As crime rates in Alice Springs are again highlighted this week, debate continues over a suite of temporary alcohol restrictions imposed on the embattled town, due to expire at the end of the month. 

The alcohol restrictions, including purchase limits and restricted opening hours for takeaway alcohol venues, were introduced by Chief Minister Natasha Fyles in January for a three-month “trial”, in a bid to curb surging rates of alcohol-fuelled crime and violence.

Speaking to ABC Alice Springs last week, Ms Fyles said her government was considering continuing some of the takeaway alcohol restrictions, but was yet to announce a formal position.

It comes as the federal opposition leader visited the town this week, where he called for urgent action on rates of crime in the town.

Reputation precedes town

Spokesman for the People’s Alcohol Action Coalition, John Boffa, thinks current restrictions should remain in place for another twelve months in order to have a real impact — and a trade-off is required for progress.

“We’ve implemented measures which have had a big impact on improving safety back to baseline levels,” he said.

“We can get rid of Monday and Tuesday takeaway-free days [but] it will make the town less safe.

Lhere Artepe, the organisation representing native title holders in Alice Springs, is pursuing a range of measures to boost community safety — including a First Nations-run night patrol through the town.

Chief executive Graeme Smith says Lhere Artepe — which operates three supermarkets, with bottle shops attached through its enterprise arm — can play a role in surveying the community’s attitude towards alcohol consumption.

“We want to go house to house and collect all sorts of data and information that can help us lobby and advocate, and give a clear lens to what’s going on,” he said. 

Concerns for tourism, business

As the tourism season begins in Central Australia, there are concerns restrictions are leading tourists to bypass Alice Springs.

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson supported the introduction of the alcohol restrictions, but raised concerns the closures of takeaway alcohol stores on Mondays and Tuesdays could now be hurting tourism in the red centre.

“If restricted hours on Monday and Tuesday can go back, we’ll wait and see if that makes a difference,” he said. 

Mayor Patterson believes the restriction of one transaction per person per day should continue — a perspective shared by chief executive of Hospitality NT, Alex Bruce. 

Mr Bruce says industry members “see the value” in keeping the measure in place, but believes takeaway alcohol should be made available on Mondays and Tuesdays to draw tourists to the town.

“When you hit the road on a long road trip, you lose track of what’s Monday, what’s a Friday, what’s a Saturday or Sunday. It becomes irrelevant,” he said.

Ms Fyles, who is also the minister for alcohol policy, is expected to provide further clarity on the future of alcohol restrictions next week.

The latest data from NT Police detailing levels of crime across the territory is also due to be released next Friday.