As part of the Federal Government's intervention plan in the Northern Territory, alcohol bans will be put in place. But after coming under fire from the tourism industry, the Government has already been forced to make changes to legislation. With growing concern from the community about the lack of resources to assist in the alcohol ban, the Government is facing many challenges. Yalda Hakim reports.

VO: Uluru - an icon that sells Australia to the world. As the sun sets, its beauty is enjoyed by many tourists with a glass of champagne. Drinking alcohol on Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory, however, has become the topic of debate in the halls of Parliament House in Canberra. The Federal Government wants to "turn off the rivers of grog" by introducing new alcohol bans in proscribed areas throughout the Northern Territory. But the tourism industry - which is beneficial to both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community - feels any alcohol ban would seriously threaten their business.

STEVE RATTRAY: All our operators are already in Europe with their programs and packages for next year. Now, what happens is if the consumer doesn't get what they've been promised, they come back on their agents and can sue their agents for part of their holiday because it wasn't fulfilled.

So just all amongst the trees - all the way around up here?

VO: Architects of the intervention plan have already begun making amendments to the legislation, and now tourists will be allowed to drink alcohol on Aboriginal land but only if they are on official tours. The new laws include anyone purchasing $100 or more of takeaway alcohol will need to show ID and have their details recorded. The Government hopes this will help identify grog runners. Heavy fines if you drink, possess, supply or transport alcohol in proscribed areas. And licensees and their staff could face fines of up to $37,000 if they don't comply with the new laws. But some fear that there are still great loopholes in the plan.

WARREN SNOWDON: Nothing in the legislation which prevents a person making multiple transactions on the same day either from the same outlet or from separate outlets. There is nothing in this legislation which prevents people importing alcohol from interstate, by mail order, for example.

VO: Tom Calma, Indigenous Social Justice Commissioner, agrees that more needs to be done.

TOM CALMA: What you need to do is to follow prohibition up with support programs like diversionary programs, like rehabilitation programs. like looking at a medical intervention into this problem, making sure that we do address the mental health impacts of it. We've got to look at the economic impacts of the dependency.

VO: But only days away from the ban coming into effect, Northern Territory Police may not be ready to tackle this latest Government plan.

VINCE KELLY: I do envisage difficulties with prosecutions because of the way legislation is drafted. There has been limited training or no training provided to the NT Police on the practical implications of the legislative changes that are coming about because of federal legislation. So all these difficulties will flow through, ultimately, to prosecution.

VO: While the Federal Government tries to invent new ways of dealing with the challenges faced by the Indigenous community, these little children continue to play in these squalid camps, unaware that their future rests in the hands of Canberra's bureaucrats.

KARLA GRANT: Yalda Hakim with that report. Joining me now from Canberra to discuss the new laws is Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough.

KARLA GRANT: Mr Brough, welcome to the program.

MAL BROUGH: Thanks, Karla. Good to be with you.

KARLA GRANT: Firstly, you have introduced some harsh restrictions on alcohol within the Northern Territory, and many agree that something needed to be done. But what factual evidence have you seen that these measures will actually work?

MAL BROUGH: Well, they won't work unless there is real policing because the Territory Government has had dry bans in communities before but if you don't have real police there to actually enforce the law, then you see domestic violence, you see houses being ruined, you see all sorts of social destruction. And that is not new to anybody that either visits or lives in the Territory. So the evidence is there - if you remove the alcohol, then places settle down.

KARLA GRANT: The Northern Territory Police Association have actually come out and they do have some concerns with regards to policing. They're saying that they are not properly equipped to actually handle the situation with these new laws. What do you say to that?

MAL BROUGH: Gee, that's a pretty extraordinary thing to say, isn't it? I mean, up till now there has been no police on the ground. The Queensland Government has committed its 10 police. They've just been deployed this week, some through Katherine, some in Nhulunbuy. The AFP have already deployed, we've just put in two more police - one-on-one, on rotations. The NSW Police are due in there, I believe, next month, and the Tasmanian Police. So we continue to build those numbers. And the people who are training them before they go into the field, to give them specific NT training, are the NT Police. So I think it's a question best put to them. I'm not into the operational command of the police. We're trying to provide the additional resources. Those resources have just never been there in the past.

KARLA GRANT: Do you actually believe that this will be enough numbers to handle the situation, though?

MAL BROUGH: We will have to wait and see, won't we? I mean, right now we have 73 communities, we're looking at approximately 50 police. The Commonwealth is going to make a long-term commitment to policing in the Territory, so that numbers can be maintained. But we saw in the small community where police just moved out for rotation how it blew up straightaway. And Sue Gordon, Dr Sue Gordon, said just yesterday to me that is the number one thing - the number one thing that the women in particular keep crying out for. They do not want the police to leave. So if it comes out, Karla, that we need more, then we should really examine that and see what we can do about providing more.

KARLA GRANT: The alcohol bans have come into place will come into place this Saturday, and you've made some amendments to the laws in response to the tourism industry. Does this risk undermining the ban if people are allowed to bring alcohol on Aboriginal land?

MAL BROUGH: Well, I hope not. But we will be following it very closely. And if that is the case, then we will move to tighten those laws. So in the event that the liberalisation that has occurred - very minor, but it is still more liberal than it was going to be - then I will not hesitate, in the interest of those Indigenous communities, to further tighten the laws if necessary. That is the advice I'll get from the taskforce as this evolves over the next few weeks and months.

KARLA GRANT: Now, a community like Mutitjulu has already been dry for some time and their call for rehabilitation services has fallen on deaf ears. What commitment can you now give that rehabilitation services and diversionary programs will be in place to help those in need.

MAL BROUGH: We committed $55 million 12 months ago to the various states and territories. That money needs to be spent. And there will be more money for interventions. Now, that does not mean that you can necessarily put all the interventions that someone needs in every town. If someone needs to be rehabilitated, they may well be taken out of that town to an appropriate facility. That is what we're working on at the moment because whether it is drugs, whether it is alcohol or whether it is some other form of substance abuse, they do need both ongoing help in the community but may well need clinical support, which may require that individual to go elsewhere to do it - as you have to do with things such as dialysis. But the money is there to do those interventions.

KARLA GRANT: OK, just finally, Minister, you have done a lot of work in terms of the intervention. If your Government doesn't retain office at the upcoming election, will all this effort be for nothing?

MAL BROUGH: Unfortunately, I believe so. I don't believe that there is the conviction within the Labor Party to continue on with the difficult and challenging roles that we have to fulfil. And this is an opportunity for us, once and for all, to allow these Australian children to use the wealth of our nation to their benefit, not to their detriment, which has occurred for so long.

KARLA GRANT: Minister, thank you very much for your time.

MAL BROUGH: Good to be with you, Karla. Thank you.

KARLA GRANT: That was Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough speaking with us from our Parliament House studios in Canberra. Still to come on Living Black - intervention fears as a Government survey team hits the ground in Yarralin.

KARLA GRANT: Over the past two months, a number of teams have been visiting communities under the Federal Government's emergency response in the Northern Territory, undertaking the huge task ahead of improving the lives of Aboriginal children. As part of that, the taskforce survey teams have been busy consulting and assessing the infrastructure needs of communities. Video journalist Angela Bates was invited to the community of Yarralin where she found a community confused about the Government's plans.

VO: In the heart of cattle country lies a community full of potential and hope. Yarralin is a remote community about 250km south-west of Katherine with a population of around 250 people.

SUBDIN ASSAN: We're gonna start propagating some more, some different varieties, and they'll go out on to our citrus block.

VO: They have started a new venture - a citrus farm - in an effort to take responsibility of their lives with the hope of achieving economic independence.

BRYAN WILLIAMS, CEO: We're looking at the farm as being long-term it's one of, probably, the most promising areas for creating jobs. We've got mangoes under trial, we've successfully grown chillies, sweet potatoes, watermelon.

VO: But with the latest Federal Government emergency intervention plan, there are concerns whether ventures like their citrus farm will be supported. Today they will find out. The Federal Government's survey team is visiting their community. Yarralin residents hold grave fears about how the new changes will affect them.

CONNIE CAMPBELL: I should say, in my heart, this is our land for our kids, and we don't want our children to be taken away, we want our kids to stay here.

VO: The survey team spent the morning gathering information about the needs of Yarralin.

MICHAEL ROTAMAH – FACSIA – SURVEY TEAM LEADER: We've asked a few questions and got some very important data, so we hope to take back. And that information will go to Canberra in terms of delivering to the politicians to have a look at and see what your needs are in the community.

VO: Representatives from a number of government agencies and an army officer made up the survey team. Some of the issues addressed included scrapping the permit system, welfare reform, health checks and phasing out CDEP - the Community Development Employment Program.

JEN BUCKLAND FROM DEWR (DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, WORK PLACE RELATIONS – KATHERINE OFFICE: What we've been looking at today in the survey is opportunities for employment. We know that there are limited opportunities in communities but we're looking at ways of trying to develop and go on from the business ventures that have already started.

GEORGE FLICK, – COMMONWEALTH HEALTH AND AGEING: When the other medical team comes out, they'll add to what's been working has happened with the clinic, and they'll be working with the clinic, probably out of the clinic building or have some tents set up near by.

VO: Community members like George Campbell have mixed feelings about the emergency intervention plan. While some new measures are welcomed and supported, others are not, especially plans to scrap the permit system.

GEORGE CAMPBELL: You reckon we're gonna give up our land, just give it to the Prime Minister because he is the Prime Minister of Australia? I think a lot of politics should look into that. You can see I'm really sad, I'm not having a go at you but I just tell you the story, you take the message back to the Prime Minister please, tell him.

VO: The issue of welfare reform was also raised, where half of parents' income will be quarantined.

TONY MCMAHON, CENTRELINK: The Government is putting through legislation that where parents don't do the right things in some instances, that some of the money will be income-managed.

VO: While community members are sceptical of the welfare arrangements, one thing they all agree on is the need for more police. Their nearest police station is an hour and a half away.

BRIAN PEDWELL: The police station at Timber Creek has got 2.5 workers to bloody service from Willaroo to the border and down to Top Springs. How they gonna manage that? How can you justify or bloody do the service, when we've been crying out for the last bloody 30 years.

VO: Housing is a major concern, with people still living in appalling conditions.

DONNA HEENAN, COMMUNITY MEMBER: People that live in the houses today are living in overcrowded houses and that's important, that's where it comes in, that's where health risk is - in the houses where people are living.

BARRY YOUNG: I live in this house but not much good. Water come in through the roof in the wet time.

REPORTER: Water coming through?

BARRY YOUNG: Yeah.

VO: When the survey team had left, the community members reflected on what they'd been told.

BRYAN WILLIAMS, CEO: Certainly it appears that on the surface that we've received a visit from more department personnel and not the actual taskforce itself, and that we're still speaking with messengers, not speaking with decision makers.

VO: Many of the initiatives being implemented by the Federal Government's new legislation already exist in some communities. Yarralin already conducts health checks with children under five at least twice a year. So the question at hand is why there is a need for additional checks as part of the emergency intervention plan? Sean Heffernan, CEO of Katherine West Health Board, says more resources are needed.

SEAN HEFFERNAN CEO KATHERINE WEST HEALTH BOARD: Now, what they find out of these health checks, we need the real services on the ground to follow those, whether it's ear health or kidney disease, or whatever is being led into, we need the services to be out there on the ground.

SANDRA CAMPBELL: The survey team came out here yesterday, talking to everybody. Some people couldn't understand, some people did. But it's real heartbreaking because they're taking CDEP and they're talking about kids being taken away.

NINA HUMBERT: TRANSLATION BY SADELLA SNOWY What she was saying is Aboriginal kids was brought up here and born here and she didn't want white people to take them away because taking them away is not right. And she was saying also Aboriginal people don't go up to white people and take white kids away from white people.

KARLA GRANT: That story was filmed and reported by Angela Bates. Still to come on Living Black, the mining industry provides jobs and training in the west.

KARLA GRANT: With the mining boom going from strength to strength in WA, local Indigenous communities have long complained that big mining companies haven't done enough to train up those who live near the mines. The iron ore company Fortescue Metals Group has taken note, setting up a training course targeting unemployed Indigenous men to work on its railway site in the Pilbara region. Here's video journalist Emma Cook with the story.

VO: It's a new day in Port Hedland and for these men it's another day of their new life. Six months ago most were unemployed. Now they're working for Fortescue Metals Group laying rail for around $100,000 a year.

DAMIEN ARDAGH: FMG's had this project in mind from day one. They decided to work with local people and provide opportunities. And being in construction, the guys will get really good experience that they can transfer and take for life. And this important right now to get these opportunities because it's booming over here and if you don't get in now and pick up the skills, it's going to be difficult when things go quiet.

VOICE OVER: These 20 men are the first to graduate from a 6-month course. They've been trained up to build FMG's railway line.

DAMIEN ARDAGH: You don't need to have finished Year 12 or even Year 10 to be a rail worker, you just need to know how to get up and go to work and work hard.

VOICE OVER: Now that they've graduated, the real work begins. It's a big change for Brody Tittums, who not long ago was unemployed.

BRODY TITTUMS: This course really helped me getting a job and just getting on track where Before, I used to just do nothing really, yeah, just do nothing, and it's really changed me to look after myself better.

DAMIEN ARDAGH: The group mentality was like a footy team - if one bloke was slipping, the other guys were there to pick him up. It was that team environment right from the beginning, I think, that really helped. We just didn't let people drift too far away, we were right on their tails the whole time. Today we will be stacking sleepers.

VOICE OVER: It's this team mentality training manager Damien Ardagh says has led to 60% of the men completing the course, which is well above the success rate of similar courses. One graduate who says he's benefited from having his friends around him is Colin Edgar - a local boy who had previously worked on CDEP.

COLIN EDGAR: To tell you the truth, I didn't think I would make it this far. I thought I would've bailed out or wouldn't have completed what I'd started. So, yeah, it was good that myself and all the other boys stuck it out for this long 'cause it's really helped us out.

VOICE OVER: For Colin, the most rewarding part of the job is bringing home money for his family so that his kids can enjoy the things he never had when growing up.

COLIN EDGAR: My mother's really happy that I got a job because it took me a while to get a decent job like this. Hopefully one day I'll get a house, cars - all different things like that. Give my kids a good education.

LARISSA THOMPSON, COLIN'S PARTNER: I think he keeps that commitment to the job for his kids' sake, you know, and to have things at the end of the day.

VOICE OVER: FMG is already training its next recruits. With business booming in the Pilbara, Damien Ardagh says there's a job for life for all graduates.

DAMIEN ARDAGH: There were some guys who were working on gardening crews for CDEP and going around and around in circles and not really having the sort of money they're gonna get now, or an opportunity like this. Like this job is a $100,000-plus for the rest of their lives if they want it. But it will go on. Once the track's been built, there's 20 years of maintenance, and we'll need maintenance crews and these guys will be preferenced over the others.

VOICE OVER: In fact, FMG says it would like 20% of its workforce to be Indigenous.

COLIN EDGAR: It's good, especially for like local boys and whatever towns they're in to just give them a chance so they can try to do something with themselves instead of just staying home drinking their lives away and whatever else they do.

DAMIEN ARDAGH: I've heard once before nobody up here is willing to work. I mean, that's not true A lot of other companies, if they really worked hard instead of spending all their money training up people in the Philippines, put a little bit more energy into what we've got around us, Australia would be a different place.

KARLA GRANT: Let's take a look at what's making news. The Queensland Government has agreed to hand over land left out of the biggest native title agreement ever made on the eastern side of Australia. In February, the Githabul people won native title rights over 112,000 hectares of land in NSW. They're now due to be granted native title over the summit of Mount Lindsay later this year. The summit, on the Queensland side of the border, was originally left out of their native title agreement.

Former Queensland public servant Collin Dillon has been named 2006 Whistleblower of the Year. Mr Dillon served as a police officer for 36 years before working as a senior Indigenous adviser for the Queensland Government. He was the first policeman to blow the whistle on police corruption in Queensland to the Fitzgerald Inquiry. Mr Dillon received his award for his criticism of the Queensland Government's failure to provide protection for Aboriginal people held in police custody.

And the countdown begins to Black Australia's night of nights, the 2007 Deadly Awards. The Deadlys is the biggest celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community, and will be held at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday 27 September. Voting for the Deadlys closes this Saturday, so log onto vibe.com.au for more details. So mark your calendar and don't miss SBS's coverage of the event on Tuesday 2 October, at 10pm.

And that's the program for today. Next week, video journalist Emma Cook travels to Halls Creek, a town in the spotlight after the Barnham inquiry into child abuse saw several local men charged.

MAN 1: Barnham Inquiry have looked at all the girls that have been abused. I know that there's been boys abused and that they are abusers now. And so it's just one vicious cycle.

That's next week on Living Black. Don't forget if you'd like to visit our website, you can do that by logging on to sbs.com.au and click on News. And tonight we asked your views on the need for more rehabilitation services in light of the new alcohol bans in the Northern Territory. Thanks for joining us. I'm Karla Grant. Goodnight.

MAN 1: They always keep removing people out of the community to get them clean. Why can't they do a program where they work it into the community to get them clean?

WOMAN: Who brought the grog in? We don't own no pub.

MAN 2: Unless the rehabilitation is done from an Aboriginal control perspective, there is no such thing as rehabilitation.