Mr GUNNER - 2016-03-17
A Darwin CBD worker posted on Facebook last night about antisocial behaviour on the buy, sell and swap page. She was inundated with more than 100 comments in just a few hours. This morning on Mix 104.9 FM this employee talked about how unsafe she felt in her workplace. She stated, ‘Drunken violence has always been an issue, but in the last few months it has been a daily occurrence where the ambulance and police come by the CBD and we have all this drunken violence and antisocial behaviour that makes us feel unsafe. It is an unsafe environment to be in and work in. I just don’t think it is fair on the community.’
When will you start listening to Territorians and admit that your policies are hurting Territorians and local businesses? When will you adopt Labor’s policy and bring back the Banned Drinker Register? When will you properly resource police?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I go back to the original point. There are more police now and they are better resourced than they were under the previous government. I note the point in your question …
Mr Gunner: The Police Association has said that is not true.
Mr GILES: You asked the question; listen to the answer.
In your question you said the person who rang Mix 104.9 FM said it has always been a problem. So, this is not something that started yesterday.
I recognise that antisocial behaviour is an issue in the Northern Territory and we continue to crack down on it. That is why we put in place measures such as Alcohol Protection Orders, paperless arrests, alcohol mandatory treatment and point-of-sale intervention across the Territory. I could go on about the interventions we have made to improve law and order in the Northern Territory.
The interesting thing is, every time we try to make change in law and order or to antisocial behaviour, Labor opposes it. It opposes protective custody where people who may be drunk on the street are picked up and taken to the watch house to provide protection for them. It opposed alcohol mandatory treatment, a system that is giving people a second opportunity in life through rehabilitation. It opposed paperless arrests, giving police more powers and the ability to get on the beat. It opposed Alcohol Protection Orders.
What is it proposing now? An electronic system to stop people trying to get grog …
Ms Fyles: Why will you not bring back the BDR?
Mr GILES: It did not ban people getting grog. You are not recognising that wholesale alcohol supply in the Northern Territory has gone down. It is lower than when you had the BDR across the Northern Territory. When you had the Banned Drinker Register more alcohol was being sold in the Northern Territory. There were people on the BDR getting alcohol on 119 different occasions. Your system did not work.
You can keep talking about law and order; I will never say law and order has been fixed. We can all have a utopian goal of having no law and order problems in our community. We need to continue to put more resources in and get the levels of crime and antisocial behaviour down. We are making inroads and having success.
I thank the police very much. I say to the other providers of policing-type or patrol-type services, such as Larrakia Nation, Congress in Alice Springs and the many other Night Patrol services across the Territory, thank you very much; you contribute to making our community safer. It is important that we recognise the role these people are playing.
You can talk about one crime all the time; there will always be crime. We need to continue to make our community safer and this government is achieving that.
When will you start listening to Territorians and admit that your policies are hurting Territorians and local businesses? When will you adopt Labor’s policy and bring back the Banned Drinker Register? When will you properly resource police?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I go back to the original point. There are more police now and they are better resourced than they were under the previous government. I note the point in your question …
Mr Gunner: The Police Association has said that is not true.
Mr GILES: You asked the question; listen to the answer.
In your question you said the person who rang Mix 104.9 FM said it has always been a problem. So, this is not something that started yesterday.
I recognise that antisocial behaviour is an issue in the Northern Territory and we continue to crack down on it. That is why we put in place measures such as Alcohol Protection Orders, paperless arrests, alcohol mandatory treatment and point-of-sale intervention across the Territory. I could go on about the interventions we have made to improve law and order in the Northern Territory.
The interesting thing is, every time we try to make change in law and order or to antisocial behaviour, Labor opposes it. It opposes protective custody where people who may be drunk on the street are picked up and taken to the watch house to provide protection for them. It opposed alcohol mandatory treatment, a system that is giving people a second opportunity in life through rehabilitation. It opposed paperless arrests, giving police more powers and the ability to get on the beat. It opposed Alcohol Protection Orders.
What is it proposing now? An electronic system to stop people trying to get grog …
Ms Fyles: Why will you not bring back the BDR?
Mr GILES: It did not ban people getting grog. You are not recognising that wholesale alcohol supply in the Northern Territory has gone down. It is lower than when you had the BDR across the Northern Territory. When you had the Banned Drinker Register more alcohol was being sold in the Northern Territory. There were people on the BDR getting alcohol on 119 different occasions. Your system did not work.
You can keep talking about law and order; I will never say law and order has been fixed. We can all have a utopian goal of having no law and order problems in our community. We need to continue to put more resources in and get the levels of crime and antisocial behaviour down. We are making inroads and having success.
I thank the police very much. I say to the other providers of policing-type or patrol-type services, such as Larrakia Nation, Congress in Alice Springs and the many other Night Patrol services across the Territory, thank you very much; you contribute to making our community safer. It is important that we recognise the role these people are playing.
You can talk about one crime all the time; there will always be crime. We need to continue to make our community safer and this government is achieving that.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016