Northern Territory Independent MLA Robyn Lambley says it will take “years” to reverse the damage from neglect, mismanagement and inaction for the “crime problem” in Alice Springs.

“When you take your eye off the ball … choose to ignore there’s a crime problem … tweaking a few laws isn’t going to make a huge amount of difference,” Ms Lambley told Sky News Australia.

“It will take many, many years to reverse the damage of years of neglect and mismanagement and inaction.”