Indigenous Minister Linda Burney is facing calls for her resignation after taking days to comment on the emerging crisis in Alice Springs which triggered the Northern Territory government to bring back the curfew over the weekend.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy recently announced a three-night curfew in Alice Springs after violence rocked the town.
Early on Sunday morning, a group of 20 males, some of whom were youths, had allegedly surrounded and violently assaulted four off-duty police officers, robbing two of them before fleeing the scene.
The alleged attack on the officers, alongside a string of violent and antisocial behaviour that marked a “horror 72 hours” in the troubled town, spurred the police commissioner to announce a curfew.
The violence in the predominantly Indigenous town was only addressed by Ms Burney on Tuesday morning, despite repeated requests for comment from SkyNews.com.au.
“I think the curfew’s important, but it’s not the be-all and end-all,” she told ABC News Breakfast.
“The Police Commissioner has made that very clear in saying that the curfew is about calming things down into intervening making the place safe, but it is the underlying issues that are particularly important.
“Particularly, as the Police Commissioner said, that you can’t arrest your way out of this. The judicial system is not the answer. But the community working with government is the answer. And that’s very much the way in which I’m pursuing the issues.”
Indigenous advocate Warren Mundine a day earlier had called on Ms Burney to resign after remaining silent on the issue for days.
“Unfortunately, she’s just not up for it,” he told SkyNews.com.au.
Mr Mundine felt the curfew was yet another “band-aid solution” that failed to tackle the crux of the issues that have repeatedly sent Alice Springs into a curfew.
“We need to get some leadership from the (federal) government and we need to get better leadership from the states and territories, because in regards to law and order and a number of other areas, it’s the states and territories who are in charge of this stuff,” he said.
“I’ve got to say, they’ve been a dismal failure over the years.
“To me, I’m not surprised by (them) putting on these overnight curfews and everything like that because (this is) just (a) band-aid approach.”
Mr Mundine emphasised the need for law and order in the Alice Springs community as the police struggle to enforce the law in the remote town.
This comes as the father and husband of two Northern Territory police officers who were victims of the alleged attack called for the government to stop hindering officers trying to make the community a safer place.
“We’ve got to deal with the crime and we’ve got to make the law enforceable,” Mr Mundine said.
“What’s happening at the moment (is) the police have been emasculated. They more run away from the problem than deal with the problem and that comes from the political leadership around this country.”
The recent curfew announcement came as just another let down for Mr Mundine who felt lacklustre leadership was leaving communities like Alice Springs behind.
“I’m not really happy because I’m sick and tired of going into communities and going across Australia and seeing the crap that is happening because of the failure of leadership,” he said.
The town’s snap curfew was confirmed by Police Commissioner Michael Murphy on Monday.
“This afternoon I’ve signed off on a Public Social Disorder Declaration that will be effective now, but will only come into operation between 10pm and 6am over the next three nights,” he told media in Alice Springs.
“From 10pm tonight till 6am the confines between ANZAC Hill, Schwartz Crescent, down to the hospital from the Stuart Highway across to Leichhardt and Stott Terrace will be in the declared area.
“Anyone coming into the zone can be engaged by police and they can be asked to leave, or alternatively, they can be asked to stay if there’s another disturbance and they need to be contained for their own safety.”
Commissioner Murphy added NAIDOC week celebrations and other community concerns meant he had to “carefully consider” the impact of any restrictions before making the announcement, saying he did not want to “disrupt” important events.
It was “more important than ever” that police had community support in addressing underlying causes of unrest, he continued, explaining the solutions lied “in the community and the leadership”, rather than the criminal justice system.
Failure to abide with Monday’s curfew could lead to authorities issuing an infringement notice, or even an immediate arrest, although there are a handful of exceptions which permit locals to enter the declared area.