Business owners in Alice Springs speak out after weeks of violence

Windows smashed, cars set on fire, businesses ransacked. As violence in Alice Spings continues to plague the streets, the business owners who have remained in town have declared they won’t be silenced.

The man who became the face of Alice Springs’ fight against a devastating wave of youth crime has refused to be gagged - launching a new website to warn locals of assaults and break-ins that have continued even once the political limelight has waned.

Baker Darren Clark started Action for Alice on Facebook before he was suspended by the platform.

“We had a few places broken into, four cars stolen one night ... my business got broken into on Saturday night. The supermarket has been done three times, the golf club has been done,” he said of recent attacks he has been unable to report on Facebook.

Mr Clark said after a short lull in violence, crime has once again picked up on the streets of Alice Springs.

“It’s the book and we have just turned to another chapter, and this is what happens every time,” he said.

Youths take to the streets of Alice Springs at night and the businesses are suffering. Picture: Mark Brake

“I hate to have to point it out and sound like I’m negative but this is what happens.”

CCTV footage from venues across the town showed teenagers taking to the streets with weapons in hand, smashing windows and cars, while others harassed private security tasked with keeping the peace.

Wicked Kneads owner Darren Clark is fed up with crime in Alice Springs. Photo: Emma Murray

When The Daily Telegraph spent the night at the Diplomat Hotel in the town’s main business strip, a security guard was robbed of his car keys before being smashed with a glass bottle.

Barricades and roller shutters surround the few businesses that dare to open while others have shut up shop.

Now, fed up with the nightly violence many are packing up and moving interstate.

Some of the businesses left behind are attempting to sue the Northern Territory government for $1.5 billion in damages and lost revenue.

Lasseters Hotel and Casino operations chief Craig Jervis said in his 15 years in Alice Springs, he has never seen anything like it.

“I have been here for 15 years and it has never been this bad and it’s more the brazenness and we’ve got people walking around with machetes and with hammers and no care for anybody seeing that,” he said.

“There is always damage to businesses, there are interruptions to guests, to services, to staff, a constant battle.”

Grill Me Crazy’s Craig Jervis can’t believe what he has been seeing unfold in Alice Springs recently. Picture: Sam Boneham

Mr Jervis said the small number of tourists that came to Alice Springs in the aftermath of Covid have also started to pack their bags and leave early.

“We are seeing guests arriving at a couple of our hotels this week, went out and had some bad experiences and checked out … left earlier and headed up to Darwin,” he said.

“Fences, alarm systems, security lighting, laser systems, repairing doors, we’ve spent hundreds of thousands on these things.”

In six months, the longest Mr Jervis has gone without any damage to his businesses was five days.

Originally published as Business owners in Alice Springs speak out after weeks of violence