Anthony Albanese is being urged to take immediate action to address a rise in alcohol-fuelled crime and violence in the Northern Territory.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called on the prime minister to re-instate alcohol bans in remote Indigenous communities.
The Central Desert Regional Council, which covers a region of more than 280,000 square kilometres north of Alice Springs, has reported an uptick in antisocial behaviour and domestic violence since the controversial intervention-era Stronger Futures legislation expired last year.
NT attorney general Chansey Paech has acknowledged the Alice Springs community is “hurting” from the rise in crime and antisocial behaviour.
“There’s no single solution to crime and antisocial behaviour,” he wrote on Twitter.
He said the territory government was tackling the problem in several ways, including risk-based alcohol licensing, safer street design, events and activities to recapture the CBD and reforming the justice system.
Mr Dutton said Northern Territory police, emergency services and other key providers were struggling to control the uptick in alcohol-related incidents since the bans lifted.
“The fact is that you do need to have these laws in place, that’s the advice from the women and the grandparents I’ve met with on the ground,” he told Sky News.
“And you have to have that law in order so that kids can go to school, so that they can have a safe environment to grow up in.”
He said the opposition would support emergency measures aimed at curbing violence and crime in the region, including Australian Federal Police support or additional funding for family services workers.
NT senator and former deputy mayor of Alice Springs, Jacinta Price, said Alice Springs had been described as a “war zone” and young children were learning antisocial behaviour from older children.
Senator Price said easier access to alcohol was exacerbating the problem.
“People are leaving their children in Alice Springs and are more concerned with consuming alcohol than parenting children,” she said.
– AAP
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