Indigenous elders in northern NSW town of Moree want parents to take more responsibility amid youth crime wave

Indigenous elders say a drug problem in the country and a generation of parents who refuse to discipline their kids has led to the state’s regional youth crime crisis.

Indigenous elders say a drug problem in the country and a generation of parents who refuse to discipline their kids has led to the state’s regional youth crime crisis.

So serious is the problem in Moree, in northern NSW, that locals begged Premier Chris Minns for help – resulting in changes to bail laws last week, as well as a $13.4 million investment specifically into the region.

The Daily Telegraph visited the town last week as NSW Police descended for Operation Regional Mongoose to provide a “circuit breaker” for residents who most nights are besieged by armed home invasions and car thefts.

Just as longtime locals who have been subjected to the crime asked for help, Indigenous elders such as Tom French are also speaking up – saying it makes him “angry” that parents are hiding their children when police come to the door.

“You know, I’m sure they want to blame the system for failing their kids, not themselves,” he said.

Indigenous Elder Tom French told The Daily Telegraph parents need to take more responsibility for the children's’ actions. Picture: David Swift

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos (left) and Assistant Commissioner Rod Smith. Picture: David Swift

“Education is the only thing to break that cycle, make the parents aware of what their roles and responsibilities are, and punish them [the kids].

“Years ago, we grew up on the mission and we couldn’t even throw a piece of paper down, we couldn’t break a bottle... you didn’t do that, because that was an elders place and you had to respect your elders.”

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos said while police know they have a key role to play in solving the youth crime crisis, it is not something they can do alone.

“What I see the role of police being in Moree and other communities at the moment, is I liken it to an emergency management response, like after a flood, or a fire,” he said.

“We have a law enforcement role to perform and we will do whatever we have to do to keep the community safe.

“But if you look across the towns that we’re talking about at the moment, there’s also a role for senior police to fly in terms of organising other agencies and working with other agencies, and also locals, because we can’t do this on our own.”

Police in the state’s Western Region have charged more than 150 people since the launch of Operation Regional Mongoose. Picture: NSW Police

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos speaks with local Aboriginal community leaders and elders in Moree. Picture: David Swift

When dozens of police rolled in to Moree last week for Operation Regional Mongoose there were seemingly two main priorities – stopping the violence and helping the kids.

There was no doubt about the first priority, with youths who have a history violent offences soon finding towering Public Order and Riot Squad officers banging on the front door of their homes.

It is a scene more common for adult gangsters, but the message from police is clear – if you want to be violent, we will treat you the same.

While out on the streets of Moree late at night The Daily Telegraph gets a first-hand glimpse at the other side of the equation, when two of the officers who patrol the town’s streets night in, night out, spot a small child crying by the side of the road.

The young boy, who could not have been older than six, told the police he had been left there by his mother.

“Can you walk me home?” the blubbering child asked the officers, who with a warm smile took his hand and led him towards his front door – a home they knew well.

Dawn Blanch is one of a number of local Indigenous elders who are taking it upon themselves to help the troubled youths of Moree.

Moree locals Dawn Blanch and Geraldine Boney-Brown have taken it upon themselves to try and help the situation.

She and fellow residents like Geraldine Boney-Brown meet regularly with police to build on relations and offer to be called to the station in the middle of the night to speak with kids who have committed crimes, even if they are not their relatives.

Like Mr French, Ms Blanch believes some parents are ignoring their responsibilities to their kids – and points the finger at a drug issue in town, she worries will soon lead to a young person dying in the crime crisis.

“It’s the drugs, I think that becomes their priority,” she said.

“I don’t doubt that love their children... but what is sad is that it’s not registering in their heads: ‘What if they get behind the wheel of the car and end up dead?’”

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos and Assistant Commissioner Rod Smith, who is the new boss of the policing in the state’s west, met with Mr French, Ms Blanch and other Indigenous elders such as Geraldine Boney-Brown while in Moree last week.

Asst Comm Smith said the passion of locals to help solve the problem filled him with confidence.

“I’ve probably not heard Aboriginal elders speak like those people so passionately about what’s happening here in Moree and surround,” he said.

“I was a little bit overwhelmed with the level of support and co-operation from them for what is happening here as far as policing goes.”

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