16-year-old girl dies in remote NT community; Chief Minister admits government's 'focus has been elsewhere'

A 16-year-old girl died at a community clinic in the remote Indigenous community of Alpurrurulam in the Northern Territory at around 5:30 a.m. local time on the 12th, police said, adding that she was in cardiac arrest and had multiple external injuries when they arrived. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that a 26-year-old man involved has been detained and is believed to have been in some kind of intimate relationship with the girl.

Alpurrurulam, also known as Lake Nash, is located west of the Queensland border, about 360 kilometres from Mount Isa and approximately 1,500 kilometres from the Northern Territory capital Darwin. Police have classified the case as a suspicious death. Northern Territory criminal investigation and forensic personnel have flown from Alice Springs to the community, joining police from Tennant Creek, Camooweal and Avon Downs.

Acting Northern Territory Police Commander Mark Grieve told reporters that the cause of death awaits autopsy confirmation. The girl is believed to have primarily resided near Mount Isa in Queensland, "frequently moving" between the two areas. Grieve acknowledged, "we cannot confirm at this stage how long the two were together." At this stage, police do not believe the girl's death is linked to recent internal unrest in the community, but the investigation is ongoing, with Queensland Police also involved. Grieve said police deployment at this stage is meant "both to meet investigative needs and to respond to any renewed outbreak of community unrest."

The community's safety net had been in tatters before the incident. The ABC reported that Alpurrurulam has had no resident police station since 2018, with the nearest police outpost at Avon Downs, 170 kilometres away. Community member Valerie Campbell said bluntly: "We should have a police station, even if only 20 people live here — look at the violence in this community."

The Northern Territory has the highest rate of domestic and intimate partner violence in Australia, with the intimate partner homicide rate seven times the national average. The member for that electorate, Northern Territory legislator Chansey Paech, said in a statement that this was a community that had been "urgently calling out for more help, resources and support" for some time. He accused the Northern Territory government of "neglecting remote areas," questioning why police had not been deployed to the community and why efforts against illicit alcohol supply had not been stepped up.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, responding to questions from News24, unusually admitted that resources had not been directed toward Alpurrurulam. "We have had some terrible incidents happen at Alpurrurulam, and I won't downplay them," Finocchiaro said. "But any government of whatever leaning has to direct resources to where they are most needed, and our focus has been elsewhere."

Asked about the community's demands, Grieve said he understood that Alpurrurulam community members wanted a police station established, but "feasibility" was an issue.

Alpurrurulam has been mired in internal unrest in recent months, with clinic staff at one point forced to evacuate. The clinic had been restaffed at the time of the incident, but the community's safety and basic services network had clearly been severely compromised well before then. The ABC reported that, although the community is a "dry community," a Barkly Regional Council report shows large quantities of black-market alcohol are flowing across the border from Queensland. Regional council mayor Sid Vashist said he was "shocked beyond words" by the tragedy and that the community was in mourning.

Northern Territory Department of Health Deputy Chief Executive Fiona Renshaw said in a statement that the clinic was "operating normally and was fully staffed at the time of the incident," and that support had been provided to community members and staff.