Elder calls on the PM to intervene in N

Indigenous elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling for the Federal government to intervene in the Northern Territory over its law and order stance.

Mr Hargraves spoke at the Garma Festival on Sunday saying his community of Yuendemu had “suffered a lot”, and that NT government’s new justice laws had “ripped the guts out of us”.

The Warlpiri elder read out his letter to the PM that said: “The NT government is acting from a criminal mindset — like an illegal occupying foreign power.

“They are using their power to destroy us, to take away our rights.”

Mr Hargreaves said his letter was sent tp the PM in June, but he had yet to receive a reply.

The NT’s Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Steve Edgington, told the ABC that his government’s policies were not making things worse.

“What we’re trying to do is get on top of the issues that we’re being faced with coming into government,” he said.