'Last straw': Remote clinic shut down amid unrest, staff threats

The Northern Territory government is being pressured to reopen a remote police station after the community's only health clinic was shut down when two nurses were forced to flee alleged unrest and threats.

The Northern Territory community of Alpurrurulam, also known as Lake Nash, has a population of about 350 people and sits less than 20 kilometres from the Queensland border.

NT Police confirmed officers responded to assaults on a woman in the community on Sunday, and officers were deployed from Avon Downs, Tennant Creek and the Queensland border town of Camooweal.

Police said a Queensland police officer arrived with the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) and the injured woman was taken to Mount Isa for treatment, then transferred to Townsville for specialist surgery, where she remains in a stable condition.

The two health workers in the community then raised safety concerns, saying they were threatened by residents, and police escorted them from the community.

Reports indicate alcohol was a significant factor in the unrest and investigations are ongoing.

With the clinic closed, residents would need to travel 180 kilometres north-east across the border to Camooweal to receive care.

Barkly Regional Council chief executive Peter Harder said the evacuation of the two long-time nurses was a "real loss" for the town.

"We're just hoping they will return," Mr Harder said.

"There was chat on their way out that this is it, this is the last straw for them, which would be a real loss for our community, so we definitely don't want that.

"We've contacted [NT Health] to find out more. We hope that clinic can be opened [as] there's some vulnerable people in that community."

He said the closure of other essential services in Alpurrurulam was also being considered.

Queensland Health and the RFDS has been contacted for comment.

Illegal alcohol allegedly fuelling violence

Alpurrurulam is a dry community, but the Barkly Regional Council has reported large quantities of black market supply are being transported over the border from Queensland.

Unlike the Northern Territory, Queensland does not have a banned drinker register.

Natalie Gibson, the manager at nearby Lake Nash Station, said she believed alcohol brought in from over the Queensland border was the main driver of violence in the Aboriginal community.

"It is a grog gateway, from Camooweal and Mount Isa, straight into Alpurrurulam,"

she said.

She said a young mother and her two-year-old child had taken shelter at the homestead over the weekend to escape the "violence".

"We had heard that she had rung the police, and they had advised her to come here to our homestead," she said.

"Of course we feel for her and her small child, but we're not really equipped to be a refuge, especially when there is so much unrest at the community."

Ms Gibson described the ease of getting alcohol from outback Queensland towns into the NT without police enforcement in the community as a serious challenge.

Alpurrurulam has not had a permanent police officer since 2018, when a "rotating patrol" model was adopted by the then-Gunner Labor government, with officers from surrounding regions periodically manning the station.

"The police, when they are here, they definitely try to have an impact on that, but it's so irregular," she said.

Lack of police exacerbating issue

On the back of the recent unrest, Mr Harder urged the NT government to reopen the community's police station.

"The ongoing absence of a permanent police presence contributes to significant challenges within Alpurrurulam," he said.

"The Northern Territory government needs to accelerate works on the police station so the community can rely on police assistance.

"It's not good enough that people have to rely on periodic visits from police or call for help from a station that's about 170km away."

NT Police Association president Nathan Finn acknowledged the seriousness of the unrest that had caused the nurses to be evacuated. but described it as an "isolated incident".

"We believe that our members are best supported in the current [drive-in-drive-out] arrangement going on at the moment," Mr Finn said.

He said alcohol crossing the border was "definitely a big issue" and the unrestricted alcohol sales in Queensland played a  factor.

Member for Barkly Steve Edgington said while he would like a standard police station model to return in the community, there should be a "regular" police presence in the meantime.

"From my experience, I would say we need to see a fortnightly visit to the community as a minimum," Mr Edgington said.

In the meantime, Mr Harder said CCTV and the immediate deployment of police public safety officers could improve community safety and stop illegal alcohol from making its way there.