‘Crime at any time, anywhere, is unacceptable’: Gunner clarifies govt position on youth crime in Alice Springs

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner is yet to commit to a community safety audit of Alice Springs but has restated the government’s commitment to passing ringleader legislation

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CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner is yet to commit to a community safety audit of Alice Springs but has restated the government’s commitment to passing ringleader legislation.

Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan has called on the government to appoint a “pre-eminent Territorian” to audit community safety in Alice Springs.

Mr Gunner, speaking for the first time since A Current Affair ran a special report on Alice Springs crime on Monday night, said “there is no presumption of bail” in the NT and there were currently 30 youths on remand in the NT.

“In the next fortnight, we plan to introduce Ringleaders legislation in the parliament which targets adults, and young adults, who encourage youth to commit crime,” he said.

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Mr Gunner also said his government wasn’t afraid of stepping in to improve the effectiveness of the court system.

“While we respect the independence of the courts, we are also constantly monitoring their effectiveness and will make legislative changes where we feel it is necessary in order to break the cycle of crime,” Mr Gunner said.

“The draft Aboriginal Justice Agreement includes a recommendation to review the Bail Act, as well as other legislation and this is something we are working on.”

Mr Ryan wants Mr Gunner to commission a formal community safety report similar to the Alcohol Policies and Legislation Review in 2017.

“The government needs to look after our community safety. They are abandoning their responsibility to our community,” Mr Ryan said.

Araluen MLA Robyn Lambley, however, said she wasn’t keen on “more bureaucracy”.

“More reports, more bureaucracy, more time wasted,” Ms Lambley said.

She said she wanted to see the Chief Minister in Alice Springs more, and that he should bring together a broad cross-section of the community to troubleshoot the youth crime crisis.

Mr Gunner said his government’s view on crime in Alice Springs was “straightforward”.

“Crime at any time, anywhere, is unacceptable and there is no excuse for it,” he said.

“Even one crime is a crime too many. So, while crime in Alice Springs may have trended down for a number of years leading into 2020, it remains well above levels I or the community accept.

“Areas that concern me in the past 18 months, include the rising incidence of assaults and domestic violence — I think this is a great concern to all of us. The reasons for this are complex and varied.”

Mr Gunner acknowledged that stimulus money related to COVID-19 had contributed to alcohol abuse in the NT over the past year.

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He explained that this has both directly and indirectly influenced youth crime by creating problems for families.

Mr Gunner spruiked his government’s existing initiatives for tackling youth crime, such as Strike Force Viper, which has lodged over 400 prosecution files and made more than 160 arrests since it was established in October last year.

Mr Gunner said that 12 police recruits from the Accelerated Recruitment Program recently commenced duty in Alice Springs.

He said a further 29 graduate constables will hit the beat in coming weeks.