Alice Springs mayor expects ‘double-edged sword’ curfew to be extended

‘We need to think about the long-term solutions’ to violence, says Matt Paterson

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, says curfews are a “double-edged sword” that must not keep being used, ahead of a possible extension of the town’s three-night lockdown.

A 72-hour stay-at-home order was issued on Monday for the Northern Territory community after a spate of violent incidents, including a brawl involving 80 people and a knife attack on a 42-year-old woman.

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Alice Springs’ problems ‘a long time in the making’, Linda Burney says after first night of curfew

Three-night stay-at-home order issued for town after weekend violence, including a brawl involving 80 people

Politics needs to be kept out of addressing long-running issues in Alice Springs, the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney said, following the town’s first night of curfew.

A three-night stay-at-home order was issued for the Northern Territory community after a spate of violent weekend incidents, including a brawl involving 80 people and a knife attack on a 42-year-old woman.

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Police impose curfew on Alice Springs again after more violence

As Naidoc week celebrations begin, residents subjected to three-night order after violent assaults, brawl involving 80 people and knife attack

Residents in Alice Springs will be subjected to another curfew after a series of violent assaults, a brawl involving 80 people and a knife attack.

Northern Territory police issued a three-night public social disorder declaration on Monday for parts of the city from 10pm to 6am.

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Coalition’s position on the voice ‘clear as mud’ and ‘completely confused’, Burney says – as it happened

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‘Mistakes of the past’: David Littleproud compares voice to ATSIC advisory body

Littleproud says the proposal for the voice to parliament will “repeat the mistakes of the past”, comparing the proposal to ATSIC.

No, again, David, the problem comes from the lived experience we have. And it might work in suburbs in capital cities but when you’re talking about representative bodies in rural and remote Australia, you’re talking about hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, hundreds of different diverse communities that have different challenges and needs.

We were saying let’s have common sense.

Why not let the market decide but let’s educate Australians. This won’t happen overnight. This is something we need to bring them on that journey. That’s why I wanted to have some political leadership but from across the aisle, and say let’s have a national energy summit, bring Australians into our trust and let them decide what the energy mix should look like and live town our international commitments.

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NT bushfire covers Alice Springs in smoke and shuts Stuart Highway for several hours

Emergency services recommend people with asthma and breathing ailments stay inside as reported hazard reduction burn gets out of control

Smoke blanketed Alice Springs and the Stuart Highway was closed to traffic for several hours on Sunday after what was reported to be a planned fuel reduction burn in Tjoritja West MacDonnell national park got out of control.

Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services (PFES) said on Sunday morning the fire was not contained on one or more fronts. The fire incident map for the area showed three separate blazes with two under control around Simpsons North and Larapinta.

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Peter Dutton says he didn’t raise specific allegations of child abuse with PM

Opposition leader tells Sky News he mentioned general concerns about abuse in Alice Springs which Anthony Albanese confirmed

Peter Dutton says he did not raise specific instances of alleged child abuse with Anthony Albanese but maintains that he raised broad concerns about assaults in Indigenous communities with the prime minister in private and in parliament.

Dutton’s comments to Sky News on Tuesday were the latest in a back-in-forth between Labor and the Coalition, with the opposition highlighting abuse and neglect in Aboriginal communities as a reason for opposing the Indigenous voice referendum.

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Hospitality giant Iris Capital’s Alice Springs alcohol licence under investigation by NT government

Action comes after police suspended trading twice in two weeks over ‘threats to public safety’ at two of its venues

Hospitality giant Iris Capital’s licence to sell alcohol in Alice Springs is under investigation by the Northern Territory government after police suspended trading twice in two weeks over “threats to public safety” at two of its venues.

The suspensions come after the NT Liquor Commission warned the company in early January that any further breaches “will be sternly dealt with”.

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NT reinstates alcohol bans in effort to curb crime surge in Alice Springs

Federal government agreed to $250m in additional funding for measures including youth engagement programs and job creation

Alcohol bans are set to be reintroduced in central Australia after a snap review recommended tighter restrictions to address a surge of crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs.

The measures announced Monday mean that Aboriginal people living in remote communities and town camps in the Northern Territory will not be able to buy takeaway alcohol, although communities will be able to lift the bans if 60% of residents vote in favour of an alcohol management plan.

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Report into Alice Springs unrest recommends urgent alcohol ban in central Australian communities

NT chief minister met with prime minister on Thursday afternoon to discuss report, which will be released after it is considered by cabinet next week

The Northern Territory government must urgently amend its laws to impose alcohol bans in central Australian communities, including the town camps in Alice Springs, according to a snap review.

The bans would remain in place until communities have time to develop their own alcohol management plans. Once those plans are in place, communities may then opt out of the legislative restrictions.

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Arrernte traditional owners urge PM to ‘come back and talk to the elders’ amid Alice Springs crisis

Strong Grandmothers of the Central Desert group wants Anthony Albanese and other politicians to hear concerns at grassroots level

Arrernte traditional owners are urging the prime minster to return to Alice Springs to talk to elders on the ground following his visit last week in response to a surge in crime and antisocial behaviour in the Northern Territory town.

Eastern Arrernte woman Elaine Peckham, senior Western Arrrernte woman Doreen Carroll and Southern Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra woman Brenda Shields form part of the Strong Grandmothers of the Central Desert group, who have come together to advocate for their community and push for change.

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Senator may go against party room on voice – as it happened

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Should governments have acted sooner on alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs?

The Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles and the minister for Indigenous affairs Linda Burney have appeared on ABC Radio after the announcements in Alice Springs yesterday.

It was the previous coalition government that walked away and left the Northern Territory with no measures.

I had expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.

Do you think it took too long?

Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long, If you ask the people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes.

I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people living in town camps ... many of who had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is, I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour who had visited the hospital and there are 16 beds in ICU, 14 of those were taken by Aboriginal women who had been beaten ... I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of the problems.

It’s about balance – but being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view.

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Australia news live: flood victims targeted by online scammers; Albanese discloses helicopter flight to Lindsay Fox lunch

Social media scam promises thousands of dollars in relief funding. Follow the day’s news

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is heaping pressure on Anthony Albanese over law and order issues in Alice Springs.

Dutton told Nine’s Today Show:

I was really shocked when I went up there in October. I spoke to a number of ... public servants who are at breaking point from what they’re seeing and experiencing. I said to the PM we would support whatever measure the government would take, whether it needed legislation, additional resources, additional money going into the Northern Territory. It was clear speaking with Indigenous elders and women on the ground and business owners this issue was completely beyond the capacity and resources of the Northern Territory government.

The prime minister, you know, was very critical of Scott Morrison at the time for not standing up [during natural disasters] ... I was hoping that the prime minister would take up the offer [to visit Alice Springs together] because it does require both sides to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and that’s what we’re offering to do.

If there is a strong Indigenous voice coming out of the Northern Territory at the moment that they wanted prime minister to lead, to act and to help them out, but the prime minister is not listening to that voice, then I think most Australians would say: why not?

It’s got to be a partnership between the feds and the state. No one is saying it should just be the Northern Territory government left to deal with it.

The highway patrol vehicle followed and in an attempt to pull that vehicle over. At the time the vehicle did not stop. And the police activated all their warning devices and a pursuit was commenced.

The vehicle travelled for approximately 2km north along Centenary Drive, at which point it continued at high speed, and when taking the corner into the on-ramp for the westbound M4, collided with the railing. And as a result of the collision, the vehicle travelling at high speed landed upside down after travelling through the bush onto the M4 upside down and burst into flames.

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NT government issues ultimatum to alcohol retailers amid Alice Springs crime wave

Northern Territory police minister warns businesses to self-regulate or authorities will toughen laws to help curb rising street crime and family violence

The Northern Territory government has told alcohol retailers in the troubled central Australian town of Alice Springs they need to limit grog sales to help put a lid on spiralling harms, street crime and family violence, or it will step in and toughen up the laws.

The NT police minister, Kate Worden, issued the ultimatum after meeting with the town’s social order response team (SORT), made up of police, local council, business and community leaders, on Friday.

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NT federal Labor MP says families need to be more accountable for youth crime

State proposal to take unsupervised children off Alice Springs streets a ‘Band-Aid solution’ that will fail, Marion Scrymgour says

Federal Labor MP Marion Scrymgour says a Northern Territory government plan to take unsupervised children off the streets at night is “putting a Band-Aid on the situation” and she is calling for traditional owners “to show leadership on the issue”.

Scrymgour has raised concerns about the proposal in which children undertaking “risky” behaviour in Alice Springs at night would be taken into custody for assessment, and removed from their families if they are found to be continuously unsupervised.

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Zachary Rolfe bragged about injuring innocent man, Kumanjayi Walker inquest told

‘Treated him to the old illegal shoulder charge,’ Northern Territory police officer wrote in text message, inquiry hears

A Northern Territory police officer who fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker bragged about injuring a man wrongly suspected of escaping custody, an inquest has heard.

Walker, 19, died after Constable Zachary Rolfe shot him three times during a botched arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, on 9 November 2019.

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Kumanjayi Walker inquest: senior NT constable justifies attending ‘drinks’ at Zachary Rolfe’s house after shooting

Senior Constable Shane McCormack says he went to social gathering two days after Rolfe killed Walker because he was concerned for his welfare

A senior Northern Territory police officer has told an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker that he attended a gathering at the house of the officer who shot the Warlpiri teenager because he was concerned about his welfare.

Constable Zachary Rolfe shot 19-year-old Walker three times during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, in November 2019. Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a six-week trial earlier this year.

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Kumanjayi Walker inquest: racism a ‘broader’ issue in NT police, superintendent says

Jody Nobbs questioned about text messages between Constable Zachary Rolfe and other police officers that used racist language

The superintendent formerly in charge of central desert remote communities has told an inquest into the police shooting death of 19-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker that racism is a “broader” issue within the Northern Territory police force.

Walker was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest by the immediate response team in Yuendumu in November 2019.

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Woman fatally struck by car in Alice Springs was lying on highway, police say

Death is the 11th pedestrian fatality on Northern Territory roads in the past 18 months, majority of which have been Indigenous people

A woman lying on a highway in central Australia was killed when she was hit by a car, authorities say.

Northern Territory police said the 21-year-old woman was struck in Alice Springs’s southern suburbs in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

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Zachary Rolfe trial: other officer present when Kumanjayi Walker was shot begins evidence

Remote Sgt Adam Eberl tells court he did not consider Walker to be dangerous when police first encountered him

A police officer involved in the attempt to arrest Kumanjayi Walker before his death has told a court he was “surprised” other officers had not used their guns when the Warlpiri man threatened them with an axe during a seperate incident days earlier.

Remote Sgt Adam Eberl was the other officer in the room when Constable Zachary Rolfe shot dead Walker on 9 November 2019 in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.

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‘There could be snakes’: planes mothballed by Covid prepare to fly again

In deserts in Australia and the US, engineers are dusting off aircraft, testing engines and ridding them of rattlesnakes and insects

In the red dust of the Australian desert, more than a hundred shiny planes are lined up nose to tail, an aviation long-term parking lot.

Hundreds more form geometric patterns in California’s Mojave Desert, where engineers whack the wheel hubs of Qantas A380s to scare off rattlesnakes.

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