The Prime Minister’s visit to the Northern Territory

The Prime Minister’s wrong priorities are on full display when he hasn’t included visiting locals in Katherine or Alice Springs to see first-hand what his government’s handywork has
done to the Northern Territory.
The evidence is in the data. When the grog ban lapsed domestic violence increased by 30% in Alice Springs and by 40% in Katherine. Two township curfews, $300 million of taxpayer money spent and two groups of police sent from South Australia and there is no significant progress — so much for the Prime Minister’s plan for a better, safer Central Australia. Now his government is making plans to end income management despite knowing what that has done in towns elsewhere where hundreds of millions have been spent in the transition with no tangible benefit.
One in five Territorians is on some form of compulsory income management. Again, like with the removal of alcohol restrictions and the cashless debit card, there will likely be no social impact assessment or detailed transition plan, just the offer of bucketloads of money for community services to grow to deal with the fallout.
The Coalition’s commitment is to reinstate the Cashless Debit Card in the towns and communities that want it and to not just end it, leaving towns in freefall and chaos.