Prime Minister Set to Visit Alice Springs Following Surging Lawlessness

A view of the town of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory on October 13, 2013 Greg Wood/AFP via Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney, and the Northern Territory’s (NT) Chief Minister Natasha Fyles are set to visit Alice Springs amidst accelerating rates of crime, violence, and lawlessness, which have been labelled as a crisis by the town’s authorities.

Federal Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten told Sky News on Jan. 24 that the situation in Alice Springs warrants immediate attention from the federal and territorial governments and no heavy-handed response.

“There are real problems there, and I think it’s going to take partnership with the Northern Territory and the Federal Government to help—and the community, listening to the community to help fix it. But no one underestimates the problem,” he said.

Former Opposition Leader Bill Shorten during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Mar. 17, 2021. Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Current crime statistics for Alice Springs have jumped, with assaults and domestic violence rates jumping by 38.01 percent and 47.22 percent, respectively.

Home and commercial property break-ins have risen 25.75 percent and 55.97 percent, respectively. Motor vehicle theft has also risen 39.88 percent.

Shorten said he believed that the solution to the crisis would need to come from the residents of Alice Springs.

“I’ve got no doubt that the people on the ground do have views about what resolves the violence. Resolving the violence won’t just be a sort of uniform police issue. It'll be tackling the root causes of what’s causing the heartache and the distress,” Shorten said.

“And that is happening in the Alice. So, the local community with state and territory governments and ourselves will, I think, come up with the answers. But it is a crisis. There’s no question there are real problems there.”

Northern Territory’s Removal of Alcohol Bans Under Scrutiny

As the crisis continues, concerns have risen that the removal of long-term alcohol bans by the government has contributed to the growing situation.

The bans were first implemented in 2007 during the federal government’s Northern Territory’s Emergency Response, also known as the NT Intervention, under Prime Minister John Howard. They were then continued in 2012 under Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Stronger Future legislation (pdf), which expired in July 2022.

At the time of the removal, the federal government said that it supports the right of Indigenous people in the NT to determine their futures and “live strong, independent lives, where communities, families and children are safe and healthy.”

When asked if the federal government would be looking to reinstate the alcohol bans in the NT, Shorten said that it was the NT government’s given view that they don’t think there should be those bans.

“I'll wait to see what the people on the ground say to our federal representatives when they’re there. I think that the issues will be more than just alcohol, though,” Shorten said.

“The last thing people in Alice Springs need is a politician sitting in the comfort of a Sky studio in Canberra telling them this is what you need to do. The solutions are going to come from the community. I’m not going to start outlining a five-point plan myself from Canberra, but I do think that it'll be more than just alcohol in the community.

The Northern Territory Police Commissioner James Chalker told ABC Radio on Jan. 24 said he believed alcohol was part of the problem.

“It is certainly our view that that’s part of the problem at the moment,” Chalker said.

The commissioner noted that the police in Alice Springs were seeing 300 people split across two bars drinking from mid-morning then leaving with more alcohol when take-away sales open at 2 p.m.

“That causes part of the problem and certainly lifts community apprehension when they see so many people already on the way to intoxication,” he said.

The commissioner noted that, at present, the police in Alice Springs had filled the jail, but they were still seeing the social problems continuing to present. He warned that authorities could not arrest their way out of this problem.

Chalker noted that this was compounded by the fallout from failed social policies, including welfare dependence, adding to the problem.

“There’s a lot of services that just simply are not available on the ground in these remote communities,” he said.

“You add alcohol consumption into the mix and family tensions, and then we’re dealing with the fallout of that too.

Opposition Calls For Intervention

The visit comes after calls for the federal government to intervene in the growing crisis, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton calling for a Royal Commission into the situation.

“I’ve called for a Royal Commission in relation to the disaster, the tragedy, that’s unfolding in Alice Springs,” Dutton said in a press conference on Jan. 18. “I asked this of the prime minister when we were in Parliament before Christmas.”

“There will be vigilante action in Alice Springs because people are completely at the end of their tether,” Dutton said.

Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton addresses the media in front of the Subiaco War Memorial in Perth, Australia, on April 19, 2021. AAP Image/Richard Wainwright

Speaking to Channel Nine on Jan. 24, Dutton said that if there was a similar situation happening in other parts of the country, there would be outrage.

“There are reports of kids running around with machetes, children not wanting to go back home because they feel it’s unsafe to stay there so they’re out committing crimes,” he told Nine’s Today program.

“It’s a law and order and crime problem, and we want those kids to grow up in a safe environment—and the prime minister has the resources, has the ability, and should show the leadership to deal with this issue.”