NT school principal fears for students and families after violence erupts in Alice Springs

A principal of the largest Aboriginal school in Alice Springs sent staff to help families fearing for their lives as violence erupted on the streets.

The streets of Alice Springs were almost abandoned on Wednesday night, as locals in the town under an emergency curfew said they feared for their lives in the latest outbreak of violence.

On Tuesday afternoon, about 100 people including multiple children under the age of 18 rioted on the streets, which is said to be in retaliation for a young Aboriginal man who died in a stolen car that crashed on March 8.

As the violence continued throughout the night, principal of Yipirinya School, Gavin Morris said he received multiple calls from family members of students, who were “fearing for their lives”.

Mr Morris said he sent staff from his school to help women and children who were trying to escape the chaos.

“I was getting calls from family members who were trying to flee from the violence into safety,” he said.

“Staff members who were born here called up and were going, ‘this is a war zone, come and get me, I need to get out’, so we had to send people in there to serve their purpose.

“What we saw yesterday (Tuesday) … it was actually anarchy and the entire town of Alice Springs was taken hostage.

Locals in the town under an emergency curfew said they feared for their lives. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Vacant streets in Alice Springs after the NT government implemented a 14-day curfew. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Police patrols at Alice springs after the curfew was announced. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“What we seen last night was the mob turning themselves off. There was certainly no outside influence to make them stop. It was just, the mob said, ‘that’s enough tonight, and we’ll start again when we see fit’.”

“That could be tonight, that could be first thing tomorrow morning. It could be later on in the weekend but the short of it is that, the mob has control of itself and no one else has it and we are at total hostage to what happens next.”

As the violence continued throughout the night, Mr Morris said he met with staff and established that families and students from Yipirinya School were indirectly connected to the car crash that claimed the life of the young man on March 8.

“By about 9pm last night, it was established that all 350 students are involved in some way or the other, with the families across the last two weeks,” he said

“Many of our students are linked and their families are linked with that incident.

“Certainly, we got through last night, we opened up the school today and it was an extraordinary feat for the entire staff too.”

Yipirinya School employs 70 Indigenous staff, many who are local traditional owners and 30 non-Indigenous staff who are all responsible for up to 350 Indigenous students.

Mr Morris said he held a formal meeting with staff on Wednesday and said that he hesitantly told them that he could not guarantee their safety.

“I met with the staff today (Wednesday) and I was very honest that I couldn’t guarantee that this was as safe a workplace as they should expect,” he said.

“We’re privileged to work on the front line and work with the families involved with all the chaos but, (he told staff) if you didn’t feel comfortable working there then they should come and see me.

“Closing the school down would’ve also meant that so many of these students would be back in the community with what we experienced last night.”

Following the incident on Tuesday, NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler has declared a state of emergency which involves a street curfew for youth, and said the children would be “taken home or taken to a safe place”.

“Enough is enough. I’ve heard loudly and clearly from the people of Alice Springs, we want Alice Springs to be a safe place, we want people to enjoy the amenities that they have enjoyed in the past in Alice Springs,” she said.

“The scenes (on Tuesday) in Alice Springs were horrific, un­acceptable … we never want to see anything like that again in the Northern Territory.

“I’m fed up with this level of crime and anti-social behaviour; the community has had enough and so have I.”

Almost 60 more police officers will be sent to Alice Springs to enforce the curfew and take kids into homes or government facilities if they are found on the street between 6pm and 6am.