WEBVTT - This is Alice Springs: Mparntwe 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.800 This episode is the third part of a three part series. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.520 If you haven't yet, start with Children of the Intervention 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:09.320 and then listen to the Coppers. Also, it contains some 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:10.480 strong language. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.120 Most of us have lived in these camps all their life. 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:23.240 I've moved out, I've come back, grew up in Charles Creek. 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.840 So you got some kids on your own, yep, what 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:29.080 are your hopes and dreams for them? 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:32.480 They've got brains, they do go to school all the time. Yeah, 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.520 I've got my eldest daughter and who's almost finished year twelve, 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:38.400 and she's straight into her health worker's course straight after 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.920 school holidays and the other ones in year ten and yeah, 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.120 she's pursuing what she wants to do now through the 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:47.360 VET courses through school. 0:00:48.200 --> 0:00:50.680 I'm at Charles Creek Camp, just on the edge of 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.120 Alice Springs. It's its own little community at the bottom 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:57.680 of a hill. I'm talking to her in a while 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:01.280 we talk. Her kids are playing nearby, still in their uniforms, 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:04.320 just home from school. They're burning off that last bit 0:01:04.360 --> 0:01:06.960 of energy before dinner and settling in for the night. 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:09.640 I want to't know what it's been like to live 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.360 here under the glaring spotlight of governments, but never to 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.240 be seen, only monitored, to live a life within the 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:21.679 ever tightening parameters decided by the state, the latest one 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:25.759 being the curfews imposed earlier this year. Kids weren't allowed 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.480 on the streets after six pm. It was horrible. 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.080 Like I've just finished the season being an under seventy's 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.399 coach for the girl's side into Alice. It was a 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.679 bit hard because we had to bring our training times 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:42.120 earlier just so the kids could be home before the 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.080 certain time, which was silly because none of my girls 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.280 was involved with any of the rubbish that was going 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:51.840 on around town and it really affected our training ways. 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.840 So yeah, it was pretty stupid that we got affected 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:55.720 from it, really bad. 0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:58.960 It's kind of the typical thing that happens in the 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.560 territory is that everyone gets tired with the same brush 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:05.040 because you know, a certain number of people are playing 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:06.840 up and then everyone has to suffer as a result. 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:09.000 Is that the way you feel, Yep, exactly the way 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.120 I feel. It's you know, it's not our problem. 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.519 It should be brought upon their guardians, their parents or 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:16.680 whatever with whoever's doing wrong. 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:20.320 Yeah, and so no one's talking to each other. I mean, 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.000 that's what it seems to me. No one's actually you 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.760 can sort of like enforce the law. You can bring 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:31.560 in curfews, you can bring in the interventions through the 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:34.040 army and stuff, but actually no one's actually sitting down 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.000 and talking with people to find out what the problem 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:38.760 is and what the solution is. 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.200 Yeah, that'll be right if we could do that. But 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:43.960 no one's game enough to get out and talk about it. 0:02:44.000 --> 0:02:46.880 So, yeah, it must be pretty exhausting. 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.360 Yeah, it is being locals and liveding all our life, 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:54.760 So yeah. 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.440 You see a long term future here for yourself and 0:02:55.480 --> 0:03:00.160 your family At the moment, no, So where would you go? Oh, 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:09.160 somewhere out of Alice Springs. Hopefully it's not so much 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:11.720 the crime wave that's driving Renee out of Alice Springs. 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.720 It's been the response to it. People who are trying 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.920 their best are looked on with suspicion. It's tiring having 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:22.480 to prove yourself time and time again to do the 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:26.560 little things, go to the shops, drive a car, raise 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.520 a family. Every Aboriginal person here is under the same pressure. 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.200 The thing that needs fixing is not Renee or her family, 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.680 but they continue trespassing on their lives by clerks and coppers. 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.480 She's not alone wanting to leave Alice. Those who can 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.400 afford it are packing up and leaving. There are for 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:49.560 sale signs everywhere you go in town. There's a glut 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:52.680 of homes in the market. So what are the people 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.240 that remain want. What's working or needs to happen to 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:58.960 make things work, the little things that can make a 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:08.839 big difference. I'm Daniel James from Schwartz Media and seven AM. 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:18.320 This is Ella Springs Episode three in Bartway. 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:29.800 Thank you everyone. What an incredible group of dedicated, hard 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:34.880 working Territorians. How good is it to be Territorians Tonight. 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.120 There's a new government in the territory and its leader 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:46.000 has promised solutions. Earlier this year, Lea Finiguiaro became the 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:49.520 new Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. She won on 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:53.240 a landslide, almost completely wiping out the Labor Party from Parliament, 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.039 reinstalling the Country Liberal Party to power. 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.440 As are born and Bred's second generation Territory Q the 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:04.479 granddaughter of Italian migrants. I grew up living an iconic 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:10.400 territory childhood, hunting, camping, fishing and playing outside. I always 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.719 knew the territory was a special place and I was 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.320 lucky to be a Territorian growing up here. 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.280 The new Chief Minister's just turned forty, but she's been 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:24.039 in Parliament for thirteen years. She's clp through and through 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.080 as much a part of the political establishment as you 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:30.200 can get. Here. The dawn of this era looks strangely 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.120 like the old one. It's another territory and looking back 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.719 at this place as they remember to get back to 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.680 those times. The new Chief Minister will be implementing her 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:39.800 tough on crime agenda. 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:44.400 Territorians have stood up against nearly two decades of escalating 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:48.120 crime and economy going backwards, and the erosion of our 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:52.840 once iconic lifestyle. But tomorrow is the start of a 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:55.000 new day and a new shutter. 0:05:59.440 --> 0:06:02.960 She's promised to lower the age of criminal responsibility to ten, 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:08.160 tightening already type bay all laws skills, will have truancy officers, 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.560 and there's the threat to restrict government benefits for parents 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:16.560 of kids who misbehave. Police will be given more powers 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:20.240 to search kids as young as ten if they're considered suspicious. 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:26.280 The greyest of law enforcement criteria spit hoods banned after 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.600 the Don Dale Ryal Commission, will be back the prison 0:06:29.680 --> 0:06:32.720 itself in the midst of a makeover, new and improve 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.000 the house, all the incarcerated children to come. 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.839 CLP are proposing on the issue of you crime to 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:42.240 reducing the age of criminal responsibility back to ten from 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.440 twelve years of age. Yes, what experts have said that 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:47.040 this is a good idea? And what have they said? 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:49.599 Well, the experts of the CLP listen to are the 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.600 everyday Territorians who are out there sick and tired of 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:53.680 being victims of crime. 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.800 We had holy promises, so they're her solutions. But what 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:01.680 about the locals. Before we came to Waller Springs, we 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.880 called a lot of people, elders, lawyers, health workers, a 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:07.880 lot of people who have been fighting over decades to 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:10.960 try and improve the plight of people living here. Blair 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:17.520 McFarland's name kept on coming up, so we set up 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:20.280 a meeting with him. We meet him at the Olive 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.520 Pink Botanical Gardens, the desert gardens, nestled at the base 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:26.800 of one of the hills of the Eastern McDonald Rangers. 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.680 The sky is blue and the morning sun is warm 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:35.880 a blaze game. After decades of work on the front line, 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.000 he's approaching retirement. And is at the point where he 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.640 can tell it like it is, call out anyone or 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:43.600 any agency that needs to be called out. 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:49.680 Yes, I'm Blair McFarland. One of my things is that 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.560 I'm twenty twenty four empty Australian. Every year I say that, 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.800 so you know, I've got a little bit of generally 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.880 sort of acknowledged cred in case you've never heard of me, which, 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:00.960 of course the past majority we'll never have. 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.480 Blair arrived here in the mid eighties from Melbourne and 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.920 fell in love with the place and the people. Petrol 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.200 sniffing was a sporadic problem when he arrived, but by 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.920 the start of the New millennium the problem became more 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:17.120 and more prevalent, until it turned into an unrelenting wave 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:18.520 with no sign of stopping. 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:23.160 It's an issue that's played remote indigenous communities for decades 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.360 and its effects are devastating. 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:27.400 Petrol sniffing is on the rise. 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:30.080 In the top of two thousand and two, Blair established 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.880 the Central Australian Youth Linkup Service KALOS to support young 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:38.400 people sniffing petrol. Blair himself had first hand encounters with 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.920 people he'd attempted suicide as a result of sniffing. One 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.320 man he saved went on to save another from a 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:45.240 similar attempt. 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.560 Blair McFarland is the manager of Kayalus. He's speaking with 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:49.480 Kathy van Extell. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:51.400 And so the youth are rumming around with a real 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.439 feeling as like nobody cares about us. It's definitely contributed 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:57.480 to a feeling of unease on the street in our springs, 0:08:57.520 --> 0:08:59.400 like a lot of people are really concerned about it, 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:01.160 like they're nice kids around. 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.360 Through Kalus, he advocated for the Low Aromatic Fuel Act 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:08.320 in twenty thirteen, which resulted in a ninety five percent 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:11.600 drop in petrol sniffing. It was as close as you 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.040 could get to ever solving a complex problem in this 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:17.920 part of the world. But this is different, This crisis 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:18.640 as much worse. 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.679 It's really quite different because basically a petrol snipper is 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.360 like a zombie, you know, they sort of they stumble around, 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:29.560 they've got a can against their face, they don't seem 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.960 to see anything. So that's what it was like then, 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:37.319 and they're doing themselves serious damage. But now it's really 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:41.120 contrasting to that, And the now is a bunch of 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:46.920 kids with ADHD fas D global developmental delay they're hungry, 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.880 they're wired, they're sort of their traditional authority systems have 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:55.360 been undermined by colonization for generations, and this is what 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.640 Alice Springs is now facing, the karma that we're facing 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.240 because of policy decisions made a generation ago. 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:05.959 But no one in politics is talking about that. It 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.079 seems like they're only thinking as far ahead as the 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:09.800 next electoral cycle will allow. 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:15.320 I think that there are so many players here operating 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.160 in their own on their own agendas, that it's actually 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.240 what a mathematician will call a chaos field, a field 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.680 where there are so many decisions being made that it's 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.800 really unpredictable in which direction things will go. And that's 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.199 I think what you're feeling here. There is no plan, 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.959 like you know, the crime stuff. They're saying, oh, we'll 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:36.560 put everybody in jail, So like, is that the plan 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:38.560 that everybody in the Northern Church wy will either be 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.400 a prisoner or a warden by the year twenty fifty. 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:45.240 Lowering the age of criminal responsibility back to ten? 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:46.520 I know what, lecg to six? 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:47.640 That'll be more fun. 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:50.280 This is crazy. 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:51.959 What do you got to say about it? Oh? 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.120 It just it's a crazy, desperate foolish thing that in 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:59.079 no way affects you know, what's making those kids criminal. 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.760 If they wanted to do something about that whole scene, 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:05.760 you'd put a lot more resources into diagnosing and treating 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:07.640 all of those things. 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.840 His view echoes experts who say, not only does tough 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.840 on crime not work, it's a potential breach of human 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.640 rights when it comes to kids in prison or detention 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.120 or whatever you want to call it. What the state's 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:24.360 doing is swapping one culture for another one where the 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:28.440 cycle of crime and punishment becomes the norm. Throwing children 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:31.320 in detention and placing them in previously banned spit hoods 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:35.720 can and will have psychological and cognitive impacts on kids development. 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.280 Even though the strategies won't work, people have lost hope 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:44.040 to fight against them. This is the mandate the government has. 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.320 Despite less than forty five percent of enrolled voters in 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:51.640 Bush electorates casting a ballot, Blair says the low voter 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:54.439 turnout is linked to the outcome of the Voice referendum 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:54.880 as well. 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:59.160 Yeah, I think the referendum made Aboriginal people even more 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:03.520 cynical than before. For about what's the point, Because I 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.520 think a whole lot of Aboriginal people became really enheartened, 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:10.840 but the whole voting thing and didn't vote. Like in 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.000 the electric I ran and there were six and a 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.679 half thousand people registered to vote and two and a 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:16.600 half thousand voted. 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.200 Blair ran as a Greens candidate in the recent election 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:26.400 and lost. Greens threw a rare breed in the territory, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.440 perhaps his last attempt to force change in our springs 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:33.959 and beyond. So Blair, what needs to be done? 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.760 I don't know what, I don't know. I've tried everything, 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:38.080 nothing nothing works. 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:44.319 Blair contributed a lot more than most, but ultimately change 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:52.840 here is going to come from somewhere else. After the break. 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.360 One man in his family in the middle of the desert, 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.000 trying their best to help the children of him Bantua 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.960 break the cycle. It means Ruby and I are going 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:02.640 on country. 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:05.840 These are the biggest spurces you've ever seen. 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:35.280 So have we seen Amia? The other day? 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.080 Just over there around we just picked up a baby 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:38.960 printing about that big. 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:40.760 His head was stuck in a can. 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:45.840 So we surrounded. Can you describe where we are? I 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:50.480 mean we're surrounded by rocky escarments with McDonald Range. 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:52.000 East of McDonald Rangers. 0:13:52.040 --> 0:13:55.440 I think this is the Ondulia side of the Baranta country, 0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:01.080 and over here there's a great significance of connection to 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:01.640 this country. 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:03.679 That's the three caterpillars. 0:14:04.080 --> 0:14:09.520 And Gelco is my great great great grandfather, and. 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.560 He's not too far from him. 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.120 We've come here at a cracking time of day, late afternoon, 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.040 the sun low over the McDonald ranges on the horizon. 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.600 I'm with Damien the Fellow. He's been our unofficial to 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.720 a guide. We're out at his favorite place, the place 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.120 where he tries to make a difference to what's happening here. 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.440 His generosity helped us a great deal for this series. 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.440 But now we're at his outstation, the spot that made 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.320 us want to speak with him in the first place. 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.920 All what you see is what I've accumulated out of 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.520 my own pocket. This machiney, I've only bought that cheap, 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.359 but it's done in me some some world of greatness. 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.840 There's caravans for smokeo and to shelter from the weather. 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:56.640 There's fences, gates and pens, and there's horses. What's this 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:57.280 fellow's name. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:59.920 There's a malon. She's a mayor. 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:03.280 How much I know about horses. 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:08.640 That's emma melon, chopsticks. 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:11.400 This is my my big ouse. 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.760 He's a big fire many as. 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:19.280 Sixteen sixteen nuns and the other one other side of him, 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:20.800 DJ and groom up the back. 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.120 That's the biggest source of ever scene in my life. 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.280 He's a most gentlest one. Yeah right, he's raised all. 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.240 The Emma melon and chopsticks. I looked after by kids 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.520 who come here from town, kids who spent time in detention, 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:39.440 or kids with substance issues. Damien calls the program all rounder. 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:43.480 I got a young black that I'm training justin and 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:47.080 he's getting ready to race again, so he's probably going 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.280 to raise chopstick or this big follow you. 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:51.640 So we'd get kids out of here. 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:57.160 Numbers of thirty twenty nine different different young fellows, different ages. 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:03.280 We could either be doing identifying bush medicine or trees 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:08.080 to make bush tools out of we do what do 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:11.840 you call it a cultural conversation. Half of the group 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:16.400 might want to do the horses, like brush them down, 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:18.840 and we'll get the other half prepared to saddle and 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.440 then we'll switch so they both get two learning sessions 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:25.120 out of the one day. And that could be the 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.240 mechanics or that could be the fencing, or that could 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:30.880 be the cooking, or the artwork or the fitness side 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.720 of things. So we break it down for the one day, 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.200 but split it in twos. 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:39.400 So by the time the kids have come through the program, 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.760 what will I know how to do that they didn't 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:43.560 know how to do before they got eat. 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:44.800 Well, here's the thing. 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:49.120 When you talk about pioneering days, everything was built on 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:53.160 how much skills you had and how useful you could 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:53.920 be on country. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.000 So we tried to give them all those skills. So 0:16:57.040 --> 0:16:58.440 I for job presented itself. 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.880 They'll be trained in stable ways, so our job wouldn't 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.520 sort of cause them any fear to apply for one 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:10.800 or But we normally aim to explore their talents and 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.320 expose out of talent and push them into that sort 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:17.080 of workforce because then they'll stick at it because they 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:19.639 love doing it. So we do, you know, all sorts 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:27.439 of stuff worlding, fencing, mechanics, cooking, artwork, horsemanship. I believe 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:30.560 from what I've seen, I've seen a lot of change. 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.359 I've seen a chemical here that actually works. 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:35.040 What's that chemical? 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:39.440 The chemical is back on country and just being that 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:43.560 peace with country and animals. It gives a different approach. 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.240 When you're trying to educate someone or talk to someone, 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:49.480 they have the time to take it in. 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.240 All round, it is a working work in progress, and 0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.879 Damien's reasons for starting the program are deep. 0:17:57.520 --> 0:17:59.679 From the origin behind it is. 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:04.000 My dad is a cattleman and a person before him 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:09.840 grew up in a home starting generation, very resilient. Yeah, 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:13.000 took on different skill set because that's what was required 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.320 back in the day. 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:20.040 As a kid, Damien's dad, Dennis, was forcibly removed from 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:24.119 his family and sent to Darwin. Somehow he escaped and 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.040 returned to his country, where he became a ringer on 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:30.840 a cattle station. Through years of skilled and hard toil, 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.359 he went on to become one of the first Aboriginal 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.600 owners of a cattle station. I've seen footage of Jennis. 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:39.840 Damien looks and sounds just like him. 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:44.760 I was raised in bush on cattle stations, seeing my 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:45.480 dad doing it. 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.480 But to be creative was the key for. 0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:53.680 Me in life. Damien, like many of us do, worked 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.240 a series of jobs, many of them a long way 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.640 from his true passion, but in aid of his people. Nonetheless, 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.040 what were we doing before you started the program? 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:09.959 I was an officer at a Bailey facility called Sodwish 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.160 and we were trying to keep him from not getting 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.760 locked up and keep him from coming back. And then 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:19.720 I heard about his other programs that's been delivered, but 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:23.439 his kids were still reoffending. But that was receiving so 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:27.680 much funding every year. And I come to think about it, 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:29.879 what where's all his money going? Because there's a lot 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:33.040 of money getting chucked around, but there's no change. So 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:38.119 I created an idea for my program that was based 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:41.640 on my dad's upbringing, from his pioneering days. 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:47.000 To find the path forward, not only for himself but 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:51.160 his community. Damien would be guided from within. He could 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:53.399 look to his own flesh and blood for the trail 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:55.960 out of the mess. He would look to his own father. 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:00.280 Dennis passed away a couple of years ago, but his 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:03.720 name and memory live on. Damien has called the land 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.800 We're on r DK Outstation after his old man, Roy 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:11.280 Dennis Kunos. That means that every kid that gets a 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.120 helping hand here will have Dennis to think as much 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.720 as Damien. He believes that small, black run and own 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:22.240 programs like this can help kids heal, reorientate their lives 0:20:22.640 --> 0:20:24.320 and help them in a way that locking them up 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:29.040 never will. 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:31.240 I don't think there's too many programs like mine. I 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:34.760 think it's pretty unique how it's designed and where the 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:39.680 origin comes from. I've done a little bit of work. 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:41.840 Most of my work has been pretty good. I'd like 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:43.960 to expand. I like to have young people out here 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:48.000 full time, just caretaken for the animals and getting a wage. 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:50.880 At some point in time, eventually I'll run a little 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:54.520 bit of cattle. I can introduce that cattle industry back 0:20:54.560 --> 0:20:59.320 in to these young people's lives, given them an opportunity 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.320 to chase call in the yard brandom and mark them 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:04.600 and just teach them a bunch of skill to be 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:08.240 self sufficient back on their own country. And I've seen 0:21:08.240 --> 0:21:10.840 a lot of programs like I was saying, they get 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.240 a lot of funding, but there's no real outcome. I'd 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:16.200 like to be the first that could create outcomes before 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:17.639 I receive any type of funding. 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:21.680 I was mesmerized by the setting and what Damian was doing, 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:25.040 but there was one question I was dreading. 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:26.800 Would you like to go for iron? 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:35.119 Not a chance. I mean, it's not that I'm not 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:37.520 a fan of horses, It's that I fear that they 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.680 won't be a fan of me. Damien Son Bison is 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:43.680 of a similar mindset. He's been with us all day, 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:48.240 but he's quiet and shy, especially around the animals. Do 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:49.959 you ride the do you want any even Bison? 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:51.400 I don't know for anymals. 0:21:52.480 --> 0:21:56.720 Yeah, he'm hered my big one that was last year. Yeah. 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.760 This plug lives up and down. Yeah, but he occasionally 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:00.680 come down and visit. 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.920 Check out. I'm doing check out the program doing. 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:08.160 Sof Bison's eighteen, but he's a young eighteen. Despite his shyness, 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:10.560 he's been warm and friendly with us and has a 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:14.200 dry sense of humor, well aware of his surroundings and 0:22:14.359 --> 0:22:18.400 mindful of what he has to say. What's it? What's 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:22.400 it like living in Al Springs? Slipper messed up there? 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:26.320 You're eighteen? Yeah, and what do you want to do 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:28.240 with your life from here? 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:30.480 I haven't got to that point yid. 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:35.600 It's a big question, isn't it. What about what your 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:37.520 old man does? Nah? 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:40.359 I don't know, to ode horses and stuff. 0:22:42.640 --> 0:22:45.080 You feel lucky that you've got someone like your dad 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:49.040 as a as a role model. That's kind of, you know, 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:54.439 been a bit of a bacon for you and your siblings. Yeah, 0:22:54.640 --> 0:23:00.520 pretty much. In my mind, Bison wasn't example of a 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:03.520 kid on the right path. If he played his cards right, 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:07.360 he could stay at arms distance from the system, avoid 0:23:07.400 --> 0:23:09.920 becoming hoovered up by it, and part of the cycle. 0:23:11.040 --> 0:23:13.879 He has a loving family. His dad's a local leader 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:18.000