The besieged residents of Alice Springs were forced to endure another terrifying weekend of out-of-control crime as the nation’s top politicians mingled at a $5,000 apiece Top End festival.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australian Indigenous Minister Linda Burney and several prominent Voice activists were among those in attendance at the Garma Festival in remote north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, the country’s largest indigenous gathering.

Tickets for the festival cost up to $5,000 per ticket, and much of the celebrations centered around a push for a constitutionally enshrined Voice in Parliament. Australians will be asked to vote on the proposal in a referendum between October and December this year.

But 1,700 km south of the festival, Alice Springs was caught up in a crime wave in which a bus was robbed from a nursing home, the airport and university were raided and several car windows were smashed.

Locals reported that the Alice Springs Old Timers Aged Care Home shuttle bus was stolen overnight on Saturday, the same night that CCTV footage shows children loitering inside the airport hangar.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Minister for Indigenous Australia Linda Burney and several prominent Voice activists were among those in attendance at the Garma Festival in remote north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

“The town’s residents are looking forward to their bus rides, even (those) living with dementia know what days the bus rides are,” one person said.

‘Unfortunately this is our only bus for Old Timers residents. Don’t these kids realize they are possibly stealing from their own grandparents/elders?

‘This is extremely upsetting and disappointing! Now we’ll have to explain why we can’t go by bus for who knows how long.

Extraordinary CCTV footage shows the Alice Springs Aero Club was attacked a short time later.

Four criminals were roaming the hangar where three small planes were located, using flashlights on their phones to snoop around the premises.

At least one of the people caught on the tape appeared to be wielding an axe.

His face was partially covered by a face mask and a black hood from his sweater as he raised the ax towards the CCTV camera.

Four criminals were roaming the hangar where three small planes were located, using flashlights on their phones to snoop around the premises.

Several car windows were smashed over the weekend

Albanese reiterated his promise to hold the referendum this year, despite calls to postpone it amid dwindling support for the ‘Yes’ vote.

Police revealed that a commercial vehicle was stolen from the site and are calling anyone with information to come forward.

The incident has sparked massive concerns in the community that the planes may have been “rigged”. Others have questioned whether the incident should qualify as an ‘act of terrorism’.

The Charles Sturt University campus in Sadadeen was also raided the same night, shortly after 1 a.m. There, the criminals “caused significant damage to the building and its contents,” police said.

Another incident occurred 15 minutes later at a government office.

Frustrated locals say they are desperate, pointing out that the politicians were in the NT at the weekend celebrating at the Garma Festival and promoting their Voice in Parliament.

Tickets for the festival started at $1,650 for school students, $2,750 for adults and $5,000 for a corporate pass.

Images show broken windows in the office that was attacked

Garma is an annual festival held on the sacred ground of Gumatj Bunggul in Gulkula every year in August.

Albanese, who struggled to contain her emotions several times during the impassioned speech, used it as a call for Australians to vote Yes in the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous Voice in Parliament.

“The form of constitutional recognition that they are asking for is a Voice, not our sympathy, not a symbol, but a vehicle for progress,” he told the crowd.

‘A practical tool to improve the lives of your children. Not just something that feels good, something that will do good, that will make a positive difference.

‘Australians should be equally clear about what it means to vote no.

It is more of the same. Not just turning down the opportunity to do better, but accepting that what we have is somehow good enough.’

Albanese reiterated his promise to hold the referendum this year, despite calls to postpone it amid dwindling support for the ‘Yes’ vote.

“This referendum will not be delayed or postponed,” he said.

‘We will not deny the urgency of this moment. We will not kick the can down the road, abandon substance for symbolism, or retreat into platitudes at the expense of progress.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has declined an invitation to the festival on the grounds that the event will be a ‘sweetheart’ for the Yes campaign.

Australians will go to the polls to vote on the referendum later this year. In the photo: Mr. Albanese shakes hands with Mr. Djawa Yunupingu during the Garma Festival