Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Alice Springs on an urgent visit sparked by alarm at surging youth crime, and fears some residents are “under siege” in their homes.

Mr Albanese will tour the red centre with Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney on Tuesday.

He and Ms Burney are expected to meet the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, a leading health service in the Northern Territory, before holding a media briefing later in the day.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles will also attend to discuss the violence and anti-social activity with locals. Ms Fyles reportedly arrived in Alice Springs early on Tuesday, along with the federal MP for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, NT Attorney-General and Justice Minister Chansey Paech and Police Minister Kate Worden.

Earlier, Ms Scrymgour, whose electorate covers most of the Northern Territory except Darwin and Palmerston, said long-time residents of Alice Springs had not seen it “as bad as it is today”.

“These break-ins have got to be looked at in a more serious and urgent way because someone is going to get seriously hurt,” she told Melbourne’s 3AW on Monday.

“People are under siege in their own home.”

Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten said earlier the crisis demanded immediate attention but resolving it was more than just a police issue.

“It will be tackling the root causes of what’s causing the heartache and the distress,” he told Sky News.

“It is a crisis. There’s no question there are real problems there.”

Mr Shorten said the people of Alice Springs didn’t want another heavy-handed response from Canberra.

Ms Fyles also cautioned against any returns to Howard-era interventions like alcohol bans and welfare controls. She also rejected calls for the federal police or defence personnel to be brought in to fight the crime wave.

Ms Fyles told Sky News she would ask Mr Albanese for “needs-based funding for certain services”.

“I don’t believe we need federal intervention from police or the military,” she said.

“We put in place extra police leading in to the Christmas period. I’ve met with police here in Alice Springs today – they’re as frustrated as I am but we won’t give up, we’ll continue to work on the solutions. But I believe those solutions are within the Northern Territory, not from the military coming into the territory.”

Northern Territory police commissioner Jamie Chalker said he would welcome any federal support, including more police, but strongly rejected the idea of the Australian Defence Force being used to impose martial law.

“My people are continuing to surge to the line, but where is everybody else?” he told ABC radio.

Mr Chalker said alcohol was part of the problem, but he stopped short of calling for a reinstatement of mandatory dry areas.

He said nearly 300 people split across two bars were drinking from mid-morning then leaving with more alcohol when takeaway sales opened at 2pm.

“That causes part of the problem and certainly lifts community apprehension when they see so many people already on the way to intoxication,” he said.

Mr Chalker said the fallout from failed social policies, including welfare dependence, was adding to the problem.

“We cannot arrest our way out of this,” he said.

“There’s a lot of services that just simply are not available on the ground in these remote communities.

“You add alcohol consumption into the mix and family tensions, and then we’re dealing with the fallout of that too.”

But he said it wasn’t just the NT experiencing these problems.

“Townsville is suffering significant social order issues. The Kimberley is going through these challenges as well.

“There is something acutely underlying here.”

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley also stopped short of calling for the reinstatement of mandatory alcohol bans but said the government needed to do better.

“There are complex issues, they’re not easily solved and there needs to be some tough love,” she said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton branded it “the biggest issue in our country today”.

“There are reports of kids running around with machetes, children not wanting to go back home because they feel it’s unsafe to stay there so they’re out committing crimes,” he said.

“It’s a law and order and crime problem.”

-with AAP