From Crikey blogger Bob Gosford's The Northern Myth

Earlier today I witnessed the most powerful and (hopefully) effective public event I’ve yet seen in my short stay in Alice Springs. Alice Springs is a town where men – particularly Aboriginal men – rarely make mass public statements that address the issue of greatest concern to most people living in Alice Springs – domestic and inter-personal violence. But thanks to the concerted efforts of a determined group of men that is changing. The “Stop The Violence” march held today saw several hundred men and boys march through the centre of Alice Springs to join a large group of women and supporters to rally at the Alice Springs Town Councillawns. The march stopped the traffic in town and hopefully lifted just a little of the malaise and downheartedness that often seems to be the dominant sentiment in this troubled town. ... John Liddle [Male Health Manager at the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress]  told the rally on the Council lawns that:

“We need to get across to the world, our community, black and white, that we are against violence,” Mr Liddle told the crowd. “What these T-shirts are saying is we don’t want to condone it, we don’t to put up with it , we want to stop the bloody violence. “We’ve got very strong cultural men here today. they are our leaders. They are right behind this programme we’ve got going now.”

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