Mr STIRLING - 2000-10-11
In response to a question on the rising incidence of drug-related crime in the last sittings, the Chief Minister said that the incidence of drug-related crime in the Territory was ‘minuscule’.
Mr Burke: No, I didn’t.
Mr STIRLING: Was minuscule. Minuscule, your words.
Chief Minister, in releasing the report, Drug Use Monitoring in Australia 1999, on 4 May this year, Senator Vanstone provided conclusive evidence linking the incidence of drug usage amongst people arrested for property crime offences. She said, ‘The results confirm a very strong link between opiate use and property crimes. Of those detainees whose most serious charge is a property offence, 43% tested positive for opiates. The link between illicit drugs and criminal offending is very strong for all crimes’.
Chief Minister, in the absence of your government providing any drug-related crime statistics, do you still say the incidence of drug-related crime in the Territory is minuscule, or will you support Labor’s call for a drug summit to bring under control the huge usage of morphine in Darwin, running at least seven times the national average, and through such control, reduce the level of crime in our community?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is a typical question from the opposition, that as I understood the question, weaving in national data to try and make a gross generalisation to the Northern Territory. Am I wrong in suggesting that Amanda Vanstone was not referring directly to the Northern Territory? You are trying to …
Mr Stirling: National.
Ms Martin: National figures.
Mr BURKE: You are trying to extrapolate again. You are trying to extrapolate a national trend and certainly in the context of my statement, which …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: In the context of my statement with regards to drugs in our community, I have always maintained that in comparison to alcohol abuse and the associated harm that alcohol causes in the Northern Territory, other drugs pale in comparison. The use of illicit drugs - and when we are talking about morphine-related drugs, many of those drugs are legally prescribed and then illegally traded. In terms of illegal drugs such as heroin, in comparison to alcohol and other drugs in the Northern Territory, again, the incidence is low.
Mr Burke: No, I didn’t.
Mr STIRLING: Was minuscule. Minuscule, your words.
Chief Minister, in releasing the report, Drug Use Monitoring in Australia 1999, on 4 May this year, Senator Vanstone provided conclusive evidence linking the incidence of drug usage amongst people arrested for property crime offences. She said, ‘The results confirm a very strong link between opiate use and property crimes. Of those detainees whose most serious charge is a property offence, 43% tested positive for opiates. The link between illicit drugs and criminal offending is very strong for all crimes’.
Chief Minister, in the absence of your government providing any drug-related crime statistics, do you still say the incidence of drug-related crime in the Territory is minuscule, or will you support Labor’s call for a drug summit to bring under control the huge usage of morphine in Darwin, running at least seven times the national average, and through such control, reduce the level of crime in our community?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, that is a typical question from the opposition, that as I understood the question, weaving in national data to try and make a gross generalisation to the Northern Territory. Am I wrong in suggesting that Amanda Vanstone was not referring directly to the Northern Territory? You are trying to …
Mr Stirling: National.
Ms Martin: National figures.
Mr BURKE: You are trying to extrapolate again. You are trying to extrapolate a national trend and certainly in the context of my statement, which …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: In the context of my statement with regards to drugs in our community, I have always maintained that in comparison to alcohol abuse and the associated harm that alcohol causes in the Northern Territory, other drugs pale in comparison. The use of illicit drugs - and when we are talking about morphine-related drugs, many of those drugs are legally prescribed and then illegally traded. In terms of illegal drugs such as heroin, in comparison to alcohol and other drugs in the Northern Territory, again, the incidence is low.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016