Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Alice Springs Councillor and Yipirinya School Principal Gavin Morris is ramping up calls for a boarding school saying it’ll help support local families and keep kids safe

Transcript

Alice Springs Councillor and Yipirinya School Principal Gavin Morris is ramping up calls for a boarding school saying it’ll help support local families and keep kids safe · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now we've spoken a losh over the last world this week,
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  Speaker 1: but for weeks really about the situation in Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 1: And you may recall hearing from my next guest towards
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  Speaker 1: the end of last year, and his name is Gavin Morris.
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  Speaker 1: He is now an Alice Springstown counselor, but he's also
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  Speaker 1: the principal of the Yperigya School in Alice Springs. Good
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  Speaker 1: morning to you, Gavin.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners. Thanks for having me on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you so very much for your time. Now, Gavin,
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  Speaker 1: as I just said, you and I have spoken throughout
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  Speaker 1: last year, you know about some of the issues that
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  Speaker 1: are being experienced in Alice Springs, but things have really
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  Speaker 1: gone to a whole new level this week with the
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister in town. Firstly, let's talk about the Prime
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  Speaker 1: Minister's visit and the announcement that was made by the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory and the federal governments. Do you think that
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  Speaker 1: it's going to make much of a difference in Alice
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  Speaker 1: Springs with these alcohol restrictions, Kaddie.
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  Speaker 2: The alcohol restrictions and the twenty seven odd million dollars investment,
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  Speaker 2: I would assume is the first stage of many welcomed
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  Speaker 2: welcome response from the PM Albanisi and Chief Minister files,
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  Speaker 2: but won't touch the edges in terms of the investment
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  Speaker 2: required to respond to the crisis in our springs, that's
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  Speaker 2: for sure, and I'm sure they're aware of that. But
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  Speaker 2: the twenty seven million plus some of the restrictions around
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  Speaker 2: the alcohol, you know, is a satisfactory response, certainly welcomed,
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  Speaker 2: but that the crisis in our springs certainly has gone
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  Speaker 2: to a new level.
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  Speaker 1: Deavin, how have things been over the last couple of days.
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  Speaker 1: Just paint a bit of a picture for our listeners
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  Speaker 1: here in Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: It's been a bit of a well win to be
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  Speaker 2: fair in our springs on a few different levels. So
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  Speaker 2: we've got you've got our community who's who's in crisis,
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  Speaker 2: trying to deal with whole range of things from a
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  Speaker 2: daily basis, and you know a community also Katie who's
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  Speaker 2: dealing with the impact of colonalization which is now six
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  Speaker 2: generations in and some of the changes that we're proposing
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  Speaker 2: and outlined by from mineselv and Easy during the week
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  Speaker 2: will attend to the short term stuff great, but there's
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  Speaker 2: some intergenerational trauma going on and that's that's manifesting itself
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  Speaker 2: in behavior which it does not represent these social expectations
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  Speaker 2: in our springs. We've got our kids on the street
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  Speaker 2: wondering our street unsupervised is not okay. It's not a
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  Speaker 2: great look to have one hundred and fifty people lining
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  Speaker 2: up by the bottle shop at Bath Street two o'clock.
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  Speaker 2: There's some of these restrictions that come to address some
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  Speaker 2: of those issues from our short term basis, but there's
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  Speaker 2: some longer term stuff underlying all of this which needs
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  Speaker 2: to be addressed.
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  Speaker 1: They must certainly use and Davin, if we can step
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  Speaker 1: into the space. You know you are the principle of
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  Speaker 1: the yeper in your school in Alice Springs. You and
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  Speaker 1: I spoke towards the end of last year and we've
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  Speaker 1: discussed the need for a boarding school there at yprin
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  Speaker 1: you're a boarding wing, I guess you'd say of the school,
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  Speaker 1: where are things at with that side of the discussion.
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  Speaker 2: Both sides of politics are supportive of that proposal, and
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  Speaker 2: certainly that's come to the head in the last week
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  Speaker 2: where we've seen people talking about getting our kids off
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  Speaker 2: the streets. Curfews for example, has been raised. If curfews
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  Speaker 2: are going to work in community. Our children have to
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  Speaker 2: be sent home to places where they feel stafed. And
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  Speaker 2: for most of our kids that's the case, but there's
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  Speaker 2: absolutely there's some kids, and a growing number in fact,
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  Speaker 2: that home isn't safe and it's actually safer to be
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  Speaker 2: unsupervised on the streets, and a curfew won't work if
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  Speaker 2: we're going round up kids and take them back to
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  Speaker 2: an unsafe household. And that's as simple as that. The
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  Speaker 2: proposal of the youprenious school around the boarding facility, which
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  Speaker 2: was raised in the middle of la last year, is
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  Speaker 2: more relevant now than it was then, and it was
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  Speaker 2: very important at that stage. So working with those relative
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  Speaker 2: with those particular people to ensure that action are taken.
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  Speaker 2: We don't just keep talking about it.
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  Speaker 1: So, Gavin, why is it so relevant? Why, in your opinion,
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  Speaker 1: does this need to really get underway immediately.
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  Speaker 2: We've got a generation of kids on our streets who
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  Speaker 2: aren't getting the support at home that they need, and
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  Speaker 2: we need to support the parents of these kids as well.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, they're overwhelmed, you know, let's be fair, this
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  Speaker 2: is not an easy task. Those parents in houses which
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  Speaker 2: they're dealing with a lot of the stuff themselves with
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  Speaker 2: potentially alcohol abuse, potential domestic violence, and we need to
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  Speaker 2: support our families and to have our kids and their
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  Speaker 2: families given the support at that point in their journey,
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  Speaker 2: at that point in time is absolutely crucial. Yeah, we
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  Speaker 2: need emergency accommodation to your kids, some routines, some safety.
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  Speaker 2: You know, I know our kids are absolutely banging the
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  Speaker 2: door down to come back to school Wednesday. We've run
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  Speaker 2: a fianceet school program across the break, but our kids once,
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  Speaker 2: they're dying for sort of some safe housing, some secure
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  Speaker 2: housing so that they've got some routines because they love
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  Speaker 2: to learn and they are our future leaders.
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  Speaker 1: Devin talked me through how prepared you know you guys
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  Speaker 1: are for school to go back next Wednesday. And you
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  Speaker 1: said that the kids are dying to get back to school.
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  Speaker 1: You know, how do you know that are they are
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  Speaker 1: they telling you that they want.
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  Speaker 2: To get back there. They're telling us my voice and
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  Speaker 2: they're telling us when we're visiting the families, absolutely very
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  Speaker 2: DISI actually get back to teaching and learning, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: all Aboriginal families, I think sometimes they get we get
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  Speaker 2: a bit generalized in our commentary around disengagement with school.
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  Speaker 2: Aboriginal families, like all families accross the nation, value education
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  Speaker 2: very much. Our families want their children to go to
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  Speaker 2: school and to be to be taught and to do learning.
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  Speaker 2: So we're well prepared. We've still got a bit of
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  Speaker 2: storm damage that we've got to be adaptable with. The
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  Speaker 2: storm on Twist in November was getting repaired and then
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  Speaker 2: we had a significant storm about three weeks ago which
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  Speaker 2: put four inches of water through a couple of classrooms.
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  Speaker 2: So we've got some issues infrastructure wise there, but we're
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  Speaker 2: ready to go for next Wednesday. We've recruited really strongly
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  Speaker 2: across the break with new teachers, with strong cultural leaders.
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  Speaker 2: Our Happy Heart hub where we do all our inclusion work.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we've invested close to a million dollars in wages, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: to ensure that we've got staff to attend to the
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  Speaker 2: barriers to learning. Now our kids in our family's faith
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  Speaker 2: and that is around forma throughout how that former impacts
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  Speaker 2: their behavior, how their day to day life is impacting
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  Speaker 2: their learning. We want to attend to that first so
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  Speaker 2: then we can get to literacy and numeracy and start
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  Speaker 2: changing that conversation.
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  Speaker 1: Mate, last time you and I spoke or not, you know,
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  Speaker 1: not after the storm damage, but the time before the interview.
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  Speaker 1: Before we ended that interview, and we were inundated with
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  Speaker 1: messages from listeners saying, this bloke sounds like he's doing
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  Speaker 1: a phenomenal job with the kids. You were so honest
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  Speaker 1: about what was going on. You know, you'd spoken to
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  Speaker 1: me about the fact that you know that there are
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  Speaker 1: kids at school who you know, who were on the
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  Speaker 1: streets at night, not necessarily doing the right thing, but
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  Speaker 1: that they were still turning up to school every day
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  Speaker 1: because it's a safe place. You'd also spoken to us
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  Speaker 1: about the fact that you know, in some cases it
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  Speaker 1: wasn't just children who attend the school that were in
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  Speaker 1: dangerous situations, but staff as well, and how big an
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  Speaker 1: impact a boarding facility would have, you know, to me,
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  Speaker 1: I just can't believe, to be blunt about it, that
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  Speaker 1: you know that the two levels of government, the federal
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  Speaker 1: government the Northern Territory government haven't really sort of pushed
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  Speaker 1: ahead faster to try and get these happening.
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  Speaker 2: There's a very exciting opportunity at Yeperenia to case study
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  Speaker 2: a proposal which is community driven has come from the ground,
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  Speaker 2: there's the right people around it, and we just need
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  Speaker 2: what is you know, eight million dollars is those significant
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  Speaker 2: bucket of money, but in the long term scheme of it,
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  Speaker 2: it's quite cheap. I think.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Look, and to be fair, Chief Minister Files is very
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  Speaker 2: supportive of everything that we're doing at Yah Prenia was
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  Speaker 2: supportive of the Sunset School. I've been talking with Senator
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  Speaker 2: Price and Minister Scrupule, who are both supportive. But like
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  Speaker 2: I said, Katie, we need work now to turn into
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  Speaker 2: actions and this is a really exciting opportunity, but it's
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  Speaker 2: something that needs to happen because our kids are in danger,
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  Speaker 2: our staff are coming from the same households. We're a
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  Speaker 2: multi generational educational facility, which is a real microchasm of
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  Speaker 2: the oour Springs community. And what we've been able to
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  Speaker 2: prove in then travel months. Last year we triple our
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  Speaker 2: enrollment and that demadment. We're sitting just north for three
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  Speaker 2: hundred students, which is the most since the school open
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  Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy eight. But we've been able to do
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  Speaker 2: that around the themes of relationships, culture and inclusion and
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  Speaker 2: that comes from the ground. And once again I'll go
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  Speaker 2: back to the point that the answers to the problems
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  Speaker 2: in our springs in the community belong to the community,
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  Speaker 2: but the answers belong to the communities. The answers exist
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  Speaker 2: with the community. If we listen, if we take down
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  Speaker 2: our colonolized approaches and our buyers and listen, and then
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  Speaker 2: wrap around the support that these ideas and proposals need
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  Speaker 2: from the three tiers of government, from the local government,
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  Speaker 2: the local council, the NTG in the federal government, then
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  Speaker 2: we can get parenty. Last year shows that change can
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  Speaker 2: happen quickly. It's definitely going to be generation, no doubt
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  Speaker 2: about it, but observable, measurable change can happen very quickly
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  Speaker 2: if we'd listen.
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  Speaker 1: Kevin, do you reckon that you're going to see, you know,
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  Speaker 1: a bit of a change even with school going back.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that we are maybe going to see
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  Speaker 1: things you know, I know it's not going to fix everything,
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  Speaker 1: but do you think we'll maybe see things quiet and
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  Speaker 1: down a little bit in Alice Springs once school goes back.
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, absolutely, I hope so. And look, I want
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  Speaker 2: to be clear to your listeners that Uprenia School has
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  Speaker 2: a large number of students who come from you know,
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  Speaker 2: frembly full language groups, and most of those students and
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  Speaker 2: families do a fantastic job of being a part of
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  Speaker 2: society and active citizens. There are a small group of
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  Speaker 2: students who need to support and we do that in
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  Speaker 2: your premia and they identify with your prena. I would
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  Speaker 2: imagine that us going back to full time, our full
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  Speaker 2: time work will help with those students and families and
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  Speaker 2: potential any social behavior on the street, definitely. I think
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  Speaker 2: also we need to ensure that those community members who
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  Speaker 2: come into our springs from Aboriginal communities that surround us.
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  Speaker 2: That I talk to traditional and central arend of people
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  Speaker 2: all the time. They talk about the importance of making
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  Speaker 2: sure that if you come to our springs, we've got
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  Speaker 2: expectations are and how we behave here, whether you're Indigenous
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  Speaker 2: or non indigenous. And for those people who are visited
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  Speaker 2: to our springs who aren't being expectations, well, we need
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  Speaker 2: to make sure they're going back to their communities. And
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  Speaker 2: I think that's the next step in the funding, which
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  Speaker 2: I'm hoping comes from the federal government, to ensure that
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  Speaker 2: there's communities that surround our springs get the resources and
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  Speaker 2: infrastructure development that they need so they can go back
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  Speaker 2: to their country, where people belong, where they feel connected,
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  Speaker 2: where their identity is and to take the pressure of
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  Speaker 2: the melting pot at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: In our springs well, Gavin Morris, I always appreciate your
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  Speaker 1: time before I'll let you go. Is there anything else
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  Speaker 1: that you do think we need to be aware of,
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  Speaker 1: you know, in Ellice Springs. I think that you know,
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  Speaker 1: right across the Northern Territory people are pretty concerned not
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  Speaker 1: only about Alice, but some of the issues that we're
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  Speaker 1: seeing with crime and alcohol issues everywhere, but certainly Alice
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  Speaker 1: Springs has been thrust into the spotlight over the last
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  Speaker 1: week or so.
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  Speaker 2: This is a very resilient community, Katie. We've we've got
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  Speaker 2: through some very strong Aboriginal leaders and elders in the space,
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  Speaker 2: and we need to pull together as a community and
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  Speaker 2: to ensure that we need to be honest with what's happening. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: there's no point sticking ahead in the sand. But we
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  Speaker 2: also need to ensure that the narratives like let's identify
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  Speaker 2: what the problem is and then focus more on the solutions.
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  Speaker 2: A narrative of deficit and disorder it's just the vised community.
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  Speaker 2: It does nothing in terms of moving forward and it
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  Speaker 2: just creates divisions. So this is a really strong community
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  Speaker 2: with the right people at the helm from a variety
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  Speaker 2: of different level to ensure that we address the crisis
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  Speaker 2: which is going on at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Gavin Morris, Alice Springstown counselor, a councilor, Alderman, but
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  Speaker 1: also the principal of course of you preing your school.
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  Speaker 1: We always appreciate your time keeping contact and we'll talk
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  Speaker 1: to you again very soon.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Cattie, thank you.