Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flying into Alice Springs amid calls for action on alcohol-fuelled crime crisis

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will fly into Alice Springs today after days of pressure from the federal opposition and national media over crime and alcohol-fuelled violence in the town.

Key points:

Mr Albanese will join Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles for a meeting with the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress health service, in a visit government sources say was delayed last year.

The federal government has already rejected calls from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson for the Australian Defence Force or federal police to be deployed to the town.

The idea was also dismissed by NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker in an interview on ABC RN Breakfast this morning.

“I’m not sure that the imagery of Australian soldiers, who are here to serve our country, dealing with First Nations people in a way that sees them having to arrest them and place them in police vehicles and alike, is the imagery we really want for Australia,” Commissioner Chalker said.

Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker said “broken” services to remote communities are pushing more people into Alice Springs.(ABC News: Matt Garrick)

Figures released last week by NT Police show a 43 per cent increase in assaults in Alice Springs over the past year, including a 53 per cent increase in alcohol-related assaults.

Commercial break-ins and home invasions have jumped by more than 50 per cent.

Commissioner Chalker said police data collected since the sunsetting of Intervention-era alcohol bans six months ago showed a significant increase in alcohol-related harm.

Extra police officers were deployed in Alice Springs in November.(ABC Alice Springs: Xavier Martin)

He said “functionally broken” services in remote communities over decades were pushing residents into service centres such as Alice Springs.

He said a “broader conversation” was needed about the factors behind the population shift and levels of crime and alcohol addiction.

“The jails are full,” he said.

“You cannot arrest your way out of these social problems … there is an inherent social cause that is driving this propensity for violence and offending.”

Aboriginal health boss allegedly threatened by intruders demanding alcohol 

The NT government has been defending its handling of the end of the Intervention-era alcohol bans, despite criticism from Aboriginal health groups about a lack of consultation and planning for the change.

Congress chief executive, Donna Ah Chee, who will meet with Mr Albanese this afternoon, was among the Aboriginal leaders who called for an ‘opt-out’ transition period before the bans expired.

In an interview with ABC Radio Alice Springs on Tuesday morning, she said she personally had been threatened by intruders who tried to break into her home overnight, demanding alcohol.

“I have never felt this unsafe and frightened in the 36 years I’ve lived in Alice Springs,” she said. 

Ms Ah Chee said she was threatened with a heavy-duty spanner as she tried to leave the house, before the alleged intruders smashed the back and side windows of her car. 

Congress chief executive Donna Ah Chee says Aboriginal health groups warned an abrupt end to alcohol bans would be dangerous.(ABC News: Samantha Jonscher)

New restrictions to alcohol sales in Alice Springs were announced by retailers over the past week, though critics say they are inadequate.

NT Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy this morning said stronger industry action was needed “not just in Central Australia — but right across the Northern Territory”.

Ms Ah Chee said the NT had struggled with high levels of alcohol addiction and alcohol-fuelled violence even when the blanket bans were in place.

But she said their abrupt removal had had a disastrous effect and “immediate” action was now needed.

“For me, I don’t care if it’s the NT government or the Commonwealth, or together,” she said.

“They need to do something about availability and reducing the supply alcohol in this town.”

Posted 2h ago2 hours agoTue 24 Jan 2023 at 12:38am, updated 4m ago4 minutes agoTue 24 Jan 2023 at 3:32am