As night falls in Alice Springs, dozens of children, some as young as seven, can be seen roaming the streets. Locals say it’s been quiet this week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came to visit. Sometimes, they say, up to 200 children will be out.
“It’s a disgrace,” he says. “They’re running amok, walking the streets, breaking and entering, making us Aboriginal people look bad.”
Arrernte and Larrakia man Jamie Fejo is concerned about the behaviour of young people in Alice Springs. Picture: SuppliedPolice have attributed a spike in 2021 to the Morrison Government’s decision to double welfare payments during Covid-19 and allow early access to superannuation. Most of the bigger Indigenous communities, including those surrounding Alice Springs, were not affected by the change. They had been dry before the Intervention under the Northern Territory Liquor Act and remained so after Stronger Futures expired.
People who commit offences while intoxicated are placed on a banned drinker register, preventing them from buying takeaway booze. Most expected the NT Government would extend alcohol bans in the town camps and communities for at least two years while alcohol management plans were developed. Instead, it implemented an “opt-in” policy, where alcohol was returned to the communities and town camps immediately, unless they “opted-in” to remain dry.
The Central Australian Aboriginal Congress – the biggest Aboriginal healthcare provider in Central Australia – also urged the NT Government to reconsider its decision. But no-one listened. The town’s police couldn’t keep up. Neither could the hospital. A doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said staff were overwhelmed by the volume and severity of the injuries they were having to treat.“It’s extreme violence. We had a patient in here the other night who tried to decapitate his wife and he cut his own throat. We had both of them in. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Arrernte woman Christine Davis wants the Prime Minister to re-introduce alcohol bans in central Australia. Picture: Supplied “It was alright before with the restrictions and everything but soon as the Intervention finished it’s just got bad from day one,” she said.
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