‘Emergency situation’: Youth curfew declared in Alice Springs

The besieged Northern Territory Labor government has implemented a curfew in Alice Springs for anyone under 18 as the PM faces pressure to return after startling footage of a rioting mob emerges.

Locals in Alice Springs riot on Tuesday, throwing bricks and smashing windows at a pub.

Children under 18 in Alice Springs will be forced off the streets under an extraordinary curfew aimed at stopping the riots and violence that have plagued the red centre for months, as the besieged Northern Territory Labor government tries to stave off calls for a federal takeover.

After more than 100 people ­rioted in Alice Springs and cornered one of the town’s most popular pubs on Tuesday, which police say they did not have the resources to control, Chief Minister Eva Lawler will send 58 more officers to clear kids into homes or government facilities between 6pm and 6am.

Ms Lawler, who faces an election in August and previously blamed youth crime on Australia’s colonial history, said she was determined to get on top of the violence and anyone under the age of 18 found in the central business district would be “taken home or taken to a safe place”.

“Enough is enough. I’ve heard loudly and clearly from the people of Alice Springs, we want Alice Springs to be a safe place, we want people to enjoy the amenities that they have enjoyed in the past in Alice Springs,” she said.

“The scenes (on Tuesday) in Alice Springs were horrific, un­acceptable … we never want to see anything like that again in the Northern Territory. I’m fed up with this level of crime and anti-social behaviour; the community has had enough and so have I.”

Despite the announcement, many don’t believe it is enough, with business leaders, local, territory and federal leaders calling for federal government intervention.

The curfew came after the riot saw parts of Alice Springs in lockdown over what sources claimed was “payback” for the death of a young man who died after a stolen car overturned on March 8.

Hours later, police were called to a town camp where they say about 150 people were “armed in public and engaging in violent conduct”.

The NT government’s moves came minutes after Anthony ­Albanese came under attack in parliament over his handling of the Alice Springs crisis, with the Prime Minister forced to defend the millions of dollars the commonwealth has poured into community safety in the NT.

Alice Springs’ crime crisis has been escalating since the Stronger ­Futures legislation, which restricted alcohol in the town, was ­allowed to expire in 2022 and violence re-emerged in recent months despite Mr Albanese forcing a ­return to grog bans in January last year.

‘‘I have visited the NT, including Alice Springs, more than the three previous Liberal prime ministers combined, in two years,” Mr Albanese said on Wednesday.

“I visited a remote community to commit to $4bn to fix housing in remote communities.

“That’s something that was never done by those opposite, who, when they were in government, in the 2014 budget, ripped money out of it, just like, in their last budget in 2022, they left funding going off a cliff, including in Alice Springs, for community organisations – for organisations that looked after women’s safety; for organisations that looked after children.”

Locals in Alice Springs riot on Tuesday afternoon following ceremony of teenager killed while travelling in stolen car.

Country Liberals senator Jacinta Nampajimpa Price called on Mr Albanese to urgently return to Alice Springs amid one of the worst crime waves the town had seen.

A Warlpiri woman who was raised in Alice Springs, Senator Price told the Senate on Wednesday there was a “double standard” in Australia where the “lives of Indigenous Australians mean nothing to this government”. She called for a riot squad or the Australian Defence Force to be brought in to restore law and order.

“We have hit absolute crisis point where leaders from my community, our mayor, has called for the NT Labor government to be dissolved, and for the federal government to step in,” she said.

Senator Price’s calls came after a ceremony was held for the 18-year-old killed in the March 8 car crash. For weeks, locals in Alice Springs have been fearing a war would begin between families seeking payback against the driver of the vehicle.

Shortly afterwards, a violent mob emerged from the ceremony, crossed the Todd River and attacked local businesses and cars, with sources on the ground claiming it was “payback” for his death.

The Australian has been told the pack were seeking revenge on someone associated with stealing the vehicle. Payback, in Indigenous parlance, is a form of vendetta aimed at settling a grievance over a death, adultery or disagreement.

CCTV revealed by The Australian showed the group attempting to smash the windows of a popular pub, pelting bricks and throwing their bodies at glass doors as workers try to barricade themselves in on the other side.

Despite arriving on the scene within minutes, police were severely outnumbered and overwhelmed. The crowd quickly dispersed down towards the Todd Mall, but that wasn’t the end.

Inside the Todd Tavern on Tuesday. Picture: Action for Alice

Just hours later, the mob crossed the river, where another violent altercation occurred at Hidden Valley town camp, where police say about 150 people were “armed in public and engaging in violent conduct”.

NT Police Association president Nathan Finn said Wednesday’s announcement was a “Band-Aid approach” and “entrenched social issues” would not be fixed in 14 days. “This is the government being embarrassed into ­taking some action. We need full-time ­resources, not just Band-Aid solutions to fix the current ­social interactional problems,” he said.

Mr Finn said most of the time in Alice Springs there were “only two police units at any given time”, the problems faced were a resourcing issue and the entire territory was facing a “chronic lack of police resourcing and staff”.

“The government’s basically lost control of the policies and ­procedures they’ve currently got. We’ve got a cycle of people coming into custody, going out of custody on bail, committing further serious violent offences with no consequences for their ­actions.

“It’s just a chronic lack of police resourcing and staff NT-wide to keep up with the day-to-day demands of policing.”

Mr Finn said what happened on Tuesday was not “an unusual situation for Alice Springs or any of our communities. The problem is that this is occurring on a daily basis, and we haven’t got the resource to deal with it.”

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson told The Australian the town was in a state of “complete lawlessness” and called for the federal government to step in.

“I think we’ve shown we’re not mature enough to lead ourselves,” he said. “I’m not saying that the federal government needs to be in charge forever, but they just need to get us through the next little while, because clearly what we’re doing right now is not ­working.

“People just want to be safe, that is all. I don’t think that is too much of a request.

“Clearly the NT government aren’t listening, they don’t have enough resources and so the federal government needs to step in and just take control and make us safe again, quite frankly.”

He said the mob attack “goes to show that there’s absolutely no care for lawlessness in this town.”

“Yesterday was the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve spoken to people who’ve lived here much longer than I have, and … it’s the worst they’ve ever seen it,” he said.

Former NT Labor MLA turned independent Mark Turner also called for a federal intervention. “The escalating violence and public disorder in Alice Springs demand immediate federal inter­vention,” he said.

“Federal as­sistance is not just warranted; it is indispensable to restoring order and ensuring the security of our communities.”

The largest Aboriginal justice service in the country, the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, has condemned the NT government’s decision, calling it a “short-sighted policy that risks inflaming issues”.