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Townsville youth crime: Indigenous leader calls for traditional owners to step up to run on-country program

A respected Indigenous elder says traditional owners need to be empowered to step up and take responsibility for running Townsville’s new on-country program if they want it to work.

Bindal elder Uncle Alfred Smallwood.
Bindal elder Uncle Alfred Smallwood.

A respected Indigenous elder says traditional owners need to be empowered to step up and take responsibility for running Townsville’s new on-country program if they want it to work.

Bindal elder Alfred Smallwood, 69, believes traditional owner groups, particularly Bindal and Wulgurukaba, need to be heavily involved in running a new on-country program earmarked for Townsville to guide and rehabilitate the kids causing trouble in their communities.

He said the state government made a “huge mistake” not properly consulting them when it rolled out the on-country trial run by Atherton company Gr8Motive in 2020.

The $1.5m program was dubbed a “disappointing fail” by anti-crime advocates following revelations that only a small number of the kids who went actually completed it.

Uncle Alfred Smallwood blesses the site with a smoking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the JCU Technology Innovation Complex (TIC). Picture: Shae Beplate.
Uncle Alfred Smallwood blesses the site with a smoking ceremony to mark the start of construction on the JCU Technology Innovation Complex (TIC). Picture: Shae Beplate.

“Our young people are running berserk here,” Mr Smallwood said.

“I believe it wasn’t working because the wrong people were given the reigns to try and look after these young people.

“If we got these young people out on country, it’s got to be traditional owners running it.

“We need people to step up, and we need to get more elders involved.

“Families are lost at the moment. Everyone’s just fed up because we can’t do anything.

“When we want to do something, grab one of these young people; you can get charged for domestic violence or something.

“As parents, we can’t even growl our children; otherwise, you could lose your blue card.”

After dedicating years of his life to helping Indigenous men turn their lives around after being released from jail, Mr Smallwood speaks from experience when he says you change lives by re-engaging them with culture, family and country.

He firmly believes that an on-country program for youths could be effective in Townsville, but only if it’s done properly.

He suggests empowering Indigenous women to take an active role, citing their historical role as caregivers and decision-makers within Indigenous communities.

“When I was a kid growing up, the mothers and grandmothers all had that authority to look after families — not only their families, the whole families of a community,” he said.

“The men worked back then. See all this money they waste on Cleveland (Youth Detention Centre)? Use some of that money to help these kids start apprenticeships.

“Give them something to aim for instead of getting them a new shelter to move in.” 

natasha.emeck@news.com.au

Originally published as Townsville youth crime: Indigenous leader calls for traditional owners to step up to run on-country program

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Original URL: https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/townsville/townsville-youth-crime-indigenous-leader-calls-for-traditional-owners-to-step-up-to-run-oncountry-program/news-story/f82c981a2e59830c7241a7bd211cba8d