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NORTHERN TERRITORY
Yuendumu's Struggle
Monday, 15 October, 2007
Yuendumu
Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, has a lot going for it.
There’s a successful art centre, a burgeoning media company, a long-standing night patrol and an invaluable substance abuse program. Yet due to the blanket nature of the legislation, Yuendumu is among those communities targeted by the NT intervention plan.
Contributing video journalist Claudia Rowe is in Yuendumu when the Chair of the Intervention Taskforce, Sue Gordon, addresses the community about the Federal government’s plan – and she records the exchange that takes place.
The community expresses its fears about the scrapping of the permit system, saying it could lead to an influx of grog, drug dealers, pedophiles and shonky art dealers.
Sue Gordon responds by saying that the permit system hasn’t stopped grog and drugs from reaching indigenous communities.
“The Government’s not listening,” says Wendy Baarda, a longtime Yuendumu resident.
“This Government is like termites that eat away at everything,” says Neville Japangardi Poulson, who’s worked as a teacher in Yuendumu.
There’s a successful art centre, a burgeoning media company, a long-standing night patrol and an invaluable substance abuse program. Yet due to the blanket nature of the legislation, Yuendumu is among those communities targeted by the NT intervention plan.
Contributing video journalist Claudia Rowe is in Yuendumu when the Chair of the Intervention Taskforce, Sue Gordon, addresses the community about the Federal government’s plan – and she records the exchange that takes place.
The community expresses its fears about the scrapping of the permit system, saying it could lead to an influx of grog, drug dealers, pedophiles and shonky art dealers.
Sue Gordon responds by saying that the permit system hasn’t stopped grog and drugs from reaching indigenous communities.
“The Government’s not listening,” says Wendy Baarda, a longtime Yuendumu resident.
“This Government is like termites that eat away at everything,” says Neville Japangardi Poulson, who’s worked as a teacher in Yuendumu.
