ALICE SPRINGS NEWS
May 12, 2011. This page contains all major reports and comment pieces in the current edition.


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Federal Budget: not much new for The Centre. By ERWIN CHLANDA.

The Federal Budget does not have a great deal new to offer specifically for Central Australia.
Money for roads and health is going mostly to the Top End.
Health and hospital infrastructure includes $70m for the Palmerston Hospital; Tennant Creek Emergency Department ($3.7m), Gove Emergency Department ($13m), Katherine Patient Accommodation ($7.7m); Gove Patient Accommodation ($5.8m), and improving Aboriginal access to primary health care in remote NT ($50.3m).
These are the major Federal contributions to road works: Extra overtaking lanes along the Stuart Highway between Katherine and Darwin ($19m); improving the flood immunity of Port Keats Road ($11m), upgrading the Central Arnhem Road ($15m).
Completing Stage 3 of the Tiger Brennan Drive, a higher Stuart Highway over the King River and sealing the Buntine Highway will pump a further $18.5m into the Top End.
Reconstruct and repair pavement along the Stuart, Victoria and Barkly highways will cost $28m, strengthening and widening the Stuart, Victoria and Barkly highways ($63m); improving the flood immunity of the Stuart and Victoria highways ($15m).
Money for the Staurt Highway will include $23m to be spent south of Tennant Creek.
The Territory's local government will get $25.7 million to assist with the maintaintenance and upgrading of their local roads.
A spokesman for Anthony Albanese, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, says it's hard to specify how much of that will go to councils in Central Australia "as it is untied funding that councils can use as they see fit".
He says Black Spots money will be announced in coming weeks and there will be no funding for highway rest spots south of Tennant Creek.
Other NT items:-
• $59.4m to expand defence capability.
• $22m for aviation safety upgrades on a co-funding basis; and to provide for a higher proportion of funding for works at identified remote Indigenous communities.
• $4m for designated airstrips at Indigenous communities.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin announced Indigenous Australians "will be encouraged to stay in school and to make the transition to work, through a $257.6 million investment in education and training".
In Central Australia that initiative would need to include getting all kids into school in the first place.
Predictably, the Territory's Opposition politicians are not pleased.
Senator Nigel Scullion (pictured) and Member for Solomon Natasha Griggs say in a joint release: “There is nothing in this Budget for Australian families doing it tough" and it has "a hole in its heart. The absence of the carbon tax means the government’s claim to deliver a surplus in 2012/13 can’t be taken seriously."
They say: “This year’s Budget deficit has soared to $49.4 billion and the forecast deficit in 2011/12 has blown out by $9.6 billion to $22.6 billion.
“Net government debt has climbed to a record $107 billion in 2011/12 and is forecast to remain above $100 billion across the forward estimates.
"This amounts to more than $4700 for every Australian.
“Regional Australia has again been short changed by a city centric government that’s cut $500 million in regional funding.
"There is not a single new cent in this Budget for road or rail projects across Australia.
“Since coming to power, Labor has employed 24,000 additional public servants. The Government is asking the Australian people to tighten their belts, but it’s refusing to do the same itself."


MacDonnell Shire says 'no' to India: more than $50,000 lost. By KIERAN FINNANE.

MacDonnell Shire councillors voted this morning to "wind up" the outsourcing contract with Indian company VT InfoTech.
This will cost the cash-strapped shire over $18,000. Add to that $30,000 or so spent on shire staff travelling to India to negotiate the contract, the cost of bringing councillors into town for two unscheduled meetings and unquantified legal fees, all for nil return and a bout of bad publicity, whether fully warranted or not.
Lawyers from Povey Stirk have attended the three council meetings at which the contract was discussed after controversy over it broke. Two of the meetings were specially convened and the third held at Finke, some 400 kms south of Alice. The Alice News asked CEO Graham Taylor about the legal fees involved. He was coy about the amount but said it was "not a lot – they're good to us".
The recommendation accepted by all councillors this morning included a statement that the contract was "valid and legal". Whatever its legality, it seems clear that councillors were unpersuaded of its benefit to the shire. While discussion was held behind closed doors, they have, according to the recommendation, asked for a report on a revised proposal providing similar benefits but using employees or contractors from within Australia.
Four of them – President Sid Anderson, and Councillors Roxanne Kenny, Joe Rawson and Peter Wilson – will form a panel together with staff to "provide input" into the revised proposal.
Department of Local Government inspectors have yet to provide their report on the issues surrounding the letting of the contract. At the April 11 meeting the department's Andrea Martin said it could be argued that councillors, in their February meeting that had purportedly accepted the VT InfoTech tender, had agreed to a model and structure, rather than a tender.


Mall display screen ... it all depends on your point of view! By KIERAN FINNANE.

From most points of view Adelaide House – the town's most significant and attractive heritage building – is not obscured by the placement of council's new LED display screen right in front of it, says Mayor Damien Ryan.
At a media launch of the screen today he said the screen's location is the most logical place for conveying messages to the community. It is the central point of most activities in the mall, such as the markets and the many gatherings on the Flynn Church lawns. He also pointed to the very unattractive powerbox behind the screen, suggesting that the screen in front of it improved the view from the Aurora Hotel opposite. The screen had "changed the ambience" of that part of the mall and you only have to move 10 feet either way to get an unobstructed view of Adelaide House, said Mayor Ryan.
The screen can project its messages, a mix of static display and video, 24 hours a day; audio will be turned off mid-evening.
It's intended to promote "some of the great things we do in town", to visitors and locals alike, said Mayor Ryan.
This morning among the items on display was a time-lapsed record of the construction of the new Aquatic Centre, some stunning aerial views of the surrounding landscape, and a static message about bullying.
Content will be managed from the council offices, with input from community groups. Mayor Ryan referred to the "vivid footage" generated over the years by events like the Beanie Festival, the Henley-on-Todd and the Finke Desert Race. This footage could be played on the screen in the lead-up to those annual events.
Mayor Ryan encouraged community groups to make their event known to council for inclusion on the community calendar which will be promoted on the new display screen. Upcoming events include various activities for harmony Week at the Public Library, including a Bollywood film night on Saturday (staring 5.30pm), and a "Tour de Todd" put on by council in partnership with the Ingerreke Enduro mountain bike event on May 17.
The display screen was largely paid for by a $30,000 grant from the Office of the Minister for Central Australia, while council has allocated more than $17,000 towards its development and maintenance in the 2011-12 budget.

Reader's comment:

What a lot of nonsense is the Todd Mall display screen.
The actual screen takes up what looks to be one third of the total orange (!) unit, cost a reported $30,000, will apparently need another $17,000 to maintain and broadcasts a message on bullying?
The last is too rich for words. When asked to ban bullying from their own public meetings, our aldermen declined. What hypocrisy!
I really like this council and feel they have done some very good things for the town. The Aquatic Centre is a good example. The community garden is another. But sometimes they do bring on the wonder.
Will they redeem themselves and broadcast all the Wallabies games from the coming World Cup? 
Hal Duell
Alice Springs


Planned bush bus service raises concerns. By ERWIN CHLANDA.

New bus services funded by the NT Government may strand bush passengers in Alice Springs overnight.
Alice Springs Deputy Mayor Liz Martin (pictured) says there should be a resolute education campaign so the new service will not contribute to "another horrific summer like the last one".
A Department of Lands and Planning spokeswoman says shorter services will be day return services, dependent on weather conditions.
Some of the longer distance services may require returns on the following day.
The new services are part of a $3.1 million Northern Territory Government trial to provide better transport links for people travelling to and from remote and regional towns.
The spokeswoman said services are expected to commence as soon as construction of special purpose built buses is complete. 
This is likely to be within the next few months.
Fares will be set by the operators on a commercial fare structure.
These will be based on petrol, staff and other operating costs relevant to the distances involved.
Ald Martin says: "I think that a regularly scheduled bus service will bring some consistency to how people from remote communities and regional centres plan their business in Alice Springs though I have no doubt it will cause some confusion initially.
"I also think an education campaign needs to be implemented so that service providers, government agencies
and sporting groups etc are aware of how to best utilize the new transport system when making appointments or
scheduling activities.
"We are still going to have to deal with the wet weather factor given the condition of some of those roads
and the tendency of a lot of people to stay in town either for completion of their business or just because they want to be," says Ald Martin.
"Aside from the fact that we service a huge catchment, 260 communities, for medical, health and education reasons we also have to remember that Alice Springs is the 'big smoke' for remote populations and there are many factors that make people want to stay here once they get here whether for the short or long term.
"No different really, to my kids packing up and moving to Brisbane or Sydney because there are more opportunities.
"That urban drift is growing and I expect will continue to grow. It is one of the problems we have faced over recent years and has certainly contributed to the law and order and anti-social problems we have experienced. "Some of that will continue irrespective of the bus service because people, particularly the young, want to be where the action is. The Youth Hub will hopefully address some of those issues. Accommodation is also a factor when people have to stay in town overnight.
"Since the new centre opened we have had a considerable reduction in remote campers in the vicinity of the National Road Transport Hall of Fame.
"I do however think a same day service would be better because it would get people home to their own beds and families rather than having them sleep rough on the streets or in the creek beds getting themselves into trouble.
"The summer is traditionally a problem season for crime and anti-social behavior so I would definitely like to see this plan enacted before next summer so we don't face another horrific summer like the last one.
"As they say, enough is enough."


Sell parks – hire rangers: Melky. By ERWIN CHLANDA.

New alderman Eli Melky says the town council should sell off some parks – which he describes as non-performing assets – to raise money for more rangers policing anti social behavior.
He says this would allow the council to avoid rate increases as high as 17% – well above this year's planned hike of 5.8%.
"I believe we could comfortably put to good use up to 12 more rangers. 
"In addition we will require more crews to address the overgrown verges and parks."
Ald Melky says he campaigned in the recent by-election on a platform of cleaning up the town, including stopping "the public defecation, urination, littering, lawlessness, and drunkenness". 
He says: "Some of these parcels of land masquerade as parks although they are mostly neglected and have become a hazard for safe use from snakes and other dangers. In my opinion these parks would better serve us if we changed the zoning and allowed property development."
Ald Melky is a real estate agent, but says he would declare such an interest.
"As an alderman I would ensure that I declare any conflict of interest so as not be able to benefit from the sale of the land.
"I'm making this proposal not to have a financial benefit, but in the interest of the community."



Shire feels fuel sting. By KIERAN FINNANE.

If Alice locals are feeling pain at the diesel bowser, they should spare a thought for Imanpa residents ... and the tourists who get caught short on the Lasseter Highway en route to Ayers Rock. The price of diesel at the nearest outlet, Mt Ebenezer roadhouse – which Imanpa has an interest in –  is $2.50 a litre!
Among those stung by the price are MacDonnell Shire staff servicing, or based at, the community. The shire has estimated that they would save over $20,000 in diesel costs for this community alone if they accept a bulk fuel tender from Ausfuel for shire HQ and its 13 communities. All up, the savings would amount to more than $145,000.
It sounds like a no-brainer, but councillors are torn between savings for the shire and the possible impact on the community stores which sell fuel.
Councillor Raymond Kiernan (Santa Teresa) worried that depriving stores of income from fuel would drive up prices for other items, which are already high enough. He mentioned "a little suit for a kid" costing $60 in Santa Teresa compared to $15 in Alice. At the same time he had sympathy with complaints by community stores that people are spending their money in Alice.
Cr Peter Wilson (Areyonga,) urged his fellow councillors to reject the bulk fuel proposal: "The shire should support local business." And like Cr Kiernan he feared that prices across the board would rise if the stores lose their fuel business.
Cr Lisa Sharman (Titjikala) said the shire staff in communities "don't shop in our stores". But she was also "shocked" to see how much the shire is spending on diesel at Titjikala, when "nothing is being done in that community!" This comment drew laughter all around.
Spending more than $67,000, Titjikala was costing the shire significantly more than Hermannsburg (almost $54,000), a much larger community, or Docker River (over $32,000), much more remote. Titjikala, 130 kms south of Alice, most of it by dirt road, has a population of around 265; Hermannsburg, 130 kms west of Alice, most of it on bitumen, has a population of some 600; while Docker River, with a population of around 311, is 670 kms south-west of Alice, with the last stretch beyond Kata-Tjuta on dirt.
The shire's manager of Fleet and Commercial Operations, Jeff MacLeod, said the shire was looking into the situation at Titjikala, but pointed out that a number of outstations, running diesel generators, are serviced out of that community.
He also told councillors about his past experience running the store at Hart's Range. He said selling fuel has a low profit margin; he struggled to make 10 cents a litre on it, but maintaining supply tied up some $14,000 of the store's budget at all times. He said he was very happy when the community council (as it was then) decided to put in its own bulk fuel tank and he could reduce the amount of fuel he needed to have to hand.
Surprisingly, no-one had surveyed the community stores to gauge their views.
Four of the shire communities already have a bulk fuel supply for shire uses. They are Amoonguna, Kintore, Mt Liebig and Papunya. Shire President Sid Anderson said Papunya has long been happy with this situation and reminded councillors that the shire would still support the stores with their purchase of Opal fuel.
Councillors could decide on a partial acceptance of the tender, for the existing four and possibly others, but the sums had not been done. Mr MacLeod said he'd have to go back to Ausfuel to get a price. Cr Wilson and Cr Sharman suggested someone should have done that before.
There was the possibility of deferring the decision but Cr Wilson definitely didn't want to do that: "We've been talking about it three times!"
Finally councillors supported partial acceptance for the original four plus Hermannsburg, Finke, Imanpa and Wallace Rockhole as well as shire HQ. Wallace had to be included as their community store has recently closed and the shire will now undertake to sell fuel to community members there.
Until the last minute the list also included Titjikala. Then Cr Sharman announced to great hilarity: "I might change my mind – I'm a woman!"
That will leave the shire still buying diesel from the Areyonga, Docker River,  Haasts Bluff, Santa Teresa and Titjikala stores at a per litre price of, respectively, $2.05, $2.10, $1.90, $1.94, and $2.00 (based on what was charged at the bowser on May 5).



Intervention goes full circle. By ERWIN CHLANDA.

The Federal Intervention has gone full circle in Wallace Rockhole, a small, model community just on the Alice Springs side of Hermannsburg.
Ken Porter had the store. Four years ago the Intervention sent him out of business, putting Outback Stores into Wallace. Now Ken's got the store again and Outback Stores are gone.
Wallace isn't a dysfunctional, rubbish-strewn Aboriginal community: it is a multiple winner of Tidy Towns awards, it doesn't have an alcohol problem, and it has an industry: tourism.
That, too, is in a crisis as a result of outside intervention – this time by the new MacDonnell super-shire.
Back to the store.
It was small, had a range of goods popular with the locals, limited opening hours, no computer, and was owned by Ken, a white man married into the influential Arrentre Abbott family, and a long time resident of Wallace.
He ran the business from community owned premises.
Along came Canberra's Intervention and Outback Stores and their quest to fix what they perceived to be a lack of "food security". They linked much shopping to the green Basics Card, the access card for half the holder's "quarantined" Centrelink benefits and not available for buying grog and tobacco.
Ken had been offered the chance to participate, but at what he said were conditions that would have made his store un-viable, including the range of goods, the opening hours and $16,000 worth of computer equipment that he didn't need and couldn't operate. As this meant his store couldn't be licensed, it was not entitled to accept the Basics Card.
He shut down and Outback Stores moved in some four years ago and operated with what Ken thinks were considerable subsidies from the taxpayer. We have asked Outback Stores about the size of any subsidies and will update this report when the information comes to hand.
And then, at the end of March this year, it was all over. Outback Stores closed their doors – and took with them the school lunch program. Spokesman Rod Mainard says locals were increasingly shopping at Hermannsburg and Alice Springs, the store became "unsustainable" and food security was no longer an issue.
So Ken re-opened his store, in the art centre. He now is allowed to cash the Basics Card, and "we are where we were four years ago," he says.
Mr Mainard says Outback Stores "consulted with community as part of the disengagement process", worked with Ken in the disengagement, and left behind for him fixtures and fittings and an electronic register.
Problem number one fixed. Problem number two is the MacDonnell Shire.
Ken says the one kilometer road to the community's tourist attraction, the picturesque and traditionally significant waterhole that gave it its name, has been impassible for two-wheel-drive vehicles since January last year.
This wouldn't have been the slightest problem when Wallace Rockhole still had its own local government: Ken would have jumped on the community's front end loader, got some gravel, dumped it on the road and used the community's grader to level it out. Job's done. The machines are still there but now they belong to the shire.
Ken offered to do the job if they would lend him the gear. He would even pay for the fuel.
But that's not the way things are done in this brave new world of local government. There is no budget for the job and that's that, he was told. The road stays as it is.
The consequence: Visitors have to walk to the rockhole. That adds an hour to the tour. Some operators don't like that. Some people are too frail to traverse the stony path. The result: The community's only industry is at risk.
The Alice news asked shire CEO Graham Taylor to comment. He said the there is no road to the waterhole, only a service track that is not "under are our jurisdiction". He said it is not appropriate anyway to use the shire's funding for the benefit of a private business but the shire would support Mr Porter in any approach to other bodies, such as the Nt Government, for funding. "We can't spend our money on it but we can be part of the lobby team," said Mr Taylor.
Red tape doesn't stop there, says Ken.
The previous council had a mechanic. He looked after all the council's machines and he fixed cars as well. He is still there.
He's now employed by the shire as the works supervisor but no longer looks after all the shire's machines: mobile mechanics are going from place to place to do that job.
He's not allowed to fix cars. They now have to be taken to Alice Springs to be fixed.
Ken asks: Is it any wonder that six houses are standing empty in the community, while before the Intervention, and before the shire, there was a housing shortage?
The population is down to between 60 and 70, whereas it used to be from 100 to 130.
On the situation of the mechanic, Mr Taylor said that if he wants to conduct a private mechanic's business after hours from his own premises he can; the shire would also listen to a proposal from him regarding after-hours leasing of their workshop. But the shire cannot allow its employee to service community members' cars because of liability issues.



New horizons for Alice gallery-owner. By KIERAN FINNANE.

She has launched herself as a gallerist with flair and survived the difficult start-up years of a new business, taking it into the black in less than three years, even with the global financial crisis knocking at the door. Yet Peta Appleyard is moving her art gallery online and leaving her beloved Alice Springs for Launceston, Tasmania.
The move is dictated by the needs of her young family. She and husband Simon have three sons under 12 and feel that the whole family will benefit from less pressure and a fresh start – "a new adventure".
The couple will be sad to leave Alice, home to both since childhood, but they're also excited about the change.
"I've put in endless hours at the gallery, not getting home sometimes till 2am," says Ms Appleyard. 
"With three kids, I had to ask myself what I was doing, was the dream worth it. And the answer was, it's not."
For Alice, it's a blow: loss of a vibrant new presence in the town centre just as a number of other businesses have shut down or are about to; loss of a private gallery with an ambitious exhibition program, embracing non-Aboriginal as well as Aboriginal artists, emerging local talent as well as national high-flyers. Ms Appleyard is optimistic about negotiations with another art venture interested in taking over her elegant gallery space – that would compensate somewhat, but she will be missed.
While she wraps up at the gallery with a sale of stock, she is also busy developing her online presence. She wants her website to be more than a virtual stockroom, to be an online gallery, featuring curated exhibitions. At least initially the focus will be mainly on Aboriginal art, the work that first took her into the art world.
At the time, she was a mother of one and working in the council office at the tiny Western Desert community of Mt Liebig. She had largely grown up there where her mother's partner managed the store and her mother, Glenis Wilkins, looked after the Watiyawanu art centre. She knew the artists well as people and was familiar with their work, and then one day something changed: what was familiar became extraordinary. She describes seeing a painting by Wentja Napaltjarri and falling to her knees, overwhelmed by its beauty and power. She started taking more interest in the work and how it was being marketed.
"I thought they weren't getting the best deal and made some suggestions about what they were doing wrong. The women said, 'OK, you go and talk to them, Napurrula'.
"I had no idea what I was putting my hand up for."
As she promoted their work around the country and began to meet with success, the ambition to create her own gallery grew. She was learning about non-Aboriginal art and about the art business – the way galleries were presented, the way shows were conceived and their stories told, the way the work was hung and priced, the openings and other promotional events.
"I wanted to do something well beyond my reach. I didn't have the educational background or polish, but the women at Mount Liebig had given me an incredible education about their art and lives – that's what gave me my start. I'm so thankful to them."
She opened Peta Appleyard Gallery in November, 2008, with an impressive showing of Watiyawanu artists, including superb works by Wentja Napaltjarri and Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri. In the new year she followed up with the highly collectable British-born, Melbourne-based artist, David Bromley.
"This show really made an impact," she recalls. "People could see that we were going to do what we said, something quite different, something that Alice Springs didn't have. It was an exciting time and that show just felt magical – all those beautiful women dripping from the walls, those crazy drop sheets, the Boys' Own series. The response told me that people were craving what we were offering."
But behind the excitement, Ms Appleyard was on a steep learning curve. She'd made a big investment in the gallery fitout and had been counting on the sale of a couple of major works to help cover it. When the credit crunch came, those sales fell over. Looking back, she doesn't know how she got through.
"I had to learn how to be a manager and found that difficult. It didn't come naturally to me to be pushing people. I had to learn about finance, not only at the business level but about what was happening to my industry. I had to learn about looking after artists.
"I had to recognise where my ego was letting me down, had to stop trying to do things so perfectly –  every time someone came through the door I'd wanted them to have the impression that the gallery had just opened, was absolutely new and fresh, but that's not human and it's very expensive!
"Through really strong management, we pulled through, from managing day by day to month by month and now to being a viable business.
"They were tough times but if they hadn't been, I probably wouldn't have learned as much.
"I've got the confidence now to go to Tasmania and to think that I'll sell Aboriginal art and curate shows. I'd actually been doing that for a long time but I didn't think of myself that way. Now I do. I feel I'm on my way to quite a successful business. I've told Australia about Peta Appleyard, I've got a presence, I'm not just Glenis's daughter."
Ms Appleyard will continue to represent Wentja Napaltjarri and to promote the career of Sally Mumford, formerly of Alice Springs but who recently also moved to Tasmania. Mumford had a very successful solo show in the gallery last year – one of a number of solo shows of local non-Indigenous artists, again breaking new ground for a commercial space in Alice. Ms Appleyard is sure Mumford's work would be well received interstate.
For the time being, she won't think about opening a physical space in Launceston – that would negate the whole reason for the shift – but she does hope to move towards curating two to three physical shows a year, in Tasmania and possibly beyond.
"I've become pretty good at pulling together shows that have a whole lot of things going on, in the range of work as well as the prices. The task ahead will be to concentrate on how to better tell the story of a show, and to educate audiences about Aboriginal art. The first show will be to get a feel for the response, for knowing who I'm selling to. It will be like doing this all over again, but without the overheads!"


Mall display screen ... it all depends on your point of view! By KIERAN FINNANE.
Earlier report last week.

From most points of view Adelaide House – the town's most significant and attractive heritage building – is not obscured by the placement of council's new LED display screen right in front of it, says Mayor Damien Ryan.
At a media launch of the screen today he said the screen's location is the most logical place for conveying messages to the community. It is the central point of most activities in the mall, such as the markets and the many gatherings on the Flynn Church lawns. He also pointed to the very unattractive powerbox behind the screen, suggesting that the screen in front of it improved the view from the Aurora Hotel opposite. The screen had "changed the ambience" of that part of the mall and you only have to move 10 feet either way to get an unobstructed view of Adelaide House, said Mayor Ryan.
The screen can project its messages, a mix of static display and video, 24 hours a day; audio will be turned off mid-evening.
It's intended to promote "some of the great things we do in town", to visitors and locals alike, said Mayor Ryan.
This morning among the items on display was a time-lapsed record of the construction of the new Aquatic Centre, some stunning aerial views of the surrounding landscape, and a static message about bullying.
Content will be managed from the council offices, with input from community groups. Mayor Ryan referred to the "vivid footage" generated over the years by events like the Beanie Festival, the Henley-on-Todd and the Finke Desert Race. This footage could be played on the screen in the lead-up to those annual events.
Mayor Ryan encouraged community groups to make their event known to council for inclusion on the community calendar which will be promoted on the new display screen. Upcoming events include various activities for harmony Week at the Public Library, including a Bollywood film night on Saturday (staring 5.30pm), and a "Tour de Todd" put on by council in partnership with the Ingerreke Enduro mountain bike event on May 17.
The display screen was largely paid for by a $30,000 grant from the Office of the Minister for Central Australia, while council has allocated more than $17,000 towards its development and maintenance in the 2011-12 budget.



From kangaroos to snakes a surefire hit for visitors ... but tourism lobby gives him the cold shoulder. By ERWIN CHLANDA.

A man who has dedicated the past five years to rescuing baby kangaroos, mostly when their mothers get run over on the roads, is now planning to extend his bush sanctuary outside Alice Springs to reptiles.
Chris "Brolga" Barns says it will be a one-and-a-half hectare enclosure where native snakes, most of them fatally poisonous, and Central Australia's dazzling range of lizards will live in a natural habitat, rather than being confined to glass cages or a reptile house: "That's a bit last century for me," says Mr Barns.
He's teamed up with mate, tour guide and snake expert Bob Ellisdon for the new venture, which they started by killing non-native buffel grass on the area selected.
The enclosure, likely to be surrounded with perspex and divided up to prevent competing species from eating each other, is planned to be finished next year.
The partnership with Bob is new – so far Brolga (the nickname an allusion to his long, skinny legs like the bird's, he says) has been doing it tough.
Working entirely on his own and without any payment, he built 2.2 kms of fence around and inside the 25 hectare kangaroo paddock, with electrified wires under the ground to keep wild dogs from digging their way in.
One smaller enclosure is surrounded by 12 sprinklers which he can activate in case of a bushfire, protecting his hopping charges.
The money for the kangaroo venture came from a $110,000 philanthropic bequest, and $40,000 in donations, some from overseas.
Brolga has started doing morning and late afternoon fee-paying tours (roos like to sleep during the day) but money is still tight.
The groundbreaking character of his venture notwithstanding, he gets no support from the tourism lobby, which is partly government funded.
Tourism Central Australia's Peter Grigg says Brolga would need to pay $460 as an annual membership fee – money Brolga says he hasn't got.
But while his brochures are not on display at the official visitors' centre, they are in accommodation houses.
And Brolga's fame is spreading through TV documentaries: he's featured in 20 so far.
This international promotion of the region no doubt has spin-offs for his peers in the tourism industry who are showing him the cold shoulder.
Mr Grigg says his group, which has 460 members, is a "membership based organisation" and if it made concessions to one member then all others would expect the same.



MOZZIE BITES WITH RONJA MOSS: LA judges fly in for best kept secret event in Alice.

“Bring your sexy faces up here,” shouted the lead singer from the local band The Sky’s the Limit during the Red Bull Backyard Jam final and the crowd went wild. With pumped teenage music fans, a sound system to bring down the heavens and a stage lit bright enough for any rock sensation, I feel it safe to say that the Telegraph Station has never been quite as modernistic as it was on Saturday afternoon.
The Jam is a competition set up to encourage young musicians into the limelight with a prize of recording in a London studio and performing in the UK festival Download.
I arrived at the event with pen in hand and few preconceptions, but was greeted by bouncers on either side of a tall performance area barrier demanding a media pass. What? Where do these people think they are? This is the Telegraph Station, mate!
Once in though, everyone was friendly and supportive, especially the bands in competition with each other. There was a great sense of camaraderie and backstage the four bands joked and shared stories. Welcome Wednesday from Melbourne offered me one when I asked them if they had any insane fans. “Once upon a time there was this girl who was trying to take a photo of us from a tree, she fell from the tree and broke her arm, the end.” Max, the singer, added, “Legit.” Just to make sure I believed him. 
But that wasn’t the only story; British India, the supporting big talent, and judges who had just flown in from LA, ‘jetlaggedly’ told me of a man in Hollywood who greeted them, dancing with two axes. They soon changed note and followed the tale seriously with, “But we’re here to judge only by who is the best musician.”
To start off the show the only solo artist, Scott Boyd, wooed us with his sweet voice and lyrics. The acoustic style suited the outdoor atmosphere to a tee, but we soon stepped into a heavier sway as Jagged Lies, from Melbourne, came out with their electrifying guitars and cool leather jackets. I was impressed, especially considering that some of the members had only joined weeks before. Then Welcome Wednesday took the stage and played tight, high-energy arrangements far above their age group.
It has to be said though that The Sky’s the Limit had the most enthralling set performance wise. Backstage beforehand the group had admitted to a lack of nerves, perhaps due to presenting on home turf to familiar faces. The lead singer, Michael Little (pictured), himself had a face that looked very familiar and I was racking my memory for its location. “I’m the original,” he declared coyly with a grin from beneath his perfect side-swept bangs. “Justin Bieber copied me.” I liked the band’s casual, warm manner and laughed too.
Even though the drummer from Welcome Wednesday, Ben, had correctly done the math with a result of a 25% chance win, the band came first, which gets them a recording trip to London. Everyone was happy for them and just glad to have been a part of it all.
Not all thoughts were positive though. A teacher in the crowd criticized Red Bull: “I think it’s really irresponsible that they are supplying teenagers with copious amounts of caffeine.” And someone else with a green tinge to the cheeks groaned: “Don’t mix iced coffee and Red Bull.” Personally, I was just disappointed that the gig wasn’t advertised extensively. There would have been fewer than 200 people at an event that could have potentially been one of Alice’s biggest for 2011. However, the choice of venue was excellent and should be remembered for similar operations.



LETTERS: Whitegums Browns back Kilgariff suburb

Sir – Hal Duell’s insulting ignorant comments that somehow we the Brown Family see the development of Kilgariff as a threat to our own development at White Gums is not only insulting but just plain stupid.
Not only were we instrumental in the creation of the KIlgariff concept but have been its most vigorous proponents ever since.
We see an economy destroying threat both to Alice Springs and ourselves in not making provision for our low income earners, the workers, whom our town desperately needs.
The hijacking of the affordable land concept for Kilgariff, for some kind of fluffy middle class suburb is completely, unsustainably and absolutely a threat to the financial viability of our town.
Hal's assertion that because the area is to be an  affordable opportunity for the workers of our town that it is somehow a “poverty sink”,  a "lower class" area sounds like something out of pre revolution France where the working class is considered not much above the level of trash.
Just because people are on low incomes or living in welfare housing doesn’t mean that the suburbs in which they dwell should be regarded as lesser.
Just because they may build their own homes, to their own design, in their own sweet time doesn’t make them any lesser as a home, does it?
It's far more likely to be a “home” than the sterile architectural crap that the design forum came up with.
At one time nearly all of Alice was commission homes, built for around $20,000.
The same are now considered middle class, houses that sell today for somewhere between $450,000 and and $750,000.
These houses didn’t  get to be this value over night, they got there over 40 years of careful maintenance and additions.
Are we saying that today’s workers don’t deserve the same chance to improve their lives?
Are they just to be considered milking cows, paying out huge portions of their wages in rent to an elite middle class?
Is that the community's attitude today?
Whatever happened to a Fair Go? In failing to provide opportunity for those starting out, the young, our workers, we will – and already are – seeing them leave in numbers that will eventually turn to a flood.
This will precede the complete collapse of property prices along with our economy, leaving a lot of overextended investors wondering What the Hell Happened?
The KIlgariff design forum debacle is a serious and shameful reflection of the small minded, self interested mindset that has afflicted this and most communities across this continent since we decided our houses weren’t homes but super policies, and that it was quite OK to strangle the market, jack the prices and rents with a little government orchestrated land speculation.
After all, it’s always someone else who pays, isn’t it?
Steve Brown
Alice Springs

Mall nonsense

Sir – What a lot of nonsense is the Todd Mall display screen.
The actual screen takes up what looks to be one third of the total orange (!) unit, cost a reported $30,000, will apparently need another $17,000 to maintain and broadcasts a message on bullying?
The last is too rich for words. When asked to ban bullying from their own public meetings, our aldermen declined. What hypocrisy!
I really like this council and feel they have done some very good things for the town. The Aquatic Centre is a good example. The community garden is another. But sometimes they do bring on the wonder.
Will they redeem themselves and broadcast all the Wallabies games from the coming World Cup? 
Hal Duell
Alice Springs

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