Issue 1

Any inquiry into alcohol problems should be looking at the effect of passive welfare and be specific to the conditions in the Northern Territory, says NT Justice Minister John Elferink (pictured). ERWIN CHLANDA reports.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

It is a sign of the extent of Dave Tollner’s incompetence that the Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion has today intervened in Northern Territory affairs and announced a Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into how to tackle increasing rates of alcohol-fuelled violence, writes Leader of the Opposition, DELIA LAWRIE.

Estimated expenditure of holiday makers in Alice Springs and Central Australia increased from 2012 to 2013 but is still below the five year peak of 2010. The figures come from Tourism NT.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The CLP's Member for Daly Gary Higgins has joined the growing chorus of voices calling for the CLP Government to hold a Parliamentary Inquiry into alcohol misuse. Alcohol-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour has increased to an alarming level in the Territory and our community is suffering, writes Leadre of the Opposition, DELIA LAWRIE (pictured).

Should we stop providing housing for non residents of our town who do not have a job? In short, should we start using NT Housing to import workers, not welfare recipients, while still of course maintaining a level of welfare housing for community members in proven need?

Senior Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) staff and its two senior board members have gone to ground as the NT Government's review of the organisation is entering its final phase. CEO John Huigen and board chairman Fred Chaney have not responded to questions from the Alice Springs News Online, and deputy chairman Harold Furber has refused to answer questions. Meanwhile enquiries by the Alice Springs News Online into the DKA Outback Business Network (OBN), cited as one of its major achievements, suggest that it has more front than substance. There are significant resignations from the organisation and its funding from the NT Government – $900,000 a year – is in doubt as a government-ordered inquiry by Don Zoellner (pictured) is under way. ERWIN CHLANDA reports.

So ingeniously aggressive is the alcohol industry, that they are inducing social media users to promote their product. The Conversation (24/12/13) notes booze pages on Facebook have as many as 10m "likes". ALCOHOL WATCH # 6 by Russell Guy.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

As the decline of the northern end of Todd Mall continues it's instructive to look at newspaper advertising from 1968, namely the feature about Murray Neck's joining Retravision that year, writes historian Alex Nelson, of Alice Springs.

"There is nothing on our desk, to seek approval or otherwise," says a spokesman for Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion, in response to apparent claims that the Mbantua Festival will get a further grant from the Aboriginal Benefits Account (ABA), beyond the $1.3m it has already received. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. PHOTO: Jessica Mauboy, star of one of the Mbantua Festival's big-ticket events.

UPDATE 7:40am Friday, January 3:

A staffer for Senator Scullion has issued the following statement: "The Minister hasn’t yet received anything from the ABA for another grant. When he does (and we understand it won’t be far away) it will be given appropriate consideration. That’s all we can say for now until the Minister makes a determination."

We're embarking on yet another year as one of Central Australia's most closely guarded secrets remains, well, closely guarded and secret: What in fact is Desert Knowledge Australia (DKA) actually DOING? Finally a breakthrough: A leak lays bare what that taxpayer-funded organisation is doing – and not doing. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. Photo: 11 of the 13 participants in the 2013 DKA leadership course, as published in the organsation's newsletter and Christmas message. Names were not given. One thing we know this group did was a worthwhile public art exhibition on the changing face of Alice Springs, which we recently reviewed.

Someone like "Kangaroo Dundee" could promote interest in the Outback amongst Chinese tourists who are now mostly visiting Australia's big cities. But not a peep from Tourism NT. ERWIN CHLANDA reports.

The electrical "cake" of Alice Springs is $57.5m a year. How many of these 230,000,000 kilowatt hours annually are from renewable resources, mostly from the sun, how many should be, or could be? That, in a nutshell, were the questions asked by the Alice Solar City 2008-2013 project that came to an end with the release of a handsome book this month. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. PHOTO (from the report): Part of the Araluen array.