As new alcohol restrictions hit Alice Springs to combat a growing crime wave, the PM isn't ruling out going a step further by banning all liquor. Residents, business and community leaders are now demanding tougher action. mikelorigan 9News MORE:
But the crisis has only just come into nationwide awareness in the past week.So why is this incredibly isolated town of about 26,000 in the news?A crime wave in Alice Springs has prompted a visit from Anthony Albanese.
Put simply, crime is out of control in the red centre, with residents reporting a surge of break-ins, vandalism and alcohol-related assaults.But locals say the situation has gotten worse since then.There's many reasons for the causes of crime in any community, but increased access to alcohol is seen as a major factor in the Alice Springs crime wave.
The Stronger Futures legislation introduced in 2012 restricted the purchase of alcohol and banned it on large swathes of Aboriginal land.READ MORE:The territory government has introduced strict new bans on buying alcohol. Takeaway purchases of alcohol will be prohibited on Mondays and Tuesdays, and will only be permitted between 3pm and 7pm on the remaining days. Each person will have a one transaction limit per day.The territory will also ramp up anti-crime measures with a boost in federal funding.Canberra will put $14.2 million into high visibility police operations, specifically targeting grog running. Liquor licensing compliance inspections will also be increased.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Alice Springs local of 20 years says crime forcing her to leave townKatherine Coulthard was born and raised in Central Australia. For more than 20 years she has called Alice Springs home. But she says she can no longer stay in the town she once loved.
Read more »
Media ‘refuse’ to cover Alice Springs crime because of the ‘original sources’Sky News host Paul Murray says the media are refusing to cover the issue of crime in Alice Springs “because of the sources that are telling the original story”. “They’re dismissing it because it’s The Australian; they’re ignoring it because it’s Sky News; they’re pretending it’s not real because it’s 2GB,” he said. “This will lead to half of the country not trusting the news.” Mr Murray said the Northern Territory has seen “an explosion in crime” after alcohol restrictions were eased in the state, yet the media refuse to cover it “at a time when the conversation is about Indigenous Australia”. “What does it say about the collective brain of the Australian news media, that supposedly they care about Indigenous people, but they won’t cover a story of a government decision in Darwin that has let the grog flow that now means crime is affecting everyone in the heart of Australia?”
Read more »
PM needs to ‘throw the book’ at Alice Springs crime waveNationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie has hit out at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for not being “on the ground” in Alice Springs as the town deals with an unfolding crime crisis.
Read more »
Anthony Albanese to visit Alice Springs amid rampant crime wavePrime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Alice Springs on Tuesday as some federal MPs call for the government to temporarily ditch its Voice to Parliament plans.
Read more »
Albanese to visit Alice Springs as crime crisis overshadows Voice to ParliamentThe Indigenous Voice to Parliament debate this week has been overshadowed by the spiralling crime crisis in Alice Springs, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese set to visit the town today. Support for the Voice has dropped from 53 per cent at the end of last year to 47 per cent. Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor suggests the crisis is a further reason to push the Voice, considering previous attempts in the past at reducing alcohol-fuelled violence have failed. If the referendum succeeds, it will be the fourth attempt in 50 years to establish a representative Indigenous body to advise the federal government, with one of the key criticisms of the proposal being the so-called lack of detail.
Read more »
Burney, Dodson to join Albanese in crime-plagued Alice SpringsAssistant Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy is also visiting the town, where dramatically rising crime rates and alcohol consumption are fuelling a social crisis.
Read more »