Town camp issues 'not just bricks and mortar'
Indigenous residents of Alice Springs say the Federal Government's plan to address chronic overcrowding and violence in town camps will not be enough to fix the problem.
Alice's town camps are notorious for their chronic overcrowding and high rates of violence and abuse.
The Federal Government wants to gain control over the 16 town camp leases and in return spend $100 million building 85 new homes and bringing infrastructure in the camps up to the standard of the rest of Alice Springs.
But the Indigenous residents in the camps say their problems run deeper than just bricks and mortar.
And the deal has been stalled because of a legal challenge by a camp resident, who says the lease deal isn't fair.
At Abbott's camp in suburban Alice Springs there's no hiding the overcrowding. People spill out the front of the houses, where mattresses and blankets are piled up.
Aboriginal artist Kevin Wirri is a long-term resident of Abbott's camp. He says about 20 people live in his house, which is so full it's difficult to find the room to paint.
Mr Wirri just returned from a week away on Hayman Island, where he and his son had been invited to paint for a group of business leaders at a retreat.
There they also spent time with the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Mr Wirri says a lack of housing is just one of the problems in his camp.
"The biggest problem is visitors. They bring all the problems from the community," he said.
Camp life centres around family but Mr Wirri says when too many relatives from remote communities come to Alice Springs to visit, the camps can get out of hand.
Aboriginal people come to Alice Springs to access basic services such as hospitals or to shop, but Mr Wirri says once in town some end up drinking and wind up in violent disputes.
Alcohol has been banned in the town camps under the federal intervention but only in theory - the Northern Territory police don't have the resources to stop it.
And there are warnings that building more houses in the camps could exacerbate the social problems.
Bob Durnan is a former manager with the Tangentyere Council which manages services in the camps.
"More houses on their own without certain other measures preceding them ... would worsen the problems rather than solve the problems," he said.
He says extra accommodation for Indigenous people is desperately needed in Alice Springs, but not necessarily in the camps.
"More houses can only be of benefit if they are going to be safe and if the other existing houses on the camps are made a lot safer than they are at the moment," he said.
"There do need to be more police available to help people on town camps too. Keep peace and quiet. Good quality security forces, and the police also need to have time to do community policing."
The Federal Government has set aside $38 million for extra services for the camps as well as for short-term accommodation for visitors to Alice Springs.
It will spend the money once it gets control of the leases for the camps.