Peter Dutton clashes with reporter after grim Alice Springs warning

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has unleashed on a reporter after offering a grim warning on the ongoing issues plaguing Alice Springs.

Warning: Disturbing content

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has warned “somebody is going to get killed” in Alice Springs and unleashed on an ABC reporter during a shocking account of the violence and sexual abuse in the town.

Urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “step up and step in”, the Liberal leader has warned it was time for action to protect children from endemic sexual abuse by restoring law and order.

“You’ve got kids here tonight, who are going to be sexually abused or families where domestic violence has now become a current occurrence and we are told nothing can be done about it,’’ he said.

“I just find it completely and utterly deplorable.”

Speaking in Alice Springs, CLP Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price delivered a shocking account of sexual abuse in the Northern Territory.

She said surgeons were being left to operate on children who were raped.

“They’re experiencing seeing the damage that’s been done to those children,’’ she said.

She claimed she had heard from surgeons who had spoken about operating on “babies” after being sexually abused.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks to media in Alice Springs, with Action for Alice founder Darren Clarke and Senator Jacinta Price. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

“That’s what I am concerned with and I’m not concerned with ideology,” she said.

Mr Dutton is considering appointing Senator Price to the vacancy sparked by Liberal MP Julian Leeser’s resignation from the frontbench over the Voice.

Senator Price is one of the Indigenous leaders campaigning for the No vote. Mr Dutton said the time for action was now.

The Liberal leader said the community was at breaking point and there was a real risk that someone would die.

“The video of kids running rampant in, you know, the local CBD, somebody’s going to be killed here,’’ he said.

“And somebody was killed here in 2021. Somebody obviously has lost their life, tragically, equally tragic in Darwin. But we’re going to see further tragedy here.”

Dutton clashes with ABC reporter

Mr Dutton unleashed on one reporter after he asked about a local Indigenous group that questioned whether or not sex abuse was rampant.

“I mean with respect, that is such an ABC question. Do you live locally?,’’ Mr Dutton said.

“I mean, do you speak to people on the street? Do you hear what it is they’re saying to you?”

The reporter said he did live locally, with Mr Dutton responding: “You live locally and you don’t believe there’s any problem here?”.

ABC then ended the press conference.

“OK, we’ve got to leave that there because we’re going to our break,’’ the ABC host told viewers.

Mr Dutton unleashed on an ABC reporter during the press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Earlier, Mr Dutton said people were barricading themselves in their homes at night.

“You can’t have a situation where people have fear and a lot of people have spoken to us about this sort of self imposed curfew where they get home and lock themselves in their homes,’’ he said.

“And that is a terrible situation and it wouldn’t be tolerated in any other part of the country. Certainly not in any capital city.

“We’re speaking to a business owner this morning who gave the unbelievable account of the fact that in his block in the building where his businesses were in January of this year, they were broken into on 18 separate occasions.

“I mean, think about that, where in Brisbane or Sydney or Hobart or Perth would that be tolerated? There would be public outrage and somehow we’re treating Territorians as second class citizens. Under this government, it has to stop. You need to restore law and order, that’s the first thing.”

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson has told Sky News that the violence was back.

“On the weekend we’ve seen cars again driving erratically, stolen vehicles with kids in the back, kids hanging out windows,” he said.

“Police again told people to avoid our CBD early in the morning because they couldn’t control the kids.

“The old timer’s village got broken into twice in two days. It’s just the same old stuff. These kids are stealing cars and then ram-raiding other cars on the road.”

Mr Paterson echoed Mr Dutton’s call yesterday for AFP assistance in the region.

“I put out the call for the AFP in January … we need more boots on the ground here,” he said.

“There was a police operation in November where there was a visual presence of police and there was an automatic feeling of safety, of perception of safety.”

Mr Paterson also pointed out the “irony” that territory votes do not count to the second hurdle of a referendum – that at least four of six states must vote in favour as well as a majority of the whole country’s population.

“The irony for me around the voice … is we are a territory. So effectively we get one vote in a referendum where states get two votes. To me, we still only half count in a referendum.”

Originally published as Peter Dutton clashes with reporter after grim Alice Springs warning