Continuing low-level riots in Woodroffe that saw up to 50 people fighting in the streets on Wednesday night and a car set on fire, meet the criteria for a curfew to be called similar to Alice Springs, the independent Member for Blain has said, while NT Police described the latest incident as a ‘disturbance’ of up to 20 people.

Police director of communications Mark Wilton said that about 8:25pm Wednesday, emergency services received reports of a ‘disturbance’ involving up to 20 people in the vicinity of Sibbald Crescent, in Woodroffe.

“Several members of the group have allegedly damaged a nearby parked red Ford Fiesta before allegedly ramming the vehicle with a red Toyota Land Cruiser,” Mr Wilton said.

“The offenders have allegedly set the Ford Fiesta alight, and fled the scene in the Land Cruiser.”

Mr Wilton said firefighters extinguished the fire with no injuries reported and the Land Cruiser was found abandoned a short distance away.

But Independent MLA Mark Turner said the incident fit the description of a low-level riot under legislation, which he said was enough to make a public disorder declaration, commonly known as a curfew, which has been done in Alice Springs twice this year.

Mr Turner said there were more people on the street than police had said, adding that similar low-level riots had been happening in the area since he was a policeman, a career which ended in 2020 when he became a politician.

“If they are going to do it in Alice Springs, what happened in Woodroffe last night meets the threshold of that new legislation,” Mr Turner said.

The Lawler Labor Government rushed legislation through Parliament in May that gave the Police Commissioner the power to declare a “public disorder” situation for three days, with a maximum seven-day extension that would have to be approved by the Police Minister.

The declaration gives police powers to deal with “social disturbances” including to “control the movement of people in order to prevent, stop or reduce public disorder” in a specific area of a town and restricting who enters that area.

The first curfew for Alice Springs was called in March because of a riot on the street involving warring families, with another called in early July, following a large disturbance involving the same warring families, but that order was not extended despite another massive street fight involving 100 people armed with weapons in the troubled town.

Mr Turner said the problems in Woodroffe centred around two unit blocks in Emery Avenue where people from remote communities came to stay with relatives who are residents, and who felt culturally obligated to allow them to stay, despite the overcrowding and the violence that resulted. He added that Territory Housing told him it could not do anything because the people were guests of the residents.

“Nobody actually taking responsibility, if we had proper police responses, after 24 hours of this happening there would be enough cops deployed on a special operation before it turns into pouring petrol into cars,” Mr Turner said.

“The police who respond don’t have the power to stop it, there are not enough of them. You can only stretch the thin blue line so far before it snaps. And because of the Zach Rolfe shemozzle, police are too scared to police.

“If we don’t address this, it is going to lead to vigilantism, it is a well studied phenomenon. We are seeing it in Europe now, especially in the UK.

“They have had riots there over the last 48 hours. People feel powerless over their own community.

“All we want is the same level of service that ICAC get. If they can protect the ICAC from the dangerous editor Christopher Walsh, they can protect the good citizens of Woodroffe.”

After the issue on the street last night, Mr Turner wrote to Police Minister Brent Potter, Housing Minister Ngaree Ah Kit, Police Commissioner Michael Murphy and Territory Families, Housing and Communities chief executive officer Emma White.

“I share the mounting frustration and anger that our community in Woodroffe are expressing,” he wrote.

“We are enduring unrelenting criminal behaviour, particularly around Emory Avenue. We are facing multiple fights, cars hooning around, and numerous incidents of criminal damage to private properties including random smashing and fences.

“The situation has disrupted peace completely; our community cannot sleep at night and does not feel safe to go outside. The urgency cannot be overstated.

“Despite the community’s proactive efforts to seek help, there is a notable absence of police response. Constituents report that calls to the police often go unanswered and those that do get through are not met with sufficient action.

“The current social order response is grossly inadequate, with the limited police presence being overwhelmed by the sheer number of offenders to officers against 30 to 50 people cannot possibly restore order.

“We understand, and deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of the rank and file police officers and public housing staff. However, their systematic issues or lack of adequate resources hinder their ability to respond effectively to urgent situations…

“When issues are isolated I have been attending to them myself. If two police officers are unable to resolve it, do I need to get injured to spur government’s action?”

NT Police issued the press release detailing some of what happened on Wednesday night, but have not issued press releases about what has been happening in the recent past, despite the omissions seeming to breach the agency’s transparency guidelines.

Serious Crime detectives are asking anyone with footage, or who witnessed the incidents in Sibbald Crescent overnight, to call them on 131 444 (quote reference NTP2400074740), or make an anonymous report by calling Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a report through the website.