Ms WALKER - 2011-08-09
The Henderson government is rolling out tough new measures to turn the tap off to problem drinkers. Can the minister report to the House …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Ms WALKER: Madam Speaker, they just regard it as one big joke.
Can the minister report to the House how many …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The member has cast a slur on members of this House and I find it offensive. Can you ask her to withdraw, please?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, simply withdraw. Member for Fong Lim, remember you are on a warning.
Ms WALKER: Madam Speaker, as I was saying, can the minister report to the House how Northern Territory Correctional Services is supporting this push to tackle alcohol-related crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question because the statistics are stark. When we talk about 60% of all assaults and 67% of domestic violence relating to alcohol, this is a serious matter. We are all in this House to make a difference. The behaviour of the opposition needs to be called to question.
It is an important question and Correctional Services is being debated in the House today. It is an important debate. Many members of this House have acknowledged how important it is. It relates to our focus on rehabilitation. We have to target the offending behaviour, and I will speak more about this when the debate resumes. That is what it is about and what the opposition need to take on board. It is about addressing criminogenic behaviour, which is what we are doing with a new era in Corrections. It relates to a range of programs delivered in our prisons targeting offending behaviour and to policy outside the wire with turning off the tap to problem drinkers.
If anyone from the opposition wants to visit Tennant Creek to talk to the community in the Barkly area, you are most welcome because we have welcomed these reforms. We are a community that embrace the reforms. It is a tough call but we are going to get through it because we want to deliver results in the Northern Territory for our community. It is Territory-wide and tough reform because this government is not frightened to bring on tough reform.
We are giving prisoners inside the wire the tools and knowledge to understand alcohol abuse and its effects. We are starting to deconstruct the issues for disadvantaged people who have a low level of education, have English as a second language, have cultural issues that conflict with mainstream Australian culture in some respects, and we are trying to get that balance right and deliver programs.
I am proud to say my colleague, the minister for Health, is also delivering prison in-reach programs, a comprehensive alcohol and other drugs assessment. We are talking about 560 alcohol treatments of prisoners across both Correctional centres in the last financial year. We are starting to make gains and we are serious about these gains. Corrections is delivering services in a difficult environment at Berrimah, and that is why we need a new Correctional facility. That is why this government …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Minister, is it not true you are locking up Aboriginal people more than apartheid at its highest rate in South Africa?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, resume your seat. That was not a point of order. You knew you were on a warning.
Mr McCARTHY: That is why this government is building a new Correctional facility - innovative, state-of-the-art - to deliver better outcomes.
Mr Giles: Time is up.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the member for Braitling to withdraw the words ‘shut up’.
Mr Bohlin: He said: ‘Time is up’.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, member for Braitling. Whoever he was speaking to, it is inappropriate in this Chamber. I ask you to withdraw the comment, thank you.
Mr GILES: I withdraw.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Ms WALKER: Madam Speaker, they just regard it as one big joke.
Can the minister report to the House how many …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The member has cast a slur on members of this House and I find it offensive. Can you ask her to withdraw, please?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy, simply withdraw. Member for Fong Lim, remember you are on a warning.
Ms WALKER: Madam Speaker, as I was saying, can the minister report to the House how Northern Territory Correctional Services is supporting this push to tackle alcohol-related crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Nhulunbuy for her question because the statistics are stark. When we talk about 60% of all assaults and 67% of domestic violence relating to alcohol, this is a serious matter. We are all in this House to make a difference. The behaviour of the opposition needs to be called to question.
It is an important question and Correctional Services is being debated in the House today. It is an important debate. Many members of this House have acknowledged how important it is. It relates to our focus on rehabilitation. We have to target the offending behaviour, and I will speak more about this when the debate resumes. That is what it is about and what the opposition need to take on board. It is about addressing criminogenic behaviour, which is what we are doing with a new era in Corrections. It relates to a range of programs delivered in our prisons targeting offending behaviour and to policy outside the wire with turning off the tap to problem drinkers.
If anyone from the opposition wants to visit Tennant Creek to talk to the community in the Barkly area, you are most welcome because we have welcomed these reforms. We are a community that embrace the reforms. It is a tough call but we are going to get through it because we want to deliver results in the Northern Territory for our community. It is Territory-wide and tough reform because this government is not frightened to bring on tough reform.
We are giving prisoners inside the wire the tools and knowledge to understand alcohol abuse and its effects. We are starting to deconstruct the issues for disadvantaged people who have a low level of education, have English as a second language, have cultural issues that conflict with mainstream Australian culture in some respects, and we are trying to get that balance right and deliver programs.
I am proud to say my colleague, the minister for Health, is also delivering prison in-reach programs, a comprehensive alcohol and other drugs assessment. We are talking about 560 alcohol treatments of prisoners across both Correctional centres in the last financial year. We are starting to make gains and we are serious about these gains. Corrections is delivering services in a difficult environment at Berrimah, and that is why we need a new Correctional facility. That is why this government …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Minister, is it not true you are locking up Aboriginal people more than apartheid at its highest rate in South Africa?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, resume your seat. That was not a point of order. You knew you were on a warning.
Mr McCARTHY: That is why this government is building a new Correctional facility - innovative, state-of-the-art - to deliver better outcomes.
Mr Giles: Time is up.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the member for Braitling to withdraw the words ‘shut up’.
Mr Bohlin: He said: ‘Time is up’.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, member for Braitling. Whoever he was speaking to, it is inappropriate in this Chamber. I ask you to withdraw the comment, thank you.
Mr GILES: I withdraw.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Written Question Paper.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016