Locals petition council to remove embattle Tennant Creek mayor
The Chief Minister said she understood frustration at crime and anti-social behaviour as a petition circulates to ouster a regional mayor. Read what she said.
Northern Territory
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Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has acknowledged the role community frustration played in an incident in Tennant Creek in August when mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin was videoed sitting on a child during a citizen’s arrest.
Ms Fyles said the vision, which emerged publicly Friday, was “confronting” but said the Territory community is frustrated about anti-social behaviour.
“I have seen that video and it’s confronting but I can understand people’s frustration,” Ms Fyles said.
“I’m frustrated when it comes to anti-social behaviour and community safety and we’re working as hard as we can across a range of areas, but I’ll allow police to undertake their investigation into that matter.
“It’s very confronting vision to watch but I can also feel the frustration of our community and as I said, police are investigating that matter and I’ll leave it to them.”
In a town of just over 3000 people, Tennant Creek reported 401 assaults in the year from August 1 2022 to July 31 2023 - more than 10 per cent of the permanent population and an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year.
There were 304 domestic violence assaults, an increase of 30 per cent and 278 alcohol-related assaults, up 41.12 per cent.
In the year to July there were 12 sexual assaults, 244 house break-ins up 62 per cent, 140 commercial break-ins, up 20.69 per cent and 581 incidents of property damage, up almost 70 per cent.
Meanwhile, residents of Tennant Creek are organising a petition to force Barkly Council to hold a vote of no confidence in the mayor when it meets at 10am on Tuesday.
It is not clear whether the mayor, who is on leave, will attend.
Alice Springs police are investigating the incident, rather than local police, to avoid a perceived conflict of interest.
No charges have been laid.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story wrongly reported the boy was understood to have had fetal alcohol syndrome disorder. That was incorrect. The NT News apologises to the boy and his family.
‘He’s got to go’: Tennant Creek rally against mayor
Tennant Creek residents have rallied together in calls for their mayor to resign following “shocking” footage of him sitting on a 12-year-old boy.
Up to 25 people gathered in the town’s Peko Park on Sunday with signs saying “enough is enough” and “black kids’ lives matter”.
It comes a day after footage emerged of Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin making a citizen’s arrest by sitting on the Aboriginal child, pinning the boy’s body to the ground while waiting for police to arrive.
Another man can be heard saying to the boy: “you’re lucky I don’t punch you right in the head … if I catch you round here again I will kill you” - comments Mr McLaughlin said he did not encourage nor support.
Mr McLaughlin on Saturday defended sitting on the boy, believed to have tried breaking into his house, saying the method used to “apprehend the youth was entirely reasonable in the circumstances”.
John Fitz, who was at the rally on Sunday, said the community was in shock.
“This sort of thing happens in America but not out here … it’s real shocking,” he said.
“But we knew it would happen to one of our kids one day because that’s the way things are going in Tennant Creek and in Darwin, Alice Springs.
“We don’t need that vigilante behaviour here or anywhere in our society, let’s sit down and talk it out.
“It’s starting to get out of hand.”
Mr Fitz said residents would be putting together a petition to present to council this week calling for Mr McLaughlin to resign.
“He’s not the person we want being the mayor of our town,” he said.
Another concerned local, who did not want to be named, said the child was “so traumatised” by the incident he did not tell his parents.
“It’s the last thing we want our kids to go through – we’ve got to deal with the real issue of why they’re doing what they’re doing and how we can turn that around,” they said.
Attorney-General Chansey Paech and Barkly MLA Steve Edgington have also called for the outback mayor to step aside while police investigate the matter.
However Mr McLaughlin has said his actions were “neither illegal nor inconsistent” with his position as mayor.
“On the 21st of August 2023, I made a citizen’s arrest of a youth attempting to break into my family home, as I am lawfully entitled to,” he told the NT News on Saturday.
“The force I used to apprehend the youth was entirely reasonable in the circumstances.
“While the spontaneous remarks and conduct of the other adult male in the footage can rightly be described as inappropriate, they are not mine and I did not encourage them.”
NT Police are investigating the incident and neither of the apprehenders have been charged with any crime.
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