An alcohol ban will be reinstated for all Aboriginal town camps and communities in the Northern Territory until communities can vote whether or not to opt-out, under new legislation pledged by Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, while the Federal Government has promised $250 million for unspecified projects over an unspecified period of time in central Australia.

In a media release on Monday, Ms Fyles said the NT Government would introduce legislation next week temporarily banning alcohol in town camps and communities. It did not specify if Ms Fyles meant all Indigenous communities in the NT or just in Central Australia, with the headline of the email saying: “A better, safer future for Central Australia”.

However on ABC Alice Springs radio on Monday afternoon Ms Fyles was specifically asked by host Alex Barwick if the alcohol bans were for all Aboriginal communities in the NT and the chief minister said they were but the money was just for central Australia.

A review of alcohol laws was ordered by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a brief crisis visit to Alice Springs on January 24. The bans were lifted in July last year, after the federal government’s Stronger Futures legislation stemming from the 2007 federal Intervention finished.

Ms Fyles said community alcohol plans would be developed in each community and town camps, and they would have to be approved by the Director of Liquor Licensing. Communities that want to opt-out of a dry-zone will need 60 per cent of the population to vote in support of the plan. She did not say how the vote would be undertaken.

“Local areas will be able to choose to remain dry, or select tailored restrictions which work for them,” Ms Fyles reportedly told a press conference.

“We’ve heard loudly and clearly that the matter and decision of alcohol on community needs to be one that is made by the entire community.

“That is why we’re creating a circuit breaker and implementing temporary dry zones until communities can develop and vote on the alcohol management plans.”

The NT News reported the Monday and Tuesday ban on take-away alcohol sales, and reduced trading hours on others days in Alice Springs announced after the crisis meeting with the Prime Minister, would remain.

“We need that to continue,” Ms Fyles is reported to have said.

“We’re seeing benefits from those short term restrictions. These measures have been coupled with increasing compliance tools, such as BDR blitz on premise and also our police blitzing with the Banned Drink Register.”

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Ms Fyles said $250 million would spent by the Federal Government on Central Australia, however the ABC reported the government had rejected Ms Fyles’ request for “needs-based” funding. The Fyles media release did say over what time period the money would be spent.

The spending was described as being used for following:

1. Improved community safety and cohesion – through more youth engagement and diversion programs.
2. Job creation – particularly in the communities that surround Alice Springs – including urgent changes as part of replacing the failed Community Development Program (CDP).
3. Better services – by improving health services in surrounding communities, there will be less pressure on Alice Springs.
4. Preventing and addressing the issues caused by foetal alcohol spectrum disorders – including better responding through the health and justice systems.
5. Investing in families – including by better supporting elders and parents, boosting domestic violence services.
6. On country learning – improving school attendance and completion through caring for culture and country.

The highly-anticipated report by recently appointed Central Australian Regional Controller Dorelle Anderson had not previously been made public, but parts of it leaked to the media show Ms Anderson had recommended the alcohol bans on remote communities be reinstated urgently and “needs-based” funding be increased for the NT to deal with its social problems that have been years in the making.

The 14-page report was finally released with the press release on Monday afternoon.

The immediate reinstatement of alcohol bans had been delayed following crisis talks between Ms Fyles and the Prime Minister in Canberra, with the pair stating the report recommending the bans was to be discussed by their respective cabinets this week and decisions made then.

Last Thursday, Member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour said on radio the Fyles Government had the power to quickly address the problems in Alice Springs by simply legislating for the alcohol bans and called for the bans to be Territory-wide, not just for communities and town camps in Central Aistralia.

Many cite the Fyles Government’s decision not to extend alcohol bans covering more than 400 remote Aboriginal communities and outstations across the NT, affecting about 7000 Territorians, as the catalyst for the increase in crime in Alice Springs and other regions of the NT.

In the months before the Prime Minister’s visit, the Territory Government had little to say publicly about the out-of-control crime in Alice Springs in recent weeks, when it was mostly only being reported in the Northern Territory media. Just before Christmas, Ms Fyles blamed the previous Coalition federal government for letting the Stronger Futures legislation that restricted alcohol to Aboriginal communities end.

“It wasn’t our change in policy — it was the federal Coalition government’s change in policy,” she told the ABC.

“We deal with what we can — we’ve got interim legislation, we’ve got the BDR (banned drinkers register), we’ve got a floor price, we’ve got risk-based licensing.