Indigenous affairs advocate Warren Mundine is urging Aboriginal leaders to take a stronger stance on tackling long-standing problems in town camps, following the tragic death of Kumanjayi Little Baby.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this story includes the name and image of an Indigenous person who may have died.
Prominent Indigenous affairs advocate Warren Mundine has questioned the efforts of Aboriginal leaders in tackling long-standing problems in Northern Territory camps.
Mr Mundine's remarks came following the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby, who was allegedly abducted and killed by accused criminal Jefferson Lewis.
The incident has prompted wider discussion about conditions in town camps, including Old Timers in Alice Springs, where the child was last seen before going missing.
Mr Mundine, who served as Labor Party President between 2006 and 2007, argued Aboriginal leaders must step up and not simply leave the response to the government.
"[Town camps] cannot continue in the state they are in," he told Sky News host Caleb Bond on Friday.
"It's about time we focused on the real issues within these areas, and that is social cohesion, getting law and order into these communities, building a future for the kids, for education, getting projects off the ground where jobs are created, and funds are coming in.
"There are about two or three projects in the Northern Territory. If they got them up and running, the NT would be totally economically independent from the rest of Australia, and they'd be able to put money into these areas and get things done.
"It's not only the government, where is the Aboriginal leadership in fixing these town camps?"
Mr Mundine said leaders must ensure law and order is effective in outback communities.
"Pre-Second World War, people lived in Aboriginal communities that were clean, they built their own houses, and people made sure their kids were safe," he added.
"It's about time the Aboriginal leadership stood up and got law and order to actually work, and get economic development and education in these areas."
Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Friday called out the "national disgrace" that contributed to the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi.
Senator Price, who is a member of the five-year-old girl's extended family, said the town camps had become a revolving door of criminals, where alcohol restrictions were hardly enforced and where children's safety could not be guaranteed.
"There is constant movement. People coming and going. Individuals with long criminal histories moving in and out. Alcohol restrictions that exist on paper but are not enforced in practice. Overcrowding. Poor maintenance. Limited oversight," Senator Price said in The Australian.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor accused Anthony Albanese of being in denial over the rise of violence in Indigenous communities, following the five-year-old's death.
Speaking on Sky News on Friday, Mr Taylor said it was a "tragic situation" that must lead to an "honest discussion".
He urged the federal government to “get out of denial about the situation we're seeing around Alice Springs and everywhere".
"It's the denial that has led us to this place where people aren't prepared to have honest conversations about the state of affairs in our town camps and what options there are to address it," he said.
"There is violence going on, there's sexual violence. We took to the last election a proposal for a royal commission, an independent inquiry into sexual abuse and violence in these communities, and we still think that that is something that needs to be addressed."