Cunningham: Where was the CLP before the Territory reached breaking point this week

The honeymoon has ended abruptly for the Finocchiaro Government. The crime crisis that plagued the former Labor administration is now the CLP’s issue to own, writes Matt Cunningham.

Bokhara St, Larapinta, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Picture: Gera Kazakov

The honeymoon has ended abruptly for the Finocchiaro Government.

The crime crisis that plagued the former Labor administration is now the CLP’s issue to own.

This week it exploded.

It’s hard to believe things could get worse in Alice Springs, but the events of the past fortnight are horrific.

The home invasion of 92-year-old entertainment icon and former NT Administrator Ted Egan and his wife Nerys, the alleged rape of a 29-year-old woman while she was sleeping by a home intruder on Saturday night, a policeman forced to draw his weapon as stolen cars targeted officers in the CBD, and then on Wednesday afternoon, the appalling attack on a mother and her two-month-old infant that saw the woman and baby flown to Adelaide for emergency care.

Wednesday’s attack happened in broad daylight at 2:30pm.

According to police, two teenagers aged 16 and 17, broke into the house in Larapinta where the mother was home with her four children.

Bokhara St, Larapinta, Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Police responded to an incident where a two-month-old baby was allegedly attacked on Bokhara St on Wednesday. The baby needed to be flown out of Alice Springs to Adelaide for treatment. Picture: Gera Kazakov

Armed with a weapon, they allegedly tried to attack the mother and struck the baby, causing serious head injuries.

They then proceeded to rob the house, taking a purse and car keys. Police, who have responded quickly to all the incidents detailed above, apprehended the alleged offenders within 90 minutes.

But serious questions are now being asked about why they were free in the first place. Reports in The Australian yesterday revealed the teenagers had previously been charged with more than 300 offences and bailed 35 times.

There’s never been a better example of a system that is completely broken.

After coming to power in August, the CLP passed Declan’s Law, a series of measures aimed to make it more difficult for repeat violent offenders to get bail.

But the legislation won’t be enacted until next month, due to a shortage of electronic monitoring bracelets and a lack of space in our overflowing prisons.

On Thursday, Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said if Declan’s Law had been enacted, these teenagers would not have been at large. I’m not convinced that is the case.

Declan’s Law will change the “presumption” to be against bail for all serious violent offences. But a judge will still have the discretion to grant said bail if they see fit.

There’s no guarantee the court will follow the advice set out in the legislation. In fact, history would suggest it will often ignore it. Some former Labor members are still wondering if they might be employed today had they not inserted an “exceptional circumstances” clause in their own bail amendments back in 2021.

Gavin Carpenter lives on Bokhara St, Larapinta, and has been broken into many times. He has cameras and Barbwire around the property. Picture: Grenville Turner

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro was right when she said “what this tragic circumstance really highlights is the dire consequence to the community when you have successive years of policy failure, which is what Territorians are experiencing the brunt of now.”

But you can only blame the past administration for so long.

If community safety continues to play second fiddle to the rights of offenders, it will spell big trouble for the government.

This week the government was slow to act on an issue it should have been prepared for. While the situation reached boiling point on Wednesday, there was enough evidence before then to prompt some kind of government response, yet there none was forthcoming.

The Chief Minister’s office didn’t respond to questions about the alleged rape at the weekend. By the time Ms Finocchiaro stood up in Alice Springs on Thursday it had been almost two weeks since the government had last held a press conference.

If a government has nothing to say, then others will happily fill that void for them.

When the Chief Minister and Police Commissioner finally fronted the cameras on Thursday, they announced not very much at all.

A bigger concern for the government though, is the breakdown in social cohesion that in now writ-large on the streets of Alice Springs and beyond.

A combination of factors including the police shooting at Yuendumu and the drawn-out court processes that have followed, Covid-19 and the failed Voice referendum have contributed to a community that is more divided than ever.

That division was solidified in August’s Northern Territory election, which has effectively divided the Territory Parliament by race.

Healing that division will be a herculean task.

Originally published as Cunningham: Where was the CLP before the Territory reached breaking point this week