A Northern Territory senator is calling for urgent action to address escalating violence in the remote town of Yuendumu after her grandmother was the target of an attack.
Senator Jacinta Price said her grandmother's head was split open and she had to be raced to the hospital for stitches after the incident.
She says the alleged offender, a younger woman in the community, has since been charged.
It comes amid ongoing feuds between family groups in the Central Australian community, which is about 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs.
Ms Price, a Warlpiri woman, said the feuding had led to multiple generations of her family being targeted, including her cousin's four-year-old son.
"[Older children] have threatened to stab him many times," she said.
She said community members needed to step up if the violence was to stop in the remote outback town.
"It really is up to the leadership of the community to want that change," Ms Price said.
Efforts to address violence
Police have been increasing their presence in Yuendumu in recent months as property destruction and violence escalates.
In an effort to curb conflict, one of the region's two major stores has instructed different factions to shop at separate times of the day.
Marion Scrymgour is the Labor Member for Lingiari, which takes in Yuendumu.
Ms Scrymgour was working with the Central Land Council and Southern Kurdiji Indigenous Corporation to continue mediation among families.
"This issue in Yuendumu has been long-standing," she said.
"I think at the end of the day, those leaders and others out there are better equipped to talk about this issue.
"But I'm certainly trying to work with all the groups to try and get the best outcome."
Calls for greater police presence
Since the Stronger Futures legislation lapsed across the NT in August, many previously alcohol-free communities have been allowed access to the drug.
Yuendumu remained a dry community but Ms Price, who has called for the bans to be reinstated, said the changes had an impact.
"The boundary for where alcohol can be taken up to is much closer now," she said.
Ms Price said there was a desperate need for police numbers to be boosted further to ensure day-to-day safety as alcohol-fuelled crime increased.
"There's never been enough police presence," she said.
The senator said she had been the target of bullying for speaking up on the issue, which she claimed had been ignored for far too long.
"Imagine a grandmother being violently attacked in front of you in the streets of Mossman, Surry Hills, Brunswick, Northcote, West End or any other leafy green suburb," she said.
"The violence has to stop and Australians across the country must demand better for grandmothers like mine, who are out of sight and out of mind."
