Anthony Albanese has responded after he was criticized for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it visit to an Outback area plagued by youth crime.
The Prime Minister is in the Northern Territory starting Wednesday as part of a pre-election campaign in several states, with the federal vote due to be held before May.
ABC News Breakfast presenter Stephanie March asked the Labor leader if he was visiting youth crime capital Alice Springs after Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price criticized Mr Albanese for “blink and you’ll miss it”.
“Well, I was in the Northern Territory for three days,” Mr Albanese replied, tersely.
‘Jacinta Price was not present on Christmas Day for the 50th anniversary of the Cyclone Tracy commemoration. That was a really important event.
‘I was there from the 23rd to Christmas Day in the Northern Territory.
“This visit will be my 12th visit to the Northern Territory – more visits than the three Liberal prime ministers who preceded me visited during their almost decade in office.”
Albanese spent Christmas Day in Darwin, unveiling a memorial to the victims of one of the worst natural disasters to hit Australia.
ABC News Breakfast presenter Stephanie March asked the Labor leader if he was going to visit youth crime capital Alice Springs after Nationals senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price criticized Mr Albanese (pictured) for “blinking and You’ll miss it.”
Senator Price said people in the NT were afraid to sleep in their own beds at night.
But March interrupted to ask if he would visit Alice Springs, where a newborn baby suffered a fractured skull in a terrifying home invasion last month.
“We are now seeing South Australia sending police to help with the situation,” Ms March said.
“Obviously you have donated $250 million to try to improve the situation there, but it seems very serious. And don’t you plan to visit us to see if that money is working?
Albanese insisted he had been to Alice Springs on two previous occasions.
“I have visited all parts of the Northern Territory, whether Darwin, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, Alice Springs, Uluru,” he replied.
But it is not the first time Albanese has been accused of escaping from the crime-plagued city of Alice Springs.
In January 2023, he spoke to the mayor, police officials and indigenous leaders in the area about intolerable youth crime rates following a national outcry.
Mr Albanese threw his support behind a series of strict measures by the Northern Territory Government, including a three-month ban on alcohol sales on Mondays and Tuesdays, with customers limited to one transaction per day at bottle shops.
In recent years, crime rates have skyrocketed in Alice Springs. For example, in 2022, alcohol-related assaults increased by almost 70 percent (pictured: CCTV footage of youths attacking a local pub)
A restrictive sales period of 3pm to 7pm was also introduced in an effort to curb grog-fueled violence.
He stayed in Alice Springs for about four hours before he was seen drinking beer and eating ice cream at the Australian Open days later.
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accused the Prime Minister of failing to show strong leadership on the youth crime crisis.
“(He) wasn’t there at night and didn’t see the violence that happens every night in the streets,” he said after his last visit.
‘I didn’t see the desperation and desperation that especially women and children are experiencing.
‘And then they announced some measures, but immediately the local population asks for more.
‘I think we need stronger leadership; “We need the Prime Minister to step up and do more to support this community.”
Businessman and Aboriginal leader Warren Mundine also accused Albanese of “flying around the country and having a good time going to sporting events and drinking” while “the country is suffering”.
In recent years, crime rates have skyrocketed in Alice Springs.
For example, in 2022, alcohol-related assaults increased almost 70 percent.
The issue has gained national notoriety in recent weeks after a two-month-old baby was left with a skull fracture during a home invasion and a woman was allegedly raped in her home by an unknown man.
In 2024, the Albanese government committed to a $250 million support package for the hinterland, with funds earmarked to help tackle crime levels in Alice Springs.