‘There is a law and order crisis in Australia’: Dutton’s Palmerston promise signals broader crime focus

The Opposition Leader has signalled a new focus for the Coalition’s election strategy, saying ‘a crime crisis’ was being felt across the nation.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton meets with Palmerston Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell. The coalition has committed $368,000 from a revitalised Safer Communities Fund to fast-track public lighting upgrades in Palmerston, saying every Australian deserved to feel safe. Picture: Fia Walsh.

Peter Dutton has said not enough is being done to ensure “all Australians feel safe” as he visited one of the Northern Territory’s crime hot spots, signalling an increased focus on law and order in the Coalition’s national election strategy.

The Opposition Leader met with Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell in Palmerston on Sunday, promising $368,000 for safety lighting upgrades.

Crime and community safety concerns delivered the NT Country Liberal Party a decisive win at the Territory election in August last year, and a similar trend played out in Queensland soon after to secure the state’s Liberal National Party victory.

Mr Dutton’s speech to more than 250 business leaders and party faithfull in Darwin this weekend indicated it was a platform he would take to the federal stage.

“There is a law and order crisis in Australia. People have experienced that in the Northern Territory and Queensland,” he said.

“The Prime Minister has demonstrated a complete lack of Judgement and willingness to stand up for Australians and to stamp out the lawlessness we have seen across our country over his term in the top job.

“We will address the crime crisis that the Labor government has created.

“In Victoria the bail laws have watered down – kids are coming back out of the watch house before police have completed their paperwork.

“In Sydney and Melbourne in particular, members of the Jewish community are living in fear. Armed guards are having to protect children in childcare centres. People are having their homes and places of worship defaced and attacked.”

“Our determination is to make sure Australians can live safely in their own homes and in their communities.

“We intend to turn that around, we intend to make it safe.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said there was ‘a law and order crisis in Australia’. Picture: Fia Walsh.

The Coalition has committed “in principle” to the NT government’s seven point plan to reduce crime in Alice Springs, including performance audits for federally funded programs, changes to welfare and royalty payments, and income management for parents of youth offenders.

Asked about his plan to tackle crime in the Territory outside of Central Australia, Mr Dutton said he would support the NT government’s approach.

“It’s really an obvious partnership because we have a similar perspective on how to resolve problems,” he said.

Mr Dutton said the Coalition’s plan for the NT listened to Territorians, not “the elites in Sydney and Melbourne” – downplaying criticism from some local Aboriginal and community organisations who say many grassroots solutions are overlooked or underfunded.

“If you look at the Closing The Gap indicators, that has not got us to a position in 2025 that we can be proud of,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Dutton said he prioritised “efficient” spending that delivered good health, education, housing and job outcomes, and confirmed that an audit of spending on Indigenous programs would almost certainly result in funding cuts.

“If there’s waste, that waste will be cut, but where we see excellence, we want to reward the excellence.

“When Australians have had to trim back every dollar of expenditure and discretionary spend and waste in their own budgets, I think they expect the same of the Australian government.”