Thursday, February 23, 2006
Coober Pedy, The Lands' Summer Mecca
Mayor Baines says Coober Pedy ought to be able to hoick money out of funds allocated to Lands Councils, to compensate for the services that Coober Pedy supplies every summer to Lands residents who come south and flood the town service providers with myriad requests.
Government employees working in the Lands disappear southwards to escape the summer heat as soon as the holiday season starts, leaving the Lands residents with no access to services.
Coober Pedy is the nearest town with Centrelink, hotel, bottle departments, hospital, ambulance, and of course, police. But as far as police numbers go, they are not large enough to cope with the flood of Lands residents in summer. Not even large enough to cope with the normal population, which is actually quite a bit higher than the official statistics show. Census taking in Coober Pedy has not yet got a grip on the real population.
Coober Pedy motorists have to take extra care driving along the main street in summer, because of the 'visitors' who wander every day across and along the roadway in a drunken state, completely oblivious to their hazardous situation.
You would have to have a dry sense of humour to say that Coober Pedy is a dry area.
What about when the Umoona community brings in its prohibition on alcohol consumption - local police have publicly admitted they have no idea how they are going to be able to cope with that one!
Government employees working in the Lands disappear southwards to escape the summer heat as soon as the holiday season starts, leaving the Lands residents with no access to services.
Coober Pedy is the nearest town with Centrelink, hotel, bottle departments, hospital, ambulance, and of course, police. But as far as police numbers go, they are not large enough to cope with the flood of Lands residents in summer. Not even large enough to cope with the normal population, which is actually quite a bit higher than the official statistics show. Census taking in Coober Pedy has not yet got a grip on the real population.
Coober Pedy motorists have to take extra care driving along the main street in summer, because of the 'visitors' who wander every day across and along the roadway in a drunken state, completely oblivious to their hazardous situation.
You would have to have a dry sense of humour to say that Coober Pedy is a dry area.
What about when the Umoona community brings in its prohibition on alcohol consumption - local police have publicly admitted they have no idea how they are going to be able to cope with that one!
# posted by Gazza @ 10:38 PM 
Comments:
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Well neither money nor "The Lord" has been able to ensure that all members of the Coober Pedy community and their guests and visitors are treated with the respect that they are entitled to, both as original inhabitants of this continent and as fellow members of humanity .
I suggest that it is racism and it's many manifestations both forthright and implied (such as in your blog Gazza) and religious self-righteousness, or bigotry that has caused and perpetuates an environment in which people easily excuse each other from their responsibility to recognise the common humanity between us.
The reason why there is not enough Police is because there is not sufficient appropriate housing for them and their families and nobody wants to come and work under those conditions.
Funny how $ always comes up in these issues. Perhaps you should focus on the effects of the dis-enfranchising of the Anangu communities by the abolition of ATSIC or the "mainstreaming" or services to Aboriginal people. Too deep and troublesome?
Why not try to be constructive about this "problem" and stop being disrespectful to those who are least empowered as an outlet for your frustration. When you move into an area you should try to be a good neighbour. Or do you think that the Anangu peoples were suffering before we moved in anyway.
Please God .... save me from the people who would save me from myself.... oh and have a word with some of your flock in Coober Pedy, they need more information.
I can assure you it will not be Anangu peoples who make the decisions about allocating resources to build the infrastructure required to have 24 hour policing.
YUCCKY
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I suggest that it is racism and it's many manifestations both forthright and implied (such as in your blog Gazza) and religious self-righteousness, or bigotry that has caused and perpetuates an environment in which people easily excuse each other from their responsibility to recognise the common humanity between us.
The reason why there is not enough Police is because there is not sufficient appropriate housing for them and their families and nobody wants to come and work under those conditions.
Funny how $ always comes up in these issues. Perhaps you should focus on the effects of the dis-enfranchising of the Anangu communities by the abolition of ATSIC or the "mainstreaming" or services to Aboriginal people. Too deep and troublesome?
Why not try to be constructive about this "problem" and stop being disrespectful to those who are least empowered as an outlet for your frustration. When you move into an area you should try to be a good neighbour. Or do you think that the Anangu peoples were suffering before we moved in anyway.
Please God .... save me from the people who would save me from myself.... oh and have a word with some of your flock in Coober Pedy, they need more information.
I can assure you it will not be Anangu peoples who make the decisions about allocating resources to build the infrastructure required to have 24 hour policing.
YUCCKY
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