Natasha Fyles warns federal intervention in Alice Springs won’t work without consultation
In a column for the Sunday Territorian, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles says ‘top down interventions made from Canberra’ won’t work in Alice Springs.
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The Chief Minister has warned any attempt by the federal government to intervene will “fail” if crime-reduction measures do not consult with remote Territorians.
In a column for the Sunday Territorian, Natasha Fyles said her government would formally legislate temporary alcohol restrictions in town camps and communities when parliament resumed this week.
It comes six months after Ms Fyles, as the Alcohol Minister, lifted a 15-year booze prohibition in more than 400 remote communities under the Associations and Liquor Amendment Bill.
Ms Fyles said unlike the Intervention-era bans, the new legislation had a clear process to allow the development of Community Alcohol Plan and opt-out of restrictions, pending approval from the Director of Licensing.
“Limiting the flow of alcohol therefore might not solve the problems on its own, but it will give us the breathing space and the time to put those solutions in place,” Ms Fyles said.
Ms Fyles pointed blame at “top down interventions made from Canberra” citing the failure of 15 years of the Intervention to address disadvantage in the Territory.
“It was doomed to fail because it disempowered the communities it was supposed to help,” she said.
“Anyone who tells you that the Intervention fixed all our problems is lying.”
Ms Fyles said the federal government “waited until the last minute to tell us they would be doing nothing” as Stronger Futures ended in 2022.
She said there were more than 240 community consolations over the 2022 changes, giving the choice to opt-in to a two-year extension to alcohol restrictions.
When booze bans lifted in July, only seven of 400 communities under Alcohol Protected Areas extended their restrictions.
“I will never apologise for giving Aboriginal communities the power to choose,” Ms Fyles said.
Her 2022 Liquor amendment was opposed by the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, AMSANT, NAAJA, Aboriginal Housing NT, NTCOSS, People's Alcohol Action Coalition and the police union, who all warned the changes would cause an increase in alcohol-related harm.
Read the Chief Minister’s full column, Page 18.
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