Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has introduced her government’s new alcohol ban legislation for remote communities on urgency to Parliament that will effectively reinstate former federal laws that lapsed last year after previously saying she would not implement the bans.

The Fyles Government was pressured to reinstate the grog bans after weeks of national media coverage and by the federal government, despite Ms Fyles previously calling the bans “race-based policy”.

The bill passed Parliament on Tuesday night and is expected to be in effect later this week.

The backflip will see alcohol restrictions temporarily reinstated for remote communities including town camps around Alice Springs that will see residents prevented from purchasing alcohol until such time as alcohol management plans are in place and a vote in the community is held to opt out of the bans.

Although the Opposition CLP said they would support the rushed legislation, Ms Fyles faced criticism during Question Time on Tuesday, with Leader Lia Finocchiaro blasting Ms Fyles for not taking decisive action last year and for allowing the federal Stronger Futures legislation to lapse with nothing in place to deal with the fallout.

“You ignored indigenous leaders,” Ms Finocchiaro told Ms Fyles.

“You ignored health staff. You ignored our police. You ignored your own Labor senators. You ignored your own Riley alcohol review. You ignored local business owners and you ignored 3000 people who gathered in Alice Springs, who had absolutely had enough. Chief Minister, if you won’t listen to territories, how can they have confidence in your government?

“The government has had eight long months to deal with the Stronger Futures legislation … the Chief Minister has been the alcohol [policy] Minister for that time. And now Territorians have suffered eight long months of suffering and carnage at your hands because of your failure to do your job.”

Ms Fyles avoided taking responsibility for the spike in crime and alcohol-related assaults that followed the lifting of the alcohol bans last July, blaming the former Coalition federal government for not continuing the grog bans.

“The Coalition were walking away from this legislation, that there was the cessation of stronger futures at a Commonwealth level, and it’s important to note that the Stronger Futures legislation came from the intervention which disempowered so many Aboriginal territories,” Ms Fyles said.

“We believe in listening to all Territorians including Aboriginal Territorians. And the views that they hold.

“This is not the intervention, this is Northern Territory legislation.”

However, independent Member for Mulka Yingiya Guyula told the ABC the Fyles Labor Government was still not listening to Indigenous Territorians.

“This is something that is once again being imposed on people without consultation,” he said.

“People making decisions on behalf of the Indigenous people here – this is not the way it should be.”

Debate continued in Parliament Tuesday afternoon after the Legislative Assembly took the morning off for tea following opening ceremonies.

Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley said she too would support the bill, but said she was “disgusted” by the Fyles Government’s failures and inability to accept responsibility.

“I’m so disgusted in this government and how disrespectful you have treated Territorians,” she said. “And I will never forgive you for the destruction to the lives you caused, to the women and children … of the town camps that have been affected by your bad policy.”

Ms Lambley also gave notice she would be introducing a bill to ban alcohol in Parliament House outside of official functions, but Ms Fyles indicated she would not be supporting that measure.

The CLP complained later that Ms Fyles was not answering their questions about the details of the legislation to reinstate the alcohol bans but supported the bill. Those questions included how the vote in communities wishing to opt out of the ban would be held, how the different boundaries will be determined and which organisations were consulted about the bans.