Archived article
Comment on Street kids refuge: Now you see it, now you don’t. by Steve Brown.
To put comments contained in the article into context: This is what we were discussing, a very important first step in achieving the outcome spoken about in the first motion.
It is important to understand that the motion is Elected Members instruction to Council Officers:
Motion from Committees Item 11.1:
In Keeping with the intentions of Councils Port Augusta Report and in reacting to expressed community concerns that no child should left unsupervised on our streets at night and that doing so clearly places the child and community in harm’s way and as such must be seen as a failing of the community’s duty of care to both the child and community.
The intention of the motion is to address the issue of young children being on our streets at night: Presently council and its partners, Congress and the NT Government, offer a joint pickup service for these children.
This service often sees young children who should be attending school the next day being taken home or to a safe location very late at night.
The objective: To get these children off the streets at a much earlier time by providing a fun, safe, non-judgemental place of activities and community interaction all professionally supervised with food and beds provided for those in need. Those who have a home to go to would be transported home at a reasonable hour.
Attendance at this centre or centres is to be completely voluntary! But just as in the case of Blue Light Discos once you’re in your in for the night, unless you are being picked up by a parent or guardian or being transported directly home by the pick up service.
A. I propose that we withdraw the following recommendation from the CCS committee meeting:
The Council engage with the existing partners and invite new partners to be part of the process of developing a night safe house that caters for children who are involved in the Youth Night Patrol.
B. That we put up a new motion to the effect of:
That Council engage with the Department of the Chief Minister and Congress, who are existing partners in the Youth Night Patrol, along with other interested parties who are either already providing or who are interested in offering further after hours youth services. Prepare a report inclusive of the following for Council’s further consideration:
1. The numbers of children who are likely to need or interact with a service if provided.
2. What services are available now.
3. Catalogue other parties interested in providing service or activities,
We added point four
4. That Council accepts the responsibility of being the facilitator in this process … or words to that effect.
On the surface this may appear as backing away from the original intention. It is not!
We cannot responsibly proceed further with that objective without first gathering the information requested in the report. This is the beginning of a process!
As the person who first raised in my view the glaring necessity to do something about the children on our streets as part of the Port Augusta Report, now some four years ago, and as the person who raised it once again on this occasion, I am mighty pleased that fellow Council members have finally agreed to take this first step.
Clearly, whether or not the process is followed all the way to an outcome will also depend on the strength of fellow councillors’ convictions.
It’s up to you, the public, to pressure them into doing so. For the moment we await the report with great anticipation.
Steve Brown Also Commented
Street kids refuge: Now you see it, now you don’t.
Please let’s not get distracted. Council is not talking about criminalised children! That is a separate issue!
We are talking about unsupervised children who hang about on our streets for all kinds of reasons.
Children who are very obviously in danger of being criminalised, by virtue of the fact that they are on the streets.
This makes Council discussions every bit as essential as is taking action on the issues relating to children in custody. We are trying to prevent “these kids” from becoming “those kids” and if we succeed, everybody wins.
Recent Comments by Steve Brown
Brian Martin steps down from Royal Commission
Sure Braedon, I’m quite certain that plenty like yourself and the Braedon Early Party, will spend their time squabbling in the darkness pointing finger’s.
What I hope to see from the commission is a clear vision for the future in the form of a very deliberate step away from past practice into a rehabilitation based corrections system.
I’ll leave the dinosaur naval gazing stuff to those who are much better at it.
Eli Melky to stand against Adam Giles
Why’s that Braedon? Are you going somewhere? LOL
Guess I’m going to have to get you a new hat too Eli!
You’ll be stuck with the same agonised decision making you’ve been accusing me of for months.
Now which hat to wear? LOL
Brian Martin steps down from Royal Commission
I welcome this decision by Brian Martin as I also welcome the appointment of Nick Gooda and Margret White to head the Commission.
Wide community acceptance and trust in the commissioners is of the utmost importance if we are to bring about the level of change necessary to move youth justice into the 21st century.
Let’s hope the commission can now get to work, hopefully dedicating more of its energy on where we go from here than on hunting down scapegoats for where we’ve been.
I believe much of the horror of what we witnessed was due to Corrections staff being forced to work in outdated facilities that were designed sometime during the dark ages – to punish.
Living and working in such facilities could not help but breed or reinforce a culture of punishment over and above rehabilitation.
In order to signal the level of change necessary to bring Corrections into the 21st century I hope as its first act the commission orders the closure of these facilities, and as its final act in a nation-wide signal of change the commission orders their demolition!
Never again should we find such a place in the processors of youth justice, because justice for youth and community is rehabilitation!
Youth detention Royal Commission ‘compromised’
@ Joel: Unless there’s a position running for a dictator I like everybody else have to work with other like minded people to achieve any of the goals I think worth achieving.
That means choosing a vehicle or a side that I think I can work with, quite clearly as in any group decision I won’t necessarily get what I want all of the time.
I haven’t gone quiet on anything, Joel, just working with the system. Eventually I hope to see the contracting policy altered and any reference or discrimination of a racial nature taken out.
Apparently to you the answer is kicking the CLP out and installing Labor. Big fail there, Joel, Labor has not only proposed keeping the existing policy but are in fact extending it further!
Lashing out and kicking the Dog you know in favour of one you don’t doesn’t automatically mean progress, very often it’s a backward step!
That’s why I’m involved and running for the CLP, because they are by far and away the better government for our Community.
So enjoy the kicking as best you can Joel because if Labor do win pretty dam soon you are going to find out that you’ve scored an own goal.
Were you around four years ago? I cant believe any intelligent person who lived through Labor’s last term in Alice could think of voting them back in.
They brought our town to its knees! They were an absolute disaster! And Micheal Gunner’s lot are even worse, if that possible.
Bulldoze vile, medieval Don Dale centre: CLP candidate
@ Peter: I agree with some of what you say, however you hand out very critical often bitter comments and unfounded accusations.
If you are going to do that expect a reply in kind, if you don’t like copping it, don’t dish it out! Put your full name on your posts stand up for what you believe and I’ll argue the point respectfully.
@ David: I absolutely agree with the first part of your comment, I believe the Norway concept is the way to go. Should I be lucky enough to be elected I will most certainly be pushing for something very much like it.
However, to both of you, if you don’t agree with what government is doing get off your backside and do something about it!
Join a party, make some effort, don’t sit on the sidelines knocking the efforts of others! Stand-up! You are absolutely right about Territory politics lacking strong long term locals!
So where the hell are you! Since founding Advance Alice I have constantly pushed this point. If you don’t like the constant reinvention of the wheel, if you don’t like blow-ins from south running our committees, if you don’t like decisions from governments made up of people with almost no Territory background, and who have no intention of staying around, then stand up! Because until you do we are going to have to put up with it!
David, governments are elected to make decisions! Thats the whole idea!
We might not like it but selling TIO was an absolute necessity it was about to bankrupt the Territory! Have a look at the figures. What would you have done? The port? We still own it! We’ve sold the lease for a considerable sum while also gaining a serious operator with massive plans for expansion.
This, by the way, puts us in the same boat as most major ports in this country! Nearly all are leased out, at least two others to Chinese companies I believe. If you have a good look at the detail and forward predictions I think you will find that we got a pretty good deal. Time will tell of course.
Peter, while in my older age I’m pretty good at working cooperatively with others. I don’t take instruction at all well! The only lines I will read are the ones I write myself!
