By ERWIN CHLANDA
About 60 non-government organisations (NGOs) in Alice Springs have been invited to a meeting on February 25 with the Department of the Chief Minister.
Des O’Shaughnessy, its Community Development Officer, says in the emailed invitation that the government wants to “improve the working relationship with NGOs” and is asking their “staff and services to provide direction to the government as to what will strengthen partnerships, and ultimately outcomes for the community”.
The organisations invited range from Volunteering SA-NT, a one-woman-band in The Alice, to the $38m a year funding behemoth, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress.
Most invitees are government funded or linked to churches. Service clubs do not appear to be included.
There has been much discussion about the multitude of NGOs in the region, the apparent duplication of services, and heated rivalries.
The meeting will be held between 8am and 12noon in the Chifley Alice Springs Resort’s Gumtree Room.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
60 NGOs? In Alice Springs? The mind absolutely boggles.
And then one wonders why the country has a budget crisis. Wow.