http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/18000aday-bender/news-story/dda909a278a25b010812ae620bcf0570 (http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/18000aday-bender/news-story/dda909a278a25b010812ae620bcf0570)
RESIDENTS in the remote community of Gapuwiyak are spending as much as $18,000 a day on drugs and gambling, and the town has lost a "whole generation" to mental illness, according to a traditional owner.
In a statement read in court, traditional owner Mickey Wunungmurra said on some days, $18,000 in cash was withdrawn from the town's only ATM, most of which he claimed was spent on a combination of drugs, petrol sniffing and gambling. Mr Wunungmurra's account was largely corroborated by other residents and police.
The town, 220km by road from Nhulunbuy, has a population of around 1200.
"We have a whole generation of children with mental health problems and depression," Mr Wunungmurra said.
"Having lived my whole life in this community I have seen things made progressively worse since the introduction of cannabis."
He said many parents in town would stay up late into the night, gambling, smoking and sniffing petrol.
By morning, school-aged children would be found asleep in bed instead of at school, Mr Wunungmurra said.
"School attendance used to be really good," he said, adding that at some points last year, attendance rates dropped as low as 20 per cent.
Official figures show Gapuwiyak School had attendance figures of 29.0 per cent in term four last year, down from 54.2 per cent for the 2013 school year, the earliest time comparable figures were available.
Mr Wunungmurra said he and other elders feared for the loss of local culture as young people's drug habits become entrenched
Mr Wunungmurra's comments on the effect of drugs in Gapuwiyak came during the sentencing of an out-of-town drug dealer, Richard Witham, who pocketed $24,000 from the sale of drugs in four days.
The courts regularly hear cases of drug runners travelling to remote communities, who, like Witham, take advantage of the high price of cannabis. At $100 per gram, dealers profit from as much as a 1000 per cent mark-up on wholesale prices in Darwin.
Makes me wonder exactly how much of my taxes go on this crap! How can an Abo afford $18/k per day?! Either that or the mining company is paying mega bucks for royalties in a time where the mining boom has dropped off?
Quote from: Br.IanVonTurpie on Sat 16 Jul 2016How can an Abo afford $18/k per day?!
That's $18,000 for the entire town - not for the individual Australopithecoon.
The 1200 boongs living there, you can bet most of them are welfare reciprients getting a "basics card" that allow the purchasing of just :- food, hygene, basic clothing and health products. So where is all this money coming from? Pimping? Selling drugs? Baby bonus? Thefts?
I have noticed Abos at estasblishments gambling at like 8:00am. Is it just from mining royalties they are getting this from? Nhullunbuy had an aluminium mine . But that is no more. Makes me wonder is Rio Tinto is continuing to hook the Abos up with all this money like they previously have been.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/millions-spent-on-remote-tafe-sa-campuses-in-apy-lands-with-few-graduates-prompting-call-for-revamp/news-story/8de586612cff3b4f0d0ec53aee81e858
TAFE campuses in the remote APY Lands cost millions of dollars to run but are producing only a handful of graduates, prompting calls for the money to be better targeted.
It costs TAFE SA more than $1.8 million a year to run six campuses on the indigenous territory in the state's Far North, where hundreds of students are enrolled at any one time.
But in recent years, the number of course completions each semester has regularly been fewer than 10. In the most extreme case, just one student completed a course in the first semester of 2014.
Successive Aboriginal Affairs ministers have been criticised for failing to find sustainable solutions to persistent issues in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, including a lack of employment opportunities and accessible health care, food insecurity, abuse, financial mismanagement and governance. There are few employment opportunities for Anangu people, outside lauded art centres, continuing reliance on welfare.
A TAFE spokeswoman said students studying part-time, health problems, "cultural requirements" such as Sorry Business and Men's Business, long travelling times and the need for language, literacy and numeracy support were among the many reasons for low numbers of course passes.
The spokeswoman said work expos, close liaison with employers and more on the job training produced the improved results last year.
She said the cost of remote campuses was justified because TAFE, as the public provider of vocational training, was obligated to deliver opportunities across the state.
"TAFE SA is committed to social inclusion principles and providing opportunities for disadvantaged groups to gain qualifications that would otherwise be unattainable," she said.
"TAFE SA's commitment to delivering education to small classes in regional centres, including in the APY Lands, requires significantly more investment than the delivery of qualifications in other areas."
The TAFE SA campus at Indulkana, in the APY Lands.
Opposition training spokesman David Pisoni, who obtained the figures under Freedom of Information, said the "shocking waste of money" must end.
"Minister (Susan) Close must explain why so much money is being spent to achieve such a poor outcome year upon year," Mr Pisoni said.
"It is inexcusable that some of our most disadvantaged citizens are being failed so comprehensively by the education system.
"It is almost criminal this is occurring when South Australia has an unemployment rate of 7 per cent and the Weatherill Government has gutted its jobs training programs.
"This shocking waste of money and resources must end and the savings invested in effective jobs training programs for people living on the lands."
TAFE has learning centres at Amata, Ernabella, Indulkana, Fregon, Mimili and Pipalyatjara.
Certificate courses are offered in areas including education and skills development, community services, early childhood and care, automotive, hospitality and conservation and land management, plus short courses in a range of work and life skills.
Numbers of enrolments have ranged from 222 in Semester 1, 2012 to 329 in Semester 2, 2014.
Just three students completed courses in Semester 1, 2012, six in Semester 1, 2013, and seven in the second semesters of both 2013 and 2014.
Improvement was made last year, with 35 completions in Semester 1 and 25 in Semester 2, but the number fell to 14 in first semester this year.
Most training was in Certificate I in Education and Skills Development, for which TAFE's approach was focused on individual training plans and identifying study units to help students achieve their personal and employment goals, rather than certificate completion.
About 2700 people live on the remote APY Lands. The average age is 27 and the average annual income is about $22,700, according to ABS data.
The ABS also lists education and training as the main employment industry in the region.
Mobile phone coverage is patchy on the Lands and at the last Census, in 2011, only 28 per cent of occupied homes had internet access.
About 80 per cent of the population is recorded as speaking a language other than English at home. In 2011, only a quarter of APY residents held a post-school qualification.
Design work has begun on a $106 million road from Fregon to Indulkana to improve accessibility and reduce travel times and freight costs.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-researcher-warns-one-in-every-two-young-people-in-some-outback-indigenous-communities-carries-an-sti/news-story/83dfe691db1097e6eea777d2c86ddaa9
ONE in every two young people in some remote indigenous communities now carries a sexually transmitted disease and Australia is facing a new syphilis and HIV epidemic in the Outback, a leading South Australian researcher warns.
An in-depth study of 65 remote indigenous communities across northern Australia revealed the extent of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among teenagers.
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) Aboriginal Health Infection and Immunity Theme Associate Professor James Ward said the extent of the largely hidden problem "keeps me awake at night".
The study found about one in two young people in the communities studied had one of the three major STIs — chlamydia, gonorrhoea or trichomoniasis. Prof Ward said: "There also is a major syphilis outbreak now occurring across northern Australian, mainly among young people, and without extra resources to deal with it we have been struggling.
"We've always known there are a large number of diagnoses but that has only been related to diagnoses returned — as part of research study over the past five years we have studied the prevalence.
"We looked at 65 remote communities across northern Australia — in the NT, WA and Queensland — and found the prevalence among young people to be almost one in every two. It is a complex issue and one that is largely ignored."
Prof Ward, who has Aboriginal ancestry, noted the prevalence outstripped the diagnoses results for reasons that included cultural sensitivity about talking about STIs, young people avoiding health clinics, and some STIs not causing symptoms that would prompt a visit to a health centre.
A low level of health literacy and education for prevention, plus the influence of drugs and alcohol, were also factors. Prof Ward stressed it was not an issue of promiscuity.
"A 16-year-old in Adelaide who has five partners might rarely get chlamydia, but a 16- to 19-year-old in a remote community is very likely to get one of the three even if they have only one sexual relationship simply because the prevalence among the community is so high," he said
"As much as it would be lovely if everyone used a condom, we know it is not always done and it is a large, young, mobile population. It's a bit like the flu — if everyone in your community has got it and you don't have protection of vaccination you are probably going to get it."
Prof Ward is helping develop a range of resources in communities for young people, their families and carers to learn about STIs and blood borne diseases.
The work is also focused on providing resources for clinicians, to get them to offer tests.
So , nature has a way of dealing with these immoral boongs who probably have gang bangs and therefore knock up women who don't know who the father is? Just goes to show it is dangerous to sleep with Abos!
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/nt-indigenous-communities-tackle-problem-gambling/news-story/02ec49c6d232a270e7210daa1c103163
PROBLEM gambling is up to 20 times more prevalent in remote indigenous communities, with young kids indoctrinated through low stakes bets on activities such as marbles.
In what is thought to be a world first, problem gambling in remote Territory communities will go under the microscope in a $1.3 million pilot project led by the Australian National University Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research with help from the Menzies School of Health Research and Amity Community Services.
The project is the biggest single investment in addressing gambling in Australian indigenous communities.
A research team will work with communities to come up with and implement ways to tackle the problem.
Amity deputy executive officer Nicola Coalter said the project had drawn significant international interest.
Ms Coalter said she believed problem gambling was having more of a detrimental impact on remote communities than ever before. "We've been in the space for 10 or 15 years now and we can see it's an increasing problem," she said.
She said problems caused by gambling went further than monetary losses. "Kids might not being going to school the next morning or not being fed."
http://www.ntnews.com.au/lifestyle/bottlos-should-use-fingerprints-facial-recognition/news-story/ec9e35d0791adfd8ba9599882e63639b
BOTTLESHOP licensees should use new technologies such as facial recognition or fingerprinting to control the flow of alcohol in the Territory, rather than rely on an "under-resourced" police force, says the Northern Territory Police Association.
NTPA president Paul McCue said the onus should be on those who profit from the sale of grog, the licensing commission and appropriate departments. "Why should the community's police be doing the work of a bottle shop security guard and effectively control point of sale," he said.
Paul McCue
"While we have significant police resources tied to bottle shops, there is little scope to support critical frontline areas such as general duties. Other areas also suffer, our remote police stations are understrength and often go without relief, just so an officer can stand at a bottle shop."
Earlier this year it was reported the overtime bill for Territory police officers stationed outside bottle shops had exceeded $1 million.
The CLP has committed 105 additional police auxiliary officers to fill Temporary Beat Locations (TBLs), which is currently filled by constables and senior sergeants. The auxiliaries will be given new powers to search and arrest, with the change expected to redirect 70 frontline officers to other duties
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northe...193fdc1dcf6d1a
A WEEKEND at Cahills Crossing – a famous feeding ground for crocodiles – could well have ended in tragedy for a foolhardy woman who tried to attract the attention of a close to 4m saltie, standing just steps from the water's edge.
The woman, who appeared unsteady on her feet, stood within striking distance of the croc, seemingly oblivious to her deadly predicament.
[imghttp://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/9a87d1f5a73a950018a15f8e5db6e9af?width=316][/img]
A woman attracts the attention of a almost 4m saltwater crocodile when she approaches the edge of Cahills Crossing along with her puppy. PICTURE: Michael Franchi
Even her inquisitive puppy – named Meatball – appeared more Crocwise, taking shelter behind the woman as she tried to scare the croc away by waving her thong at it. Meatball, like all other dogs, is banned from Kakadu, a Parks Australia spokesman said.
After the woman put her double plugger back on, she leant down towards the water to pick up a small stick, which she then threw at the already agitated animal.
At least eight more crocs could be seen lurking in the water nearby.
Territory Wildlife croc catcher Tommy Nichols said although Kakadu was not in his area of responsibility, it was known both for the number of crocs and for idiotic human *^@&!behaviour.
http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northe...193fdc1dcf6d1a
A WEEKEND at Cahills Crossing – a famous feeding ground for crocodiles – could well have ended in tragedy for a foolhardy woman who tried to attract the attention of a close to 4m saltie, standing just steps from the water's edge.
The woman, who appeared unsteady on her feet, stood within striking distance of the croc, seemingly oblivious to her deadly predicament.
A woman attracts the attention of a almost 4m saltwater crocodile when she approaches the edge of Cahills Crossing along with her puppy. PICTURE: Michael Franchi
Even her inquisitive puppy – named Meatball – appeared more Crocwise, taking shelter behind the woman as she tried to scare the croc away by waving her thong at it. Meatball, like all other dogs, is banned from Kakadu, a Parks Australia spokesman said.
After the woman put her double plugger back on, she leant down towards the water to pick up a small stick, which she then threw at the already agitated animal.
At least eight more crocs could be seen lurking in the water nearby.
Territory Wildlife croc catcher Tommy Nichols said although Kakadu was not in his area of responsibility, it was known both for the number of crocs and for idiotic human *^@&!behaviour.
(http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/9a87d1f5a73a950018a15f8e5db6e9af?width=316)
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/index.html?sourceCode=HSWEB_MRE170_a&mode=premium&dest=http:%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Fnew-push-to-see-legalised-gambling-in-remote-northern-territory%2Fnews-story%2F483f878bfb7519b3a7ab065981c90c7f&memtype=anonymous
Territory gambling circles, and one former politician wants to see an end to it, by allowing poker machines in the bush.
Former MLA for Arafura, Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu, is calling for legal "casinos" containing pokies and keno to be installed on Bathurst and Melville Islands, 85km offshore from Darwin.
Mr Xavier, who lost his seat in the August NT election, said pokies would bring benefits to the region and give Tiwi gamblers an outlet other than outdoor card circles.
"Most indigenous people want to have a casino in the (Tiwi) club," Mr Xavier said.
"It would support the community, making profits for the community."
The social club in Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island is open four days a week, for three hours each day.
Only midstrength and light beers are served.
Mr Xavier said he believed money spent on pokies could be trickled back out into the community, help young people "go to university" and fund excursions for schoolchildren.
"Kids (would) get a lot of benefit from the club," he claimed, although did not have a specific plan on how such a pokies rollout would work.
At current, dozens of Tiwi islanders spend their days and dole wages on card games, which Mr Xavier dubbed "outdoor casino".
"If we have poker machine in club ... (there'd be) no gambling in public."
Card circle players told NT News up to $3000 could be won and lost in a single session, and often left islanders without money to feed their families.
Mr Xavier's successor, new Arafura MLA Lawrence Costa, said he would be "open for discussion" about the prospect of legalised gambling on the islands.
"That's a discussion that can take place, but obviously there is still a bit of work which needs to be done with regards to that happening," Mr Costa said.
"...But that's something that no one has come and approached the government ... about."
He said the move to install pokies would "depend on what type of tax it's going to get back for the community, or what type of benefits ... and what percentage they get off the machine".
From a police perspective, Acting Superintendent Antony Deutrom said remote community gambling in the Territory was "a sensitive and complex issue which requires appropriate support services and community based input".
EMPLOYED Australians are being forced to work nearly three hours a week to pay the nation's runaway welfare bill, with more than half their taxes sucked into social security and health spending.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/painful-price-of-welfare-costs-revealed-by-federal-treasury/news-story/0a7dad20a726ee7b10bf61d33b47f47a
Official data released by the federal Treasury reveals that of the average taxable income of taxpayers, which is $58,000 a year, a total of $11,427 is paid to the taxman.
Broken down, the average taxpayer hands over $83 a week for welfare — including $35 a week on aged pensions, $20 a week on family payments, $17 a week on disability payments and $6.30 a week on the unemployed. Another $42 a week is spent on healthcare and $20 a week on defence.
Treasury's tax calculations are set much lower than the average wage of $80,236 because they include tax returns filed by welfare recipients and pensioners who pay very little tax.
The Treasury data also shows the average taxpayer is spending $9 a week just to pay the interest repayments on government debt, which has ballooned to a record $531 billion.
Federal Treasury expects government borrowings will soar to $684 billion within 10 years.
Australia's national debt has blown out since former prime minister Tony Abbott abolished the statutory "debt ceiling'', which stopped the government borrowing any more than $300 billion in 2013.
Honestly! Send the Boongs to Antarctica to fend for themselves, or better yet drop them on North Korea as human weapons, the amount of wasted money that goes on stuff they either trash or neglect needs to be culled and give them a vasectomy too! No more Foreign Aid, and no more Baby Bonus to Abos or Reffos.
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-04/nt-indigenous-employment-scheme-axed-alleged-rorting/8775964
A Northern Territory Indigenous employment scheme has been axed after it was discovered a number of businesses had allegedly rorted the system of thousands of dollars.(https://www.abc.net.au/news/image/6973226-3x2-460x307.jpg)
The suspension comes after an independent audit into the system failed to pick up the alleged fraud, but did find, anecdotally, that money had been claimed for non-Indigenous people and people Indigenous to another country.
The Indigenous Employment Provision Sum (IEPS) scheme was brought in by the Country Liberals Party (CLP) in 2014 to incentivise companies to hire Indigenous people in the Territory.
The Gunner Government has now suspended it effective immediately after it uncovered at least six different companies allegedly falsely said they employed Indigenous workers to claim the benefits.
"This program was certainly well intentioned, well meaning, and was all about ensuring that we had more Indigenous Territorians in jobs," Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said.
"We've felt like there is no way we should be continuing with the program, that we need to suspend it at the moment."
"We need to have a look at what comes in to replace it, but most importantly we need to hand this over to police so they can have a look at the matter."
The Government did not give a total sum of the amount defrauded or which businesses were involved, but said the figures ranged from thousands of dollars to tens of thousands for each of the six companies.
Audit into scheme missed alleged rorting
Ms Manison said it was up to the hiring companies themselves to check whether the employee was Indigenous.
"Generally that is something that the company goes and confirms that they do have Indigenous people being employed, however some questions have been raised around that," she said.
"There were checks and balances through the Department [of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics] and of course if you have concerns about programs you can always refer it onto the Auditor-General."
A CLP-commissioned audit report, delivered by KPMG in December 2016, did not identify the alleged rorting incidents.
However, it did find that most organisations consulted during the audit process indicated that the scheme was vulnerable to fraud.
"[Organisations indicated] that unless there was better compliance monitoring arrangements that verified that the Indigenous people being claims for were actually undertaking work on the job, there is a potential for inappropriate claiming to be undertaken," the report said.
"While no specific examples were provided, there were a number of anecdotes identified during the consultation, including the claiming of IEPS for non-Indigenous workers, or claiming for people Indigenous to another country."
Despite the KPMG reporting findings on the potential for the system to be exploited, the Government said the incidents of alleged fraud were not picked up until the first case was reported to the Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Department in March.
Ms Manison said the KPMG report also found there were a range of other reasons the scheme was ineffective
Who wants to employ Abos? If they are dumb enough to ask for "indigenous people" ... Clever dicks employ people who are indigenous to other countries!