The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner has thrown her support behind recommendations that takeaway alcohol bans be immediately reinstated in Indigenous communities across Central Australia.
The freshly installed Regional Controller, Dorrelle Anderson, was last week tasked by the NT and federal governments with recommending a way forward on alcohol policy in and around Alice Springs, following a serious uptick in crime and violence in the outback town.
That report was delivered on Wednesday but has not yet been made public.
It reportedly recommends a return to blanket grog restrictions in First Nations communities.
In a statement, social justice commissioner June Oscar said the recommendation that alcohol bans return was "consistent with community calls".
"Limiting access to and consumption of alcohol in the Alice Springs region in the short term will provide communities with the breathing space they need to develop long-term solutions to the systemic problems which underpin the unrest," she said.
The commissioner said the Territory government had ignored the joint call from all major Aboriginal service groups in the NT to extend the bans, which Chief Minister Natasha Fyles argued as "just one view".
"If governments had listened to and acted on the advice of community in Alice and beyond, a very different approach would have happened long ago," Ms Oscar said.
"In Alice, if community had been listened to before July 2022, then we would not be in the midst of the crisis we are witnessing right now."
'Race-based' language criticised
Member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour has also supported the return of alcohol bans to Central Australia, and called on the NT government to abandon its "race- based" criticism of the restrictions in "the interests of young people".
"A lot of them are on the street because their homes aren't safe, so if we look at it through the lenses of protecting young people, it's not race-based."
The NT government has not yet committed to fully implementing the report's recommendations, but Ms Scrymgour said this could be a condition of the Territory receiving the "needs-based" funding it had long advocated for.
The NT government has argued it needs a larger share of the GST because of its disproportionate social disadvantage.
"If they want the needs-based funding to come into the NT, I think that they've got to work with the federal government to make sure that we can sort out the issue in Alice Springs," Ms Scrymgour said.
"The federal government has always said we don't want to intervene."
NT Opposition says it would act
The Country Liberal Party said it would immediately reinstate alcohol bans if it were in government, with shadow attorney-general Steve Edgington saying the party would also carry out widespread consultation on the policy's future.
"We would get out there and consult with the people of Central Australia, put in place alcohol management plans for the cessation of stronger futures in July 2022," he said.
"None of this was done by the Labor government."
As the Member for Barkly, Mr Edgington said he was still waiting for clarity on whether or not Ms Anderson's report made recommendations that included his region.
"'I'm not aware of any consultation taking place in the Barkly to determine what should be in that report."
The NT government has been contacted for comment.
