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Speaker 1: Shocking vision out of Alice Springs overnight. It's nothing short

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Speaker 1: of horrific. Hundreds of people were involved in wild fighting.

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Speaker 1: Cars destroyed, people tried to break their way into the

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Speaker 1: Todd Tavern. Dozens were going through town reportedly with crow bars.

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Speaker 1: People were in the city, they were armed and they

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Speaker 1: were out of control. Rocks and bricks are seen hurled

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Speaker 1: at windows at the Todd Tavern. It is a town

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Speaker 1: in crisis.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is Jacinta Namba

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Speaker 1: Jimpa Price, the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians and Senator

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Speaker 1: for the Northern Territory. Good morning to you, Senator. Good

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Speaker 1: morning Katie, Senator. I know you're in Canberra at the

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Speaker 1: moment as the Senate is sitting, but last night in

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Speaker 1: Alice Springs it was nothing short of chaotic. What are

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Speaker 1: local saying to you this morning?

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Speaker 2: Locals are absolutely beside themselves. I mean, this is an

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Speaker 2: escalation of violin and writing that we have never well

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Speaker 2: we've never seen in these numbers before and this behavior

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Speaker 2: and it's just hit absolute crisis points. You know, there

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Speaker 2: are long term residents now who are saying, look, I'm

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Speaker 2: just don't I don't want to be here in this

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Speaker 2: community anymore. We've already seen businesses shutting, locals driven away

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Speaker 2: from the crime already. But the ineffectiveness of this government

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Speaker 2: has now led to this crisis point and there needs

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Speaker 2: to be a serious intervention. And so many people are

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Speaker 2: calling for calling for this, you know, whether it's riot squants,

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Speaker 2: whether it's the ads. Peace needs to be restored to

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Speaker 2: the streets of our springs for the benefit of our

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Speaker 2: good citizens.

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Speaker 1: Senator, Are the people that are that are roaming through

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Speaker 1: the town with weapons, reportedly crowbars, throwing rocks? Are they locals?

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Speaker 1: Are they from communities nearby? Why are they there?

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Speaker 2: Look, so my intel tells me that this is an

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Speaker 2: escalation of violence, that there's cultural payback involved, that the

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Speaker 2: recent deaths that have occurred on our streets have ensured

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Speaker 2: that this escalation of violence is taking place. I've heard

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Speaker 2: that some of these who are right in our streets

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Speaker 2: have come from other communities. Which communities I'm not sure yet,

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Speaker 2: but at the moment, you know, none of this is confirmed.

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Speaker 2: But this is what I'm hearing on the ground with

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Speaker 2: the community. But look, this is what happens if this

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Speaker 2: kind of crime and behavior and conduct and use of

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Speaker 2: weapons has been allowed to occur on our streets with

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Speaker 2: very little consequence. Well, now we're seeing what it means

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Speaker 2: when this government has given the signal that it's okay

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Speaker 2: to behave this way on our streets. Because they are

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Speaker 2: absolutely useless at dealing with this issue and they need

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Speaker 2: to call for help because they are out of their depths.

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Speaker 1: Now, Jacenter, you stood up in Parliament earlier this week

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Speaker 1: and said the Northern Territory government needs to step up.

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Speaker 1: But has this gone way too far?

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Speaker 2: Now?

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Speaker 1: I mean it seems to me, and I've heard the

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Speaker 1: Mayor Matt Patterson earlier this morning. He's going to join

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Speaker 1: us in a couple of minutes. He's saying the FEDS

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Speaker 1: need to step in, and they need to step in now.

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Speaker 2: Look, it's the Northern Territory government needs to ask for

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Speaker 2: support from the FEDS. That's when something will happen on

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Speaker 2: a federal level. They have to admit that they are

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Speaker 2: incapable of dealing with this current situation and they need

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Speaker 2: support on the ground. You know, it is absolutely horrific

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Speaker 2: the violence that took place at the sixteen year old.

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Speaker 2: I stood in Parliament and I made it very bloody

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Speaker 2: clear that anyone who wants to participate in traditional cultural

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Speaker 2: payback needs to be condemned. We cannot accept this violence.

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Speaker 2: I don't care whether it's you know, it's accepted in

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Speaker 2: traditional forms or it's used it as excuse to carry on.

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Speaker 2: It is unacceptable and all community members, indigenous non indigenous

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Speaker 2: leaders of all colors and stripes need to stand up

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Speaker 2: and condemn this behavior and call on this territory government

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Speaker 2: to do something immediate about these circumstances.

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Speaker 1: To Centerprice, I want to read the statement out to

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Speaker 1: you that the Chief Minister's office has sent through to

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Speaker 1: us this morning. Eva Laula says, the scenes in Alice

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Speaker 1: Springs yesterday were horrific, unacceptable and we never want to

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Speaker 1: see anything like that again in the territory. I'm fed

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Speaker 1: up with this appalling level of crime and anti social behavior.

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Speaker 1: The community has had enough, and so have I. The

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Speaker 1: Chief Minister says police have apprehended the people who are involved.

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Speaker 1: They did an excellent job in difficult circumstances. She goes

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Speaker 1: on to say the Commissioner and the Territory Safety Division

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Speaker 1: are in Alice Springs now and the TSD will remain

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Speaker 1: in Alice Springs for the foreseeable future. She goes on

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Speaker 1: to say, I know police need more support, and that's

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Speaker 1: why I'm working on a comprehensive plan to boost resources

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Speaker 1: to police and lower crime.

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Speaker 2: Is that enough? It's too little, too bloody late. And yes,

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Speaker 2: don't think of this situation as the end of what's

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Speaker 2: going on. You know, we're putting a bill through parliament

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Speaker 2: that will make it a crime to actually post on

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Speaker 2: social media crimes that are being committed, which we know

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Speaker 2: have been happening and occurring, and that young people, youth

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Speaker 2: criminals have been posting. We're doing our but where we can,

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Speaker 2: but no more needs to be done by this government. No,

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Speaker 2: it's not good enough. You can't say one day, as

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Speaker 2: she did the other day, that oh, the crime situation

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Speaker 2: isn't that bad, ignore it for it to skyrocket within

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Speaker 2: you know, within a moment, it's just not good enough.

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Speaker 2: These measures should have been put in place a long

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Speaker 2: time ago, and not where it's escalated to absolute crisis point.

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Speaker 2: They need to call on the federal government to support

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Speaker 2: even further. Pime minutester Albanesi. He needs to pull his

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Speaker 2: finger out. You know the laugh I heard when he

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Speaker 2: went to up to Catherine to Binjari community. He did

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Speaker 2: a he did a media conference with the backdrop ignored

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Speaker 2: the community altogether. They're up in arms about that. But

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Speaker 2: again he continues to ignore what's going on in central Australia.

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Speaker 2: He can't do it anymore or Australian citizens of all

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Speaker 2: colors and backgrounds. And we need the support of our

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Speaker 2: Prime Minister in these circumstances because the Chief Ministry of

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory has failed.

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Speaker 1: Senator, I know you are pressed for time, but what

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Speaker 1: does the Prime Minister of Australia need to do today

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Speaker 1: to sort this issue out or to at least help

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Speaker 1: to sort this issue out in our.

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Speaker 2: Well. He needs to pour more resources in immediately. I mean,

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Speaker 2: I think the good people of Alice Springs need to

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Speaker 2: feel like they're safe, like they can go out on

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Speaker 2: the community into their community, do their shopping, take their

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Speaker 2: kids to school, pick their kids up from school and

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Speaker 2: know that they are safe. So if that means a

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Speaker 2: presence of our ads on the ground, just to show

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Speaker 2: that this government actually cares that people's safety and concerns

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Speaker 2: are being taken seriously, that I think a visual presence

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Speaker 2: is absolutely what's needed. As I said, don't think that

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Speaker 2: it'll just calm down from now, because if it's payback circumstances,

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Speaker 2: it'll be tick for tat for a long time to

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Speaker 2: come and that needs to be taken into did consideration.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that there could be more violence to

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Speaker 1: come today, tomorrow, in the coming weeks.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, Look, absolutely, you know this is the sort of

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Speaker 2: thing that takes place out in communities. We are seeing

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Speaker 2: what has taken place in communities where these circumstances have

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Speaker 2: not been sorted out. In communities, it's now filling into

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Speaker 2: Alice Springs, and Alice Springs is now being treated like

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Speaker 2: a larger remote community basically where people think that they

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Speaker 2: can just go about acting out violently creating what they

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Speaker 2: think is justifiable payback, and it is not. It is

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Speaker 2: not acceptable on any level whatsoever. And this is what

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Speaker 2: I've been trying to say, you know, the arguments that

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Speaker 2: we've got to respect traditional culture and we've got to

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Speaker 2: work with communities. No, it's one law, one law for

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Speaker 2: all of us. We're all Australian citizens and we should

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Speaker 2: all be governed to the same expectations right across the

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Speaker 2: board under the same law.

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Speaker 1: Just center now, PA jimber Price. We had actually gotten

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Speaker 1: you on to speak about the boasting and posting changes

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Speaker 1: that the federal opposition is proposed. We're going to have

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Speaker 1: to talk to you about that another day because the

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Speaker 1: issues in Alice Springs have totally overcome everything else that

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Speaker 1: we're planning on talking about this morning. I really appreciate

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Speaker 1: you taking the time to chat with us, and we

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Speaker 1: will talk to you again very soon.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Katie, thank you