Federal Labor politician Marion Scrymgour says she wants more detail around what the Northern Territory government is calling an "intervention" to get unsupervised children off the streets of Alice Springs at night.
The NT government has been facing growing pressure over the rising levels of crime in Alice Springs, which reached a tipping point on Wednesday after police issued a public alert advising people not to enter the CBD because a stolen car was being driven dangerously.
Five children under the age of 14 were later arrested for allegedly stealing three cars and joy-riding through the town, including driving head-on at police cars.
In response, NT Police and Territory Families Minister Kate Worden yesterday said the government was looking into a plan to take children picked up by police to a "safe place" for a child protection assessment instead of being returned home.
"We are working to make sure that we can legally have an intervention to take those young people into a safe environment, and then make some Territory Families follow-up interventions," Ms Worden said.
"Instead of taking a young person home, when they may have already been returned home but have come out again, that the police are empowered to make the right decision around care and protection of that young person."
Speaking to ABC Radio Alice Springs on Wednesday evening, Ms Scrymgour — whose electorate covers the vast majority of the Northern Territory — said there were "serious issues in Alice Springs" and suggested she was open to Ms Worden's proposal, but needed more information.
"If the minister is saying that there are repeat offenders and they're going to look at removing them and taking them to a safe place, well then, that's one measure," she said.
However, she highlighted some potential legal issues with the plan.
"What if [a child] is just hanging around the streets — they've not been involved in a crime — what's the legal basis for the removal of that child?"
Ms Scrymgour said the government should consider introducing a '"return to country" program to relocate some of these unsupervised children back to their home communities.
"There are young people living in town here without their families — they are running amok," she said, adding that investing in surrounding remote communities was a strong place to start.
"When you neglect the bush, when you don't put the resources into the bush housing [and] bush programs for young people, the bush is going to come into areas like Alice Springs.
"And what we're seeing at the moment is not only the impact on the community of Alice Springs — we're seeing great disrespect being shown to the traditional landowners."
Ms Worden said on Wednesday that she would provide more details about the plan in coming weeks, noting there were legal issues that needed to be worked through.
The push for more measures
The independent member for Araluen, Robyn Lambley, said Ms Worden's proposal to put unsupervised, at-risk children into child protection was a long time coming.
"It is unacceptable for children to be roaming the streets of Alice Springs at night, misbehaving, perpetrating criminal acts, doing the wrong thing and being disrespectful," she said.
"It is essentially a child protection issue."
Ms Lambley said authorities could convert facilities such as school halls into a "boarding house" for unsupervised children, monitored by youth workers with Territory Families.
Tourism Central Australia chief executive Danial Rochford said the business community was united in their calls for the government to regain control of crime in Alice Springs, which he described as "real life Grand Theft Auto".
Mr Rochford said he had been lobbying the government for more "preventative measures", such as hiring extra police or private security to patrol the streets.
Tyson Carmody, managing director of Kings Narrative counselling service for Aboriginal men, said many of these young people were "growing up with trauma already impacting their lives".
"Their young minds are not ready to make those proper decisions that they need to make," he said, adding many of them also had foetal alcohol syndrome and learning difficulties.
Mr Carmody said plenty of people in the community, including traditional owners, wanted to help the crisis by taking young people back out on Country.
"We've been saying for a long, long time now that when you're out on Country, that's the best place to be able to unpack this stuff," he said. "And to navigate your way through this and be safe."
