Centralian Advocate, Tuesday, December 24, 2013 — 3

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NEWS

Advocate’s hamper winhas Leeanne overwhelmedA L I C ESprings borna n d b r e dm o t h e r - o f -three LeeanneCrompton (pic-tured) is thewinner of theCentralian Ad-vocate’s Big-gest ChristmasHamper.

Leeanne says she is over-whelmed by the win.

‘‘I enter a lot of compe-titions and I always say youhave got to enter it to winit,’’ she said.

‘‘While I was waiting foranother draw in town, I

received a callfrom the Cent-ralian Advo-cate that I hadwon.

‘‘I am happyand feel over-whelmed bywhat I got.’’

She said thewin remindedher of 2005

when she won a car.

‘‘In 2005 I won a car and itis amazing that this time Igot a television set, a barbe-cue and lots of vouchers.’’

The competition had beenrunning since November 2and was drawn on Friday.

Tourists hurt

in bus rollTOURISTS from Taiwanand Hong Kong have beeninvolved in a crash in re-mote Northern Territory.

The crash happenedabout 3.15pm yesterday onthe Mereenine Loop Road,approximately 40km northof Kings Canyon Resort,west of Alice Springs.

Police said the driver of thehired mini-bus — carryingnine people from Taiwanand Hong Kong — hadveered to the left, over- cor-rected hit the dust and rolled.

Two people were hurt andtaken to Kings CanyonClinic. They were flown toAlice Springs as a spinalprecaution.

Lock up and stay safe athome and on the roadsALICE Springs Police urgeCentralians heading inter-state for the holiday seasonto ensure their homes andvehicles are locked and per-sonal belongings are storedin a safe place.

Detective Acting SeniorSergeant Leith Phillips saidit took only a moment forthieves to take advantage ofan unlocked door.

‘‘Over the past 10 monthsdetectives from Strike ForceVega have made 343 arrestsand issued a further 121summons in relation toproperty offences,’’ he said.

‘‘Police have seen a re-duction in unlawful entriesacross Alice Springs as a

result of these efforts, how-

ever it is still important thateverybody is vigilant andensure all windows anddoors are locked.

‘‘Remember, it only takesa moment for opportunisticthieves to take advantage ofan unlocked door.’’

If you see suspicious be-haviour, please contact131 444 or Crime Stopperson 1800 333 000.

Recent road fatalities andaccidents are a reminder ofthe need to take care on theroads. And whether cele-brating Christmas or NewYear, don’t drink and drive.

Dreams of royal return

Mignon Williams, with her Prince William doll, hopes that that the real Prince William and the Duchess ofCambridge visit Alice Springs just as Prince Charles and Princess Diana did in 1983 Picture: PHIL WILLIAMS

Corey Sinclair

HISTORY could be set to repeatitself with rumours that PrinceWilliam could be bringing his eight-month-old son on his royal tour ofAustralia in April.

Prince William’s first visit toAustralia was in 1985 when he was anine-month-old, carried in the armsof his parents Prince Charles andPrincess Diana.

Although it’s still not knownwhether Prince William andCatherine, Duchess of Cambridge,will pay Alice Springs a visit, manyseem to think they will be followingin his parents’ footsteps

Mignon Williams is a dedicatedfan of the Royal family and evenowns an authentic Prince Williamdoll that was produced in 1982.

She even sent a parcel to PrinceGeorge, with a postcard, a magnetand a letter asking him to visit.

‘‘I wrote to him and said ‘Your dadcame here 32 years ago when he wasa baby so if you ever come toAustralia, I really hope you come toAlice Springs’,’’ Mignon said.

‘‘I know they got that parcelbecause I got a postcard back to saythank you for the presents.’’

Mignon was very upset when shemissed out on seeing Prince Williamon the 1983 tour but she thinksthere is a good chance they willcome back this time.

‘‘I presume they would do it, justhave to see what their schedules areand how easy it is to get them here,’’she said.

‘‘I feel they’ve got a fair bit ofhistory here . . . the Queen camehere in 1963 and came back in 2000,Prince Charles came just before hemarried Camilla.’’

Royal commentator RichardFitzwilliams said that Australiawas chosen because the royalshave many links including thefact that Prince Charles wasschooled in Victoria.

‘‘It’s mirroring what happenedbefore and tradition is a very im-portant aspect of monarchy,’’ MrFitzwilliams said.

‘‘It’s a conscious link and peoplewill respond.

‘‘It is going to be historic.’’Prince William also visited Aust-

ralia in in 2010 and 2011, but it will beCatherine’s first visit to Australia.

The royal party in 2014 is expectedto visit New Zealand en route toAustralia, although the itinerary isyet to be finalised.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott saidAustralians felt great warmthtowards the royal family and hadwatched with admiration as theDuke and Duchess married and hadwelcomed their first child.

The NT News reported on Satur-day that the Territory Government

had written to Kensington Palaceinviting the royals to visit.

Chief Minister Adam Giles saidhe hoped they would include theTerritory on their itinerary and saida visit to their son’s namesakeGeorge the crocodile might be a bitof an incentive.

‘‘I’ve written to KensingtonPalace to officially invite the royalcouple to include the Territoryand a visit to George the royal

crocodile in their Australian tour,’’

Mr Giles said.

‘‘It would be an honour to showthem everything the Territory hasto offer.’’

Bookmakers are offering odds towhat city the royals might visit andthe odds for the Territory are thelongest at $3.

These odds compare to $1.20for Brisbane.

6 arrestsin blitzon boozeOPERATION Unite sawthe arrest of 29 peoplethroughout the Territorylast weekend, of which sixwere in Alice Springs.

Acting SuperintendentTravis Wurst said thatpeople were generally well-behaved during the 48-hourcrackdown on alcohol-fuelled violence.

He said four people weretaken into protective cus-tody in Alice Springs, twoinfringement notices weregiven out and 105 litres ofalcohol tipped out, in ad-dition to the six arrests foralcohol-related matters.

Superintendent ScottPollock said all 252 policeofficers deployed across thethree major regions of AliceSprings, Darwin and Kath-erine were reasonablypleased with the behaviourof Territorians as no majorincidents were reported.

‘‘The blitz resulted in thearrest of 29 people, 21 ofthose for alcohol-related of-fences,’’ he said.

‘‘Police took 201 peopleinto protective custody,issued 84 infringement no-tices and tipped out a totalof 201 litres of alcohol.

‘‘One man, a 41-year-old,was arrested for assault fol-lowing an incident in Palm-erston on Saturday night.

‘‘Police conducted 2036breath tests, locating 16drink-drivers. Of those, onewas high range and fivewere medium range.’’

Mr Pollock said police no-ticed an increase in the useof taxi services throughoutthe entertainment areas.

‘‘Although the operationhas ended, police will con-tinue to take a zero-tol-erance approach to alcohol-fuelled violence and drink-driving in the lead-up toChristmas and New Year,’’he said.

CORRECTIONA STORY published on Fri-day December 20, RentalPrices Through the Roof,contained the line:

‘‘Renters forked out 87 percent more this year forrental payments as opposedto a rise of 53 per cent in therest of the country.’’

However the 87 per cent inthe Northern TerritoryCouncil for Social Services(NTCOSS) report actuallyreferred to the increase inrental prices in Darwin overthe past 15 years, not overthe past year.

The 53 per cent referred tothe average price rise in allhousing costs over the past15 years including rent,house purchases, mainten-ance and repair costs andproperty rates and charges.