Now, as I mentioned just a little while ago, we know the Australian newspaper is today reporting the two teenage boys who allegedly broke into the home in Alice Springs and struck a woman with the medal freezer handle so hard that it rebounded, hitting a two month old baby, causing a brain bleed and fractured skull. The Australian reporting they had collectively been charged with almost three hundred other offenses and bailed thirty five times, and they were currently on bail now. The Australian also revealing that one of the teenagers involved in that alleged home invasion, who struck the infant and its mother with the metal handle, was on bail for a string of other violent offenses. His alleged accomplice had been charged with a separate assault just two days before the latest incident and was also on bail. The first team, the seventeen year old, had been previously charged with nineteen offenses and bailed ten times, while the other sixteen years old had been charged with two hundred and seventy four offenses and bailed twenty five times. Now joining me on the line right now is the Senator for the Northern Territory and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. Just center number jimper Price. Good morning to you, Senator, Good.
Morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
Senator, First off, how are you feeling in Alice Springs? How the people of Alice Springs feeling today after what happened yesterday? And as further detail starts to emerge about these alleged defenders.
Look, locals are a bit beside themselves in Alice at the moment. I think we're really at a point, at a real breaking point where I fear that, you know, if this situation can't be brought under control, that the next thing will be that a local will lash out, someone will get seriously hurt. Whether that's an offender, we're a the last draw for a community member or someone you know will end up dead. It's just really, you know, the community is strained. It's become our new normal, and a community shouldn't have to feel like we're all living precariously on tenderhooks. I mean, I reported the strange behavior of a vehicle full of young men on my street last night. You sort of think is my house going to be next am? I going to be the next home invasion, you.
Know you and both you and Marian scrim Draw both said that to me in the last you know, in the last twenty four hours. You're both Indigenous women who've lived in the Northern Territory for a long long time, and you know I raised here. For you to feel like that is appalling.
Yeah, it is absolutely appalling. You know, there are times when I've called the police and I've stated who I am, because I know that being the Senator I can get a sort of incidant a reaction. But you know, my concern is for regular community members who don't have the opportunity of don't have a title where they can get a swifter response to possibly anything that's going on. But yeah, no, I should not have to feel this way in my hometown, the town that I've grown up in, the town that felt like such a wonderful community as a kid, feeling so completely unsafe as it is right now.
Justin to where do we go from here? I mean, like to me, after reading this article in the Australian newspaper this morning by Leam Mendez, and you know, reading that, we now know that these two youths involved in the home invasion that fractured the skull of a baby girl were allegedly on bail and collectively reportedly charged with almost three hundred other offenses and bailed thirty five times. Like to me, there's a really clear breakdown here.
There absolutely isn't. For years, I've been you know, I've been stating the fact that because we have the highest rates of DV of sexual assault, of sexual abuse within indigenous communities, and we can't shy away from the fact that these perpetrators are predominantly Indigenous, we can't shy away from why we've got young people who are so detached from society as we do. Because the systems that are there to try to supposed to protect vulnerable children exposed to all of these things have utterly, utterly failed them. And so these young offenders have no doubt, have had miserable, horrible upbringings. But you know, the there are those of a leftist ideology who think that being connected to culture and country is going to save us. Well, that's a load of nonsense because the function the culture is dysfunctional as it is. There's no respect for older people, there's no respect for babies. Now, we're having a situation where mothers and children are coming under attack, and so one we've got to actually protect vulnerable children and take them away from the dysfunction and put them in homes that are going to look after them, that are going to uphold the human rights. They're going to make sure they get a bloody education and a pathway to employment and a meaningful life. No more can we carry on about colonization and connection to country and culture. It's basic to every human being that growing up free of violence, free of sexual abuse, and getting an education are the key things that we need to ensure happens. And you know what we've had, We've we've had a federal government that's thrown money at this situation. Labour think they can throw money at a situation and it fixes it. Well, it doesn't. It might prop up votes in average organizations that will go out and make sure that labor gain votes, but it is not going to fix the situation. And we need to hold to account those organizations that are supposed to provide outcomes that simply are not doing that.
Do we need a closer look at the judicial system here as well? I mean, if you've got people being bailed that many times, don't We need to start asking questions of.
Why, absolutely we do. The judicial system is responsible for what is happening to our communities, and a judicial system needs to step up to ensure that we are protecting vulnerable victims. I mean, it's the same with the DVS situation, where DV perpetrators are getting off, you know, having short sentences and going back out and reoffending, and then vulnerable individuals are ending up being killed as a result, ending up being murdered as a result. We need to step up. We can't continue to look at this situation like it's a racial thing, like it's a black and white thing, and treating one group of people differently to another. In our society, an offender is an offender and needs to be treated as such. You know, it's funny when the leader of the opposition in the Northern Territory wants to criticize the current government, Well, they failed miserably. The reason we're in this state is because of their ongoing failures. You know, I'm pleased that the criminal age of responsibility was lowered because there's plenty of arguments to this, But when you allow a child to offend and offend and reoffend, then you are creating an absolute criminal sometimes these kids, if they're put in detention, that if the detention environment needs to be such that it is a better environment where you know, they can gain things perhaps like an education while they're in being detained, but they're getting there somewhere for them to sleep, where they're not you know, vulnerable to sexual abuse and violence, where they're getting meals and all of those sorts of things. And that's what should be going on a level of rehabilitation of these young people if they are in fact locked up and we can't pushy foot around anymore. Like enough is enough.
Yeah, everyone's had an absolute gutful. We've had a gutful for a long time. But you know, the way that this has escalated in the last few weeks has been terrible. I mean, to think that a woman was allegedly raped while she slept inside her home in Alice Springs, as a woman in Alice Springs, like yourself, like, I can only imagine how scared people must be feeling. You'd be thinking, how heavily can I lock up my house? Yeah?
Absolutely, even I mean even having dogs a sort of guard dogs. The dogs are being attacked as well. I mean, dogs are being slashed. You know, It's like, what do we have to do. And if someone is to defend their own home and use violence to defend their own home, then they're going to end up being on the end of a charge, which you know, to me, it just seems it seems like that's where this is all ending up, and that's the only option that locals are being left with. I mean, look, I'm pleased that there is As I mentioned, I called to report odd behavior on my street last night and the response was swift. Within five or ten minutes, there was a patrol car patrolling the street. So I'm pleased with that reaction at the minute. And you know, I'm pleased that there's still the option of, you know, further support with police resources federally should we need it going forward. But I just you know, this whole the new laws that the CLP have brought in, the new government have brought in are going to have to take effect and I certainly look forward to that and the work that's going to be that is being planned going ahead.
Do you think that I mean, you touched on it, then the Federal Police and this is a this has been something that's come up over the last couple of days, and we are going to catch up with the Police Association about this in just a couple of moments. I mean, are we in a situation where an authern territory police need assistance from the federal police or do you think we've got it under control? And the reality is, you know that we actually we need to start seeing the judicial system work for us.
Look, absolutely, the judicial system needs to kick in a hell of a lot better than what it has done. But I also feel as though there needs to be a backup in terms of our police. And while I can appreciate that if police are brought in from into state that they need to sort of undergo a level of training, and it was put to me that it would require about sixteen weeks or so for them to understand and adapt to the territory laws and policing system. But I almost feel as though there should be a task force, you know, perhaps police from interostate that do undergo that that can be called on should we need them at any stage to say that, you know, I guess right now, if we were to bring am in, it would take that long. Well, I just would hate to get to a point where there is something even further escalated than what we've already been through to prompt you know, those police coming in and then undergoing a sixteen week training program for them. I just feel like there should be a task force available to us at any stage should we need them, if we need the backup, just.
Very quickly before I let you go. I mean, when you look at the response from the Prime Minister and from the federal government, do you like, do they need to be doing more right now?
They need to stop wasting money on organizations where for instance, some of their leadership has a DV perpetrator on the board, you know, and funding the organizations like that for their DV programs, and also an expectation of these organizations that are in receipt of federal funding that they prove their outcomes to be continued to be funded. And I don't think we should be well. I know that if at the next election, if worth successful in winning government and I become a Minister for Indigenous Australians, that I will revisit the closing the gap framework so that we're not just cycling off money. Specifically to just indigenous led organize because we know in the Northern Territory, particularly that there are many wonderful organizations doing great work and providing outcomes, but don't receive hearty amount of money that an indigenous organization is because they can't call themselves an indigenous organization. I mean, even our own town council can't deliver on closing the gap because they're not an Aboriginal organization. But they take care of an entire community where there's a great percentage of Indigenous Territorians that live. And so there's things like that that need to change. But I feel, you know, the Albanesi government just aren't interested in those sorts of reforms. It's actually getting up off their backside and doing some work, and they're just not interested in that. They're interested in lip service and throwing money at an issue and expecting that that money is somehow going to change the situation. Well, clearly it has not done that since Albow did his four hours on the ground announcing that money before he went off to the tennis.
Yeah, well that's the thing. We're not seeing a change at this point despite all of that money being thrown at Central Australia Senator. I really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you very much for having a chat with us. Let us know if anything does happen over the weekend that we should be aware of. No way, thank thank you, Thanks so much.