The Alice Springs curfew is set to be lifted at 6am on Tuesday morning. The Government is praising the curfew as having helped stopped spiralling crime in the town, but with an election just around the corner the timing is being questioned.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 For Sophie's mum and bub shop on the Todd Mall, Alice Springs' social problems are a
00:07 daily reality.
00:08 "And what we've noticed is that more and more kids are coming in to the CBD in the evening
00:13 and it just has to stop. It's not safe for them and it's not safe for the community."
00:16 She is one of many businesses happy with the positive impact of the town's curfew on curbing
00:21 anti-social behaviour. But with an election later this year, she and others are questioning
00:26 what took the anti-government so long.
00:28 "We've just gotten to a point now, and it also happens to be in election year, where
00:32 finally people have said enough is enough, we really want to do something for our town,
00:37 let's bring in the curfew."
00:38 The Chief Minister rejects any suggestion her decision was influenced by the upcoming
00:42 election.
00:43 "It isn't actually about politics at all, it was about me hearing just how dire the
00:48 situation was in Central Australia."
00:50 Jancy Paik and Kate Warden previously told Parliament curfews don't work.
00:55 "They are punitive. They send a negative message to our tourism industry. You want
01:00 to come to Alice Springs, that's cool, but lock your kid up at night or bring him out
01:04 and they've got to have a licence. Treat them like a dog, no worries."
01:07 Now they're ardent supporters of the emergency response, a fact not lost on their critics.
01:12 "Well I think it's quite interesting that there are a number of Labor MPs, both federally
01:17 and locally now, that are sounding more conservative than they are sounding Labor."
01:22 The decision to declare a curfew in an election year has raised suspicion from some businesses
01:27 here in Alice Springs. But for many others who are reliant on the tourism trade, all
01:32 they want to see is the Red Centre's reputation restored.
01:35 "If we don't find strategies to solve our social problems in town, we're going to see
01:43 more and more businesses go."
01:44 The curfew is set to end at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning.
01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]