Residents of crowded camp wait for action
Paul Toohey; 14/5/08
There are 41 functioning houses shared by the 500 residents of Bagot Community, which means that the largely rundown two and three-bedroom homes sleep, on average, 12 people each night. From the inside, Bagot looks like a bush community, but it’s on a main road of Darwin, 32ha of half-trashed homes and high grass hidden away behind tin walls. Under the federal intervention, Bagot has become labelled a “town camp”, subject to alcohol and pornography prohibitions. Bagot is probably Australia’s biggest town camp. Once upon a time, it was a place where bush people on short visits to town could stay, though in recent years, it has become a permanent home for many. It has become a place without purpose. There is no CDEP program at Bagot and no work-for-the-dole program. Bagot has somehow been forgotten and is in a holding pattern.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23694821-5013404,00.html
Not time to cut back NT plan; Patricia Karvelas; 14/5/08; http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23694827-5013172,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Housing