Labor ministers in the Northern Territory have refused to attend a rally near Darwin calling for action on crime, citing racist comments on the social media account of the event's organiser.
WARNING: This story includes racist and offensive language
NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has criticised Country Liberal Party (CLP) politicians for their willingness to attend the meeting in Palmerston on Tuesday, despite the derogatory views posted online.
"Time and time again the [Country Liberal Party] has [allegedly] supported racist views and racial hatred here in the territory," Ms Fyles said.
"Enough is enough, racist views and remarks are not welcome or tolerated here in the territory and the CLP must immediately apologise to all Territorians for supporting such people."
The ABC has seen screenshots of the social media posts which describe a First Nations person as a "little dark C***t".
One post includes a reference to "clean[ing] up my office [to] get rid of the Black fella smell" and also says "we need a cull in [Darwin]".
Another post says "fence the fckn communities keep then c***ts out" and "put a collar on them that they get zapped out of their area".
The organiser, Donna Roos, declined to respond to the characterisation of the comments but said they were posted two days after her business was broken into last month.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro last week called on Labor ministers to also attend the event, which she said was being held "in protest of weak laws and crime policy".
When asked if she was aware of the racist comments, Ms Finocchiaro said "there's no room for racism in the community".
However, she reaffirmed her commitment to take part in the event.
"The CLP Opposition is attending this community crime meeting in support of business owners who have had enough of crime. We encourage all members of parliament to do the same," she said.
Community and small business frustration over youth and property crime is a frequent subject of political debate in the NT.
NT Police crime statistics show there have been 186 commercial break-ins in Palmerston in the past year — the highest figure since 2018, when there were 280 break-ins.
There have also been 1,100 incidents of property damage in the past 12 months, almost 300 more than the year before, and slightly higher than in 2018 and 2017.
