Kate Worden hits out at Peter Dutton’s call for federal police in Alice Springs

Kate Worden has taken aim at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s visit to Alice Springs, labelling calls for federal police to be deployed as ‘disgraceful’.

Kate Worden has fiercely defended the NT government’s grip over Alice Springs, describing the federal opposition leader’s actions as a “dog act”.

The Police and Territory Families Minister hit out at the timing of Peter Dutton’s visit to the Central Australian town as well as his calls for federal police to deal with crime and social issues.

Ms Worden labelled the opposition leader’s comments as “opportunistic political game playing”.

“(He’s) using the most vulnerable people here in the heart of our nation in Central Australia as a pawn in that game,” she said.

“A political agenda, which we know and we can call out as the start of the No campaign for The Voice.

“He’s had no interest in Alice Springs for 10 years.

Police and Territory Families Minister Kate Worden has hit out at federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's comments in Alice Springs. Picture: Annabel Bowles

“It’s quite frankly a dog act.

“It’s disgraceful and he needs to be called out for that and be held to account.”

Ms Worden said Mr Dutton’s claims of children being put back into the hands of an abuser were “baseless”.

“He’s got no evidence, he’s not proving anything,” she said.

“Here in the Northern Territory, I will remind Mr Dutton that we have mandatory reporting for child abuse.

“He hasn’t sought one meeting with myself … he’s got no statistics, he hasn’t met with the agency.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was in Alice Springs on Wednesday and Thursday, where he made calls for the federal police to be deployed in the town.

Ms Worden also denied Australian Federal Police were needed in Alice Springs, despite the town’s mayor Matt Paterson joining Mr Dutton on those calls.

She said a higher police presence in the town was being maintained, resulting in “hundreds” of less call-outs on a weekly basis.

“AFP do not do the day-to-day policing that our officers do,” she said.

“Our police in Alice Springs, with confidence, can tell us they are able to do their job and we’re seeing that every day.”

However, Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson said while there had been a lull in crime after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s visit in January and the snap alcohol restrictions that followed, it was back to what residents described as “normal”.

“I’m at a loss for words on what we’re going through again at the moment,” Mr Paterson said.

“We’re seeing stolen cars, ram raids, break and enters.

“We’ve seen cars driving erratically … with kids in the back, kids hanging out windows.

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson mayor has renewed his calls for additional police in his hometown. Picture: Mark Brake

“I called for more police in January and I still echo those calls.

“Whatever resource it is, whether its federal police or Territory police, we need assistance.”

Mr Dutton, who was in Alice Springs on Wednesday and Thursday, made similar calls to address what he has described as the Northern Territory’s law-and-order crisis.

Mr Dutton, visiting with Senator Jacinta Price, said the issues in Alice Springs were beyond the capacity of the Northern Territory government and required federal resources.

“The Australian Federal Police should be supplementing the support they can offer to the local police,” he said.

“There needs to be a greater presence on the ground.”

Mr Dutton met Alice Springs bakery owner Darren Clark, whose Action for Alice Facebook page has been highlighting the town’s crime issues since 2020.

Action for Alice 2020 Facebook page founder Darren Clark posted five videos of youths driving dangerously through the streets of Alice Springs in stolen cars last weekend.

Last weekend, Mr Clark posted five videos of youths driving dangerously through the streets of Alice Springs in stolen cars.

“Kids and adults need to understand that there is a consequence for their actions,” Mr Dutton said.

“If you’re told that you can do that without any punishment or next-to-no punishment, why wouldn’t you and your mates be out doing it the next night? Why wouldn’t they be on TikTok showing the video.”

Mr Dutton last visited Alice Springs in October when he called for a royal commission into the sexual abuse of Indigenous children.

He said the issues in the town had not improved in the past six months.

“If there was a young boy or girl who had been sexually assaulted in Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane or Canberra, and the police were putting that little white boy or girl back into the hands of the abuser, it would be the front page of every newspaper until the commissioner of that state or territory said that it was not going to happen, yet here, somehow, it’s accepted as normal practice,” he said.

“How can those little children continue to be abused, how in our county can we allow that to be commonplace. It’s unacceptable.”

Regional Development, Local Government and Territories Minister and Eden-Monaro MP Kristy McBain accused Mr Dutton of playing politics with the issues of Alice Springs.

“Issues in Alice Springs aren’t something that have just come up in the last 12 months,” Ms McBain said.

“There have been longstanding issues for decades now and if the Leader of the Opposition was so concerned, where was he during the 10 years he was a cabinet minister of the former government, pressing some of these issues he’s now pressing?”

Originally published as Kate Worden hits out at Peter Dutton’s call for federal police in Alice Springs