Thousands of Alice Springs residents have gathered to share grief and anger over years of high property crime rates, with many voicing support for a class action against the Northern Territory government.
WARNING: This story includes racist and offensive language.
The meeting was held amid a national focus on a surge in alcohol-fuelled violence and property crime, with organisers saying business owners and residents have suffered financial loss and physical and emotional damage over several years.
Speaking at a packed convention centre, organiser Garth Thompson said the situation was a result of government "negligence" and residents "deserve to be compensated for what the government has put us through".
"I'm more than proud to stand here and say we, as a community of Alice Springs, are about to sue our government for $1.5 billion in compensation," the business owner told the crowd.
The compensation estimate is based on the number of rate-payers in Alice Springs.
The gathering was cut short after just 20 minutes, as a number of people shouted objections to Mr Thompson's call on the crowd to contact police for a welfare check if they saw "a group of kids, whoever they are, during school time".
While many in the room expressed support, some voiced concern about the tone of the meeting and discussions on social media.
Outside the meeting, one resident used racist language when speaking to the ABC to describe some of the Aboriginal youth from the town.
"The little b**** f***ers are gonna start to get belted, if something doesn't come out of it," the man said.
"They're gonna start getting flogged. And they won't come back [because] we'll take 'em out to the scrub and leave 'em there."
Central Arrernte man Declan Furber Gillick said comments being made threatened to "demonise and continue to criminalise young people".
"It was probably one of the most tense public and social environments that I've ever seen in this town," he told the ABC after the meeting.
Mixed reaction over class action
Mr Thompson said he had been preparing a class action for a couple of weeks and had consulted lawyers.
Both the federal and territory governments have promised to allocate extra money for policing and short-term bottle shop closures, and both have said they were considering re-imposing blanket alcohol bans in Indigenous communities.
A snap review of blanket alcohol bans announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his trip to the town last week is due to be finalised by tomorrow.
However, Mr Thompson said the control measures put forward by the government were "sometimes quite disgusting".
"They have the ability to fix these problems … but they choose not to," he said, "instead, we're all affected.
"We're all controlled and we're all put in a place where we're disadvantaged by their decisions to try [to] fix our problems with a band-aid and it's wrong."
Christine Burke, a local teacher, said she wanted recognition for residents who were fed up with crime in the town but did not support a class action.
"I can't say … that I'm here in favour of suing the Northern Territory government," she said.
"It's really our government, so it'll be our money."
Calls for greater Indigenous voice
Speaking to the ABC after the meeting, Warlpiri elder Robin Japanangka Granites said Aboriginal people were best-placed to connect with the young people who were engaging in criminal behaviour.
"We are the ones who should be talking to the kids, not to white people, because the kids don't understand their language," he said.
Mr Japanangka Granites said he attended the meeting to show his "support for the people of Alice Springs".
"It's sad, because it's our kids that are doing it and we need to support our kids by going and talking to their parents out in community — not here in Alice Springs, because Alice Springs is not their country," he said.
Mr Furber Gillick said he was disappointed Aboriginal elders were not asked to speak at the meeting.
"Those of us who came here for a community meeting ended up listening to 20 to 30 minutes of a local business owner essentially stir up a very emotive narrative centred around the protection of private property," he said.
Opposition compares class action bid to youth justice settlement
In a statement, the Country Liberal Party's member for Braitling, Joshua Burgoyne, said he supported Mr Thompson's class action bid, comparing it to a $35 million settlement reached in 2021 between the NT government and young people who claimed to have been mistreated while in youth detention in the NT.
"Alice Springs residents have been victims of crime as a result of failed NT Labor government policies for the past six years," he said.
"If youth criminals who were in detention centres are able to receive $35 million in damages, surely the people of Alice Spring deserve compensation for failed government policies that have led to a near doubling of property crime over six years."
The settlement between former youth justice detainees and the NT government came after two lead applicants launched a class action in 2016, claiming they were assaulted, abused and falsely imprisoned while in youth detention facilities in Darwin and Alice Springs.
Many spoke of excessive force and isolation, frequent and unnecessary strip searches and lasting trauma.
