YOUNG people should be kept off the streets at night through a youth curfew aimed at reducing crime rates in the Northern Territory, according to the CLP.

Opposition leader Gary Higgins yesterday said the vandalism of 50 new and used cars at an Alice Springs car dealer last week should spark a rethink on youth crime.

“Earlier in the year, Labor was too slow to respond to soaring crime and when they did, the measures have been ineffectual,” Mr Higgins said.

The CLP briefly entertained the concept of a youth curfew in 2013 during a previous Alice Springs crime wave, but the idea was nixed shortly after as “too labour-intensive”.

Mr Higgins said the new government had failed to prevent a “predictable upswing in crime over the school holidays”.

“Labor’s focus on case-management and family outreach is useless unless it is complemented by strong policing and enforcement, where they seem to be too afraid to act,” he said.

More police patrols were needed to stop kiddie crims running riot across the Territory, Mr Higgins said.

“Police should also be liaising with the new youth outreach officers to get children off the streets in the middle of the night, when property crimes typically happen,” he said. The idea of youth curfews had “shifted in community acceptance­”, he said.

“Perth has had a youth curfew in place in its CBD since 2003, when they were introduced by the then Labor Government, which has reduced the number of children on the streets during peak offending times,” Mr Higgins said.

“Pre-offence diversion programs are also essential, such as midnight basketball or after-hours footy, tailored to reflect the choices of young people, particularly during school breaks.”

Mr Higgins did not say how a midnight basketball program would operate if a youth curfew was in place. But Chief Minister Michael Gunner shut down the debate, saying his government would not consider introducing a youth curfew to keep kids off the streets.

“Police have the powers to arrest anyone 24 hours a day,” he said.

“If someone is playing up it doesn’t matter what time of day or night they do it.

“School hours are just as important as after hours.

“We are cracking down on youth crime by making record investments into youth diversion and the broken youth justice­ system.”