Chief Minister confirms government in discussions to ‘reassess’ second Alice Springs curfew, police minister confirms decision coming tomorrow

With just hours until the Alice Springs curfew ends, a brawl involving weapons has broken out in the town’s CBD, as the government considers the likelihood of a curfew extension.

Around 50 people were involved in a brawl outside Coles in the Alice Springs CBD in a fight that involved, spears, a machete, baseball bats and at least one damaged car.

An eyewitness said two groups of 25 people were involved in the fight on Wednesday afternoon.

“I saw one guy attack a women with a baseball bat,” the witness said.

“People were very scared,” he said.

The Coles was placed into lock down and its steel shutters came down. Customers were locked in the store until the fight was over.”

Video has emerged of a heavy police presence in the CBD in the aftermath of the brawl, with officers seen moving on a large group of people.

Police confirmed five people had been arrested as a result of the ‘violent disturbance’, with a number of weapons including nulla-nullas, spears, a baseball bat and a machete seized.

In a statement, police said officers responded to multiple reports that a large group was fighting with various weapons on Bath Street around 1.15pm.

They said he incident was believed to have involved family groups known to one another.

“Multiple police units, including Strike Force Viper, the Dog Operations Unit and Southern Traffic Operation members, attended the incident to engage and restore order. The crowd was dispersed and there is no threat to public safety,” police said in the statement.

Two women aged 17 and 19 were arrested along with three mages aged 21, 26 and 42 and all are expected to be charged with offences including Armed with offensive weapon and Disorderly behaviour in a public place.

Acting Southern Commander Drew Slape commended the quick work of police responding to the violent scene and apprehending offenders.

“This sort of violent criminal conduct has no place in our community,” he said.

“We will continue to take action against people who engage in this type of reprehensible behaviour.

“Our dedicated officers have responded to calls to assist and we will have extra members working tonight, giving up their time off in order to keep Alice Springs residents safe.”

The window of a car was smashed in a brawl in the Alice Springs CBD on Wednesday, July 10.

It comes as the Northern Territory government continues discussions to “reassess” the current Alice Springs curfew, according to the Chief Minister, with the police minister confirming a decision would come tomorrow.

Police Minister Brent Potter said he was “in regular contact” with Territory police commissioner Michael Murphy over the current Alice Springs curfew.

“A decision on whether or not to extend the curfew will be made tomorrow with the most up to date information,” he said.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler confirmed the two were in discussions about whether a curfew extension was required.

“That decision will be made either later today or tomorrow morning around whether we need to extend but the reports that I’ve had is the curfew is working,” she said.

“We know the curfew is but a stopgap measure – a pressure release … it’s not a long-term strategy.”

Ms Lawler said it was important programs were implemented to help turn the lives around of “one per cent” of youth in order to put them back onto the right path.

“It is not just around being tough on crime because at some stage, those young people who are in detention have to get out and so that’s now the work of our government,” she said.

“Two new youth justice facilities that will have a very strong focus on getting kids into employment into having training pathways to work.”

Shadow Minister for Youth Josh Burgoyne called on the government to keep the community up to date amid uncertainty over the curfew.

“The government must tell the people of Alice Springs what it plans to do once the three day curfew expires. Will it continue? Will it be extended across all of Alice Springs?” he said.

“During the last curfew, crime was simply pushed out into the suburbs, and the same has happened once again.

“What we need are tougher laws to deal with offenders and programs to address the root causes of crime. That is what the CLP is offering.

“Curfews are a stop gap measure and only protect a small part of our entire community.”

Originally published as Chief Minister confirms government in discussions to ‘reassess’ second Alice Springs curfew, police minister confirms decision coming tomorrow