Every single Territorian was horrified with what has reportedly occurred to a two-year-old in that town.

It could so easily be Katherine as well.

Tennant Creek has become a rallying call for us all.

Child abuse statistics here are no less alarming.

To see police and NT Government leaders rushing to Tennant Creek last week saying they had no idea things were that bad, was just as appalling.

It has got to the point where if our leaders don’t know what is going on, and are unable to fix them then we have to call for help.

And no, no-one wants another John Howard-style intervention like 2007, at least not in the form the so called “emergency response” was rolled out then.

Most people, including Indigenous leaders, agree that it did more harm than good.

That does not mean federal authorities can’t help here if the NT Government is not up to the task, and it is clearly not in the case of Tennant Creek.

A Royal Commission has already lifted the lid on the problems in Katherine.

Katherine has more child protection cases than Darwin and Alice Springs combined yet only six per cent of Territory Families staff are based in Katherine.

Territory Families says try as hard as they might, they can’t convince enough staff to live here.

Then try harder.

There is one social worker for every 71 children in care in Katherine.

According to Territory Families, in Palmerston there is one worker to 38 children. 

In Alice Springs there is one for 33 children. 

Darwin is the best off, with one social worker for every 15 children in need of protection.

How many two-year-olds are slipping through the cracks here in Katherine.

The alarm has been raised, just as it had in Tennant Creek.

The commission sounded the alarm, as many others have done, repeatedly.

The commission identified that “children in Katherine are currently at risk and that more staff are needed”.

The government’s response has been pathetic, criminal even.

What good the millions to be spent on museums, malls and even car parks in Darwin when we can’t even afford to care for our own children.