Mr BALCH - 2000-08-10
The Chief Minister used the last sittings to announce the new community safety initiative, NTsafe. I have been working with the Wagaman Residents Committee, and they are due to have a briefing on NTsafe next Monday evening. Given that one of the aims of NTsafe is to give the community an avenue to become involved in crime prevention, can the minister detail the process to achieve that public involvement?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the member for Jingili has been doing a lot of work in his electorate and he is to be congratulated for that. If members opposite took that sort of example and got out and did something and helped their electorates, rather than manufacturing issues that do not exist and misrepresenting the circumstances that do exist, then all Territorians would be better off. We would have a productive opposition rather than one that is sparring at shadows.
In addition to the 45.6% increase in the police budget since 1995-96, which is a substantial increase in terms of providing those services to Territorians, the new $5.4m community crime prevention program of NTsafe is a CLP government initiative to provide - interesting isn’t it? Yesterday these matters were of such importance, and they were raised in the context of untruths and misleading statements and a mischievous approach by the opposition. Yet while this answer is being given on an important initiative by the government, they just sit there just burbling along and making inane interjections, and the people listening cannot hear the answer.
It is a very important program. It is one that will ensure, right across the Northern Territory, an opportunity for crime prevention to be applied from the community up, instead of downwards in a policing process, to complement - there she goes again! She just cannot help herself. If gob-smacking was in the mandatory sentencing arena, she would be in jail forever. You would never see her, which Territorians would probably be very thankful for.
Members would be aware of current TV, radio and press advertising that marks the start of Territory-wide consultation on crime prevention. The NTsafe consultative process is now well under way. Teams are visiting towns and communities in the central parts of the Northern Territory, in the Barkly, and out at Groote Eylandt - the member should be a bit more responsive - and Top End regions. That will continue through August and September.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: See? They are not interested unless they can make mischief, create misconceptions and get people away from the real issues. That’s all they have got. They have no strategy. They have no ability to come up with issues that are of value or give any direction in terms of what they would offer as an alternative government. They sit there disrupting the parliamentary process and the ability for Territorians to be informed as to what is happening in their patch. If that is their wish, that’s fine, but they do have greater responsibilities than that and they should be aware of them.
The team aims to raise awareness about NTsafe, obtain public comment on crime prevention issues, encourage communities to become actively involved in crime prevention activities at the local level, and promote responsible collaboration across the entire Northern Territory community.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Again, you would have to ask how committed they are to their jobs.
The team is to be supported by the Northern Territory Police Crime Prevention Unit, local police and Aboriginal community police officers at each community, and other government agencies that have crime prevention programs operating in communities. The team is led by Patrick McIntyre, a Darwin-based barrister and mediator, and NTsafe project officer Katherine Galvin.
If members opposite were even the tiniest bit interested in crime prevention, after the flag that they flew yesterday in falsely alleging increased levels of drug-related crime, they would be demonstrating a level of interest and commitment to this initiative. It is a $5.4m community program to prevent crime. It will take the positive direction exemplified by the member for Jingili, as opposed to the negative attitude and the disruptive influence that comes from the members opposite.
The interjections throughout this answer from the members opposite clearly demonstrate that they are not committed to finding solutions. They are not committed to hearing the facts and they are not interested in hearing what the new initiatives are to assist the community in the prevention of crime and provide them with the opportunities to address an issue that should concern us all. They are deceitful in their presentation of the facts and they are simply mischievous. If nothing else, they have demonstrated that very clearly today.
NTsafe will serve the community well. I wish those people who are now consulting with communities across the Northern Territory in a positive and constructive manner all the best, because it will have very positive outcomes for crime prevention right across the Northern Territory. That is the government’s wish. It’s a pity it’s not Labor’s wish.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the member for Jingili has been doing a lot of work in his electorate and he is to be congratulated for that. If members opposite took that sort of example and got out and did something and helped their electorates, rather than manufacturing issues that do not exist and misrepresenting the circumstances that do exist, then all Territorians would be better off. We would have a productive opposition rather than one that is sparring at shadows.
In addition to the 45.6% increase in the police budget since 1995-96, which is a substantial increase in terms of providing those services to Territorians, the new $5.4m community crime prevention program of NTsafe is a CLP government initiative to provide - interesting isn’t it? Yesterday these matters were of such importance, and they were raised in the context of untruths and misleading statements and a mischievous approach by the opposition. Yet while this answer is being given on an important initiative by the government, they just sit there just burbling along and making inane interjections, and the people listening cannot hear the answer.
It is a very important program. It is one that will ensure, right across the Northern Territory, an opportunity for crime prevention to be applied from the community up, instead of downwards in a policing process, to complement - there she goes again! She just cannot help herself. If gob-smacking was in the mandatory sentencing arena, she would be in jail forever. You would never see her, which Territorians would probably be very thankful for.
Members would be aware of current TV, radio and press advertising that marks the start of Territory-wide consultation on crime prevention. The NTsafe consultative process is now well under way. Teams are visiting towns and communities in the central parts of the Northern Territory, in the Barkly, and out at Groote Eylandt - the member should be a bit more responsive - and Top End regions. That will continue through August and September.
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: See? They are not interested unless they can make mischief, create misconceptions and get people away from the real issues. That’s all they have got. They have no strategy. They have no ability to come up with issues that are of value or give any direction in terms of what they would offer as an alternative government. They sit there disrupting the parliamentary process and the ability for Territorians to be informed as to what is happening in their patch. If that is their wish, that’s fine, but they do have greater responsibilities than that and they should be aware of them.
The team aims to raise awareness about NTsafe, obtain public comment on crime prevention issues, encourage communities to become actively involved in crime prevention activities at the local level, and promote responsible collaboration across the entire Northern Territory community.
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Again, you would have to ask how committed they are to their jobs.
The team is to be supported by the Northern Territory Police Crime Prevention Unit, local police and Aboriginal community police officers at each community, and other government agencies that have crime prevention programs operating in communities. The team is led by Patrick McIntyre, a Darwin-based barrister and mediator, and NTsafe project officer Katherine Galvin.
If members opposite were even the tiniest bit interested in crime prevention, after the flag that they flew yesterday in falsely alleging increased levels of drug-related crime, they would be demonstrating a level of interest and commitment to this initiative. It is a $5.4m community program to prevent crime. It will take the positive direction exemplified by the member for Jingili, as opposed to the negative attitude and the disruptive influence that comes from the members opposite.
The interjections throughout this answer from the members opposite clearly demonstrate that they are not committed to finding solutions. They are not committed to hearing the facts and they are not interested in hearing what the new initiatives are to assist the community in the prevention of crime and provide them with the opportunities to address an issue that should concern us all. They are deceitful in their presentation of the facts and they are simply mischievous. If nothing else, they have demonstrated that very clearly today.
NTsafe will serve the community well. I wish those people who are now consulting with communities across the Northern Territory in a positive and constructive manner all the best, because it will have very positive outcomes for crime prevention right across the Northern Territory. That is the government’s wish. It’s a pity it’s not Labor’s wish.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016