LETTER FROM SYDNEY
To go to the end of the provocation, the young people filmed their crime and broadcast the images live on social networks. The night rodeo first, in the heart of downtown Alice Springs, with three stolen cars: a pick-up and two brand new 4 × 4s. Then the arrival of the police vehicle. And finally, his being chased by one of the pick-ups, the passengers sitting on the windowsills, holding out their fists in a sign of defiance.
This scene of violence shocked Australia, considered one of the safest countries in the world. But it has become almost commonplace in the “red heart” of the continent, plagued by an explosion of crime since the end of the ban on alcohol in Aboriginal communities in July 2022.
So much so that after having long rejected a “race-based politics”affecting exclusively indigenous urban communities and camps, the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Natasha Fyles, resolved, Monday, February 6, to reinstate these bans, the time to find solutions. “We create a circuit breaker (…) until communities can develop and vote on alcohol management plans”she explained after receiving the recommendations of an expert mission.
In its report, the latter notes a sharp increase in crimes committed while intoxicated: assaults (+ 79.4% over the twelve months up to November 2022 compared to the same period in 2019), domestic violence (+ 96.7%) or offenses against property (+ 82%). The inhabitants tell about the fights, sometimes with axes, which multiply at nightfall. The clusters of idle teenagers and children clinging to cheap bottles or even sanitary gel cocktails. And the fear they have of being attacked, even in their homes.
“National shame”
Faced with the deterioration of the situation, the mayor of the city, Matt Paterson, launched an appeal for help, as of January 16, asking the federal government to take all the necessary measures, even if it means sending in the army. The conservative opposition immediately followed suit, denouncing a “national disgrace”. Eventually, Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew to Alice Springs on January 24, where he announced tough restrictions on alcohol sales across the city as well as a package of 250 million Australian dollars ( 162 million euros) intended to create more jobs, improve health services and fight against school absenteeism.
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