Out bush, where Indigenous voice hasn’t been heard

In a settlement called Utopia, north of Alice Springs, Matthew Mulladad hasn’t heard of the voice. But he’s never been more frightened.

Matthew Mulladad, right, with some of his relatives who live at the bush camp at Arlparra, 350km northeast of Alice Springs. Picture: Liam Mendes

Surrounded by his family on the porch of their tin home in Utopia, a four-hour drive from Alice Springs, Matthew Mulladad is not concerned about the voice. In fact, he’s never heard of it.

The young father has more immediate concerns.

Such as watching the kids in this remote community succumb to the lure of Alice Springs, where he knows their lives will be caught up in a spiral of alcohol-fuelled ­violence, crime and, ultimately, prison.

It’s been this way for years, but Mr Mulladad, the lead singer of Indigenous group the Newboys Band, has never been more frightened for the future of his three children, Kalisha, 12, Daylen, 7, and Neiah, 1.

“Because sometimes kids, they feel bored, they’ve got nothing to do, so they go to Alice, run amok, do whatever they want and get in trouble,” he says.

“They steal a car just to get in town,” he says. “The same car got stolen probably four to six times up at the workshop just to get into town. They go up to Alice to drink, to stay awake, they probably stay for a month, then after a month they come back at bush.”

Residents of the bush camp of Arlparra, four hours north of Alice Springs. Rosie Paula, Amy Nelson and Sam Dickson. Picture: Liam Mendes

The people of this settlement, 350km northeast of Alice Springs, have always been fiercely independent, acquiring much of the land back from early pastoralists who named it Utopia – according to legend, because there were so many rabbits they could catch them by hand.

It is renowned for its artists, including Emily Kame Kngwarreye and the Petyarre sisters, and is a dry community; alcohol is strictly prohibited.

While Mr Mulladad enjoys going to Alice for gigs, he prefers living out bush because of the “peace and quiet” it brings.

“Living in Alice is just alcohol and all that, but out here, it’s all right,” the 31-year-old says.

“It’s small; you can go around hunting for goanna, emu, turkey.”

Kalisha Raggett, 12, with brother Neiah Mulladad. Picture: Liam Mendes

Mr Mulladad’s home is in ­Arlparra, one of 13 family outstations that make up the Utopia homeland.

On Friday, it took The Weekend Australian around six hours to travel to the outback bush camp with Mr Mulladad and members of the Newboys Band who had been playing a gig at an Alice Springs pub and were heading home.

The lead car in our two-vehicle convoy broke down three times, an occurrence for which the band came prepared – carrying their own bottles of coolant.

Eventually most of the occupants jumped into The Weekend Australian’s car and left two members of the band to take their car back to Alice for repairs.

Children play at the Arlparra bush camp. Picture: Liam Mendes

Arriving in Arlparra, one thing quickly became apparent: of the dozen or so locals The Weekend Australian spoke to from the community, not one had heard of the voice to parliament.

What Mr Mulladad wants from his fellow Australians is more tangible: support for bush communities to keep young children in school, like his daughter Kalisha, whose ambition is to become a teacher.

Mr Mulladad, who has never been to a capital city, works in the Night Patrol, a program that runs during the school term “keeping the community safe”.

His sister-in-law, Genevieve Loy, explains that people are leaving communities due to boredom.

Arlparra elder Sam Dickson. Picture: Liam Mendes

“Children are also following their parents when they go to town, and no one is looking after them,” Ms Loy said. “We do worry when we see on the news, all the kids running around at night.”

“We need white people and Aboriginal people working together … we need these kids to be safe.”

Ms Loy says children need to be reconnected with the land, and their community needs more support to keep children engaged at the small school, and she says parents are mostly to blame.

“It’s better for kids to stay here, take them hunting, showing them the bush,” she said. “Here in Utopia people want more support to help kids at school. All the kids are gone, all the parents (are) taking them back to town.

“They should stay home and do the right thing, but parents are drinking.

“You can’t take your kids where you’re sitting drinking – your kids watching what you’re doing, drinking by the river at midnight.

“We love Alice Springs, with shopping and getaway sometimes, staying away one night and come home, safe; we worry too much now with people fighting in town.”

Arlparra elder Esau Nelson. Picture: Liam Mendes

Community leader and respected elder Esau Nelson says young people need to be brought back to the bush and taught culture – with jobs and funding prioritised so they aren’t “forced” to larger towns such as Alice Springs.

“We’ve gotta teach them culture, do ceremony, we can teach them to hunt,” he said.

A joint executive of the Central Land Council and chair of Urapuntja Aboriginal Corporation, Mr Nelson said booze bans will not work despite alcohol “causing a lot of problems”.

“It is not fair to separate white from black,” he said.

“We need the Australian government to give more jobs and more funding, and we can teach young people and they can work.

“We don’t want to send them to town; what’s happening in Alice Springs is not good. We need jobs and stronger community programs here.”