudrenko pledges her service. She is proud of her party affiliation but said she will work for all of Alice Springs • Cr Eli Melky, seated next to Cr Liz Martin: there may not have been fireworks but there was definitely irritation. • Below: Cr Dave Douglas pledges his service. The ceremony was well-attended but most left before council got down to business.
BREAKING NEWS: Heenan elected Deputy Mayor
MONDAY 7:30pm
Councillor Brendan Heenan has just been elected Deputy Mayor with the support of Mayor Damien Ryan, and Councillors Liz Martin (who nominated Cr Heenan), Chansey Paech (the seconder) and Jade Kudrenko.
Cr Eli Melky nominated Cr Steve Brown for the position to be held for one year, seconded by Cr Geoff Booth and also supported by Cr Dave Douglas. The five to four vote was as predicted by the Alice Springs News Online.
Alice Springs music students to play at BASSINTHEGRASS
Charles Darwin University music students Micah Rothwell and Elsie Lange (pictured) have been invited to perform at the BASSINTHEGRASS music festival following their success in the Battle of the School Bands final in Darwin on Friday.
Micah and Elsie, both studying Certificate III in Music at Alice Springs campus, combined their talents as “Elcah Rane” to win the category for soloists and duos.
Alice Springs campus Contemporary Music lecturer Cain Gilmour, who watched the duo perform at The Big Gig concert at the Darwin Museum Amphitheatre on Friday, said they were the first Alice Springs student musicians to have won a Battle of the School Bands final.
He said they performed two original songs “As a Rose” and “Bring You Down”.
“They produced strong sounds and good harmonies and rocked both the judges and the crowd.
“So impressive were they that one of the judges invited them to perform a set of original solo numbers at a Darwin restaurant on Friday night.
“They are extremely excited about the prospect of playing alongside The Hilltop Hoods, The Jezabels and others, and are now busily writing fresh material for their 15-minute slot at BASS.”
Mr Gilmour said the Alice Springs student band The FootKnuckles came third in the band category.
“They acquitted themselves very well performing two original songs and were a bit unlucky to have missed out to some other talented young musicians.”
“Five of the six Alice Springs performers are studying music through CDU and were assessed for various competencies such as performance, professionalism and working as an ensemble group.”
The Central Australian band finalists were: The FootKnuckles (Patrick Kavanagh, Chaz Sisko and Rothwell, (Centralian Senior Secondary College), Danny Phillips and Clay Zimmerman (St Philips College). [News release from the CDU.]
Sid Anderson returned as president of MacDonnell Shire
By KIERAN FINNANE
MacDonnell Shire Council reinstated its leadership duo at the first meeting of the new council yesterday, returning Sid Anderson to the presidency, with Roxanne Kenny as his deputy.
Councillor Irene Nangala nominated Cr Anderson, seconded by Cr Lance Abbott. Both are from Luritja Pintubi Ward in the north-west of the shire, as is Cr Anderson. But Cr Richard Doolan from Rodinga Ward, at the eastern end, and Cr Barry Abbott from Ljirapinta Ward in the middle, both raised their hands to back his nomination. There was no dissent.
Taking his seat to chair the meeting, Cr Anderson thanked the councillors for “having confidence” in him, adding simply, “We’ll work together.”
It was a quiet victory for the shire leader who in his first term had to weather protracted media controversy over his past as well as an outcry over a proposed contract out-sourcing a shire function to a firm in India.
Cr Kenny (first elected from the Ljirapinta Ward) was nominated by Cr Nangala, seconded by Cr Marlene Abbott (Iyarrka Ward, south-west).
Discussion during the meeting showed councillors to be thinking beyond their own patch. In deciding on where to hold their meetings over the coming 12 months (yesterday’s was in Alice Springs), Cr Barry Abbott said this should be discussed with the communities. Cr Anderson supported him as did Cr Kenny, saying she was keen to see council go to places “that might need us out there to talk to the people”. She suggested Kintore, which is “struggling”, but a meeting was held there last year and the community also has limited accommodation for visitors.
Cr Braydon Williams (Ljirapinta Ward) suggested Areyonga (also known as Utju), as they are experiencing “big problems” (he didn’t say what these are and nor did the local board minutes reveal them). Everyone agreed, so the June meeting will be held there. A later meeting may be held at Imanpa where improvements are expected following the appointment of Joe Rawson, formerly a councillor, as shire services coordinator for the community.
Councillors also supported CEO Diane Hood’s proposed shire-wide leadership program for young women aged 18 to 25 – “the hardest to engage” but the group representing “the greatest opportunity to close the gap”. The shire has applied for funding to develop this program in conjunction with its youth development service. Proposed activities included a leadership trek and a women’s law and culture gathering.
Councillors also supported a request from Cr Barry Abbott that a letter from the shire go to Centrelink about clients who wish to remain out bush being allowed to do, with their forms being sent to where they are, rather than them having to return to town to lodge their forms. Cr Barry Abbott’s concern was for people who get into bad habits in town, such as drug-taking, but who stay out of trouble when they’re out bush.
Councillors are important eyes and ears in communities. They had asked for an update on shire expenditure on outstations within its boundaries. This seems to have arisen as a result of complaints from families on outstations to the February meeting of the Watiyawanu/Mt Liebig Local Board that not enough money was being spent on outstations.
The update was tabled at council yesterday. There are six outstations in the Watiyawanu area, two of them (with three dwellings all up) categorised as unoccupied or only occasionally occupied. The remaining four had a total of eight dwellings and two ablutions blocks. Total expenditure for the financial year to date was $180,318, which included the purchase of a generator and pump. The average expenditure per dwelling was in the mid-range.
In all across the shire there appear to be 10 unoccupied or occasionally occupied outstations, with 31 dwellings – “If we’re wrong about that, you need to tell us, councillors,” said Ms Hood.
Money being spent on unoccupied outstations
One is Ngutjul near Kintore, with six houses and an ablutions block. Cr Lance Abbott wanted to know why money had been spent there and what it had achieved. It was a relatively small amount ($30,810 in this financial year to date) but it all adds up for the cash-strapped shire. Tiny outstations near Docker River, with one dwelling on each, had also had money spent them ($64,508 which included a $32,254 “rubbish tip invoice”) although they too were listed as unoccupied.
Some are used for community events, said Ms Hood, others for holidays and small amounts of money are spent “just on basics”.
Cr Lance Abbott suggested to Cr Anderson that “we might pop around there to have a look” at Ngutjul.
Council is also hoping for clarification from Cr Lance Abbot on why Kintore store has not made the contributions it promised towards the running of the Kintore pool. An agreement was signed in 2008 although the local board minutes suggest that such an agreement is in dispute. Cr Nangala suggested that pool users are being charged $2 which was news to Ms Hood: “Maybe someone is charging money who shouldn’t be.” She would look into it.
MacDonnell Shire has seven local boards. Five held successful meetings in the most recent periods, but two, Finke and Docker River, failed to reach quorum.
The minutes show some common areas of concern, one being local employment. At Haast’s Bluff/Ikuntji people wanted to know if locals could do Team Leader jobs. Two are apparently in training and doing well. The same question was asked at Papunya, where there are local Team Leaders for Aged Care and Night Patrol. People at the meeting wanted to see more locals in the Youth Services jobs. They were asked to identify other community members willing to work consistently and undertake training. It is shire policy to promote local employment including in leadership roles.
Another common issue is around the use of government property, for example night patrol vehicles being used for private purposes (this has previously come up in an ordinary council meeting and was a point of discussion for the local boards at Haast’s Bluff and Kintore), wanting private access to the shire workshed (Haast’s Bluff), children removing airstrip lights (Kintore).
A lot of the issues are small but if responded to or resolved they all mount up to a better quality of life, although with some of them, one wonders why people could not take the initiative to do certain things themselves. Will the shire sponsor trophies for sports weekend? Will the shire buy a tyre-changer for Haast’s Bluff? Will the shire organise the painting of the inside of houses, carports in the yards? Will it build a proper concrete drain around the aged care facility at Areyonga?
Pictured, from top: The new MacDonnell Shire Council in the shire meeting room yesterday, from left, Marlene Abbott, Selina Kulitja, Irene Nangala, Greg Sharman, Roxanne Kenny (deputy president), Barry Abbott, Sid Anderson (president), Braydon Williams, Richard Doolan, Lance Abbott, Jacob Hoosan. The council still has one vacancy in the Rodinga Ward. • Sid Anderson in his habitual cap during a break yesterday. • New councillors Barry Abbott (left) and Braydon Williams taking a break with deputy president Roxanne Kenny.
Vast geographic scale dwarfs shire budgets
By KIERAN FINNANE
• Just $1.5 million over 5 years for roads maintenance across 280,000 sqkm
• Council can enact by-laws but does not have the resources to enforce them
• Shire office in ‘Growth Town’ really a tin shed
A reduced Central Desert Shire Council got down to business yesterday at its first ordinary meeting since the local government elections. The council is missing three members from the Anmatjere Ward but supported this ward’s sole councillor, Adrian Dixon, to become the new shire president. Former president Norbert Patrick from Lajamanu declined nomination for the top job but accepted the deputy president role.
Cr Dixon told the Alice Springs News Online that he is confident candidates will come forward to fill the vacancies in his ward. It appears there was confusion at the last minute over nominations.
Southern Tanami Ward now has two representatives from Yuendumu, the ward’s largest community, and one each from Nyirripi and Willowra. They are, respectively, Robert Robertson, Georgina Wilson, Jacob Spencer and April Martin. This reflects a wider geographic spread within the ward, a desired result of changes to the vote counting system.
While Cr Spencer had been present at earlier preparatory meetings of the council this week, he was absent without an apology yesterday.
During the meeting, held at the Alice Springs head office, shire CEO Roydon Robertson poured cold water on the Country Liberals’ approach to the future of the shires, expressed in a letter to him from the Leader of the Opposition, Terry Mills, and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Policy, Adam Giles, dated March 29. It suggested, based on advice from the Country Liberals’ MacDonnell MLA Alison Anderson and candidate for Stuart Bess Price, that some shires perform better than others and need no change. For those who are pressing for change, the Country Liberals will support the establishment of new regional councils, smaller than the current shires and with their head offices located within their boundaries. “This would bring decision-making back to a local level and increase the provision of services,” said the letter, without specifying which shires were concerned.
“They don’t know what they want to do,” scoffed Mr Roberston, “they just want to do something to discredit the government.”
No councillor demurred. Cr Liz Bird suggested that the council write back to find out if some shires will be treated differently from others and how that will affect Central Desert Shire.
The government’s answer to the problem of vast geographic scale in the shires is to strengthen local boards, as stressed by the department’s Robert Kendrick when he addressed councillors after their swearing-in.
There was a fair bit of evidence at the meeting of this structure being an effective way to at least bring issues to the table.
Chairman of the Laramba Board, Andrew Campbell, has asked council to lobby the Minister for Police to get an extra police officer and an auxiliary stationed at Ti Tree. The issues are familiar: calls to police from the community “invariably” get diverted to Darwin and on occasion to Yuendumu.
“If the calls could have been picked up by Ti Tree based police officers then a lot of time and effort spent explaining where Laramba was, who the people they were talking to are, and explaining geography and community dynamics would not be necessary”, said Mr Campbell in the supporting reasons for his recommendation.
A chorus of complaint erupted around the table: the problems are the same at Harts Range – “If there’s trouble at Engawala, quite often it rings out,” said Cr Bird; at Yuendumu – “When you call you get someone from Darwin,” said Cr Roberston; at Lajamanu – “You call Darwin for something that’s happening next door,” said Cr William Johnson.
Cr Bird said the letter to the Minister should say that the problems are experienced throughout the “whole shire”.
Chairman of the Anmatjere Local Board, Rodney Baird, requested that council develop an animal management by-law to restrict dog ownership to two animals per household.
Here, as with so many items on community wish lists, the shire came up against the issue of resources. The shire has a two dogs per household policy; it also has the power under the Local Government Act to enact by-laws; but it does not have the resources to enforce them. So all it can do is to encourage compliance through education.
Chair of the Lajamanu Board, Sharon Anderson-Long, requested that the council build a new shire office in the community. Cr Patrick, who lives in Lajamanu, spoke to her recommendation: “Lajamanu is a Growth Town. If you want to be a Growth Town you need to have a new shire office. ” At the moment the office is really just a “tin shed”. Cr Johnson, also from Lajamanu, joined in: “Yuendumu has a flash one, why don’t we?”
It would be nice but it would be committing the shire to huge expenditure of money it doesn’t have, cautioned Mr Robertson. Councillors accepted, with good grace, an alternative recommendation that the issue be investigated and options considered.
Cr Roberston got further with the recommendation from the Yuendumu Local Board that council repair the corner of Tanami and Conniston Roads, which gets flooded when it rains. As it’s on the main way to the shop, that’s a real “headache”, he said. Repairs are on track, advised Glenn Marshall, council’s director of works. The only money council has for road maintenance is $1.5m over five years (with three remaining) from the federal Roads to Recovery program. $80,000 from that fund has been allocated to repair the corner in question, and the work should be completed within six weeks, with some labour supplied by CDEP workers.
Cr Roberston then raised another issue from the board, the Yuendumu heavy vehicle bypass road, which is also impassible after rain.
Mr Marshall acknowledged the broad stormwater drainage issues in the community, which are partly to blame on its main drains being around the perimeter, making it difficult for stormwater to get away. Correcting this would cost millions, explained Mr Marshall, and even a culvert on the by-pass road would cost at least $300,000. With the other demands on a limited budget that is not going to happen soon, but a 10 year plan prioritising roadworks is being drawn up, he said. Cr Roberston nodded his acceptance.
Some local boards struggle, however. While Atitjere has an effective voice at meetings in Cr Bird, who raised a number of community issues during the meeting and had questions about reports from the executive, the meeting papers noted that the Atitjere local board failed to meet quorum twice and a community meeting to discuss the issues was poorly attended.
The Engawala local board had also failed to meet quorum as had the Willowra board, although there a meeting went ahead and minutes were provided. Sometimes it’s a matter of re-scheduling meetings, which can fail for all sorts of reasons – bad weather, men’s business were cited. At Lajamanu training was held on February 27, with a meeting due the next day but it failed to meet quorum. Rescheduled for March 6, it was successful. Yuendumu board rescheduled twice and was successful the third time. Nyirripi, Laramba, Anmatjere and Yuelamu had also had successful meetings.
Further training sessions for local boards are scheduled in communities throughout the shire over the coming months.
UPDATE:
Shadow Minister for Indigenous policy Adam Giles says the Country Liberals will not be prescriptive about changes to the shires. He would not be drawn on which shires may be considered to be performing less well than others.
He says the Country Liberals have received complaints about shires from right across the Territory. If elected to government they will look at the performance of the shires and will listen to what people want. There could be changes to some shires or even no change at all.
He says he is particularly concerned that all shire headquarters are based in the main urban centres rather than within shire boundaries (Alice houses the headquarters for both MacDonnell and Central Desert).
“If you represent a region, you should invest in that region,” he says.
“The same goes for the NT Government with centralisation to Darwin. Look at what that does to Alice Springs.”
Pictured, top: The new council, from left, Cr William Johnson, Cr Liz Bird, Cr Robert Robertson, Cr Georgina Wilson, Deputy President Norbert Patrick, Cr April Martin, Cr Louis Schaber, President Adrian Dixon. (Absent, Cr Jacob Spencer) • Above: New president, Adrian Dixon (left), with former president Norbert Patrick who will now be his deputy.
Desert Knowledge CRC camel cull 'next pink batts debacle'
Taxpayers are getting humped with cost of an ineffectual camel cull.
This is how Senator Sean Edwards (Liberal, SA) describes the Feral Camel Management Project run by Ninti One, a not-for-profit company that grew out of the former Desert Knowledge CRC based in Alice Springs. It now manages the CRC for Remote Economic Participation.
Says Sen Edwards: “It’s another pink batts debacle in the making.”
The Senator, who is a member of the Rural, Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, was commenting on the answers he received to questions on notice that he had put last month as to the project’s lack of progress.
“The official response today from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests is a demonstration of what is wrong with the Gillard / Greens alliance in administering any program,” Senator Edwards says.
“By the end of next financial year, $19 million will have been spent on the Project and of the targeted 350,000 feral camels, a mere 36,000 were exterminated in the first two years.
“The cost per head of shooting the camels from helicopter had blown out, with the latest provided estimated being about $212 per head, plus direct operation costs, whatever they might be.
“This is not counting the $6m of State and Territory Government funds to date as well. That puts the cost per head to over $400 a head.
“Surely it time for the authorities to rethink what they are doing, acknowledge that it is not working and try something else – such as capturing the more accessible camels and transporting them to abattoirs.
“This alternative would provide jobs for local communities including aboriginals, but no – the government doesn’t want to alter its program.
“It’s not interested in widening the ambit of its Caring for Our Country program so there won’t be any centrally-based camel abattoir let alone freight subsidy – and so, no worthwhile job training for locals where it is hard to find work” says Sen Edwards.
“The combination of the dead hand of the bureaucracy and weak Ministers not acting outside artificial environmental parameters are yet more proof that a dynamic change is needed from the top down.
“At the very least, an immediate crisis meeting is essential before the remaining $8.4 million in Project funds has been gone through with little of consequence to show for it – apart from well-paid aerial contractors / chopper pilots waiting for the next Government thought bubble moving forward.”
Bringing the past to life: Mrs Muldoon reminisces about life inside the old Alice Springs Gaol
By KIERAN FINNANE
‘Muldoon’s Guest House’, aka the old Alice Springs Gaol in Stuart Terrace, was a friendly place, for its female guests in particular. This is according to Mrs Phillip Muldoon, otherwise known as Bertie, short for Bertilla, or “Matron” to the ‘guests’, wife of the superintendent, Phillip Muldoon.
Mrs Muldoon, behind whose cloche hat and pearls readers may recognise local historian Megg Kelham, will conduct a guided tour of the facility next week (Tuesday, April 17, 4pm), as part of Heritage Week’s calendar of activities.
During a similar tour in March, as part of Women’s History Month, Mrs Muldoon spoke of segregation at the gaol. Women and men were housed within its walls, although in separate buildings and were never together: there were “no scandals”!
But it was also the case that the “whites and natives”, in the parlance of the day, were separated. If a ‘guest’ was “coloured”, and about a third of them were, he could choose which group he wanted to be housed with.
Her husband, appointed to the role in 1938, was a kind man, and wanted his guests to be happy, according to Mrs Muldoon. When it was hot, the prisoners were allowed to sleep outside their suffocating cells. He had the buildings painted in bright colours – red, yellow and green – and moved the prisoners around every few months to provide some variety to their surrounds.
To keep boredom at bay, he had them work on a garden, growing vegetables, fruit and flowers. It was all so neat and well-developed it gained the nickname “Vatican City” from the townsfolk (also responding to the Muldoons’ Catholicism), while the prisoners called it “Greenbush”, a name that lives on for the art group active in the present-day gaol.
Inmates ate the produce and were often better nourished than their relatives on the outside.
Mr Muldoon also allowed “corroborees”, though he “didn’t tell Darwin”.
If he bent the rules, it was fair enough as much was expected from him, well beyond the normal call of duty. He furnished the gaol himself, including all utensils and was on call without a break for 10 years.
“His only friends were his guests,” according to Mrs Muldoon.
She concerned herself with looking after the “lubras” in the women’s wing. Most of them were regulars, locked up for short periods for drinking alcohol. One long-term prisoner, who had killed her partner, would help Mrs Muldoon look after her children and the others assisted with her housework. Otherwise they just had to look after themselves. The men did the cooking and all the other work around the gaol: “The lubras loved that. They loved it so much they called the gaol home,” according to Mrs Muldoon.
Ms Kelham has corroborated this statement with research in the archives, an interview with a former inmate, Janey Whistler, and with former matron at the gaol over three decades, Telka Williams.
She is committed to bringing history alive by presenting its untold stories in an entertaining way but she’s also a professionally trained historian who cross-checks her sources. She is involved in another presentation next week (Monday April 16, 5.15, Stuart Town Gaol, Parsons Street) asking the question, “Madness: Crime or Disease?”
Pictured: Megg Kelham as Mrs Muldoon. The cells with their small high windows were suffocatingly hot in summer and freezing in winter.
Protecting our points of difference
As a gateway, doesn’t Alice Springs have more going for it than a Voyages resort village?
“It’s so bright and colourful!” and this was just at Alice Springs airport! My mum couldn’t help but snap a few pictures on the drive into town and I soaked up her fresh gaze on this place and I too marveled at the light and colours and shapes of the ranges and country. Then what more perfect introduction on her first night than the opening of Beyond Conversation, a joint show of paintings by Pamela Lofts and Jenny Taylor and poetry by Sue Fielding.
And the desert put on a fine show, climbing the mercury, enveloping us in its swelter during long evenings talking on the verandah. A couple of these were sound-tracked by people fighting and screaming and conversations quickly turned to the complexities and nuances of living in Alice.
Mum’s ‘outback’ experience was almost completed by a stranding on the side of the road with an over heated land cruiser; luckily it did not come to that. We had an amazing time where even though it was hot, the weather accommodated our walks around Uluru and through Kata Tjuta with big rain clouds blocking out the intensity of the sun.
Out the window on the drive back the sky was full and bursting with lightning and rumbling cloud shows. We seemed to be chasing storms that seemed to be showering on the road just up ahead. We were always just a second or two too late I’m sure. The steamy smell of grasses and red dirt country. It was truly stunning and amazing stuff.
This was to be a holiday edition of Itchy Feet, detailing all the pleasure I got from scratching that itch to see Uluru and Kata Tjuta but on my return to Alice I couldn’t help but think about Yulara as a gateway to the World Heritage listed Uluru and surrounds. What has Yulara got that Alice does not? And as a town doesn’t Alice Springs have more going for it than a Voyages resort village? Sure there are pools and it has proximity and an easy resort atmosphere, but really what’s another 450 kms when you’re already so far away from wherever you’ve come from? Perhaps competition between the two airlines that service Yulara is a point of difference.
Over Easter from my vantage point behind a coffee machine in a rather quiet Todd Mall I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears! At first I thought cowboy dirt bike riders were playing out dares. Whilst people were eating their breakfast in the dappled sunlight under a thinning canopy of autumn grape vines, police were riding motorbikes through the mall! Along with aromas of coffee, bacon and eggs and a little Paul Simon to accompany their meals also came the stench of motorbike exhaust and engines rumbling. I know it’s not new but it was my first encounter and from the expressions of many visitors I could tell it was theirs too.
Back out at Yulara I saw a poster that resonated with me. It illuminates the nature of conservation that is characterized by a constant work effort and certain dedication to a place in order to maintain and protect it. Mike Gillam’s beautiful photographic poster of a Red River Gum dating back to 1988 unstitched the seams of time even further with its quote from Constable W. G. South who wrote to the Minister for the Northern Territory in 1888, ‘… the Young Gum trees along the Todd Creek … will require protection or they will all be cut down by the residents for building and fencing purposes… The trees are a great ornament to the place & it would be a great pity to destroy them.”
My mum’s fresh gaze reminded me of the things I love here and our visit to Uluru reinforced in me a desire to enhance and protect this place. She summed up her trip for me in a few words, ‘The beautiful blue sky and diamond-like stars by night, the ever changing landscape, the community garden, the great art and most of all sharing special time with special people.”
Photo of Uluru by Kim Hopper.
Fireworks expected over Deputy Mayor position
By ERWIN CHLANDA
The new town council’s first meeting on Monday is heading for the first factional fireworks.
New councillor Steve Brown (right), who scored the highest number of votes, is expecting to be appointed Deputy Mayor but he seems set to miss out.
Re-elected councillor Liz Martin, the Deputy Mayor for the last year of the 11th Council, says she will give her vote to Brendan Heenan (left).
Mayor Damien Ryan and new Councillors Jade Kudrenko and Chansey Paech are also tipped to be voting against Cr Brown, one of the Gang of Four conservative Councillors, three of whom also stood against the Mayor.
Cr Martin says Cr Brown is better suited to head up technical services: “He’s the ideal choice for that position,” she says.
“The Deputy Mayor needs to know procedure and it should be someone who’s served on the council before.
“We need to give the new members a chance to learn.”
The Deputy Mayor serves for one year of the four year term.
The position will be filled at the first meeting of the 12th Council to be held on Monday, as will be the other positions of heads of committees.
Monday’s meeting will be preceded by the swearing-in of the new council.
Elders back in charge at Lhere Artepe: Re-confirmed chairman
The town’s native title organisation has brought back “the decision making and administration to a focus on our elders, our language and our culture,” says Lhere Artepe’s Ian McAdam (pictured).
A recent meeting re-confirmed him as the chairperson of the corporation made up of “three Native Title groups who are custodians of the lands in and around Alice Springs”.
Putting an end to years of turmoil Mr McAdam says: “Many of our elders were present and we are confident that we can return the Corporation to a respectable arrangement for the future operation and planning of the Corporation.
“We also have a backlog of requests for discussions with the Board by Government and members of the public and I thank those who have been patient with us.
“I am making this statement to the media to convey that we will move forward steadily and with a commitment to be the Corporation which gives respect and priority to our elders and the native title members who are today standing proud now that they have regained control of an organisation that was hard won by many of our elders who are no longer with us.
“They taught us that we have responsibilities to all of our people including our youth.”
The board members, from the three estate groups, are:-
Antulye: Ian McAdam, Willy Satour, Felicity Hayes and Janice Harris (who is also the new director).
Irlpme: Noel Kruger (Deputy Chair), Kathy Martin, Bonita Kopp and Raymond Peters.
Mparntwe: Michael Liddle, Tessa Campbell, Carolyn Liddle and Ian Conway.
Alice Springs' ebbing iconic charisma
Comment by RUSSELL GUY.
Image: A child’s drawing found in a beer garden beside the Stuart Highway, NT.
Ella Simon was an Aboriginal woman whose affectionate, white father lived near Taree in New South Wales, while she grew up on nearby Purfleet Mission, in the years before WW2. Ella married and farmed vegetables with her husband for the Army during the war, before writing an account of her life, Through My Eyes (1978: 126). In those days, Aboriginal people weren’t allowed to visit hotels or any other licensed place. They weren’t allowed to be in possession of alcohol. It was a total ban, but as Ella notes “there was always some ‘sympathetic’ white man ready to buy his black ‘pals’ a drink or two, or sell it to them for a bit of profit, and this was the cause of a lot of the disturbances – the white man willing to give it to the black man if there was something in it for him. Oh sure, the white man who did that might be given a big fine to pay. But the poor Aboriginal was always put in gaol. . . . Gaol sentences stopped nothing. Even with the ‘big boss’ Manager always there ready to stop booze coming in to the reserve. How could you really stop it, when all around white people were drinking, and drinking as much as they liked without being sent to gaol for it?”
As the Alice Springs prison system overflows, it’s clear that not much has changed in the past eighty years. There’s an argument that “people drink for different reasons”, but with the annual, national cost of servicing abuse at $15b, a case can be made for the State to draw a line with a regulatory process aimed at reducing both this cost and unacceptable levels of self-harm.
Aboriginal society, a small fraction of the Australian population, has been devastated in just forty years of unrestricted exposure to alcohol. The 2007 Little Children Are Sacred report notes that some remote indigenous communities have been destroyed and are now involved in formulating Alcohol Management Plans under the Commonwealth Stronger Futures legislation.
While statistics reveal that Alice Springs has twice national average consumption and related crime, it, like Newcastle and now Broome, is a good example of the need for increased regulation, rather than, as Town Councillors seem to recommend, a winding-back of current restrictions. Excessive alcohol consumption cannot be fixed by law and order solutions while there’s a seven days per week access through take-away outlets. It is the biggest contributor to the focus on public consumption, which is mostly the province of the Indigenous consumer, who suffers the legislation and whose numbers are swollen by urban drift.
Opinions on how to deal with this “anti-social” behavior are centred on zero-tolerance law and order and mandatory rehabilitation, both of which are extremely expensive options. They have been poorly thought out and some proposals along this line recommend “locking them up” for the term of their natural life.
An economic and socially accepted solution is required. A take-away alcohol restriction has been suggested by several commentators. This is a non-expensive option and therefore needs 
to be considered, rather than casually dismissed as has been the case, especially when it has never been tried in Alice and, despite claims to the contrary, was statistically successfully in reducing consumption in Tennant Creek when it ceased in 2006.
The real problem for its demise was the Centrelink payments schedule. It can be tailored to function successfully in Alice Springs and deserves serious consideration by inter-active government departments and community organizations. At present, most of the talk is about what worked in Port Augusta, rather than closer to home.
Options so far presented are the proverbial “band-aid” solutions, but the real question is, does Alice Springs, a town with ebbing iconic charisma, have the vision to take a stand for responsible regulation? Time will tell, but increased restrictions interstate seem to recognize that Australia is on the slippery slope.
IMAGE: A collection of one litre Hardys chardonnay bottles from the John Flynn church lawns – 32 bottles over 10 hours on March 31. They are sold by Woolworths bottleshop for $9.90 (or 99 cents per standard drink) – PHOTO by David Hewitt.
Victory for the tiny desert community that sparked NT-wide reform
By KIERAN FINNANE
The Territory local government elections, with their new counting system, have delivered for the tiny community of Nyirripi in the Southern Tanami Ward of Central Desert Shire. Nyirripi now have seat on the council with their local representative, Jacob Spencer. This is a big win for the community as it was from there that the drive for reform of the counting system came.
In 2008 Nyirripi’s candidate, Teddy Gibson Jakamarra, won the highest number of first preference votes of any candidate in the ward but failed to get a seat on council. When the community’s Local Board realised that the cards were stacked against them because of the exhaustive preferential counting system, they asked the shire to lobby the NT Government about it. The shire councillors listened to a 
presentation by Dr Will Sanders (ANU and Desert Knowledge CRC, pictured), who showed how the old system favoured large group dominance. Armed with this evidence the shire wrote to Local Government Minister Malarndirri McCarthy requesting the review which ultimately led to Territory-wide reform for the local government electoral system.
The reform also had a definite impact in Alice Springs, says Dr Sanders, reflected in the early election of candidates at either end of the political spectrum: on the ‘right’, Steve Brown, Eli Melky, Dave Douglas in positions one, two and three, and then on the ‘left’, the Greens’ Jade Kudrenko in position four.
The old system would have favoured the ‘centre’ candidates earlier. Apart from being well-respected they also had incumbency in their favour, but Liz Martin was not elected till the fifth position, with Brendan Heenan following at seventh behind youthful newcomer Chansey Paech.
Mayor Damien Ryan has done well out of the election, comments Dr Sanders. There was “significant leakage” from his rivals despite them all placing him last on their how-to-vote cards.
“He picked up around a quarter of preferences at each exclusion: 135/489 from Bitar, 397/ 1217 and 32/132 from Douglas, and 610/ 1972 from Melky. So at that rate of leakage he ended up being pretty safe with 43.6% of the primary vote.”
He now heads a council with two possible voting blocks which, with his vote, can become a majority. The challenge will be for him – and for the centre to left councillors – to take the initiative in setting the agenda, rather than be simply reacting to or managing the agenda set by the energetic right, as well as the administration.
Overall, Dr Sanders describes the Alice election as “fabulous” for the real interest taken in it by the community and by candidates of very different opinions and approaches wanting to stand up and be counted.
The shires, however, continue to struggle to have this sense of local relevance and connectedness. The number of uncontested and failed or partly failed elections in the shires (leading to supplementary elections having to be called) has gone up since 2008, says Dr Sanders. In Alice’s neighbouring shires, Central Desert and MacDonnell, only two of the wards, one in each shire, had elections where there were more candidates than vacancies. There will be supplementary elections for one ward in each shire where there were fewer candidates than vacancies, with nominations closing on April 24.
In the remaining two wards of each shire the number of candidates equalled the number of vacancies and so they were returned unopposed. This possibly reflects “processes of community discussion throwing up ‘just the right number’ of nominations for positions available”, says Dr Sanders.
“This was common in the ‘little, remote-area local governments’ prior to 2008 and is still common in the ‘remaining little local governments’ on the outskirts of Darwin due to the abandonment of the proposed Top End Shire in early 2008. Eight out of 10 wards in Coomalie and Litchfield had ‘just the right number’ of nominations for available councillor positions in 2012.”
It is also possible, however, that the uncontested wards reflect a loss of interest in the shires. The initial poor electoral system may have contributed to this but there are obviously other challenges, says Dr Sanders.
It is interesting to note, for example, that the old electoral system favoured dominance of Yuendumu in the Southern Tanami Ward, but all four of their representatives failed to see out the first term.
It is also sad to note the decline of interest in representation from the Anmatjere Ward. In 2008 nine candidates contested the four vacancies. Among the successful four was James Jampajimpa Glenn, the youngest councillor in the shire, who was then elected as the first shire president. In 2012 only one candidate came forward, the incumbent Adrian Dixon from Laramba, and he was duly returned unopposed.
Loss of interest?
Prior to 2008 the Anmatjere Community Government Council, representing the open town of Ti Tree on the Stuart Highway as well as a number of Aboriginal (Anmatjere-speaking) communities, was one of the more effective. Dr Sanders spent a lot of time observing its operations between 2004 and 2008.
He has described it as “a small regional local government that was big enough to achieve organisational continuity and was both useful to and valued by its 1,000 or so constituents”.
He observed “the building of a managerial team of about half a dozen and some increase in the range of services provided by the organisation” as well as “two orderly transitions of Chief Executive Officer and of Council chair”. He said councillors took seriously representation of their wards as well as the region.
Then came the super-shire changes, with the Anmatjere Council rolled into the Central Desert Shire along with five other local governments, across a huge swathe of land stretching north of Alice from WA to Queensland.
In many ways Ti Tree would have been the logical choice for the shire head office but the choice to position it in Alice Springs 100 kilometres south of the shire’s southern boundary “seemed in many ways to set the pattern for much that was to come ” – which has been essentially to head towards “becoming a well governed, urban-based organisation that is of rather limited daily relevance to its remote area constituents”.
“This is not an organisation which the remote area localities and constituents created for themselves, or over which they feel great influence. They can accept the services the Shire offers or look for alternatives. But any attempt to influence the Shire through representation will come up against its vast geographic scale, its distant central administration, and also [until the recent reform] an inadequate electoral system.”
Central Desert is not alone in this: “Seven of the eight shires now have major offices outside their boundaries in the Territory’s major urban centres of Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. For most constituents, these are no longer accessible local governments whose headquarters are just down the road, or even an hour or two’s drive away. They are distant, urban-based organisations experienced by locals as somewhat alien and bureaucratic, like higher levels of government.”
Dr Sanders does not deny the problems of the past small remote area councils: “Regional up-scaling was in many ways a legitimate objective” but the system has swung from “possibly a bit small” to “definitely too big”.
It will be interesting to observe how all this plays out, in the immediate term with the supplementary elections and over the next five years . The Country Liberals have mooted changes but without much clarity about how they would “at least cost satisfy the need for financial accountability and the enhanced provision of services through greater local empowerment” [their emphasis].
The first meetings of the 2nd Central Desert and MacDonnell Shire Councils take place this week, while the 12th Alice Springs Town Council kicks off next Monday.
Pictured below: Shire business rolls on. The pool at Santa Teresa reopened just in time for the end of summer, following extensive repairs undertaken by MacDonnell Shire and funded by the NT Department of Sport and Recreation, CentreCorp Foundation, and LGANT, with YMCA Central Australia and Swimming Australia offering on the ground support. The shire organised this Pool Party for the weekend of March 31 to April 1 and the pool has been open again over the Easter school holidays. The existing children’s pool is “unsalvageable” but the shire has applied for funds to replace it. Photo courtesy MacDonnell Shire.
