Chief Minister meets federal pollies in Alice while calling out ‘mistruths’
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has met federal politicians in Alice Springs again, as she defends her government’s actions in the embattled regional town.
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Federal and Territory ministers have again met in Alice Springs as the region prepares for alcohol bans to return.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she had met with Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Senator Malarndirri McCarthy in Alice Springs on Friday.
“I have also been able to meet with the Police Commissioner,” she said.
“We certainly are very focused around working together so that we can put in place both the short-term response to community needs, but also those long-term measures to overcome the issues that we’ve been (facing).”
NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker told this publication that locals had fled Alice Springs following the snap alcohol restrictions and boosted police presence.
“We have certainly been cognisant of the fact, because it’s a regular occurrence with enhanced police presence, that displacement occurs,” Mr Chalker said.
“We know that there’s been people who’ve headed north, all the way up through Katherine to Darwin as well.”
Ms Fyles said she acknowledged the NT’s “transient population”, pointing to Territory-wide measures on alcohol supply and locally-tailored conditions.
She ended the press conference shortly after being questioned about Alice Springs services being underfunded and left out of conversations around crime.
“We need to check the basis of these questions, we need to start calling out the mistruths,” she said to journalists.
“They have been engaged – I’m meeting with them while I’m here in Alice Springs.
“Money will go to where it is needed.
“We absolutely acknowledge the harm that alcohol causes, and it is not one measure that will stop that harm.
“We need to make sure we stop the supply to those people that cause harm and we acknowledge that people need rehabilitation and therapeutic support services, but they are absolutely a part of the conversation.”
Labor caucus meet in Alice planned ‘for months’
The Territory Labor caucus met in Alice Springs on Thursday ahead of the return of blanket alcohol bans.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, along with Kate Worden, Nicole Mansion, Lauren Moss, Mark Monaghan, Joel Bowden and Brent Potter arrived in Alice Springs on Thursday morning.
Other Top End members arrived earlier in the week.
However, the outcast Labor member and Blain MLA Mark Turner was not invited.
“Mark Turner is not part of the Northern Territory Labor caucus,” Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said.
Ms Fyles would not answer specific questions about what organisations the caucus would meet with.
“Caucus meets regularly around the Territory – this Alice Springs visit has been scheduled for months,” she said.
“Myself and my team will be meeting with a range of stakeholders.
“Alice Springs is important to all of us – some of us grew up here in Alice Springs.
“Some ministers have been here for a day or so already, others will stay during the weekend.
“I do understand Minister Burney may be in Central Australia and of course, if our diaries align we’ll catch up, but we had planned to be here for some time.”
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour and Senator Malarndirri McCarthy are also expected to hold a full day of briefings with Alice Springs service providers on Friday, as they work on delivering a $250m federal government funding package.
Unfortunately there has been a decline in services and investment in Central Australia over the last decade, so our government will invest $250 million in a plan for a better, safer future for Central Australia. 👇 pic.twitter.com/pESJYJ1neJ
— Linda Burney MP (@LindaBurneyMP) February 6, 2023
The Alice Springs visit comes after the Chief Minister promised to introduce legislation in the first parliament sittings of the year, reinstating grog bans six months after they were lifted.
“We will introduce the legislation and pass it on urgency next week,” she said.
“There is a process there but we’re working as efficiently as possible.
“Once the legislation has passed, there are processes that need to take place, but we’ll ask for those to be done as quickly as possible.
“But I would say we anticipate the legislation to be enacted by the end of next week.”
The Territory government’s backflip on alcohol bans comes from advice in a snap report by the new regional controller Dorelle Anderson, ordered by the Prime Minister last month.
Ms Anderson recommended Alice Springs’ town camps and nearby communities immediately return to alcohol-free areas, with a “clear path forward” for the communities to develop alcohol management plans if they wished.
At least 60 per cent of community members must vote in favour of bringing alcohol back into their homes, while the plans must also be approved by the director-general of licensing.
“We are trying to balance the rights of people and not have a race-based policy with the harm that is caused in our community,” Ms Fyles said.
“That’s what we’ve been doing since 2016 – putting in place measures that stop the supply of alcohol to people that cause harm, whilst acknowledging it is a legal product.”
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