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Speaker 1: I believe that I have got Michael Little on the line.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Michael, good morning, how are you?

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Speaker 1: Ye're really good. Good to have you back on the show.

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Speaker 1: It's been a while, but we really appreciate you being

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Speaker 1: on the show with us this morning.

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Speaker 2: Michael, thank you.

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Speaker 1: You are now a counselor as well. In Alice Springs.

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Speaker 1: How are things? Firstly, I guess overnight in town, has

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Speaker 1: there been much much movement or how things going this morning?

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Speaker 2: You know, I think Alice Springs deals with a lot

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Speaker 2: of different situations on any given note. You know, we've

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Speaker 2: got a lot of migration that's happened in Ellie Springs

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Speaker 2: and a lot of slowly educated people that have come

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Speaker 2: down the springs of causing the Rick Morrele and.

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Speaker 1: Michael, what a local saying to you after what had

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Speaker 1: unfolded earlier in the week when we'd saying, you know,

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Speaker 1: that terrible situation with the kids in the cars, uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, the town locals being told not to head

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Speaker 1: into town and those kids allegedly you know, sort of

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Speaker 1: well trying to hit those marked police cars.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, well that's just that's just a sign of

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Speaker 2: the times and the the poor parenting, bad parenting, the

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Speaker 2: lack of parenting, the lack of a mother and a

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Speaker 2: father around guarding these young people, and they're responsible at

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Speaker 2: around these people's lives, you know, and you know monkeys

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Speaker 2: see monkey do if you get terrible parents, were going

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Speaker 2: to be a terrible kid and domestic bones or whatever.

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Speaker 2: So we're in this situation at the moment, and not

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Speaker 2: only in everythings all up to the shot away, Michael.

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Speaker 1: It's such a tough situation at the moment, and I

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Speaker 1: think that you know, everybody wants to see the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory thrive, but when we're going through what we're going through,

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Speaker 1: it's bloody hard.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it is odd, and you know it can be

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Speaker 2: put down to a lot of things, and you know,

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Speaker 2: there's just lack of services that you wonder what the

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Speaker 2: councils were supposed to do thirty or forty years ago,

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Speaker 2: but the planning of trees, the planning of green spaces,

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Speaker 2: the improving of health and improving of stores, well these

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Speaker 2: are haven't or worked. And the people have migrated to

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Speaker 2: town with a lack of understanding about rules about living

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Speaker 2: in tent so the problems become so huge. What are your.

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Speaker 1: Thoughts on what the government's planning to do at the moment.

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Speaker 1: I know you are a counselor and the council's working

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Speaker 1: with the Northern Territory government, but what are your plans, like,

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Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on the government's plans in terms

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Speaker 1: of there being stop gap? So if a kid's out

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Speaker 1: on the streets late at night doing the wrong thing,

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Speaker 1: if they're taken home and you know, and then they're

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Speaker 1: ending up back on the streets and doing the wrong

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Speaker 1: thing the government is proposing, like I'm sure you know

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Speaker 1: that they that there's a bit of a stop gap

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Speaker 1: and they're taken into care. Do you reckon this is

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Speaker 1: the right move?

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Speaker 2: Well, you know, the anti government along with everyone, I'm

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Speaker 2: looking for solutions that will bring peace to people's minds

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Speaker 2: in the town and we need that response yesterday. So

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Speaker 2: anything's going to be tried. And you know, I really

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Speaker 2: do believe that if there wasn't it was ever to

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Speaker 2: be some former intervention, it needs to happen now. But

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Speaker 2: has it gone too far? Because you're looking at a

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Speaker 2: few years to fix this problem that we have you

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Speaker 2: and by education has contributed to this.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I've spoken before as well to the principle of

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Speaker 1: the yper in your school, and he sort of told

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Speaker 1: me about the plans that they had hoped that they'd

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Speaker 1: be able to get across the line with federal government

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Speaker 1: funding for there to be further boarding facilities out there.

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Speaker 1: I know that that's obviously a separate situation, but to

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Speaker 1: me that sounded like it could be a good thing,

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Speaker 1: you know, to get kids educated, to make sure that

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Speaker 1: they're able to get a good night sleep and go

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Speaker 1: to school.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's right, But we have all these people

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Speaker 2: talking about what's good, but the everything perple person themselves

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Speaker 2: to parent then not listening to the radio, then watching

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Speaker 2: the TV. So this conversation you and I haven't they

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Speaker 2: can listen to this. Only the people who's parent privilege

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Speaker 2: that can be listening to this. We need to sell

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Speaker 2: focused on where these people are. It's much easier to

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Speaker 2: be a drunk than it is to be a parent.

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Speaker 1: Michael, what are we what needs to happen here? You

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Speaker 1: know there is It sounds as though from what you

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Speaker 1: are saying, and you know, you've been a strong Indigenous

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Speaker 1: leader in Central Australia for an awfully long time, you know,

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Speaker 1: and you and I have spoken I reckon it was

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Speaker 1: probably even a year or so ago about issues that

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Speaker 1: were being experienced back then, and you've always been really

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Speaker 1: strong on this topic. You know, what needs to happen

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Speaker 1: with these parents and with those that you know that

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Speaker 1: I don't know how to say it that maybe aren't

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Speaker 1: looking after the kids as well as they should be.

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Speaker 2: No, they're not there, and we need to target the

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Speaker 2: parents somewhere, and some are in some way them parents

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Speaker 2: are in the pub to gambling spots, or they're in

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Speaker 2: rehabilitation centers. So these kids are left to their own devices.

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Speaker 2: They're growing up in the asshold that with their nanas

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Speaker 2: and grandfathers who have some form of chronic illness, and

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Speaker 2: they're grown up, their own kids little, but they're grown up.

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Speaker 2: Two generations of children now the complex YEP, lifestyle of

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Speaker 2: averaging people in the territory and it's caused by big

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Speaker 2: mother things. And now we're searching for answer that's going

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Speaker 2: to work overnight. Well, that's not going to happen. It's impossible.

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Speaker 2: It is what it is, and it's happening right now

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Speaker 2: and it can't be fixed tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: What do you reckon? You know, in terms of some

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Speaker 1: of those programs and culture and education. I know, like

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Speaker 1: you've said, it's not going to happen overnight, it's not

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Speaker 1: going to happen tomorrow. What can we be doing better?

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Speaker 2: Oh, well, that's a hard question, and I think that

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Speaker 2: I think that parents need to be responsible and we

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Speaker 2: have to hold the I mean, look, there's so many

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Speaker 2: things we need to take the Central Ince payments of them. Well,

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Speaker 2: show me if they've started doing that, Show me where

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Speaker 2: a parent has had their money of them because the

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Speaker 2: child has ended up in our detention center. I don't

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Speaker 2: think it has. It can't be proven. It hasn't been tried.

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Speaker 2: It's been spoken about it, but it hasn't been tried.

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Speaker 2: But then what happens is that parents and where do

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Speaker 2: they have to get the money? Yeah, there's always going

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Speaker 2: to be a service providing for that parent because she

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Speaker 2: are incapable of making decisions themselves. And it's poor education

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Speaker 2: that it contributes to this.

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Speaker 1: Michael, you sound pretty exasperated. I think everybody is at

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Speaker 1: the moment, and it's you know, I don't even know

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Speaker 1: what to say, mate, It's like, it's such a tough situation,

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Speaker 1: and I feel for you guys in Alice Springs because

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Speaker 1: if you know, the council's working hard with the Northern

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Speaker 1: Territory government. I know there's plenty of people that want

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Speaker 1: to see the right change happen, but like you've said,

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Speaker 1: it's just not going to happen overnight.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know, this is a ten where I

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Speaker 2: grew up and a can of a lot of people

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Speaker 2: grew up. They've had four or five generations living here.

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Speaker 2: And these people that have come here and had children

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Speaker 2: who're welcome you with welcome. I'm to come here, but

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Speaker 2: if you can't live by the rules, and bye bye.

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Speaker 2: But when you're going to go elsewhere where is it

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Speaker 2: well out? Push? But there's no green space. They've been

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Speaker 2: neglected for years. There's no good drinking water. And I

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Speaker 2: don't want to live in APUs because it goause eight

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Speaker 2: dollars for a bottle of cool drink and four dollars

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Speaker 2: for a pie. I can go to McDonald and get

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Speaker 2: yeah for five dollars. Yeah, TAKEI fied chickens for five

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Speaker 2: dollars and considering them. There's a good green grass. I

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Speaker 2: like that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh, Michael, Mike, Yeah, that's exactly right. I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate you having a chat with me. This morning. Michael.

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Speaker 1: I'm keen to try and catch up with you a

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Speaker 1: little bit more often, if you'd be open to that,

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Speaker 1: because I think that you're giving us some really good

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Speaker 1: insight into what's going on in Alice. But you know,

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Speaker 1: i'd like it if Yeah, I'd like to give you

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Speaker 1: a bit more of an opportunity to have your voice

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Speaker 1: heard a bit further around the territory, you know, just

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Speaker 1: not just in Alice Springs.

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Speaker 2: No worries, Katie. I play with a straight battle of

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Speaker 2: the time, and I think i'd just tell a straight

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Speaker 2: story the way it is. Yeah, supercoding living it is

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Speaker 2: how it is, and that.

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Speaker 1: Is why I'm really grateful that you've come on and

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Speaker 1: had a chat with me this morning. Michael. Thank you

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Speaker 1: so very much for your time.

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Speaker 2: All Right, Katie, we'll talk.

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Speaker 1: Thanks mate,