Daniel James

We'll be back tomorrow.

On April 25, Kumanjay Little Baby was reported missing from her bed at the old-timers' town camp just south of Alice Springs.

Five days later, after a community unifying effort, her body was found.

She was five years old.

Soon after, community members found the man accused of killing her.

They called police and now a 47-year-old man has been charged with murder and other charges we can't mention for legal reasons.

For the past week, as her family and community have mourned, Alice Springs in Bartway has once again been placed under the intensity of the national gaze.

Its grief, anger and calls for justice broadcast across the country.

I'm Daniel James, and you're listening to 7am.

Today, the Chief Executive of SNAICC, the national peak body advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, Catherine Little, on Kumanjay Little Baby, the grief in Mbatwe, and the questions that need to be asked without turning her death into another political fight.

It's Tuesday, May 5.

Catherine, you've been up in Alice Springs during this horrendous event.

Now that things have settled down, the alleged perpetrator has now been charged.

How is the community doing more broadly up there?

What did you notice about the way the police and community work together?

Is there a chance that through this horrible, horrible circumstance that there could be an opportunity for a better relationship between police and the Aboriginal community up there?

One of the things that we've been thinking about nationally is that

You only hear about Alice Springs in Bartoway when something terrible happens.

Is that frustrating?

And does that make people in the town and around the town camps more sensitive to the national gaze when something like this happens?