‘You can divide it down a line of race’: Alice Springs councillor says NT government not ‘visible’ in town camps amid street violence

The principal of Central Australia’s largest Indigenous school has criticised the NT government for only responding to violence in the red centre when it’s ‘visible’.

An Alice Springs town councillor who is also the principal of the largest Indigenous school in Central Australia has taken aim at the one-sided response from the Territory government amid violence in the CBD.

On Thursday, NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler visited Alice Springs which saw widespread violence erupt throughout the streets on Tuesday afternoon, with multiple shop fronts smashed and people fleeing to safety.

Principal of Yipirinya School, Gavin Morris accused the NT government of only responding to issues in the red centre when they spilt onto the streets of Alice Springs, and said the government accepted the status quo in the 17 town camps.

Yipirinya School principal and Alice Springs councillor Gavin Morris expresses his concerns about a violent riot that happened in the town. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“What we saw on Tuesday afternoon is a bit of white fragility, where for that moment of time, that violence which occurs always, everyday (in the town camps), washed into our non-Indigenous part of Alice Springs,” he said.

“We got to feel the absolute extraordinary trauma and violence that goes along with living with continual living instability.

“The stuff that we walk past, accept, know about, but do nothing about in our town camps, would look absolutely totally different if that was happening in a non-Indigenous setting.

“You can divide it down a line of race. We know what’s going on in the town camps and we allow it to happen.”

Mr Morris, whose school has 70 Indigenous staff, 30 non-Indigenous staff and the largest population of Indigenous students (350) in Central Australia, said staff and the families of his students were indirectly associated with the violence that took place.

Locals in Alice Springs riot on Tuesday afternoon following the ceremony of a teenager killed while travelling in stolen car. Picture: Supplied

He said he received “multiple” calls from staff and family members of students who were caught up in the violence and were “fearing for their lives” trying to escape the situation.

On Wednesday, he met with the Chief Minister which he said was “fantastic”, but criticised her response as only taking action when the violence was “visible”.

“Let’s be clear, she’s here in response to what’s happened through the impact on the non-Indigenous sector of the community,” he said.

“Because, if she was here for what was going on in the town camps, which we know is going on every single day, she’d be here every single day.”

Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler and Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy at the press conference in Alice Springs. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Following the violence on Tuesday, Ms Lawler declared a state of emergency for two weeks and implemented a youth curfew which restricts children under 18 from entering the CBD between the 6am and 6pm.

Almost 60 additional police officers and police auxiliary liquor inspectors were also deployed to the town. In response to Mr Morris, Ms Lawler said she was currently implementing long-term plans which included $50 million investment to build houses in 11 town camps, and that the government was working on a “comprehensive” plan to lower crime across the NT.

“While there is currently an extra focus on Alice Springs, it is important for Territorians to know that I am working on a comprehensive and common sense plan to lower crime across the Territory,” she said.

“Our Police respond to crime and violence in town camps as they do across Alice Springs.”

Originally published as ‘You can divide it down a line of race’: Alice Springs councillor says NT government not ‘visible’ in town camps amid street violence