Ms CARTER - 2001-06-05
Chief Minister, what is your response to the ALP’s criticism of government’s new, tough law and order laws?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,I thank the member for Port Darwin for that question because, of course, anti-social behaviour in and around the CBD, in her electorate, is an area of not only concern to her but concern to government and that is why this legislation is being introduced.
It amazes me that the Labor Party immediately come out and criticise any new initiative of government to try and protect victims, because that is really what this government is all about. When it comes to law and order, when it comes to legislation, when it comes to dealing with lawlessness, criminal or potentially criminal, we will bring in legislation to ensure that we give police all the powers that are possible and support them in their activities to deal with that lawlessness.
When it comes to victims of crime, let us remember that the victims of crime are not only those people who are victims of criminal activity. There are victims out there every day, there are children who cannot play in parks because they have drunken itinerants sitting around there drinking and creating mayhem, and those children are frightened off from those parks. There are people in suburbs with vacant blocks in those suburbs where itinerants have taken control of those places and those people. Their quality of life is affected every day of the week. There are people who cannot walk on the Esplanade or down on the Nightcliff foreshore because of drunken itinerants who have taken over and are forcing them ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nhulunbuy, settle down.
Mr BURKE: ... they can’t even enjoy a Sunday afternoon.
I find it interesting - not only does the opposition lambast this legislation, but in doing so they cannot even decide what their approach is. You have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition saying, ‘This legislation is just CLP hot air’. He points to a whole range of offences such as the Summary Offences Act, Section 45D, Summary Offences Act section 47, Summary Offences Act, section 50, a whole range of summary offences that he believes makes this legislation unnecessary because all of these current legislative measures deal with the act, with the behaviour that we are about to produce.
At the same time you have Mr Tippett, a criminal lawyer, who comes out and says, ‘These laws are close to the draconian laws of the apartheid regimes of South Africa’. So make up your mind. You have a learned lawyer on the one hand saying they are draconian and close to the apartheid laws of South Africa, and you have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition saying it is hot air, there is nothing there. Let us get some consistency. As well, you have the Leader of the Opposition saying that the CLP government has done nothing for 20 years. Have we done nothing for 20 years? Do we have draconian laws such as South Africa, or is it all hot air? Make up your minds. At least get some consistency so that Territorians know what it is all about.
Let us understand what these laws very clearly do. They are firstly preventative in their aim. Once passed, and they will be introduced by the Deputy Chief Minister tomorrow, the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. In the second-reading speech, he will lay it out in more detail.
Ms Martin: Why is there part of Summary Offences?
Mr BURKE: If the Leader of the Opposition would quieten down maybe Territorians could understand exactly the intent of these laws.
I emphasise they are preventative in their intent. They will enable police to act to prevent the type of behaviour that causes responsible people in the community to be concerned and worried about their peace and welfare. They will be preventative and effective in two ways. Firstly, by empowering police to take preventative action to give reasonable directions to those people who are engaging in …
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: Amazing, absolutely amazing! You have law-abiding Territorians out there trying to listen to what this legislation is all about and they cannot hear for the uproar that is coming from the other side of the Chamber.
It enables police to take preventative action to give reasonable directions to those people who are engaging in, who have engaged in, or who are about to engage in antisocial conduct in public places and prescribed places. These prescribed places include schools, service stations and public open spaces and the like, and they will be detailed more in the legislation.
The directions that police can give are to be aimed at the prevention of the behaviour that causes affront to right-minded people in the community. This type of law that we are introducing differs from existing law - and that is why your summary offences laws do not act the way this legislation will - in that the existing law is restricted by the locations that it applies to.
In particular, these laws will also apply to private land but only when that private land is unoccupied and adjacent to public places and is a place to which the public resorts to. It also differs from the existing law in that the directions that police can give are more focussed on the longer term resolution of those who are engaged in antisocial conduct.
For example the police will be able to direct troublemakers out of the Mitchell Street entertainment precinct for up to 72 hours if that is necessary to maintain peace and good order in the street. If those directions are ignored those people will be arrested.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr BURKE: You do not want to hear it. You talk about law and order, you talk about what you are going to do about crime, but you have one interest only. Your only interest is looking after criminals and looking after drunken bloody itinerants.
Police will also be empowered to confiscate from people goods that contribute to their antisocial conduct. Again this has been a problem for police as the present noise abatement laws are aimed at premises and not those people whose conduct is loud and disruptive and antisocial. It is only when directions are not complied with that the law will actually call for the punishment of people.
The second main way that the law differs from the existing law is in how it deals with places of antisocial conduct. At present the efforts of the law are aimed at dealing with specific acts of criminal behaviour at places occupied by the socially irresponsible. However, as was found in the United Kingdom and in New South Wales, there is a significant gap when it comes to those disorderly houses that have no person who takes any social responsibility for the premises.
This legislation will enable the police to present the facts to a court and seek an order declaring these places to be places of antisocial conduct. The police will then be empowered to act when antisocial conduct again occurs on the premises. It is certainly not the case - and I emphasise that - that any law at present deals with this situation, or there is any law at the moment that remotely deals with the situation. It is ineffective and this law will certainly make that situation effective.
I would emphasise again that this legislation has been drafted with the cooperation of the police. There has been a large amount of input from the Attorney-General’s Department advising on the measures that are contained in it.
It is far-reaching legislation. I emphasise it is designed to prevent criminal activity occurring and it is designed to disperse those who would engage in antisocial activity and destroy the quality of life that Territorians have a right to enjoy.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,I thank the member for Port Darwin for that question because, of course, anti-social behaviour in and around the CBD, in her electorate, is an area of not only concern to her but concern to government and that is why this legislation is being introduced.
It amazes me that the Labor Party immediately come out and criticise any new initiative of government to try and protect victims, because that is really what this government is all about. When it comes to law and order, when it comes to legislation, when it comes to dealing with lawlessness, criminal or potentially criminal, we will bring in legislation to ensure that we give police all the powers that are possible and support them in their activities to deal with that lawlessness.
When it comes to victims of crime, let us remember that the victims of crime are not only those people who are victims of criminal activity. There are victims out there every day, there are children who cannot play in parks because they have drunken itinerants sitting around there drinking and creating mayhem, and those children are frightened off from those parks. There are people in suburbs with vacant blocks in those suburbs where itinerants have taken control of those places and those people. Their quality of life is affected every day of the week. There are people who cannot walk on the Esplanade or down on the Nightcliff foreshore because of drunken itinerants who have taken over and are forcing them ...
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nhulunbuy, settle down.
Mr BURKE: ... they can’t even enjoy a Sunday afternoon.
I find it interesting - not only does the opposition lambast this legislation, but in doing so they cannot even decide what their approach is. You have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition saying, ‘This legislation is just CLP hot air’. He points to a whole range of offences such as the Summary Offences Act, Section 45D, Summary Offences Act section 47, Summary Offences Act, section 50, a whole range of summary offences that he believes makes this legislation unnecessary because all of these current legislative measures deal with the act, with the behaviour that we are about to produce.
At the same time you have Mr Tippett, a criminal lawyer, who comes out and says, ‘These laws are close to the draconian laws of the apartheid regimes of South Africa’. So make up your mind. You have a learned lawyer on the one hand saying they are draconian and close to the apartheid laws of South Africa, and you have the Deputy Leader of the Opposition saying it is hot air, there is nothing there. Let us get some consistency. As well, you have the Leader of the Opposition saying that the CLP government has done nothing for 20 years. Have we done nothing for 20 years? Do we have draconian laws such as South Africa, or is it all hot air? Make up your minds. At least get some consistency so that Territorians know what it is all about.
Let us understand what these laws very clearly do. They are firstly preventative in their aim. Once passed, and they will be introduced by the Deputy Chief Minister tomorrow, the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. In the second-reading speech, he will lay it out in more detail.
Ms Martin: Why is there part of Summary Offences?
Mr BURKE: If the Leader of the Opposition would quieten down maybe Territorians could understand exactly the intent of these laws.
I emphasise they are preventative in their intent. They will enable police to act to prevent the type of behaviour that causes responsible people in the community to be concerned and worried about their peace and welfare. They will be preventative and effective in two ways. Firstly, by empowering police to take preventative action to give reasonable directions to those people who are engaging in …
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: Amazing, absolutely amazing! You have law-abiding Territorians out there trying to listen to what this legislation is all about and they cannot hear for the uproar that is coming from the other side of the Chamber.
It enables police to take preventative action to give reasonable directions to those people who are engaging in, who have engaged in, or who are about to engage in antisocial conduct in public places and prescribed places. These prescribed places include schools, service stations and public open spaces and the like, and they will be detailed more in the legislation.
The directions that police can give are to be aimed at the prevention of the behaviour that causes affront to right-minded people in the community. This type of law that we are introducing differs from existing law - and that is why your summary offences laws do not act the way this legislation will - in that the existing law is restricted by the locations that it applies to.
In particular, these laws will also apply to private land but only when that private land is unoccupied and adjacent to public places and is a place to which the public resorts to. It also differs from the existing law in that the directions that police can give are more focussed on the longer term resolution of those who are engaged in antisocial conduct.
For example the police will be able to direct troublemakers out of the Mitchell Street entertainment precinct for up to 72 hours if that is necessary to maintain peace and good order in the street. If those directions are ignored those people will be arrested.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr BURKE: You do not want to hear it. You talk about law and order, you talk about what you are going to do about crime, but you have one interest only. Your only interest is looking after criminals and looking after drunken bloody itinerants.
Police will also be empowered to confiscate from people goods that contribute to their antisocial conduct. Again this has been a problem for police as the present noise abatement laws are aimed at premises and not those people whose conduct is loud and disruptive and antisocial. It is only when directions are not complied with that the law will actually call for the punishment of people.
The second main way that the law differs from the existing law is in how it deals with places of antisocial conduct. At present the efforts of the law are aimed at dealing with specific acts of criminal behaviour at places occupied by the socially irresponsible. However, as was found in the United Kingdom and in New South Wales, there is a significant gap when it comes to those disorderly houses that have no person who takes any social responsibility for the premises.
This legislation will enable the police to present the facts to a court and seek an order declaring these places to be places of antisocial conduct. The police will then be empowered to act when antisocial conduct again occurs on the premises. It is certainly not the case - and I emphasise that - that any law at present deals with this situation, or there is any law at the moment that remotely deals with the situation. It is ineffective and this law will certainly make that situation effective.
I would emphasise again that this legislation has been drafted with the cooperation of the police. There has been a large amount of input from the Attorney-General’s Department advising on the measures that are contained in it.
It is far-reaching legislation. I emphasise it is designed to prevent criminal activity occurring and it is designed to disperse those who would engage in antisocial activity and destroy the quality of life that Territorians have a right to enjoy.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016