Urgent Alice Springs’ talks between PM and Chief Minister to be held in Canberra
Further federal action on Alice Springs is expected to be revealed this week as the Chief Minister heads to Canberra for urgent meetings with the PM.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Further action to address dire social and crime issues in Alice Springs is expected to be revealed in the coming days.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles along with Attorney-General Chansey Paech travelled to Canberra on Wednesday for national cabinet meetings later in the week.
But first they will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss a snap report by the newly-appointed regional controller, Dorelle Anderson.
“I’m meeting the Prime Minister tomorrow and I’ll continue to update the community around this issue,” Ms Fyles said.
“But this is an issue that we’re not going to click our fingers and it will be solved.
“We need to have long-term measures that allow us to have a safer community.
“I’ve been communicating regularly as I’ve said, we will get that report to the commonwealth – the actions that have been taken, and there’s a number of them, (and) the proposals going forward.”
Ms Fyles said the report would be made public but would not say when.
“It will be made public but not in the next couple of days,” she said.
“People would appreciate that we are not taking a knee-jerk reaction that we’re working through this thoroughly with the Commonwealth government.”
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the report would reflect the “statistics and harm being done” from alcohol in the Central Australian town.
“We expect the report to reflect what is going on in the community and some recommendations about a way forward,” she told Sky News.
Ms Burney suggested nothing would be off the table as the commonwealth considered the report’s recommendations.
It comes as Alice Springs’ bottle shops reopen after a two-day closure, in snap restrictions that will last three months.
The mayors of Darwin and Katherine have since called for similar restrictions to be rolled out across the Top End, acknowledging the Territory’s problems with alcohol are not confined to Alice Springs.
Ms Fyles would not say whether her government would heed their calls.
“There are a number of policies that are Territory-wide,” Ms Fyles said.
“There’s some that are specific to areas.
“We do need to be agile … we’ll respond to anything that is required to be achieved.”
Holding ballots in remote communities on alcohol access is one solution Ms Fyles has proposed, after she suggested only 18 of the Territory’s 400-odd communities had opted in to grog restrictions in the six months following Stronger Futures’ blanket bans.
“One option going forward would be to have a ballot so that everyone can have confidence in whatever the decision is,” she said.
“There can’t be the accusation ‘if you don’t like the decision that we didn’t talk to the right people’.”
Ms Fyles also promised frontline funding would not be reduced when questioned about a photo of Police Minister Kate Worden reviewing proposed cuts of $16m in one year.
“I can guarantee we will not be cutting frontline services in the Northern Territory,” she said.
“We’ve seen the police budget grow by over 30 per cent since we came to government.
“There’s 200 more constables on the beat than when we came to government.
“In terms of health, we have absolutely provided additional resources.”
The where, why and how behind the NT’s road crashes
With the NT road toll up a devastating 288 per cent, new research into a decade of crashes has revealed the most dangerous black spots, and the biggest mistakes drivers are making.
NOMINATE NOW: Top health workers supporting NT students
The countdown is on as nominations for the NT’s best health student supervisor draw to a close on Friday.