Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Alice Springs Councillor Michael Liddle says holding parents to account is key in addressing the youth crime crisis

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Alice Springs Councillor Michael Liddle says holding parents to account is key in addressing the youth crime crisis · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I believe that I have got Michael Little on the line.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Michael, good morning, how are you?
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Ye're really good. Good to have you back on the show.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: It's been a while, but we really appreciate you being
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: on the show with us this morning.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Michael, thank you.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: You are now a counselor as well. In Alice Springs.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: How are things? Firstly, I guess overnight in town, has
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: there been much much movement or how things going this morning?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: You know, I think Alice Springs deals with a lot
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: of different situations on any given note. You know, we've
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: got a lot of migration that's happened in Ellie Springs
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and a lot of slowly educated people that have come
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: down the springs of causing the Rick Morrele and.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Michael, what a local saying to you after what had
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: unfolded earlier in the week when we'd saying, you know,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: that terrible situation with the kids in the cars, uh,
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: you know, the town locals being told not to head
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: into town and those kids allegedly you know, sort of
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: well trying to hit those marked police cars.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, well that's just that's just a sign of
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the times and the the poor parenting, bad parenting, the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: lack of parenting, the lack of a mother and a
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: father around guarding these young people, and they're responsible at
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: around these people's lives, you know, and you know monkeys
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: see monkey do if you get terrible parents, were going
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: to be a terrible kid and domestic bones or whatever.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: So we're in this situation at the moment, and not
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: only in everythings all up to the shot away, Michael.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: It's such a tough situation at the moment, and I
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: think that you know, everybody wants to see the Northern
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Territory thrive, but when we're going through what we're going through,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: it's bloody hard.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it is odd, and you know it can be
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: put down to a lot of things, and you know,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: there's just lack of services that you wonder what the
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: councils were supposed to do thirty or forty years ago,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: but the planning of trees, the planning of green spaces,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: the improving of health and improving of stores, well these
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: are haven't or worked. And the people have migrated to
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: town with a lack of understanding about rules about living
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: in tent so the problems become so huge. What are your.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Thoughts on what the government's planning to do at the moment.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: I know you are a counselor and the council's working
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: with the Northern Territory government, but what are your plans, like,
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on the government's plans in terms
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: of there being stop gap? So if a kid's out
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: on the streets late at night doing the wrong thing,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: if they're taken home and you know, and then they're
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: ending up back on the streets and doing the wrong
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: thing the government is proposing, like I'm sure you know
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: that they that there's a bit of a stop gap
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: and they're taken into care. Do you reckon this is
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: the right move?
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, the anti government along with everyone, I'm
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: looking for solutions that will bring peace to people's minds
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: in the town and we need that response yesterday. So
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: anything's going to be tried. And you know, I really
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: do believe that if there wasn't it was ever to
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: be some former intervention, it needs to happen now. But
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: has it gone too far? Because you're looking at a
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: few years to fix this problem that we have you
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and by education has contributed to this.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've spoken before as well to the principle of
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: the yper in your school, and he sort of told
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: me about the plans that they had hoped that they'd
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: be able to get across the line with federal government
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: funding for there to be further boarding facilities out there.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: I know that that's obviously a separate situation, but to
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: me that sounded like it could be a good thing,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: you know, to get kids educated, to make sure that
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: they're able to get a good night sleep and go
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: to school.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's right, But we have all these people
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: talking about what's good, but the everything perple person themselves
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: to parent then not listening to the radio, then watching
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: the TV. So this conversation you and I haven't they
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: can listen to this. Only the people who's parent privilege
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: that can be listening to this. We need to sell
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: focused on where these people are. It's much easier to
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: be a drunk than it is to be a parent.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Michael, what are we what needs to happen here? You
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: know there is It sounds as though from what you
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: are saying, and you know, you've been a strong Indigenous
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: leader in Central Australia for an awfully long time, you know,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: and you and I have spoken I reckon it was
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: probably even a year or so ago about issues that
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: were being experienced back then, and you've always been really
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: strong on this topic. You know, what needs to happen
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: with these parents and with those that you know that
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know how to say it that maybe aren't
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: looking after the kids as well as they should be.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: No, they're not there, and we need to target the
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: parents somewhere, and some are in some way them parents
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: are in the pub to gambling spots, or they're in
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: rehabilitation centers. So these kids are left to their own devices.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: They're growing up in the asshold that with their nanas
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: and grandfathers who have some form of chronic illness, and
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: they're grown up, their own kids little, but they're grown up.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: Two generations of children now the complex YEP, lifestyle of
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: averaging people in the territory and it's caused by big
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: mother things. And now we're searching for answer that's going
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: to work overnight. Well, that's not going to happen. It's impossible.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: It is what it is, and it's happening right now
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: and it can't be fixed tomorrow.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: What do you reckon? You know, in terms of some
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: of those programs and culture and education. I know, like
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: you've said, it's not going to happen overnight, it's not
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: going to happen tomorrow. What can we be doing better?
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, that's a hard question, and I think that
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: I think that parents need to be responsible and we
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: have to hold the I mean, look, there's so many
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: things we need to take the Central Ince payments of them. Well,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: show me if they've started doing that, Show me where
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: a parent has had their money of them because the
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: child has ended up in our detention center. I don't
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: think it has. It can't be proven. It hasn't been tried.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: It's been spoken about it, but it hasn't been tried.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: But then what happens is that parents and where do
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: they have to get the money? Yeah, there's always going
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: to be a service providing for that parent because she
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: are incapable of making decisions themselves. And it's poor education
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: that it contributes to this.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Michael, you sound pretty exasperated. I think everybody is at
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: the moment, and it's you know, I don't even know
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: what to say, mate, It's like, it's such a tough situation,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: and I feel for you guys in Alice Springs because
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: if you know, the council's working hard with the Northern
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Territory government. I know there's plenty of people that want
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: to see the right change happen, but like you've said,
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: it's just not going to happen overnight.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, this is a ten where I
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: grew up and a can of a lot of people
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: grew up. They've had four or five generations living here.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: And these people that have come here and had children
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: who're welcome you with welcome. I'm to come here, but
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: if you can't live by the rules, and bye bye.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: But when you're going to go elsewhere where is it
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: well out? Push? But there's no green space. They've been
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: neglected for years. There's no good drinking water. And I
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: don't want to live in APUs because it goause eight
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: dollars for a bottle of cool drink and four dollars
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: for a pie. I can go to McDonald and get
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: yeah for five dollars. Yeah, TAKEI fied chickens for five
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: dollars and considering them. There's a good green grass. I
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: like that.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh, Michael, Mike, Yeah, that's exactly right. I really
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: appreciate you having a chat with me. This morning. Michael.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I'm keen to try and catch up with you a
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: little bit more often, if you'd be open to that,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: because I think that you're giving us some really good
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: insight into what's going on in Alice. But you know,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: i'd like it if Yeah, I'd like to give you
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a bit more of an opportunity to have your voice
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: heard a bit further around the territory, you know, just
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: not just in Alice Springs.
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: No worries, Katie. I play with a straight battle of
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: the time, and I think i'd just tell a straight
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: story the way it is. Yeah, supercoding living it is
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: how it is, and that.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Is why I'm really grateful that you've come on and
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: had a chat with me this morning. Michael. Thank you
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: so very much for your time.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: All Right, Katie, we'll talk.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Thanks mate,