Subsidising Chaos

Crime in the isolated towns of the Northern Territory is a byproduct of state-sponsored dysfunction rather than just poverty. The gap between organised chaos and public funding has been successfully closed, despite bureaucrats in Darwin and Canberra boasting about their dedication to "closing the gap."

Communities like Tennant Creek, Wadeye, and Yuendumu have turned into case studies of how bad actors are made possible by good intentions. Government funds are utilised to maintain a shadow economy that is based on drug trafficking, welfare fraud, stolen goods, and the manipulation of legal loopholes by a range of taxpayer funded NGO’s rather than encouraging self-reliance. And in the middle of it all? a never-ending cycle of government funding, stimulus plans, and intervention initiatives with little accountability and even worse outcomes.

Theoretically, this money should make people's lives better. In reality, it frequently provides funding for the very behaviours it purports to oppose. Publicly subsidised vehicles are used in criminal activity. Drugs are exchanged for fuel cards issued by the government. Crisis payments are diverted to cover the cost of weapons, alcohol, or silence. Public funding is treated by local gangs, which are frequently organised along extended family lines, as if it were a direct deposit into their operating budget. This is not an underfunding failure. It's a consequence failure. Programmes don't have any behavioural requirements. No significant oversight. When misused, there is no way to remove it. The outcome is predictable, you get more evil when you reward dysfunction.

Those attempting to lead law-abiding lives in these communities are confined in the meantime. They see victims left with broken homes and unanswered calls, while violent offenders are given more resources, programmes, and opportunities. Law enforcement is politically handcuffed, outnumbered, and underfunded. The judiciary supposed to support the police at constant odds with them, and activist judges have become accessories to crime, abuse and murder, by bail. When enforcement encounters opposition, officers who perform their duties are either buried in reports or thrown under the bus.

This is compassion, as the political elite pretends. It isn't. They are abandoning the very people they say they are protecting. Government becomes the enabler rather than the solution when money is poured into dysfunctional systems without holding people accountable.

Because it fills the void left by the collapse of authority, the criminal economy flourishes. It provides retribution, income, and status, those things the state no longer provides. Gangs are opportunists, not confused. They are aware that the government will spend more money on the "problem" the more violent and conspicuous they are. They are essentially compensated to be dangerous. The elders called upon to “Fix” the problems, financially incentivised to sustain them.

This cannot be sustained. It's also immoral. True reform entails conditioning them rather than reducing funding. Link behaviour to well-being. Rewarding community service, attendance at school, and sobriety. It requires defunding dysfunction. Eliminating the connection between criminal activity and public funding.

These towns are being sabotaged rather than supported if public funds are still being disbursed without any standards. We receive more of what we subsidise. Additionally, we are currently subsidising chaos in far too many isolated NT communities. Its an industry and we are all paying for it.

If only the 3 questions by Thomas Sowell were forced to be answered by officials, every time they come up with some new way to subsidise chaos. Compared to what? How much will it cost? And where is the evidence?  But like all shadowy figures, they avoid the light.

From the author.

The opinions and statements are those of Sam Wilks and do not necessarily represent whom Sam Consults or contracts to. Sam Wilks is a skilled and experienced Security and Risk Consultant with 3 decades of expertise in the fields of Real estate, Security, and the hospitality/gaming industry. Sam has trained over 1,000 entry level security personnel, taught defensive tactics, weapons training and handcuffs to policing personnel and the public. His knowledge and practical experience have made him a valuable asset to many organisations looking to enhance their security measures and provide a safe and secure environment for their clients and staff.