What happens next?
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy enacted the rules based on territory laws introduced in May allowing the police chief to bring in 72-hour lockdowns,which can be extended at the discretion of the police minister.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said long-term investment was needed to address social problems in town camps around Alice Springs.
“The issues in Alice Springs have been a long time in the making and what people are calling the younger generation in the Northern Territory is the intervention generation where all agency was taken away from people,” Burney said.
Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price,a former deputy mayor of Alice Springs,said young people in the town camps were growing up in a dysfunctional environment.
“I have no doubt there’ll be another snap curfew because the underlying problems aren’t fixed through a curfew,” she said.
A group of people of mixed ages walking in the central business area of Alice Springs at night.Credit:Kayte Geraghty
What could the federal government do?
The federal government could offer to deploy defence force or Australian Federal Police personnel to assist local authorities,though this would require the co-operation of the NT government.
Most policing and public safety measures,such as alcohol restrictions,are the responsibility of the territory government.
The federal government allocated $250 million in last year’s federal budget to improve social outcomes,safety and schooling in central Australia through a series of community-led programs.
Why are crime rates so high in Alice Springs?
The town has a long-standing crime problem,and has been subjected to a series of “crime waves” involving spikes in street violence and theft,and there have been periodic calls for federal intervention in recent years.
Widespread alcohol abuse is generally seen as a leading cause,coupled with chronic social disadvantage and intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities.
Crime rates reached a four-year low in 2023,though they were still high by national standards,afterlimited bans on alcohol sales were re-introduced.