Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed for backhanding blame for the Outback’s current crime rampage onto the previous government.
Alice Springs in the Northern Territory has been devastated by a crisis of lawlessness following the lifting of alcohol bans on Indigenous communities.
Mr Albanese flew in on Tuesday to see the chaos firsthand but shrugged off responsibility, saying the previous government allowed alcohol restrictions to expire.
The comment was blasted by 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe on Thursday morning, who called out the PM saying: ‘It’s a lame excuse.
‘It lapsed In July. He became prime minister in May. I couldn’t believe that when I heard that from the Prime Minister. He’s better than that, Anthony Albanese.’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has been slammed for backhanding blame for the Outback’s current crime rampage onto the previous government
The 10-year Stronger Futures program – which restricted access to alcohol in a bid to tackle social issues – ended in July 2022 without being renewed by the Federal Government.
Since the restrictions were lifted, a growing crime spree has seen bottle shops ransacked and youths wielding machetes running amok.
After returning from Alice Spring, Mr Albanese said reinstating the Stronger Futures alcohol restrictions is an option on the table.
The PM was blasted by 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe (pictured) who branded his comments ‘lame’
‘This change was introduced by former Labour government in 2012,’ he said. ‘It lasted for 10 years. The former government chose to allow that to lapse.
‘It had lapsed before the new parliament sat after the election.’
But the PM’s reaction triggered a furious response.
‘How can you possibly blame Scott Morrison and the former government for the problems in Alice Springs?’ questioned O’Keefe.
‘This has been going on for years and years and years and the cold hard facts are the day, the alcohol ban expired and was lifted is when things took a turn for the worse.
Alice Springs in the Northern Territory has been devastated by a lawless crisis following the lifting of alcohol bans on Indigenous communities
‘So since coming to power, Anthony Albanese changed so many things yet apparently he couldn’t bring back the alcohol ban because Scott Morrison and the former Coalition government, let it lapse.
‘Well hello, you’re the Prime Minister. You’ve changed everything else (you can) change that too.
‘You can’t play politics with the human tragedy that is occurring in Alice Springs at the moment.’
The PM said he accepted urgent action was needed in the Outback to counter the crime wave, but said the alcohol bans were just one element.
A growing crime spree has seen bottle shops ransacked with businesses en attacked and broken into by packs of criminals
Youths wielding machetes have been running amok in Alice Springs
He also said the rural communities had relocated to Alice Springs in the wake of outback floods, which had added to local tensions.
‘It’s not a simple issue,’ he told Sky News Australia’s political editor Andrew Clennell.
‘It’s not something that will be worked through with just slogans, but it’s something that does require a response of all levels of government.
It isn’t just alcohol. There’s a range of issues there that go to Indigenous disadvantage that go to a lack of employment.
The PM said rural communities had relocated to Alice Springs in the wake of outback floods, which had added to local tensions with drink and drug abuse (pictured a local allegedly drinking a ‘hand sanitiser cocktail’)
‘There are some specific issues as well, such as the weather. Just prior to Christmas a range of rain events isolated a number of the communities.
‘You had people had come into town in order to get dialysis and bring their families coming in and then they couldn’t get back to their communities.
‘That created problems with a lack of emergency housing, which is why we announced comprehensive plans including emergency housing, CCTV issues, but also extending funding for Family and Community Services.’
Alice Springs locals were quick to mock Mr Albanese as the ‘fly-in fly-out’ or ‘FIFO’ PM after his whirlwind visit to the troubled community on Tuesday.
Alice Springs locals were quick to mock Anthony Albanese as the ‘fly-in fly-out’ or ‘FIFO’ PM after his whirlwind visit to the troubled community on Tuesday
After the visit lasting just a few hours, Mr Albanese was accused of failing to get any in-depth appreciation of the increasing anarchy on the city’s streets.
Up to 200 children reportedly roam the streets at night, breaking into homes and businesses and stealing and burnings cars.
According to videos posted on the Action for Alice Facebook page, the PM’s visit coincided with a stabbing in the Coles-Liquorland car park, and open drinking of a ‘hand sanitiser cocktail’ by a woman in front of children on a main street.
One person posted a picture of the contrail of the PM’s plane, writing ‘Albo leaving 5 mins after the press conference’, which prompted the response: ‘Albo loves his jets. He’s never out of them’.
One person posted a picture of the contrail of the PM’s plane, writing ‘Albo leaving 5 mins after the press conference
Another joked ‘what was the John Denver song … I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again’, and one person questioned if ‘Albo and the rest of the fly in fly outs’ saw the ambulances gathered for an emergency on a town main street.
Others posted ‘Did any of them visit business owners in town’ and ‘word is he was only in town 2 hours then gone’