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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been criticized for blaming the previous government for the ongoing crime rampage in the Outback.
Alice Springs in the Northern Territory has been ravaged by a crisis of lawlessness following the lifting of alcohol bans on indigenous communities.
Albanese flew in on Tuesday to see the chaos firsthand, but shrugged it off, saying the previous government allowed alcohol restrictions to expire.
The comment was criticized by 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe on Thursday morning, who called the PM saying: ‘It’s a lame excuse.
It expired in July. He became prime minister in May. I couldn’t believe that when I heard that from the Prime Minister. It’s better than that, Anthony Albanese.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (pictured) has been criticized for blaming the previous government for the current crime rampage in the Outback.
The 10-year Stronger Futures program, which restricted access to alcohol in an attempt to address social issues, ended in July 2022 without being renewed by the Federal Government.
Since the restrictions were lifted, a rising crime wave has seen bottle shops looted and machete-wielding youths run amok.
After returning from Alice Spring, Albanese said reinstating Stronger Futures’ alcohol restrictions is an option on the table.
The PM was criticized by 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe (pictured), who called his comments “silly”.
“This change was introduced by the previous Labor government in 2012,” he said. ‘It lasted 10 years. The previous government chose to allow that to lapse.
“It had expired before the new parliament met after the elections.”
But the prime minister’s reaction provoked a furious response.
‘How can you blame Scott Morrison and the previous government for the problems in Alice Springs?’ O’Keefe questioned.
“This has been going on for years and years and years and the cold hard facts are the day alcohol ban expired and was lifted when things got worse.
Alice Springs in the Northern Territory has been ravaged by a lawless crisis following the lifting of alcohol bans on indigenous communities.
“So since he came to power, Anthony Albanese changed a lot of things, but apparently he couldn’t bring back alcohol prohibition because Scott Morrison and the previous Coalition government let it lapse.
‘Well, hello, you are the Prime Minister. You have changed everything else (you can) change that too.
“You can’t play politics with the human tragedy that’s taking place in Alice Springs right now.”
The prime minister said he accepted that urgent action was needed in the Outback to counter the crime wave, but said alcohol bans were just one element.
A rising crime wave has seen bottle shops looted with businesses attacked and robbed by gangs of criminals.
Machete-wielding youths have gone wild in Alice Springs
He also said that rural communities had moved to Alice Springs in the wake of inland flooding, raising local tensions.
“It’s not a simple problem,” he told Sky News Australia political editor Andrew Clennell.
‘It is not something that is going to work with slogans, but it is something that requires a response from all levels of government.
It’s not just alcohol. There are a variety of problems there that are disadvantaged by the Indians who are going to lack of employment.
The prime minister said rural communities had moved to Alice Springs in the wake of inland flooding, which had heightened local tensions with drink and drug abuse (pictured, a local reportedly drinking a ‘cocktail of hand sanitizer’)
‘There are also some specific problems, such as the weather. Just before Christmas, a variety of rain events isolated several communities.
‘There were people who had come to the city for dialysis and brought their families and then couldn’t return to their communities.
“That created problems with a lack of emergency housing, which is why we announced comprehensive plans that include emergency housing, CCTV issues, but also expanded funding for Family and Community Services.”
Alice Springs locals were quick to mock Albanese as the ‘in-and-out prime minister’ or ‘FIFO’ after his whirlwind visit to the troubled community on Tuesday.
Alice Springs locals were quick to mock Anthony Albanese as the “prime minister” or “FIFO” after his whirlwind visit to the troubled community on Tuesday.
After the visit, which lasted a few hours, Albanese was accused of failing to gain a deep appreciation of the growing lawlessness on the city’s streets.
According to reports, up to 200 children roam the streets at night, breaking into homes and businesses, and stealing and burning cars.
According to videos posted on Action for Alice’s Facebook page, the prime minister’s visit coincided with a stabbing in the Coles-Liquorland car park and a woman drinking a ‘hand sanitizer cocktail’ in front of children on a street. principal.
One person posted a photo of the PM’s plane contrail, writing “Albo leaving 5 minutes after press conference,” prompting the response: “Albo loves his planes.” He is never outside of them.’
One person posted a photo of the contrail of the PM’s plane and wrote ‘Albo leaving 5 minutes after the press conference.
Another joked ‘what was the John Denver song… I’m leaving on a plane, I don’t know when I’ll be back’, and one person questioned if ‘Albo and the rest fly fly’ saw the ambulances assembled for an emergency on a main street in the city.
Others posted ‘Did any of them visit business owners in town’ and ‘it is said that he was only in town for 2 hours and then left’