SYDNEY: Australian Aboriginal leaders have urged Prime Minister Julia Gillard to “sit down with us together in the dirt” to discuss tackling social problems in the desert community of Alice Springs. Elders from the central Australian outpost have asked Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott to the town where about 200 protesters Tuesday urged officials to do something about violence fuelled by “rivers of grog”. “We strongly urge you to come with Tony Abbott and sit down with us together in the dirt with no media,” the local leaders wrote in a letter published in The Australian Tuesday. “So that we can all talk about the issues and together come up with plans that will be supported by all federal political parties.” Last week Gillard rejected Abbott's suggestion for a joint trip to Alice Springs but the elders said they feared the town's problems could not be addressed without bipartisan support. “We urge you to consider our request and come and meet us in Alice Springs together with Tony Abbott so that an apolitical solution to our problems can be developed, owned by the Aboriginal traditional elders for our future,” the 10 leaders wrote. The protesters called on the Northern Territory government to do something about the increase in alcohol abuse.
