Key Points
- A two-month-old baby received severe head fractures in an alleged home invasion in Alice Springs this week.
- Several serious crimes have occurred in the city in December, including an alleged sexual assault.
- Marion Scrymgour MP says she has a padlock on her gate and is not alone in feeling unsafe in her home.
A politician representing the federal seat that covers Alice Springs has said she feels unsafe and like a "prisoner in her own home" due to violent crime in the area.
Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour made these comments in the wake of an alleged home invasion that left a two-month-old baby with severe head fractures.
'What the hell is going on here?'
It comes amidst a wave of serious crimes in the area in the past week and a half of which Scrymgour said has had many in the area pondering, "What the hell is going on here?"
On the weekend, police responded to an incident in which a 29-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a stranger as she slept.
Police say a number of serious crimes have occurred in Alice Springs throughout the first part of December. Source: Getty / Greg Wood
Police have since charged a 22-year-old male in relation to the incident.
"I've had a number of in their home," Scrymgour told ABC radio on Friday.
"I feel unsafe, I have a padlock on my gate and I feel like I'm a prisoner in my home. Women can't be allowed to feel like that, and that has to change."
'Totally unacceptable'
NT police commissioner Michael Murphy flew to Alice Springs on Thursday morning after the incident in which the baby was injured.
"Since the third of December, there's been a number of serious crimes in Alice Springs, ranging from abduction sexual assaults, home burglaries, home invasions, and stealing motor vehicles," he said.
Murphy said it was "totally unacceptable" people didn't feel safe in their own homes and he would dedicate more resources to the outback, with additional resources being sent from Darwin.
However, he stopped short of using his powers to implement another curfew, as seen earlier this year.
Teens arrested over alleged home invasion
The violent incident involving the two-month-old baby occurred on Wednesday.
The infant was flown to Royal Adelaide Hospital, where she remains in a stable condition.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro told reporters the people involved in the alleged assault were "well-known to police and currently on bail".
NT Police said two teens, aged 16 and 17, had been arrested by police shortly after the assault.
Finocchiaro said many people in Alice Springs were feeling anger, frustration and fear over the recent violent crimes in the area.
"When people say they feel let down by the system, the reality is, people in Alice Springs have been let down," she said.
She reiterated her government's plan to address crime as rates traditionally spike over the summer holidays.
Scrymgour said and drug use in Alice Springs.
"I've said consistently, there are two issues," she said. "The issues of the violence with men and women. There's a lot of alcohol-related violence, which is still happening and with young people."
She said authorities also needed to have "a really hard look" into "the stories that people are talking about that the town is a wash with ice and methamphetamines".
With additional reporting from Australian Associated Press.
