Politicking or community: What to do about youth crime?
Imagine adults in work, kids in school, and safe communities. That was the vision of ‘A Working Future – Territory Growth Towns’. Regional centres containing a full range of services, and business opportunities.

Instead, our governments have provided a policy framework of:
– free money
– kids having never seen a parent working
– consequently no role models
– no need to go to school
– government will keep me for life too
– idleness
– repeated through the generations.

I turn to just one related consequence. In the past week or so there was media discussion about improved health outcomes if a person could see an Indigenous Health Worker at the remote clinic. Such staff are in short supply these days because the last time I looked a middle aged woman with a couple of kids (for example) would loose very significant household income to move from welfare to work.

There has also been a lot of discussion recently about the need to increase welfare payments. As revealed in the above example, those payments are already greater than work entry point wages creating disincentives to work. If an increase is to be made, something will finally have to be done about transitioning people in order to remove the disincentive.

A songman for his place and time
Ted is clearly one who has achieved the status of LEGEND IN HIS OWN LIFETIME.
Goodonyamate.

St Francis House: Excellence sought and achieved
The title of this article says it all. “Excellence” was achieved by the people who moved through St Francis House, and by three generations of Smiths as evidenced by this series.
The historical record is much enhanced by this work.

The Florence Nightingale from the bush
I greatly admire your work John. Not only have you honoured the amazing triumph over adversity of some Aboriginal people, but you have also honoured the missionaries into whose care children were placed.
The trend has been to vilify all those involved in the care of Stolen Generations.
Freda Glynn, to her great credit, spoke with love and appreciation about Sister Eileen Heath at the launch of a biography on her in Alice Springs.

Suddenly everyone is talking about 1Territory
Who was it that said ‘the worst Northern Territory Government would be better than any administration from Canberra’?