Several Australian MPs Sunday accused Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of misrepresenting the prevalence of sexual abuse in Alice Springs. Following the federal government’s response to rising crime rates in the Northern Territory, Dutton claimed that sexual abuse remains “rampant” in the town.
Northern Territory Police Minister Kate Worden has called Dutton’s trip to Alice Springs this week an “opportunistic” effort to substantiate the Liberal Party’s recent opposition to the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Worden responded to Dutton’s comments, stating:
None of the evidence substantiates his claims and in fact, here in the Northern Territory, I’ll remind you Mr Dutton, that we have mandatory reporting for child sexual abuse. In fact, child abuse full-stop. If Mr Dutton has evidence of these claims that he’s made around child sexual abuse in Alice Springs he needs to come forward and he needs to give evidence around the things that he’s claiming.
In a press conference last week, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney called Dutton’s claims a “political means to an end.”
“There has been a substantial reduction in presentations to the emergency ward, and substantial reductions in call-outs for domestic violence,” Burney said.
Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health Malarndirri McCarthy urged Dutton not to use Alice Springs as a “political football,” stating that domestic violence and assault had “dropped dramatically.” CEO of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) Catherine Liddle says that Dutton’s claims were not supported by evidence and that Dutton had no interest in Alice Springs before his opposition of the Voice to Parliament.
“Sexual abuse is a really serious crime, which has a devastating impact on children, families and communities—this is not a political football,” Liddle said.
During a press conference in Alice Springs this week, Dutton made claims that young Indigenous children are facing regular sexual abuse and that the issue remains unaddressed. Supported by Liberal Party Senator Jacinda Nampijinpa Price, Dutton said that the situation in Alice Springs had not improved since alcohol restrictions and curfew were imposed to address rising crime rates in January.
“There are stories that we’ve heard today as we’ve walked the streets about the dysfunction, the desperation of young Indigenous kids who are being sexually assaulted, still, on a regular basis—that hasn’t stopped,” Dutton claimed. He stated that police and social workers “have kids taking them back into homes where they’ve been sexually assaulted and six-year-olds grabbing onto their legs begging not to be left there.”
Following concerns that Dutton’s claims of sexual abuse were unreported, Senator Price told ABC Sunday that she “assumed” the sexual abuse allegations were reported to the police.
