The Alice Springs mayor is pleading for an immediate circuit-breaker to the ongoing crime crisis in the central Australian town, saying residents no longer feel safe in their homes and their mental health is suffering.
Mayor Matt Paterson says that the town has "had enough" after another night of stolen vehicles and subsequent ramraids at local Alice Springs businesses.
"Business owners can't take it anymore. People don't feel safe in their own homes anymore."
Last night, Macdonnell Regional Council's vehicle compound was broken into, and four vehicles were stolen, leaving the chief executive, Jeff MacLeod, frustrated and angry.
"It's pretty exhausting. Very discouraging," he said.
Northern Territory Police said that two Alice Springs businesses were ramraided overnight with one of the stolen vehicles.
A service station in Sadadeen and a motorcycle shop on the Stuart Highway were significantly damaged.
A police spokesperson said an 18-year-old woman handed herself in to police in relation to the incidents and was charged with the unlawful use of a motor vehicle, two counts of damage to property, two counts of unlawful entry and recruiting a child to engage in criminal activity.
Two 14-year-old boys were also arrested and will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act.
Four cars stolen
Mr MacLeod said four cars were stolen from the council's vehicle storage facility overnight after the intruders forced their way in via the back door.
"I received a phone call at 1am," Mr MacLeod said.
He said two vehicles were damaged, including a Ford Ranger ute that was used to ram the gates.
The vehicles were fitted with tracking systems and subsequently located.
Mr MacLeod said it was too soon to estimate the cost of the thefts and damage.
"It will be a considerable amount of money," he said.
Mr MacLeod said that the incidents could impact the delivery of some services to the region's 13 remote communities and that council was working with the police.
"We have CCTV footage of the perpetrators," he said.
'Enough is enough'
Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson said the town's business owners and residents were fed up with the situation and the level of crime in the town was affecting people's mental health.
"It's very difficult for people to feel safe here," he said.
Mr Paterson questioned the efficacy of the current bail laws on young people.
"You read in stories that these kids continually break the law, and they continually get let out on bail," he said.
"We need to … [look] at this sensibly and come up with sensible options, because having someone who's committed 100 crimes being out on bail is not OK."
Mr Paterson said that as the mayor he would continue to advocate to both tiers of government, with Liberal and Labour promising $14 million to address crime in Alice Springs.
"The one positive out of the federal government and the opposition making commitments is that now, they obviously know that there is a problem here," he said.
