John Stapleton
FORGET about the centre of the country, the ``intervention'' in indigenous affairs should start in the centre of the city, according to public housing residents of Waterloo in Sydney, who daily are confronted with drug dealing and public drunkenness.
Elderly residents in the 30-storey public housing blocks known as ``The Towers of Despair'' look down on Waterloo Green at scenes of children and their parents involved in activities every bit as bad as what is happening in Australia's remote communities.
Many of the elderly are afraid to go out for fear of being robbed or assaulted; and finishing their life in a nursing home as a result.
Years of attempts to get the authorities to act have come to naught. ``Because it involves indigenous children, it's a hot potato game and everyone we approached has passed the spud, from the Premier down through the ministers to local agencies,'' community activist Ross Smith said. ``Everyone is afraid to act. This isn't just a case of public drunkenness, the elderly in the area are seriously frightened and distressed.''
A Safety Audit conducted by police found the area was so rundown and crime ridden, with lights not working and amenities in disrepair, that legitimate users were afraid to go near the park.
Acting Superintendent Bradley Monk said police patrols were tasked to Waterloo Green on every shift, often to attend to assaults and alcohol related crime. However making it an alcohol free zone was impossible because it was departmental property. ``It is difficult to tell people they cannot drink in what is effectively their own front yard,'' he said.
Head of local aboriginal training company Tribal Warrior, Shane Phillips, who was born and bred in Waterloo, said the people taking their children along to a day of drinking and drugging at Waterloo Green had little idea what they were doing was wrong. He said addiction was like waking up with a light bulb in your face, you could see little else; and struggling people needed innovative programs rather than their children removed.
``Taking kids creates resentment and anger,'' he said. ``I've been to many corporate functions where people are going on as crazy as the people on Waterloo Green, but they are behind closed doors. We either toss aside the people who are struggling, or we start helping them break the cycle - and breaking cycles is where we all have to go.''
A spokesman for NSW Minister for Community Services Kevin Greene said the government funded a large range of services for children in the Waterloo area. A spokesman for the NSW Department of Housing said an action plan involving child welfare and numerous other agencies had been developed to reduce anti-social behaviour associated with the excessive public drinking on Waterloo Green.
FORGET about the centre of the country, the ``intervention'' in indigenous affairs should start in the centre of the city, according to public housing residents of Waterloo in Sydney, who daily are confronted with drug dealing and public drunkenness.
Elderly residents in the 30-storey public housing blocks known as ``The Towers of Despair'' look down on Waterloo Green at scenes of children and their parents involved in activities every bit as bad as what is happening in Australia's remote communities.
Many of the elderly are afraid to go out for fear of being robbed or assaulted; and finishing their life in a nursing home as a result.
Years of attempts to get the authorities to act have come to naught. ``Because it involves indigenous children, it's a hot potato game and everyone we approached has passed the spud, from the Premier down through the ministers to local agencies,'' community activist Ross Smith said. ``Everyone is afraid to act. This isn't just a case of public drunkenness, the elderly in the area are seriously frightened and distressed.''
A Safety Audit conducted by police found the area was so rundown and crime ridden, with lights not working and amenities in disrepair, that legitimate users were afraid to go near the park.
Acting Superintendent Bradley Monk said police patrols were tasked to Waterloo Green on every shift, often to attend to assaults and alcohol related crime. However making it an alcohol free zone was impossible because it was departmental property. ``It is difficult to tell people they cannot drink in what is effectively their own front yard,'' he said.
Head of local aboriginal training company Tribal Warrior, Shane Phillips, who was born and bred in Waterloo, said the people taking their children along to a day of drinking and drugging at Waterloo Green had little idea what they were doing was wrong. He said addiction was like waking up with a light bulb in your face, you could see little else; and struggling people needed innovative programs rather than their children removed.
``Taking kids creates resentment and anger,'' he said. ``I've been to many corporate functions where people are going on as crazy as the people on Waterloo Green, but they are behind closed doors. We either toss aside the people who are struggling, or we start helping them break the cycle - and breaking cycles is where we all have to go.''
A spokesman for NSW Minister for Community Services Kevin Greene said the government funded a large range of services for children in the Waterloo area. A spokesman for the NSW Department of Housing said an action plan involving child welfare and numerous other agencies had been developed to reduce anti-social behaviour associated with the excessive public drinking on Waterloo Green.
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