Jacinta Price accuses Anthony Albanese of ‘showing very little interest’ in the Northern Territory as she defends Peter Dutton’s call for a royal commission into sexual abuse in the region
- Jacinta Price slammed Prime Minister
- She said he had ‘little interest’ in NT
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has accused the Prime Minister of sidelining issues in the Northern Territory, as she backed the Opposition Leader’s calls for a royal commission into child sexual abuse.
Senator Price and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton last week toured parts of Alice Springs, where they suggested there were ‘rampant’ rates of sexual assault of Indigenous children and repeated calls for a Royal Commission.
Their comments were quickly shot down by NT Police Minister Kate Worden, who accused Mr Dutton of ‘opportunistic, political game-playing’, and labelled his words a ‘dog act’.
Country Liberal Party Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has slammed Anthony Albanese for ‘showing very little interest’ in issues facing the Northern Territory
But Senator Price has stood by the Liberal leader and said Labor’s response to issues plaguing the Northern Territory were ‘weak’.
‘It’s trying to coverup the fact that the Prime Minister has showed very little interest in what’s going on in the Northern Territory, in Alice Springs,’ she told Sky News Australia’s Outsiders on Sunday.
‘The government has ignored these pleas both federally and locally with the territory government and the first thing they try to do is attempt to downplay the issue of sexual abuse of indigenous children.’
SNAICC, the peak national body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, rebuked Mr Dutton for his comments on sexual abuse in Alice Springs.
SNAICC CEO Catherine Liddle said there was no evidence to support Mr Dutton’s claims.
‘Sexual abuse is a really serious crime, which has a devastating impact on children, families and communities — this is not a political football,’ she said.
‘The claims of ‘rampant’ abuse fly in the face of evidence. Data from Territory Families show there has been no escalation in investigations of sexual abuse or exploitation.’
Senator Price said peak organisations such as SNAICC, along with the ABC, were ignoring ‘community issues’ and instead focussed purely on the Voice to Parliament.
‘This is not black and white and I’m sick to death of it, I’m sick to death of the separatism and the seeking… (to) constitutionalise that separatism with this referendum,’ she said.
‘It’s okay to talk about the high rates of incarceration and how indigenous people are disproportionately affected but they don’t want to talk about the disproportionately affected children because of child abuse and child sexual abuse and all those rates.’
The outspoken Senator said it ‘absolutely breaks my heart’ that SNAICC were ‘downplaying’ the issue.
‘I’m just really upset at the way in which especially the ABC have turned this into a Peter Dutton bashing exercise instead of actually understanding that locals have been calling out, screaming out desperate for change on the ground throughout the Northern Territory’, she said
Senator Price has stood by the Mr Dutton’s comments and and said the Labor government’s response to issues plaguing the Northern Territory were ‘weak’ (Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pictured)
Labor MP for the NT electorate of Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour, hit back at the Police Minister’s condemnation of Mr Dutton.
Ms Scrymgour said the NT government needed to ‘do their work’ and it was clear there were people ‘not taking responsibility for dealing with these young people on the street’.
It comes as the latest data shows reports of child abuse in the Northern Territory have reached levels five times higher than any other jurisdiction in Australia.
The latest available data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows 95.5 children per 1,000 in the NT were the subject of an investigation or notification to child protection services in 2020/2021.
The NT rate is significantly higher than the Australian average of 21.4 children per 1,000.
