UPDATED: The three-day curfew for Alice Springs will not be extended, Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has determined, despite a massive street fight involving 100 people armed with weapons in the troubled town on Wednesday afternoon and a man making threats to a group in the CBD overnight, with the government now pledging to return visitors to their homes.
The streets of Alice Springs that had grown quiet following a 72-hour “public disorder declaration” erupted in violence on Wednesday afternoon, as dozens of people fought in the CBD with weapons, including machetes and spears, before police were able to restore order.
Two bars have been shut for the next two days during the “public disorder declaration” in Alice Springs due to “riotous conduct” by patrons, while a local business had three vehicles stolen during the first night of the latest curfew, which political leaders say is not a proper solution to the town’s underlying problems.
Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has ordered a three-day curfew for Alice Springs following days of serious incidents in the troubled town, that saw four off-duty police officers bashed and robbed over the weekend and another officer run over by a car outside a bottle shop late last week.
Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech’s big spending on travel continued in the past financial year, racking up nearly a third of all ministerial travel across the NT himself, records show, including claiming “offical allowance” expenses under “other” costs, which has raised further questions about how the government is acquitting ministerial travel.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged for allegedly committing an indecent act on a child between the ages of 12 and 16, NT Police said.
The iconic Alice Springs Henley-on-Todd Regatta has been cancelled this year by organisers following problems filing for grants and securing a manager for the volunteer-run event.
A man has been charged with rape, depravation of liberty, aggravated assault, and strangulation, along with other offences over an alleged domestic violences attack, NT Police said.
A teenager was the victim of a pushbike jacking in Alice Springs when a group threatened him with an unspecified edged weapon, NT Police said.
Two Alice Springs paramedics feared for their lives, and the life of their patient, when they were threatened by a bystander with a knife, the union representing paramedics said.
A man was treated in Alice Springs Hospital for head and chest injuries after being kicked and punched and assaulted with a blunt weapon, while trying to stop his attacker from damaging his car, NT Police said.
Police are looking for an 16-year-old Alice Springs girl who has not been seen since Wednesday night.
