A school in a remote Northern Territory community remains closed more than two weeks after all teachers were evacuated following property damage to its staff accommodation.
NT Police confirmed a “criminal damage” incident occurred at a residence in the small Indigenous settlement of Kintore, 530 kilometres west of Alice Springs, on August 28.
In a statement, a Department of Education spokesperson said three staff were withdrawn from Kintore to Alice Springs last week following “attempted aggravated burglaries involving departmental staff in NT government housing”.
“The department is investigating enhanced security options for our staff and reviewing current safety arrangements,” they said.
“The safety and wellbeing of our staff and students is our priority and the department will not tolerate inappropriate behaviour.”
Reports of a spike in petrol sniffing
In recent months, there have been reports of rising tensions and a spike in young people petrol sniffing in the remote community of about 420 people, with community leaders calling for additional support to help break the cycle of disadvantage.
Pintupi Homelands Health Service chief executive Leander Menezes, who is based in Kintore, said reopening the school must be prioritised.
“The school should still be running because the kids now are just roaming freely in the community,” he said.
Dr Menezes said the health service was working to combat a spike in petrol sniffing among young people.
“Last year, we just had seven to eight kids [impacted by petrol sniffing]. This time, we’ve had close to 30 kids petrol sniffing, and it’s been an ongoing issue,” he said.
“There’s a lot of stuff happening at the moment, but I just feel that this community needs a bit more support and not [putting] the limelight on crime.
“There’s a lot of grief and pain in the community, and it just needs a voice in terms of trying to build spirits up.”
Dialysis service withdrawn
Multiple sources have confirmed the organisation providing dialysis for Kintore residents with kidney failure, Purple House, has also withdrawn from the community and has sent patients to Alice Springs for critical treatment.
Purple House did not respond to questions about its service provision, but said in a statement: “As always, Purple House is focused on taking care of our patients and staff and supporting our communities”.
ABC