Lia Finocchiaro: Kids use Alice Springs town ‘as a playground’
Ms Finocchiaro gives her review of a walk through town on Thursday night in an effort to experience first-hand what residents claim is a town in the midst of a crime crisis.
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KIDS wandering the streets of Alice Springs are “using the town as a playground”, according to NT Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro after a night of patrolling the CBD.
Ms Finocchiaro, along with Braitling MLA Joshua Burgoyne together drove and walked around the town on Thursday night in an effort to experience first-hand what residents claim is a town in the midst of a crime crisis.
“From what we saw, these kids are using the town as a playground,” Ms Finocchiaro said the day after her patrol.
“Police patrols keep them moving, but it’s a constant game of cat and mouse.”
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The pair observed the Tangentyere Night Patrol bus, which seats 13, pick up kids.
They recorded just one bus on Thursday night, but said there were three buses the night before, on Wednesday, with a reported 200 kids on the streets.
Ms Finocchiaro claimed she saw around 50 kids of all ages around town without parental supervision on Thursday night.
She said one group of about eight girls they spoke to included an 11-year-old.
“Girls all seemed pretty happy and said they were waiting for the bus to take them home,” she said.
Meanwhile a group of young boys aged 11, 12 and 13 told the pair they were looking for their parents.
Police presence was not lacking, she said, and reported seeing both police foot and driving patrols.
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