Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the lawn outside the NT Parliament to call for tougher crime measures after a young man was recently fatally stabbed in the workplace.
Responding to a Facebook page created earlier in the week, crowds gathered on Saturday to express their anger at what they saw as the NT government’s inaction.
It follows the death of 20-year-old Darwin bottle-shop worker Declan Laverty, who was stabbed multiple times the weekend before.
Local retail worker Marites Grant said she was there because she felt unsafe going to work.
“We just feel that the government has failed us,” said Ms Grant. “I’m a retail worker and I deserve to be safe.”
Penina Tom, a locally based Torres Strait Islander woman, said she was there because she felt embarrassed by crimes committed by indigenous youths.
Though the event was organised anonymously on Facebook, rally spokesperson Cobie Campbell told the crowd she signed up after failing to hear responses from both major political parties and the police commissioner.
“We do not want to hear of another review,” Ms Campbell said. “We know legislation can be changed overnight.
No ‘Band-Aid approach’
“We expect you to effectively address the current crisis in the NT and that you will do it swiftly without a Band-Aid approach.”
Assaults in Darwin have decreased since 2021, according to publicly available police data, though commercial break-ins have increased by 45 per cent.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles unveiled a suite of measures aimed at addressing anti-social behaviour and violence, including a review of bail laws for offences involving weapons.
Ms Fyles had said the safety of communities was paramount and enough was enough.
Damien Crook, Mr Laverty’s father, also attended the rally and thanked attendees.
“Our focus for now is to honour Declan’s legacy and remember the person he was,” he told the crowd.
-AAP
