The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he will act “as soon as possible” after receiving a highly anticipated report on alcohol restrictions and ongoing unrest in Alice Springs.
The report by the newly appointed central Australia regional controller, Dorrelle Anderson, was handed to the Northern Territory chief minister, Natasha Fyles, on Wednesday.
Its contents are yet to be made public, but Albanese has promised it will be released once it has been considered jointly by the NT and federal governments.
“I want not to delay but I also understand that some of these issues are intergenerational,” Albanese said, noting that he had not yet seen a copy.
“There aren’t easy off-the-shelf solutions. It’s not just about alcohol. It’s about employment. It’s about service delivery. It’s about getting staff on the ground.” But he added that if there are immediate recommendations to implement, then “I’m certainly up for it.”
In the past 48 hours, NT police say thy have seen a reduction in reported anti-social behaviour and domestic violence incidents.
Alice Springs police Sr Sgt Andrew Heath said takeaway alcohol bans on Mondays and Tuesdays have already had a noticeable effect.
Heath told ABC radio that the 24 hours to Wednesday morning had been “fairly uneventful” for police, with reduced callouts on family violence matters, and “no drunk person jobs and no rock throwing”.
He said this meant police had been able to do more “proactive patrols” including monitoring compliance in licensed premises.
“We’ve had a fairly quiet night,” he said.
Fyles said reinstating widespread liquor bans was “on the table”, but these would still be a short-term solution, not the long-term measures that are needed.
Fyles said she was still considering how to consult communities on whether or not ongoing bans should be opt-out. She said a public ballot in affected communities is one way to respect local decision-making agreements and listen to Indigenous leaders.
“I believe that one option going forward would be to have a ballot so that everyone can have confidence in whatever the decision is, there can’t be the accusation if you don’t like the decision that we didn’t talk to the right people,” Fyles said.
She said that the NT needed more funding to manage the challenges ahead.
“The commonwealth need to step up and we need to see needs-based funding,” she said. “I have said this time and time again – the NT, based on GST formulas and the cost we have of delivering services, it’s simply not fair.”
The chief executive of the Aboriginal Medical Alliance Northern Territory, Dr John Paterson, said it’s time for “intervention era and kneejerk responses” to end.
“What we need is for the commonwealth and NT governments to sit down with the organisations controlled by our communities and negotiate a formal agreement on new policies, programs and funding to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people right across the Territory,” Paterson said.
“There is an opportunity to build a new approach, based on a formal partnership between governments and [Aboriginal Peak Organisations] NT and our communities.”
Intervention-era bans on alcohol in remote Aboriginal communities came to an end in July, when liquor became legal in some communities for the first time in 15 years, while other communities were able to buy takeaway alcohol without restrictions.
Alice Springs has become a flashpoint in recent weeks, with an increase in property crime and violence prompting new alcohol restrictions to be imposed.
Last week, the prime minister and territory government politicians announced additional funding for a range of measures, including liquor licence compliance and emergency accommodation.
But local tensions remain high amid concerns about the risk of vigilante violence.
At a hostile meeting of about 3,000 people in Alice Springs on Monday night, some called for a class action against the NT government to recoup losses from the crime wave.
Several of those in attendance called for a class action against the NT government, saying thousands of ratepayers and businesses in town could be compensated $100,000 each, totalling $1.5bn.
Southern Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara and Luritja woman and Pertame language educator, Samantha Armstrong told Guardian Australia that the voices of locals need to be prioritised when working on solutions.
“Elders have been trying to get their voice across for years about government policies surrounding Indigenous issues, particularly around Alice Springs,” Armstrong said.
She said that over the past week there has been less crime and antisocial behaviour, but she did not want to return to the Intervention-era blanket alcohol bans and income management.
“Under the Intervention it was horrible. A lot of people could not sustain living in their communities. With the Intervention came the basics card and the cashless debit card. Everybody had to travel into town for store cards and they could only be used in town, so it’s just silly policies that really affect a lot of people and don’t really work.” Armstrong said.
