The Australian government has announced immediate restrictions on alcohol sales in Alice Springs, alongside more than $50 million in community support, to address escalating alcohol-related harms and violent crime. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the measures, which include takeaway alcohol-free days on Mondays and Tuesdays, and restricted hours on other days, with sales only permitted between 3pm and 7pm and a limit of one transaction per person per day.
Albanese also appointed Luritja woman Dorelle Anderson as central Australian regional controller to coordinate the law-and-order response. Anderson, the first Aboriginal director of the Northern Territory's families department, will provide an initial progress report to the Prime Minister and NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles by 1 February.
The funding package includes $25 million for community services, $2 million for the Tangentyere women's council, $2 million for high-visibility police operations, $2 million for CCTV and safety lighting, and $4.6 million for emergency accommodation. Fyles criticised the former Coalition government for allowing intervention-era alcohol restrictions to lapse in mid-2022, saying the resulting rise in harm was predictable.
Health officials from the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress warned the Morrison government last year that ending the restrictions would lead to a crisis. Congress CEO Donna Ah Chee described a 'tsunami ahead' after her own home was burgled twice in four days. NT police statistics show property offences up nearly 60%, assaults up 38%, and domestic violence assaults up 48% over the past 12 months.
Calls from federal opposition leader Peter Dutton for a federal police intervention and from Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson for a military-style response were rejected by the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, and NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker, who emphasised community-led solutions.
