PM to see Alice’s youth crime crisis for himself – he should visit Qld on his way there
The prime minister will visit Alice Springs in response to surging youth crime rates, which one of his senior ministers has branded a crisis.
Alena Tamina Joy Kukla (AK) was killed at 16-Mile Camp, near Alice Springs, in July of 2022. Her killer, who had been freed by a court three months earlier, also murdered her 14-week-old baby and then ended his own life.
Anthony Albanese will tour the red centre with Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney on Tuesday.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles will also attend to discuss the violence and anti-social activity with locals.
Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten said the crisis demanded immediate attention but resolving the issue could not just be a police issue.
“It will be tackling the root causes of what’s causing the heartache and the distress,” he told Sky News.
“It is a crisis. There’s no question there are real problems there.”
He said the people of Alice Springs didn’t want another heavy-handed response from Canberra.
Ms Fyles also cautioned against any returns to Howard-era interventions like alcohol bans and welfare controls.
Northern Territory police commissioner Jamie Chalker said he would welcome any federal support, including more police, but strongly rejected the deployment of the defence force with the purpose of imposing martial law.
“My people are continuing to surge to the line, but where is everybody else?” he told ABC radio.
Mr Chalker said alcohol was part of the problem, but he stopped short of calling for a reinstatement of mandatory dry areas.
He said nearly 300 people split across two bars were drinking from mid-morning then leaving with more alcohol when take-away sales opened at 2pm.
“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.
Mr Chalker said the fallout from failed social policies, including welfare dependence, was adding to the problem.
“We cannot arrest our way out of this,” he said.
“There’s a lot of services that just simply are not available on the ground in these remote communities.
“You add alcohol consumption into the mix and family tensions, and then we’re dealing with the fallout of that too.”
But he said it wasn’t just the territory experiencing these problems.
“Townsville is suffering significant social order issues. The Kimberley is going through these challenges as well.
“There is something acutely underlying here.”
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley also stopped short of calling for the reinstatement of mandatory alcohol bans but said the government needed to do better.
“There are complex issues, they’re not easily solved and there needs to be some tough love,” she said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton branded it “the biggest issue in our country today”.
“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 said.
“It’s a law and order and crime problem.”
