Malcolm Turnbull will spend Sunday night in an outback town which has become the focus of the Northern Territory child protection crisis, after a two-year-old girl was sexually assaulted five months ago.
Last month Guardian Australia reported local residents and traditional owners in Tennant Creek had urged Turnbull to visit, following their long-running struggle with social issues, a number of traumatic deaths, and poor services.
Turnbull sent his minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, and for social services, Dan Tehan, a few weeks later, saying that he would be visiting the NT in August.
However the prime minister will now visit the town on Sunday, accompanied by Scullion, Tehan, and the NT chief minister, Michael Gunner.
Turnbull said the purpose of the trip was to see what was needed to better coordinate services on the ground.
“I am bringing this delegation together to continue to map the pathways to reduce harm to children and for greater economic development for the Barkly region,” he said.
“My trip will be about listening to people’s experiences to inform a path forward in partnership with the local community, Territory and local governments.”
In response to the sexual assault of a two-year-old girl in February and long-unanswered social issues, the NT government directed extra resources and emergency measures.
An investigation by Guardian Australia last month found improvements, but also evidence that the town’s services continued to struggle with cooperation.
The hopes of community members that Turnbull would stop for more than a fly-by photo opportunity appear to have been answered, with the prime minister expected to stay overnight.
He is expected to meet with Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, but his office would not confirm if he would be taking up an invitation to accompany the night patrol.
Linda Turner, chair of Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation, said Turnbull’s visit was a positive result after months of work, and it will be a good opportunity for him to speak to the right people.
“After all the stuff that we’ve done, finally the prime minister is here to talk to us,” Turner told Guardian Australia.
“We want to talk about the good things that have happened, what has improved.”
Turner pointed to the liquor restrictions – which have been divisive but appear to have had a dramatic impact on the levels of violence in the town – and the creation of a cultural authority group representing the town’s Indigenous residents, who come from 11 different language groups.
“People feel more empowered now they have a voice,” she said.
She hoped Turnbull’s visit would build on the “positives” from Scullion and Tehan.
“We’ve met with Scullion many times, but that was the first time we met with minister Tehan. We found him to be - and the feedback from other mob too – was that he was genuine; he was listening.”
Tehan told Guardian Australia it would be “incredibly valuable” to have Turnbull hear about the problems in Tennant Creek from people directly affected.
“You can read things, you can watch it on your television screen, but there is no substitute for being there on the ground,” he said.
Tehan’s office would not confirm if Tennant Creek had been identified as a potential new trial site for the cashless welfare card, but said the community had “raised [it] directly” with them earlier this month.
Tennant Creek welfare recipients – like all welfare recipients in the NT – already have the Basic card which quarantines a portion of their support payments, and can only be spent at approved shops and not on alcohol, tobacco, or pornography products.
At the time Guardian Australia visited Tennant Creek a delegate of mining magnate and philanthropist Andrew Forrest – who drove the introduction of the cashless welfare card – was meeting with stakeholders in town about community collaborations.
Some residents expressed concern that the cashless welfare card quarantines more money than the Basics card, making it more difficult when they needed cash in the isolated and remote town.
The Barkly regional mayor, Steven Edgington, who met with Turnbull in Canberra and also invited him to visit, welcomed the news.
“We are so pleased that he responded so quickly to our invitation, which we made on behalf of everyone in Tennant Creek, and we welcome the prime minister to our town,” Edgington said.
The Commonwealth government is working with the NT government and Indigenous organisations towards a tripartite forum and a coordinated funding framework to address child protection and justice issues, following the 2016 Royal Commission.
The Productivity Commission will also examine NT expenditure in the sector.
Turner said she supported “whatever comes together to give us the resources we need”.