The Australian Development Studies Centre National University Monograph no. 26 Black out in Alice A history of the establishment and development of town camps in Alice Springs M Heppell and J J Wigley .J"�ciiic & :�)1Jtheast Asi�m Hi.l\'for" Black out in Alice Development Studies Centre Monograph no. 26 Black out in Alice A history of the establishment and development of town camps in Alice Springs M Heppell and J J Wigley Series editor Gavin W. Jones The Australian National University Canberra, Australia and in Miami, Florida, USA 1981 © M Heppell and J J Wigley This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries may be made to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-publication entry Heppell, M. (Michael) Black out in Alice. ISBN 0 909150 41 9. Aborigines, Australian - Northern Territory - Alice Springs 1. - Social conditions. Aborigines, Australian - Northern 2. Territory - Alice Springs - Housing. Aborigines, Australian 3. - Northern Territory - Alice Springs - Dwellings. 4. Architecture, Domestic - Northern Territory - Alice Springs. I. Wigley, J.J. II. Australian National University. Development Studies Centre. Ill. Title. (Series: Monograph (Australian National University. Development Studies Centre); no. 26). 306'.3 Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 81-66921 Printed and manufactured in Australia by The Australian National University Summary This monograph examines the ini tial stage of the Alice Springs Ab original town camp developmen t programs funded by the Commonwealth Department of Ab original Affairs . It sets the program in the context of the progressive marginalization an d alienation of Ab ori ginal town campers in Alice Springs since the firs t wh ite settlers arrived there in the late nineteen th century . The monograph , as far as is possible , describ es the view of the Ab original camp problem formed by wh ite administrators res ponsible for the camps. It als o briefly discusses complex issues like race relations in Alice Springs to show the urb an con text in which the town campers dwell . In 19 75 , the now defunct Ab original Housing Panel started to work in Alice Springs . The latter part of this monograph is devoted to describ ing its wo rk and the way in wh ich the Tangatj ira Counci l, an Ab original town campers ' as sociation , was es tablished and grew to play the maj or role in th e affairs of the town campers . The final chapter examines the prospect s of th is council now that it has been deprived of assis tance from independent professional bodies like the Housing Panel and is absolutely dependent on and accountab le to government ins trumentalities for the form and con tent of its con tinu ed exis tence . v Contents Acknowledgmen ts In troduction Chapter 1 The Al ice 1 Chapter 2 Race relations in Alice Springs 26 Chapter 3 The contribut ion of the Ab origines to the Centralian economy 42 Chapter 4 The Alice Springs town camps 48 Chapter 5 Alternative accommo dation 64 Chapter 6 Improved shelter for town campers , 1960-74 76 Chapter 7 Land rights for town campers 91 Chapter 8 Development at Mt Nancy , 1976-78 106 Chapter 9 Consultation and the design process 128 Chapter 10 Design synthesis 152 Chapter 11 A town campers ' council 172 Appendices I A petition to the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory , 1979 196 Table of developmen ts in town camp s 198 II Floor plans of hous es designed by Mt III Nancy households 199 Diary of Mt Nancy roadw orks developmen t 202 IV References 209 vii viii Tables Page 1 Population of Al ic e Springs , 1961-79 3 2 Estimated core population of town camps 12 3 Costs of repairs and maintenance 67 4 Ab original tenant s and applicants for Housing Commission houses 69 5 Alice Springs housing stock 72 Figures 1 Al ice Springs an d its environs 2 2 Alice Springs and environs showing the location of tw en ty-seven town camps 49 3 Location of tw elve town camps in Ali ce Springs wh ich had made leasehold applications by the end of 1977 50 4 Mt Nancy be fore the grantin g of the lease ov er the camp 115 5 The Mt Nancy area after fencing 116 6 Design for the Mt Nancy ablution block 119 7 Plan of Mt Nancy bef ore any developmen t took place 133 8 Elevation of camp at Mt Nan cy 136 9 Camp layout after composition of households had changed 137 10 Plan of clus ter of th ree household camps at Mt Nancy 142 11 Re location of camps after provision of area lighting and the beginn ing of th e constructi on program 143 12 Comparison of size of a bump y and a conven tional house 145 13 Traditional camp and proposed floor plan of house 147 Example a 14 of house design with partition deep in side the house 15 7 15 Core house , Mt Nancy 160 16 Mt Nan cy after the addition of the ablution block an d th ree prototype houses 162 ix Page 17 Core house, Mt Nancy, with nodi fications 165 18 The Kardi house, Mt Nancy 170 19 Mt Nancy town plan , as it is and as it should be, according to the Depar tment of Cons truction 192 Plates 1 Typical camp in creek bed in 1976. 203 2 Temporary camp to north of Alice Springs , 19 76 . 203 3 Typical camp with windb reak , 19 76. 204 4 Camp of a permanent dweller in Alice Springs , 1976 . 205 5 Same as plate 1 showing army tents provided out of Federal Government grants. 205 6 Looking down on house at Mt Nancy originally designed for an elderly man . 206 7 General view of hous es erected, since the preparation of this book, at Ilibilili Tj atja, looking east. 206 8 View (north face) of a 1-bedroom house at Nywente camp showing development of plan ting and us e of verandah . 207 9 View of a 2-bedroom house at Nyewen te . 207 Acknowledgmen ts This monograph started as a report by th e Ab original and Torres Strai t Islander Housing Panel on its development proj ect in Mt Nancy camp , Alice Springs . Dr Myrna Tonkinson did much of the ini tial groundwork and the monograph owes much to her careful res earch and scholarly approach to the subject. So good was her work that the Panel recommended tha t the report extend its in teres t beyond a simple assessmen t of the Mt Nancy developmen t to an examination of the history of town camps in Alice Springs . By th is time , Dr Tonkinson had more pressing work an d, for her own reasons , has declined to be named as one of the monograph 's authors . Obvious ly , the present au th ors owe a great deb t to her . Many people, too numerous to mention by name , have provided information for this book wi thout which th e background material would have been very thin indeed . Geoff Shaw , Bob Durnan and Wally Dobkins , all of the Tangatj ira Council, gave much of their time to answer interminable ques tions about the hi story of the Council. David Drakakis-Smith was mo st generous in giving th e authors access to his copious field notes on his research in Alice Springs . Nie Peterson suggested some helpful additional reading. Peter Martin raised a numb er of cri tical poin ts wh ich required answering to improve th e final few chapters . Finally Margaret Lanigan typed an early draf t of th e monograph with her usual en thusiasm and improving touch . M. Heppell xi Introduction Alice Springs is one of Australia 's most famous towns , celebrated in fiction and film, an d now a maj or attraction of the Austral ian tourist industry. Resident in Alice Springs is a significant population of Ab origines, many of whom un til recently were excluded from Alice Springs society and were the obj ects of scorn, derision and harassment on the part of officials and connnon cit izens alike . Such actions still occur and Alice Springs, from time to time , receives llllwelcome publicity as the racist clamours of some of its citizenry receive the full glare of attention from the nation's news media. The Aborigines are Alice Spring's oldest citizens and , lllllike the great maj ority of whites, remain in and around Alice for the whole of their lives. Un til very recently , a large proportion of this population found its shelter and eked out an existence as illegal squatters on vacant crown land. They had no other homes. Most had no work. They were regarded by the white comnumity as unwanted vagrants. They drank a lot and seemed locked in a vicious cycle of poverty, neglect and helplessness , the only release from which was the oblivion of intoxication . The town campers, or fringe dwellers as these people were called, were regarded as a problem for the township and much time was spent in devising schemes to rid Alice Springs of them. None were successful and the town campers still remain . Many , however, are now living in modern brick houses and there is a new spirit abroad in the camps which is hangover free and which has galvanized the town campers into transforming their environ­ ment and improving their economic and social prospects beyond measure.