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National

Tennant Creek voters want to see youth crime become a federal election issue

Lingiari's urban centres like Tennant Creek could play a role in the federal election as the long-standing member retires.   (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)

Many voters in a remote town at the heart of vast Northern Territory electorate Lingiari are undecided on how they will mark their ballot at the federal election. 

After more than two decades, Labor's Warren Snowdon is retiring and both major parties believe the seat could be in play.

It is the country's second-largest and covers 99.9 per cent of the Northern Territory.

The two largest centres in the electorate are Alice Springs in the centre and Katherine in the north  

And while issues including housing, youth crime and anti-social behaviour are not historically federal responsibilities, many believe they will be front of mind for voters in Tennant Creek. 

This voter is 'looking around'

Linda Turner, who chairs the local Aboriginal corporation, said change could be in the air.

She believed that was a good thing for the electorate, which took in all of the Territory's remote communities and was also one of Australia's poorest. 

Ms Turner said recent Labor policies had pushed her and other Indigenous voters to forego party loyalty and to consider independent candidates, including the Coalition-aligned Country Liberal Party, if the candidate was "right". 

Linda Turner says after years of voting Labor she has been inspired by the rise of some other parties.  (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)

She said the rise of independents at a federal level had inspired her. 

Some Tennant Creek business owners say antisocial behaviour in town takes a toll on their enterprises.  (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)

"Little people have a voice thanks to independent candidates, who are really there to represent them," she said.  

But Ms Turner said she did not see any compelling third-party choices and she would probably end up voting for Labor's Marion Scrymgour and praised Labor's promises to fund remote housing.

After speaking to dozens of Tennant Creek's young people about why they were on the streets at night, she said the region's overcrowded housing was the root of the region's antisocial behaviour. 

Snowdon's retirement a loss for Labor

Labor holds Lingiari with a margin of 5.5 per cent.

In his analysis of the seat, the ABC's Antony Green said the loss of Mr Snowdon's vote may hurt Labor's support in urban areas, meaning the party would be working hard to ensure a high turnout of Aboriginal voters.

"It is the low turnout of Aboriginal voters that causes Lingiari to have the lowest turnout of any federal electorate," he said.

"Low turnout is due more to Aboriginal voters not having the opportunity to vote than it is to not voting when mobile polling teams visit."

Warren Snowdon is retiring ahead of the May 21 election. (ABC News: Mark Moore)

The reliance on mobile polling teams to collect votes at remote Aboriginal communities is a unique feature of voting in Lingiari.

In 2019 Labor recorded 76.4 per cent of the two-party preferred votes taken by mobile polling teams, a result that was critical to it winning the seat.

The Country Liberals recorded a majority of the two-party vote in polling day and pre-poll voting.

Voting against crime

Ms Turner and Deb Cain are two of dozens of community members in Tennant Creek who volunteer their evenings to keep watch over the town's only supermarket and spend hours each night protecting it from anti-social behaviour. 

Deb Cain spends hours each week with other volunteers guarding the town's newly opened IGA supermarket.  (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)

It has just re-opened after it was destroyed by arson two years ago. 

Two girls, aged 11 and 13, were charged over the fire and the incident has left a scar on the town. 

Ms Cain said the community was protective of the new store and wanted it "wrapped in cotton wool".

During the day, she runs the local child and family centre.

She said was undecided on how she would vote, but praised the County Liberal Party's candidate for Lingiari, Damien Ryan.  

She said she was looking for someone "who was going to be very understanding on both sides".

"We all walk in two worlds here in Barkly," she said, referring to Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures. 

With youth justice high on her agenda, Ms Cain said she thought Mr Ryan, a former mayor of Alice Springs, where youth crime was also a priority for voters, would understand Tennant Creek's issues. 

Election campaign underway in Red Centre(Samantha Jonscher)

Disillusioned voters

Russell O'Donnell is local councillor and a business owner who says he has voted for different parties in past elections. 

"The biggest thing in the back of my mind is crime in the Northern Territory and the diminishing quality of living in the Territory, they sort of go hand in hand," he said. 

Mr O'Donnell said the frequent break-ins, car thefts and property crime had taken a toll on the town's psyche. 

Russell O'Donnell says people in Tennant Creek feel the town's quality of life is in decline.  (ABC Alice Springs: Samantha Jonscher)

The ABC spoke to several business owners who did not want to provide their names, but said they were considering or already in the process of leaving the community because of the challenging business conditions created by antisocial behaviour. 

Mr O'Donnell said he did not think any party was offering meaningful solutions to the issue this election. 

Reflecting on conversations he had had with friends and other business owners, he said people felt life in Tennant Creek was getting harder, referring to the ongoing poverty and anti-social behaviour experienced in the region.

"Things aren't getting better," he said.

Inflation figures force parties to outline their plan to reduce the cost of living.
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