Alcohol restrictions may have been put in place to try to ease crime in Alice Springs but police have said they are fearful the exact opposite could occur and the town is on the cusp of an outbreak of violence and robberies.
“There’s a significant concern that crime will actually rise… because of course people are still wanting to access alcohol and they’ll probably break into more premises,” Northern Territory Police Association President Paul McCue told The Australian.
The government reintroduced introduced alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs on Tuesday to address a rise in youth crime and alcohol-fuelled violence in the outback town.
A local Woolworths store was forced into lockdown earlier this month when a boy reportedly attempted to enter the store waving a machete.
Takeaway sales of alcohol are now banned on Monday and Tuesday, with further restrictions on other days between 3pm and 7pm.
But far from bringing the situation under control there are concerns things could actually get worse.
“I don’t think it’s the answer,” said Mr McCue.
“Ultimately, we saw a lot of crime, a lot of break-ins to access alcohol even when the restrictions weren’t in place.”
The town is also suffering from a local of police liquor inspectors with reportedly only 14 of 41 positions filled.
Police auxiliary liquor inspectors check IDs and request information from customers heading into bottle shops. But with not enough of them, grog is getting into the wrong hands.
“Many of the (officers) carry significant concerns about the role,” said Mr McCure.
Federal Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, whose electorate of Lingiari covers Alice Springs, told Sky News some of her constituents were now living in “fear”.
She added that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could overrule the Territory Government.
“Moving forward the Prime Minister gave a very clear commitment, if the Northern Territory government doesn’t implement what they said that they should, that he will certainly be looking at acting.”
Ms Scrymgour told the NT News she has long warned that letting alcohol back into Indigenous town camps in Alice Springs would lead to serious issues – but the NT Government didn’t act.
Major stores in Alice Springs have now made the decision to close around dusk following the chaos in the town.
Both Coles and Woolworths will shut their doors at 7pm, as will the BWS bottle shop.
The move comes after a stark image from the Woolies store after a young boy reportedly entered wielding a machete.
In the picture, the shutters can be seen pulled down with customers directed towards a smaller side entry.
“A town held hostage. Woolworths fully operational but with doors closed. People shopping are exiting via the entry,” said a caption next to the image on the Action for Alice 2020 Facebook page.
“There is no place for violence anywhere in our community,” a Woolworths spokesman said in response to the incident, thanking staff and police for their “swift response”.
Inside the supermarket, chemicals that can be used as makeshift drugs including deodorant, mouthwash and hand sanitiser are stored in locked boxes, out of the reach of young community members, said Darren Clark, who runs the Action for Alice Facebook page.
The NT government has faced increased pressure to reinstate an alcohol ban in the town to help quell violence – but Mr Clark told news.com.au he didn’t believe it would make a difference.
“The rollback of the ban probably has added to the alcohol problems here, but we’ve had alcohol problems for a long time,” he said.
“Taking the alcohol away is not going to give these kids a safe home. They’ll just find something else. Most of them can’t legally buy alcohol anyway.
“They’re mixing hand sanitiser with orange juice or lemonade to get high.”