Anthony Albanese should visit town in ‘crisis’ as Alice Springs mayor says he won’t give up hope

The Opposition Leader has demanded Anthony Albanese show some leadership on Alice Springs as the town begins a snap two-week curfew.

Peter Dutton has lashed the Anthony Albanese over his “weak” leadership on Alice Springs, demanding he make his way to the town immediately.

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler on Wednesday declared an “emergency situation” after a spate of violent incidents that reportedly included up to 200 residents. She announced a snap two-week curfew as an attempt to stop under 18s gathering in the town’s CBD between 6pm and 6am.

An additional 58 police officers will be deployed to combat crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Alice Springs mayor has vowed not to give up hope on the town, while the local federal MP suggested it was time to convene national cabinet to deal with the issue.

The Opposition Leader said he didn’t understand why the Prime Minister didn’t “turn his attention to Alice Springs”.

“He’s on every FM radio station, he’s got time to go to Taylor Swift and time to be the celebrity and time to go to the tennis, but he’s only spent four hours on the ground in Alice Springs, probably to refuel the plane on his way overseas somewhere,” Mr Dutton told 2GB on Thursday.

“I think it’s a crisis that needs to be urgently addressed.”

Alice Springs locals are calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit the town immediately. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Local councillor and Yipirinya school principal Gavin Morris had earlier said Mr Albanese should make his way to the town quickly.

“This is a crisis in Alice Springs which requires his attendance, and I’m calling for that immediately,” he told Sky News.

“We are in the crisis now, and strong leaders do things with urgency and immediacy.

“I am sure the PM is aware of the issues in Alice Springs and it would be a great shot in the arm for the Aboriginal community and everyone in the town to see him on the ground so we can … come up with strategies.”

Speaking to reporters in Muswellbrook on Friday morning, Mr Albanese did not say when he would return to Alice Springs, arguing he’d been to Alice Springs, Katherine, Yular Darwin, and a “a range of communities” in the territory.

“I have visited the Northern Territory nine times,” he said, adding Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney visited last week.

But Mr Albanese described the curfew as a “sensible move”.

“All Australians will be the concerned by the scenes that we have seen,” Mr Albanese said.

Locals in Alice Springs rioted on Tuesday afternoon after a funeral ceremony of a teenager killed while travelling in stolen car. Picture: Supplied

The unrest caused damage to a local pub. Picture: Supplied

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson said the first night of the curfew had been “a lot quieter” following the “brave” and “welcomed” decision.

He said he would take whatever resources the federal government was willing to throw at Alice Springs as he vowed not to give up on the town.

“Alice Springs is a wonderful place, and with a bit of love and TLC we can turn it back around,” he said.

“I haven’t given up hope.

“It’s an amazing place and it’s absolutely worth fighting for.”

But he said the town needed “more resources”, and whether that was ADF or police in other jurisdictions, “we’ll certainly welcome them here”.

Marion Scrymgour, who represents Lingari, which takes in the outback town, had earlier suggested it was time for the national cabinet to be convened to tackle the issue.

“I don’t remember a time in my three years (in Alice Springs) where there hasn’t been, you know, volatility and unrest. We need to address that seriously,” she told ABC Radio.

“We can’t just keep doing the kneejerk response all the time.”

Ms Scrymgour said while the issue was widespread throughout the Northern Territory, incidents in Moree in NSW and Townsville in Queensland also needed to be addressed.

“Where you’ve got high populations of young Indigenous, and it’s not just only young Indigenous but a lot of young people … there are these youth issues,” she said.

“We’ve got to look at social media, the use of TikTok and social media, in the destructive nature in which they’re using that tool to get these images out.”

Marion Scrymgour (right) has called for a national cabinet to be convened. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Ms Scrymgour suggested that with the additional capacity the curfew could be imposed for longer should the unrest not settle down over the next two weeks.

But the Coalition’s Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price described it as a short-term Band-Aid solution.

“The government needs to actually seriously consider once and for all what the long-term looks like,” she said.

Senator Price repeated her demand on Thursday for Mr Albanese to send in the defence force and slammed him for being missing in action on the issue.

“This is a humanitarian crisis. If they were to have a presence, just to maintain order on the streets,” she said.

Ms Scrymgour did not agree and called on “all sides to stop playing politics” with the matter, and defended the Prime Minister’s presence in the region.

Jacinta Price has criticised the response of the Albanese government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“There has been a temporary curfew there in Alice Springs, that is a sensible move and one that the federal government supports.”

Karly Warner, the chair of the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal service, said the situation in places like Alice Springs and Moree would get worse if governments didn’t put more focus on Closing the Gap.

“Governments have a clear choice and it should be an easy one. They can opt for what they see as political fixes that make the problem worse, or they can go to the policies and solutions that are evidence-based and already well-established,” she said.

“Using ‘but, we have to do something!’ as an excuse for punitive measures against children is itself juvenile intellectual reasoning. Policies that result in children being locked up and make problems worse are not solutions – they are dangerous and will result in further tragedy for communities and children.”

Ms Fowler said the curfew was just “one measure” in dealing with the “complex issues” in Alice Springs.

“There has never been a silver bullet,” she said.

Ms Scrymgour also called for stricter accountability on Indigenous organisations funded by governments.

“I think there should be a look at what is going on, the performance in governance and accountability of these organisations that have been funded … I think an audit just stalls things but I think there can be a tweaking of regulations” she said.

Originally published as Anthony Albanese should visit town in ‘crisis’ as Alice Springs mayor says he won’t give up hope