Lia Finocchiaro has led the Country Liberal Party to a landslide victory in the Top End, making her one of two conservative leaders in the country.

Crime, and the perception the Government was unable to control it, formed the main plank of her party’s campaign to oust Labor.

Finocchiaro doubled down on her election promises on Monday, in a well-rehearsed commitment to create a “safe place to live, work and rest”.

“The CLP’s plan has always centred around making sure that we have a safe community, that we’ve rebuilt our economy and restore our lifestyle, and they will be the priorities of my government,” she said.

The NT has been plagued by youth crime problems with Alice Springs twice being locked down and curfews imposed to curb violence.

While Finocchiaro had been critical of Police Commissioner Michael Murphy during the election campaign, she used her first speech to back him in for the job.

She said she will retain the police portfolio to follow through on her pledge to keep crime in her sights.

While she is still working on the make-up of her cabinet, Finocchiaro said she intended to have law-and-order legislation in place by the time parliament sits in mid-October.

Key policies include lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10 and toughening bail laws to stop violent offenders being released.

The Bail Act change will be called Declan’s Law after 20-year-old Declan Laverty, who was stabbed to death while working in a bottle shop in Darwin’s northern suburbs in March 2023.

Finocchiaro flagged a need to “re-prioritise” the budget to ensure her government could achieve its targets on law and order, but stopped short of flagging a mid-year budget.

“What we know is there will need to be some re-prioritisation of pet projects and wasteful spending, and we will get to the bottom of that over the coming weeks and months,” she said.

“What’s most important to Territorians right now, and to my government, is that we address law and order issues and deliver community safety.”

Indigenous leader William Tilmouth says despite repeatedly calling for support, those calls have fallen on deaf ears. “Generations of families have been forced into economic poverty and young people are struggling,” he says. “We have known this for decades and we have presented solutions for decades.” PHOTO: Children's Ground

The new Government is also keen to move quickly to instigate its court diversion programs that include creating a boot camp for young offenders.

Back in April when Alice Springs was in the midst of an enforced night time curfew, local leaders implored that unless the voices of the community are listened to, the cycle of over-policing and crime is doomed to be repeated.

At the time, William Tilmouth, founding chair of Aboriginal organisation Children’s Ground, which focuses on prevention, early intervention and empowerment rather than crisis and deficit, said there is a history of over-incarceration of Indigenous people and an over-representation in the criminal justice system.

“... this response perpetuates trauma in our families and in our culture,” Tilmouth said.

Children’s Ground wants to see comprehensive government investment into learning, health, culture and wellbeing and says policies that promote punitive measures will only see history repeat.

“This is a created condition from generations of neglect,” Tilmouth said.

“Anyone walking into any community or town camp or homeland will be struck by the abject lack of community facilities, infrastructure, resources and opportunities, and the devastating overcrowding.

“Our children and young people have been failed by the system and that must be addressed now.”

Legal and human rights organisations in the territory, too, have repeatedly raised concerns that focusing on police and ‘tough-on-crime’ rhetoric will only exacerbate the situation.

The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency has warned that focusing too much on policing risks potential disaster.

“Given the over-policing of Aboriginal Territorians that has already contributed to an unacceptably high rate of incarceration, any investment in policing resources must be matched with a commensurate investment in the criminal justice system, including courts and specialised legal services,” the agency said earlier this year.

“As we said previously, the Northern Territory is facing significant challenges when it comes to crime and offending and we need evidence-based solutions with an eye on the longer term – intensive support programs, diversion, education, and related services – not knee-jerk reactions and bandaid policies.”

Education was a key priority of the former NT Labor Government, and it wasted no time in July becoming the first jurisdiction to sign on to the Federal Government’s 10-year Better and Fairer Schools Agreement (BFSA), offering $16 billion to public schools over the next decade.

“If the Northern Territory can chip in, and they’re throwing in $300 million as part of this billion-dollar deal, I think other states and territories can as well,” Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said at the time.

The Northern Territory relies on the Federal Government for nearly half of its budget, however Finocchiaro said she is yet to hear from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

NT Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy, who was in Darwin for the election, posted her congratulations on social media.

McCarthy said the Federal Government stands ready to deliver in partnership $4 billion in remote housing, the Central Australia plan and the $1 billion plan to better fund schools.

Labor is looking for a new leader after chief minister Eva Lawler was unseated in Drysdale.

(with AAP)