Calls for Linda Burney’s resignation grow amid silence on Alice Springs crisis

Sky News presenter Caleb Bond said Alice Springs was in the news “for all the wrong reasons” as the youth crime crisis “had been bubbling” for years. “Alice Springs may be back in the headlines today for all the wrong reasons, but the reality is it’s been bubbling for ages, for years,” Mr Bond said. “These stories are repeated every day … but we don’t hear much about them.”

Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has announced a three-night curfew in Alice Springs after violence rocked the town.

Early Sunday morning, a group of 20 men, some of them youths, reportedly surrounded and violently assaulted four off-duty police officers, robbing two of them before fleeing the scene.

The alleged attack on police officers, along with a series of violent and anti-social behaviour that marked “72 hours of horror” in the troubled city, prompted the police commissioner to announce a curfew.

The violence in the predominantly indigenous city has yet to be addressed by Ms Burney, despite repeated requests for comment from SkyNews.com.au.

Indigenous rights advocate Warren Mundine called on Ms Burney to resign after she remained silent on the issue.

“Unfortunately she’s just not ready to do it,” he told SkyNews.com.au.

Mr Mundine said the curfew was another “band-aid solution” that failed to address the heart of the problems that had led to Alice Springs repeatedly being placed under curfew.

“We need to get some leadership from the (federal) government and better leadership from the states and territories because when it comes to law and order and a number of other areas, it’s the states and territories that are in charge of those things,” he said.

“I have to say they have been a dismal failure over the years.

“I’m not surprised that they’re imposing these nighttime curfews and all that stuff, because it’s just a band-aid solution.”

Mr Mundine stressed the need for law and order in the Alice Springs community as police struggle to enforce the law in the remote town.

The statement comes as the father and husband of two Northern Territory police officers who were victims of the alleged attack called on the government to stop obstructing police efforts to make the community a safer place.

“We have to fight crime and make the law enforceable,” Mr Mundine said.

“What’s happening right now is that the police are being emasculated. They’re running away from the problem instead of solving it, and that’s coming from the political leadership of this country.”

The recent curfew announcement came as a further disappointment to Mr Mundine, who said poor leadership was leaving communities like Alice Springs behind.

“I’m not really happy because I’m tired of going into communities and travelling around Australia and seeing the shit that’s happening because of the failure of leadership,” he said.

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The curfew imposed in the city was confirmed on Monday by Police Commissioner Michael Murphy.

“This afternoon I signed a declaration of public social disorder which will be effective immediately but will only come into effect between 10pm and 6am over the next three nights,” he told media in Alice Springs.

“From 10pm tonight until 6am the boundaries between ANZAC Hill, Schwartz Crescent, up to the hospital from the Stuart Highway to Leichhardt and Stott Terrace will be within the declared area.

“Anyone entering the area may be stopped by police and asked to leave, or they may be asked to stay if there is another disturbance and they need to be contained for their own safety.”

Commissioner Murphy added that 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 the support of the community to tackle the underlying causes of the unrest, he continued, explaining that the solutions lay “with the community and the leadership”, rather than the criminal justice system.

Failure to comply with Monday’s curfew could result in authorities issuing a violation notice or even immediate arrest, although there are a handful of exceptions that allow residents to enter the declared area.