NT Police Minister Kate Worden visits Alice Springs amid crime crisis
Police Minister Kate Worden has targeted alcohol as the root cause of crime and anti-social behaviour in Alice Springs.
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Police Minister Kate Worden has called on liquor retailers to come together to stamp out the “black market” secondary supply of alcohol seen as a root cause of crime in Alice Springs.
Ms Worden met with Central Australian liquor retailers interested in stemming the flow of crime, as part of a two-day visit to the Red Centre.
It comes as the Alice Springs crime wave continues, with businesses broken into, people being attacked and vehicles stolen.
Despite an increased police presence in recent months as part of Operation Drina, which has resulted in 300 arrests, anti-social behaviour is still prevalent.
The secondary supply of alcohol is one of the root causes in Central Australia with retailers and the government working on ways to reduce the illegal trade.
Major retailers Woolworths and Coles have already taken action in combating liquor abuse by removing one litre bottles from shelves.
A spokesman for Woolworths’ bottle shop arm, Endeavour Group, said the company was “committed to working with all parties to address this issue and will continue to engage through the Alice Springs liquor accord”.
“We talked to them about the issues of secondary supply and retailers are meeting to address that issue,” Ms Worden said.
“It’s a clear message also that if anyone in Alice Springs or beyond knows of someone supplying alcohol to vulnerable people to come forward and give that intelligence to the police.
“There is clearly a black market going on in Alice Springs, and if anyone knows about that please let us know, let our police or your local member know.
“But at the moment we’re allowing industry to think about ways that it can help us get a change.”
Ms Worden’s visit also comes on the back of Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson calling on the federal government to send urgent help in the form of the Australian Defence Force and Australian Federal Police.
However, the federal government has since knocked back calls to send the ADF to the crime besieged town.
And the Police Minister also confirmed there was no appetite from the NT government to turn Alice Springs into a “police state”, even for a short time.
Instead Operation Drina, which has been extended until the end of January, will be reviewed at the end of the month to see if it will continue further.
“There is no support for (the ADF coming in) within the Northern Territory government, and there does seem to be very little support for that among our federal members,” Ms Worden said.
“We’re not creating a police state here in Alice Springs, our police have done a fabulous job with 300 arrests in seven weeks and our prisons are full.
“We need to deal with the root cause of the problem, if we can reduce the amount of alcohol here in Alice Springs we know that will have a significant impact.
“We already know on Sunday when outlets are reduced to only two, police work related to alcohol related harm halves, so if you stem the flow of alcohol you can really attack these problems.
“We need to invest in the root causes and invest in housing, access to services and access to real, meaningful jobs and skills which is why we’re focused on sustainable opportunities in the bush.”
Acting Commander Mark Grieve said police would continue to target those who sought to profit from the illegal supply of alcohol.
“Their activities contribute to these behaviours,” he said.
“This is not acceptable and we will come after you and hold you to account.
“Alcohol related harm continues to impact community safety in Alice Springs, not limited to domestic violence, road user serious injury and anti-social behaviour.”
Ms Worden also met with the Social Order Response Team as well as liquor retailers and religious leaders all intent on limiting the prevalence of crime.
The group includes representatives from Alice Springs Town Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Central Australia, NT Police and Ms Worden’s Territory Families department.
Meanwhile, churches and religious leaders have also stated their enthusiasm in getting involved in community patrols.
“There’s an influx of people who come for Christmas, and what we also saw this year which was unusual was the flooding and weather event which saw 11 communities cut off,” she said.
“We had this huge influx of people who are living rough, so there’s a lot of work for police and we stood up Operation Drina in November in response to that.
“And in response to the fact that the community has had enough, there was a large spike in crime and anti-social behaviour, so we’ve been working through that.”
NT government lands in Alice amid calls for emergency crime action
Police Minister Kate Worden has travelled to Alice Springs following calls for federal police or even the military to intervene on crime.
Ms Worden landed in the Central Australian town on Thursday, where she will meet with members of the Social Order Response Team (SORT).
The group includes representatives from Alice Springs Town Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Central Australia, NT Police and Ms Worden’s Territory Families department.
She will also meet with Central Australian liquor retailers and religious leaders.
“Minister Worden regularly visits Alice Springs to discuss issues relating to her portfolio responsibilities,” a spokesman said.
“The government is hearing the concerns of Alice Springs residents and businesses, and acting on the issues of anti-social behaviour and crime.
“During this visit she will again meet with members of the Social Order Response Team (SORT), which includes police, business and community leaders, and Alice Springs Town Council.
“Responding to the issues in Alice Springs requires a co-ordinated cross-community response.”
Ms Worden’s visit comes on the back of mayor Matt Paterson’s pleas to the federal government for urgent help.
The Alice Springs mayor said an emergency deployment of 40 extra NT police from mid-November was failing to cope with daily incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour.
“If there’s a jurisdiction with extra resources, we need them in Alice,” he said.
“People are genuinely fearful to go to sleep at night – we can’t continue to live like this.
“People are leaving in droves.”
Mr Paterson also met with federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney on Thursday.
Alice Springs councillor Michael Liddle, NT Attorney-General Chansey Paech and Araluen MLA Robyn Lambley have also made public pleas for urgent action, from both Territory and federal governments.
The Country Liberal Party has launched a petition ‘Save Alice’ and has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“There is precedent to send in federal resources during times of crisis, such as flood, fire, cyclone, or Covid,” Namatjira MLA Bill Yan and Bratling MLA Josh Burgoyne co-wrote to the PM.
“We ask that you immediately allocate Australian Federal Police resources to save Alice Springs.”
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