‘This town is a symbol of government failure’: Richard Tambling (H-Sun)

[one-eyed]

‘This town is a symbol of government failure’

    Aaron Langmaid
    Herald Sun
    April 04, 2015

FORMER AFL star Richard Tambling has urged Australians to wake up to the Third World crisis gripping indigenous settlements across the ­nation.

The 28-year-old, drafted to Richmond in 2004, has returned to the town camp where he grew up to highlight the plight of residents plagued by poverty and appalling services and infrastructure.

Tambling said the area, just 20km from Darwin, was a symbol of the failure of governments to close the gap for indigenous Australians.

More than a decade after he left, the footballer says nothing has changed at the Palmerston indigenous village, known ­locally as “15 Mile”.

Up to 20 people are crammed into each ramshackle “chicken coop’’, building frames with no doors or windows. Electricity is intermittent. The community hall is riddled with asbestos.

Rubbish is as strewn and scattered here as the litany of political excuses to clean up the place.

Not one new dwelling has been built in more than a decade, despite rigorous assurances from governments at every level.

“The majority of Australians wouldn’t be aware of just how bad it is,” Tambling said.

“All they see is the government handouts to indigenous communities but they don’t understand the disadvantages here. There is still an enormous gap in the services — but also in understanding.’’

The footballer, who played six seasons at Punt Rd before a trade to Adelaide in 2010, grew up at 15 Mile with his grandmother who, terminally ill, still lives there.

He can still remember pinning tarps up to block out the belting rain. During the wet season, snakes and scorpions would scuttle across the floor where he slept. Drug and alcohol abuse was rampant.



Looking across the destitute land is bittersweet for ­Tambling.

He hates what goes on here, yet he is often drawn back.

“Throughout my career, I always came back just to spend time with my grandmother and family,” he said.

“I’ve offered to take her with me but she won’t leave. She is connected to the community, to this land. We just have to put things in place so her needs are met. I worry that may never happen.’’

Read more: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/this-town-is-a-symbol-of-government-failure/story-fni0fiyv-1227290474345

[Tigeritis™©®]

‘This town is a symbol of government failure’

    Aaron Langmaid
    Herald Sun
    April 04, 2015

FORMER AFL star Richard Tambling has urged Australians to wake up to the Third World crisis gripping indigenous settlements across the ­nation.

The 28-year-old, drafted to Richmond in 2004, has returned to the town camp where he grew up to highlight the plight of residents plagued by poverty and appalling services and infrastructure.

Tambling said the area, just 20km from Darwin, was a symbol of the failure of governments to close the gap for indigenous Australians.

More than a decade after he left, the footballer says nothing has changed at the Palmerston indigenous village, known ­locally as “15 Mile”.

Up to 20 people are crammed into each ramshackle “chicken coop’’, building frames with no doors or windows. Electricity is intermittent. The community hall is riddled with asbestos.

Rubbish is as strewn and scattered here as the litany of political excuses to clean up the place.

Not one new dwelling has been built in more than a decade, despite rigorous assurances from governments at every level.

“The majority of Australians wouldn’t be aware of just how bad it is,” Tambling said.

“All they see is the government handouts to indigenous communities but they don’t understand the disadvantages here. There is still an enormous gap in the services — but also in understanding.’’

The footballer, who played six seasons at Punt Rd before a trade to Adelaide in 2010, grew up at 15 Mile with his grandmother who, terminally ill, still lives there.

He can still remember pinning tarps up to block out the belting rain. During the wet season, snakes and scorpions would scuttle across the floor where he slept. Drug and alcohol abuse was rampant.



Looking across the destitute land is bittersweet for ­Tambling.

He hates what goes on here, yet he is often drawn back.

“Throughout my career, I always came back just to spend time with my grandmother and family,” he said.

“I’ve offered to take her with me but she won’t leave. She is connected to the community, to this land. We just have to put things in place so her needs are met. I worry that may never happen.’’

Read more: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/this-town-is-a-symbol-of-government-failure/story-fni0fiyv-1227290474345

Where do the handouts go? Who gets the money? Why is this still happening? How is this even possible?

What's the answer?

I too was one of the "majority of Australians" that hadn't a clue & I still don't.
I've worked a couple of times in Darwin & asked nearly everyone I met about this issue just to get a gauge on the perceptions from a broad cross section of people etc. there seemed to me to be only one major consensus out there.

It can't & won't be fixed.

I found this to be both discouraging & frustrating.
But I don't see this where I live & to be honest, it's not something I think about normally.

[Smokey]

Where do the handouts go? Who gets the money? Why is this still happening? How is this even possible?

What's the answer?

I too was one of the "majority of Australians" that hadn't a clue & I still don't.
I've worked a couple of times in Darwin & asked nearly everyone I met about this issue just to get a gauge on the perceptions from a broad cross section of people etc. there seemed to me to be only one major consensus out there.

It can't & won't be fixed.

I found this to be both discouraging & frustrating.
But I don't see this where I live & to be honest, it's not something I think about normally.

"Drug and alcohol abuse was rampant."

Here lies the single biggest problem.  The dry communities don't generally have these problems to anywhere near the same extent.  And it can't be fixed quickly or easily but I do know that throwing any more money at it is not going to have any impact whatsoever.  Education has some place but isn't the solution on it's own.  My nephew is a primary school teacher not far from Tambling's community and attendance from the indigenous kids is sporadic at best, both in days attended and even classes attended - they just come and go as the mood takes them.  Without even a basic level of education it becomes so hard for the children to then adapt to the 'system' that can sustain them and they invariably end up on the same cycle of western-introduced drugs, alcohol, welfare and abuse that they see their extended families trapped in.  It's a lot easier to keep communities dry when they are remotely located but the ones that have access or are located closer to populated areas can only limit the influence and damage, not remove or correct it, and when they aren't dry then they end up exactly as 15 Mile like Tambling describes.

There is nothing gained now in pointing fingers saying western influence caused it or the culture has been compromised or they have been poorly treated because none of it matters now.  It's a bit like blaming today's German or Japanese people for WWII war crimes.  I think we need a hell of a lot more dialogue with the broader indigenous community so that our society as a whole (us and them if you must) gets a better understanding of how best to integrate and help them assimilate while not letting them lose their cultural ties but focussing on the importance of accepting that first and foremost they have total responsibility for helping themselves.  Any amount of assistance and intervention won't help unless they take ownership of this responsibility and take it seriously, and that's only going to happen with constant, open and blameless dialogue.  It's no different to any other person with an alcohol, drug or welfare dependency except that indigenous people have a lot of cultural issues that cloud the landscape but sadly allow them to hide from reality and responsibility.

There's not going to be any magic wand or quick fix but doing what governments in this country have done in the past and just spending more and more money on any number of well-intentioned but generally useless indigenous programs is definitely not the answer, and indigenous leaders have been as culpable as anyone in misrepresenting their people and accepting these 'solutions'.  A lot of what Tambling says is true but he is also guilty of saying our society hasn't done enough yet not once mentions that the members of that community can take charge of it and start to help themselves.  Waiting on government handouts to fix housing, cleaning up rubbish etc is not the way forward and will not give the residents one ounce of self-respect or capacity to run their own lives.  If indigenous people who have forged successful lives become true leaders for their own people by inspiring and mentoring their own people rather than finger-pointing and asking for more more more then the problem will already be well on the way to a better and permanent solution.

[No More]

Why isn't Richard Tambling at Punt Road. Our reserves are crap, Richard would have been a good pick to lead our reserves team and we could have given him a role at the club in terms of developing aboriginal players and working at the institute. he may not have made it like we hoped he would, but Richard is a very decent man a good footballer and someone who would have added to our club in terms of developing players and people.

[WilliamPowell]

Why isn't Richard Tambling at Punt Road. Our reserves are crap, Richard would have been a good pick to lead our reserves team and we could have given him a role at the club in terms of developing aboriginal players and working at the institute. he may not have made it like we hoped he would, but Richard is a very decent man a good footballer and someone who would have added to our club in terms of developing players and people.

Totally agree but...

Think it's obvious in the article Ramps, he's up North looking after his ill grandmother who raised him. It's where IMESHO he should be right now

[Tigeritis™©®]

"Drug and alcohol abuse was rampant."

Here lies the single biggest problem.  The dry communities don't generally have these problems to anywhere near the same extent.  And it can't be fixed quickly or easily but I do know that throwing any more money at it is not going to have any impact whatsoever.  Education has some place but isn't the solution on it's own.  My nephew is a primary school teacher not far from Tambling's community and attendance from the indigenous kids is sporadic at best, both in days attended and even classes attended - they just come and go as the mood takes them.  Without even a basic level of education it becomes so hard for the children to then adapt to the 'system' that can sustain them and they invariably end up on the same cycle of western-introduced drugs, alcohol, welfare and abuse that they see their extended families trapped in.  It's a lot easier to keep communities dry when they are remotely located but the ones that have access or are located closer to populated areas can only limit the influence and damage, not remove or correct it, and when they aren't dry then they end up exactly as 15 Mile like Tambling describes.

There is nothing gained now in pointing fingers saying western influence caused it or the culture has been compromised or they have been poorly treated because none of it matters now.  It's a bit like blaming today's German or Japanese people for WWII war crimes.  I think we need a hell of a lot more dialogue with the broader indigenous community so that our society as a whole (us and them if you must) gets a better understanding of how best to integrate and help them assimilate while not letting them lose their cultural ties but focussing on the importance of accepting that first and foremost they have total responsibility for helping themselves.  Any amount of assistance and intervention won't help unless they take ownership of this responsibility and take it seriously, and that's only going to happen with constant, open and blameless dialogue.  It's no different to any other person with an alcohol, drug or welfare dependency except that indigenous people have a lot of cultural issues that cloud the landscape but sadly allow them to hide from reality and responsibility.

There's not going to be any magic wand or quick fix but doing what governments in this country have done in the past and just spending more and more money on any number of well-intentioned but generally useless indigenous programs is definitely not the answer, and indigenous leaders have been as culpable as anyone in misrepresenting their people and accepting these 'solutions'.  A lot of what Tambling says is true but he is also guilty of saying our society hasn't done enough yet not once mentions that the members of that community can take charge of it and start to help themselves.  Waiting on government handouts to fix housing, cleaning up rubbish etc is not the way forward and will not give the residents one ounce of self-respect or capacity to run their own lives.  If indigenous people who have forged successful lives become true leaders for their own people by inspiring and mentoring their own people rather than finger-pointing and asking for more more more then the problem will already be well on the way to a better and permanent solution.

Thanks Smoke for your reply. It sounds as though you have some real insight into the issues faced by indigenous communities.
About 20 years ago I was in South Africa and I was shocked to see the highway from the airport lined with shanty towns. I was told that if a fellow set up camp in an empty field, by the time he woke in the morning he'd have 100 neighbours in a week it would he thousands. I was shocked & in my ignorance boasted that we would never see this in Australia....on my Qantas flight home the front page of the Australian had a shanty town with the bold lettering "Australia's shame."

It's interesting that you mentioned self respect, capacity to run their own lives and successful indigenous people mentoring the less privileged in these communities.
Hasn't this been done already? I watch indigenous tv sometimes & there are many inspirational people on it or spoken about. Its been years and there hasn't been one winning community integration program that works?

Am I correct in assuming, if I read your reply correctly, that the issues are too big and hopeless unless the people are willing to change?
Is it then just a cultural issue?

How do you change culture? And should we expect that indigenous people abandon their true culture?
The reason I ask this is because if its cultural then it wont ever change no matter what program exists.
I remember reading or hearing of an indigenous player that had a hard time finding his feet in the big city of AFL footy. It wasn't because he wasn't talented enough but when he went home he was besieged with cultural ridicule if he didn't engage in the culture of drinking etc. being called a white man & accused of being better than them etc..eventually succumbing to the culture & leaving his career behind.
How do you change that culture & should we?
If the culture of indigenous people's is drinking or drugs maybe its part of the bigger picture of the culture of dreamtime & who are we to deny them?
Its truly an issue I have no idea about.

[🏅Dooks]

Where are the strong town elders? Are there any?

[Tigeritis™©®]

Where are the strong town elders? Are there any?

Maybe they're too busy practicing Dreamtime, not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Penelope]

The camp Richie talks about would have to be one of the worst around. It is a ramshackle camp whose residents come from a variety of different tribes/communities, many of which are outcasts, so there are no real elders ( although i suspect tamblings grandmother may have sufficed for one, or close as you will get in there).

I know based on his football at Richmond you wouldn't think it, but it shows a real strength of character to rise above that place and make something of yourself as Richie has.

And there in lies the broaded problem. It takes exceptional people to grow up in a dysfunctional community and not be dysfunctional themselves.

For the vast majority of indiginous children in these communities they have no real immediate role models. Most of us grow up with parents who work, our immediate family work and their friends all work, Our parents ensured we went to school and set guidelines and boundaries in life.

Unfortunately many indiginous children dont have this, they have the opposite. Add to that that now many of them are being born with fetal alcohol syndrome because their mums drink heavily while pregnant, meaning they basically have a mental retardation for life and basically they are stuffed from the start.

This is the cycle that is near on impossible to break, and IMO the stolen generation holds them back, not because of what it did, but because of what it now prevents from happening. In saying that it is a complex problem and there is no simple solution.

[Tigeritis™©®]

The camp Richie talks about would have to be one of the worst around. It is a ramshackle camp whose residents come from a variety of different tribes/communities, many of which are outcasts, so there are no real elders ( although i suspect tamblings grandmother may have sufficed for one, or close as you will get in there).

I know based on his football at Richmond you wouldn't think it, but it shows a real strength of character to rise above that place and make something of yourself as Richie has.

And there in lies the broaded problem. It takes exceptional people to grow up in a dysfunctional community and not be dysfunctional themselves.

For the vast majority of indiginous children in these communities they have no real immediate role models. Most of us grow up with parents who work, our immediate family work and their friends all work, Our parents ensured we went to school and set guidelines and boundaries in life.

Unfortunately many indiginous children dont have this, they have the opposite. Add to that that now many of them are being born with fetal alcohol syndrome because their mums drink heavily while pregnant, meaning they basically have a mental foolation for life and basically they are stuffed from the start.

This is the cycle that is near on impossible to break, and IMO the stolen generation holds them back, not because of what it did, but because of what it now prevents from happening. In saying that it is a complex problem and there is no simple solution.

The article title suggests "government failure".

The question I'm asking is whether or not this issue is a true indication of prolonged government failure or just a cultural issue that can't be changed.
If the dream-time culture is such that it is culturally acceptable to live off handouts, squander opportunity & live perennially inebriated then these situations won't ever change & then you have to question the motives on why it should change.
Who is to say it should be changed if this culture has been in existence for supposedly thousands of years?

[Penelope]

i dont think that that the aborigines have a culture being alcoholic no hopers living off handouts for thousands of years.

[Chuck17]

i dont think that that the aborigines have a culture being alcoholic no hopers living off handouts for thousands of years.

Nope but they are making a good start of it

[Zlatan]

The camp Richie talks about would have to be one of the worst around. It is a ramshackle camp whose residents come from a variety of different tribes/communities, many of which are outcasts, so there are no real elders ( although i suspect tamblings grandmother may have sufficed for one, or close as you will get in there).

I know based on his football at Richmond you wouldn't think it, but it shows a real strength of character to rise above that place and make something of yourself as Richie has.

And there in lies the broaded problem. It takes exceptional people to grow up in a dysfunctional community and not be dysfunctional themselves.

For the vast majority of indiginous children in these communities they have no real immediate role models. Most of us grow up with parents who work, our immediate family work and their friends all work, Our parents ensured we went to school and set guidelines and boundaries in life.

Unfortunately many indiginous children dont have this, they have the opposite. Add to that that now many of them are being born with fetal alcohol syndrome because their mums drink heavily while pregnant, meaning they basically have a mental foolation for life and basically they are stuffed from the start.

This is the cycle that is near on impossible to break, and IMO the stolen generation holds them back, not because of what it did, but because of what it now prevents from happening. In saying that it is a complex problem and there is no simple solution.

The article title suggests "government failure".

The question I'm asking is whether or not this issue is a true indication of prolonged government failure or just a cultural issue that can't be changed.
If the dream-time culture is such that it is culturally acceptable to live off handouts, squander opportunity & live perennially inebriated then these situations won't ever change & then you have to question the motives on why it should change.
Who is to say it should be changed if this culture has been in existence for supposedly thousands of years?