00:04When it's summer, it's really hot. The climate, it changed.
00:11In remote Papanya or Rurumpi community in Central Australia, there's fear the sweltering
00:17desert summers are making people sick in houses that aren't coping with rising temperatures.
00:33The birthplace of some of Australia's most famous First Nations music and art, Papanya's
00:40residents say they've been failed by their landlords, the NT government, and are taking
00:46legal action for what they allege is a lack of climate-safe public housing.
00:50We deserve to live in a better and healthy home.
00:55Community members tell us that their kids are having seizures, they're getting nosebleeds,
01:01they're blacking out due to dehydration. Elders are struggling to sleep at night because of
01:06the hate.
01:07The Human Rights Law Centre is fronting the legal action, saying it follows decades of government
01:13housing neglect.
01:14We've been in Papanya for the past year, going into every single housing community, and there
01:21are distinct patterns among them. Broken air conditioners, lack of insulation, lack of shading.
01:27They're paying rent to the NT government because it's their only option. And the NT government
01:33isn't upholding their end of the bargain by providing a safe, liveable house in exchange
01:38for that rent. From this iconic cultural hub in the desert, all the way to the Federal
01:43Court of Australia, this legal action is the first seeking to hold a government accountable
01:48for providing climate-safe housing.
01:50What's happening in houses here in this community is sort of happening everywhere. I really want
01:58to just touch base and say that we do have issues, we do have problems, but we want to see
02:06the future,
02:07and the future is really bright.
02:10The NT government was approached for a response, but said as the case was now before the courts,
02:16it couldn't comment. With a long battle now looming, residents want to see greater understanding
02:23of what they're facing on the ground.
02:26Just having a house where it could be suitable for each climate, you know, would be really useful.
02:36A window into a community on the front line of a heating world.
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