00:00A 10-year wait to get into her own home, that's how long Julie Coulthard was told it would
00:08take when she checked the status of her request from 2022.
00:12I want to have a place for my kids and my grandchildren, just us to be together, you
00:22know.
00:23Ms Coulthard is one of about 900 people on the public housing waitlist in Alice Springs.
00:29Despite a decade-long wait, the NT Housing Department says 10 per cent of the town's
00:33public housing sits vacant, that's 69 of 672 homes.
00:38Groger MLA Chancey Paik this week launching a petition calling for the government to get
00:43vacant homes fixed and filled.
00:46The street that we're on today, there are in excess of five houses and blocks that have
00:50been left vacant for some time.
00:53Every vacant house is a house that is not going to a family in need.
00:58The NT Housing Department says properties may be vacant because they're undergoing maintenance
01:03or require upgrades, while NT Housing Minister Steve Edgington told the ABC the government
01:08was investing $17 million in urban public housing maintenance, including $7 million to turn around
01:14vacant homes.
01:16Tameka Gorey is staying at her Aunty Jennifer's government owned house in Alice Springs, while
01:21she waits for her own home.
01:22Tameka Gorey is staying at home.
01:23We call them and they say that they're coming, but sometimes they don't show up to fix the
01:28stuff like air cooler and the holes in the walls.
01:33Aboriginal Housing NT says more needs to be done to address the issue.
01:37How many more people need to die or how long does that waiting list have to be before we
01:44actually take some concerted effort into all working together as stakeholders?
01:48A generations old question.
01:50.
01:52.
01:53.
01:55.
01:57.
01:58.
01:59.
