Mr GUNNER - 2013-08-20
A year ago you promised to cut crime in the NT by 10% in your first year. You promised to immediately remove drunks from the streets. In the first six weeks of the Banned Drinker Register, 858 problem drinkers were banned. In the first six weeks of your alcohol laws, nine people were sent into rehabilitation; sort of, they kept running away. The Banned Drinker Register cost $2m a year. Your laws are costing $45m this year. When people walk out of your rehabilitation, they are free to buy as much alcohol as they like. Your alcohol policies are such a farce you cannot even work out who the minister is. Do you guarantee the release of crime statistics next week will show crime has decreased by 10% in your first year?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is only one party in this Chamber committed to reducing crime. We have already spoken about the extra 120 police, more resources to the call centre, and localised calls in Katherine and Alice Springs. We have seen recruitment squads go through already. We have a mandatory alcohol treatment program in place. The question is for you when you talk about the number of people on the Banned Drinker Register. How many people did you rehabilitate on the Banned Drinker Register?
Let us get to the heart of the question about crime statistics. When we look at the crime statistics it is very hard to make comparisons with Labor’s crime statistics because Labor failed to release theirs. They chose to hide under the cover of darkness and not make them public. We will be releasing our crime statistics on Friday for the June quarter and will continue to do that in the subsequent quarter. They will then be provided monthly on a public website everybody can see, because we are not hiding or running away from anything, not like Labor. Labor hid their crime statistics.
While the crime statistics do not go to all incidents, alcohol-induced antisocial behaviour has significantly dropped. If you want information, get a briefing. It has significantly dropped. Property crime is down by around 9% across the Territory.
If you want to get to some serious issues around crime in the Northern Territory, Tennant Creek has serious crime problems. Property crime, assaults and alcoholism are all serious, so much so we are opening a Chief Minister’s office there. I will put someone in charge to identify the issues and start developing a plan to address some of the criminal stuff, some of the social stuff, and some of the drunks stuff. It is in a bad way and what is happening there is dear to my heart.
However, for the last eleven-and-a-half years Labor held the seat of Barkly in government and the local member, in opposition, lives in Tennant Creek. If you want to address social issues you need a strong economy to balance social and economic issues to drive solutions for the region. I am disgusted that in Tennant Creek and the Barkly there is no economic driver. We have social issues in Tennant we will address, but until we have economic drivers to balance those issues it will be a long-term problem in Tennant Creek and the Barkly. Shame on the member for Barkly for being a senior Cabinet minister and not having economic drivers! This is a result of your failures in the region. Once again, we will clean up your mess.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, there is only one party in this Chamber committed to reducing crime. We have already spoken about the extra 120 police, more resources to the call centre, and localised calls in Katherine and Alice Springs. We have seen recruitment squads go through already. We have a mandatory alcohol treatment program in place. The question is for you when you talk about the number of people on the Banned Drinker Register. How many people did you rehabilitate on the Banned Drinker Register?
Let us get to the heart of the question about crime statistics. When we look at the crime statistics it is very hard to make comparisons with Labor’s crime statistics because Labor failed to release theirs. They chose to hide under the cover of darkness and not make them public. We will be releasing our crime statistics on Friday for the June quarter and will continue to do that in the subsequent quarter. They will then be provided monthly on a public website everybody can see, because we are not hiding or running away from anything, not like Labor. Labor hid their crime statistics.
While the crime statistics do not go to all incidents, alcohol-induced antisocial behaviour has significantly dropped. If you want information, get a briefing. It has significantly dropped. Property crime is down by around 9% across the Territory.
If you want to get to some serious issues around crime in the Northern Territory, Tennant Creek has serious crime problems. Property crime, assaults and alcoholism are all serious, so much so we are opening a Chief Minister’s office there. I will put someone in charge to identify the issues and start developing a plan to address some of the criminal stuff, some of the social stuff, and some of the drunks stuff. It is in a bad way and what is happening there is dear to my heart.
However, for the last eleven-and-a-half years Labor held the seat of Barkly in government and the local member, in opposition, lives in Tennant Creek. If you want to address social issues you need a strong economy to balance social and economic issues to drive solutions for the region. I am disgusted that in Tennant Creek and the Barkly there is no economic driver. We have social issues in Tennant we will address, but until we have economic drivers to balance those issues it will be a long-term problem in Tennant Creek and the Barkly. Shame on the member for Barkly for being a senior Cabinet minister and not having economic drivers! This is a result of your failures in the region. Once again, we will clean up your mess.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016