Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has urged further action to protect children in central Australian Indigenous communities following the reintroduction of alcohol bans.
The Northern Territory government will bring legislation next week to reinstate dry zones, which communities will be able to opt out of if they choose.
To do so, they will require 60 per cent of residents to support the decision and have an alcohol management plan.
The restrictions follow a report by Northern Territory Regional Controller Dorelle Anderson, which was prompted by a surge in alcohol-fuelled violence.
Dutton said he welcomed the alcohol bans, but more needed to be done to stop the violence in Indigenous communities.
“We’ve got children who we know are being sexually abused, and we’re putting them back into an environment where they’re not safe ... we can’t be putting anything above the interests of the child and the protection of those children,” he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
“We don’t want to take people away from their countries, we want them to have a connection to their country, but there are a lot of loving families in Alice Springs and in the community within the Northern Territory that could take care of those children.”
Dutton said he was willing to work with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on addressing issues in Indigenous communities.
The federal government earlier announced it would spend $250 million on community safety and services in Alice Springs.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said reinstituting alcohol bans was a positive step.
“My focus was on protecting women and children, and that is still my focus. And I know that it’s the focus of community organisations, whom I will be talking to at the end of this week in Alice Springs,” she told ABC Radio.
“There is a process that has been agreed to between the Northern Territory government and the federal government on how we go forward. But the idea that alcohol is the only issue that needs to be dealt with in the Northern Territory is just not real.”
NT senator Malarndirri McCarthy said the alcohol bans were a significant decision.
“In terms of alcohol itself, we know it is just a symptom of deeper issues around central Australia and, more broadly, across the country,” she told Nine’s Today program.
“At some point, there does need to be a longer-term conversation around alcohol and what those communities would like to see in the future. I know that is part of their plan. But right now, we need a circuit breaker.”
