NT elders want basic community control

OVER a hundred Aboriginal elders in the Northern Territory fear a lack of control over health and education policies will cause their communities to fail.

NORTHERN Territory's chief minister Adam Giles says he is working towards returning power to Aboriginal communities, but a group of more than 130 elders and senior community members from Milingimbi say that's news to them.

TWO weeks ago community elders petitioned government over a raft of issues, including a plea for government to listen to and empower communities, says elder Nakarrma Guyula.