00:02The husk of Desmond Longmare's car, which still reeks of burning plastic and rubber.
00:08They came running this way. They had a petrol too, petrol, on a bottle, coke bottle, and
00:14then they sprinkled that one and then they set the fire to it. They started to smash
00:22this one and put the fuel from here, this area. Oh my God, can't tell. It's like a bonfire.
00:28He's one of many in Wadiya caught up in rolling violence between family groups, which has
00:34reignited in recent weeks. Bowling arrows and all that machete, metal steel and everything,
00:41windows, louvers, all those louvers over there. They take it out and then they use that one
00:48as a weapon, yeah. The rolling conflict putting pressure on local
00:52police. I worry when we have these disturbances that
00:56people are going to get hurt. But I take my hat off to them because they turn up, they
01:01put themselves in those situations which a lot of people wouldn't.
01:06The recent fighting has prompted the Northern Territory's remote driver training program to
01:11cancel their planned visit to Wadiya, making life difficult for young learners trying to
01:16get their licence. When the police pull them up and they ask for their licence or insurance,
01:21something like that. And people don't have a licence.
01:26Wadiya is home to several thousand people from dozens of clan groups, grouped together on
01:32Khadu Diminan land, a legacy of the mission days. They gather for ceremonies and speak a
01:40common language. But the proximity and overcrowding can bring tension too. Traditional owner Margaret
01:47Purjit is at pains to say that all clans are welcome. I stand there before them and tell
01:55them to come together to apologise. This is our home. What is our home?
02:01The recent fighting though has reinvigorated talk about investing in homelands, the small
02:07outstations that surround the main town, to give people space and somewhere to go when things
02:13get heated. We need government support. We really want to move back to our homeland where we feel
02:20home and spiritual. The local Aboriginal corporation is working on a proposal for an independent school that
02:27could service the homelands. They're there with their families on country so there's less, I guess,
02:32friction. It doesn't mean there isn't friction but there's less friction than having to live
02:36with a group of people that you may not be comfortable with, like they're doing whatever.
02:38Margaret Purjit says she'd like politicians to spend more time in her community, talking
02:45to locals about solutions. And they can see themselves what's happening out here.
02:51A call for deeper investigation into the real drivers of violence.
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