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The idea that the Alice Springs violence is part of Indigenous culture is toxic tolerance. Our leaders need courage to find long-term solutions to the dysfunction.

The footage of a 16-year-old girl being viciously beaten up by ten other women on the streets of Alice Springs is shocking because this sort of mob violence on our streets is always unacceptable.

It’s the type of horrible behaviour I’ve been speaking out about for years and it’s unfortunately becoming the norm in places like Alice Springs.

But what’s more shocking is that the women in this clip are Warlpiri, I am Warlpiri; and I am told this was a case of traditional cultural payback.

That’s right. It was so-called “traditional” Aboriginal culture.

I call on the Warlpiri elders to condemn this behaviour and put a stop to it.

Even more than that though, I think it’s important to highlight this case because you and I know that this sort of vigilantism wouldn’t be tolerated in the big cities.

But because it’s out-of-sight, out-of-mind people are happy to let it go.

We’ve also seen the footage of young people rioting in Alice Springs.

This violence and disorder has been escalating for a while but it’s taken massive pressure from the Coalition, the media, and the local Mayor Matt Patterson to get the NT Government to take it seriously.

The NT Government has finally declared a State of Emergency and imposed a curfew to deal with the immediate chaos, but while I support that measure, this is another band-aid fix.

Real Solutions for Alice Springs Violence

The Federal Government needs to step up and get some long term solutions.

But they’re still not willing to look at the problem honestly.

They’re still blind to the reality I have spoken about for years and I copped a lot of criticism for talking about it during the Voice debate last year.

Government-funded big city Indigenous activists and their enablers don’t want people talking about cultural payback or violence in Alice Springs.

They hide behind racialist language and a mythical sunshine-and-rainbows view of Indigenous culture.

They focus on academic nonsense about systemic injustice and colonialism to avoid looking this dysfunction and violence squarely in the eye.

It’s a toxic tolerance and it makes me sick that people romanticise traditional culture to the point where we are now too cowardly to honestly address long-term solutions to the dysfunction.

Funnily enough, I can’t think of anything more racist than allowing this kind of violence in Aboriginal communities when you would never for a second allow it in your city or town.

But when you let racial obsession guide policy, you’re chasing band-aid solutions for problems that are already out of control.

Two weeks of curfew is a start, but it’s just a start.

Now it’s time to end the toxic tolerance and find real solutions.

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Image courtesy of Unsplash.