Mr KURRUPUWU - 2014-03-18
Could you please update the Assembly on the number of people now banned from drinking under the government’s new Alcohol Protection Orders? Can you provide any figure highlighting the success to date?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. He has a great deal of interest around alcohol abuse and alcohol consumption and is very opinionated on this. We are very keen to hear concerns in this area on a regular basis.
There are now more than 800 people on Alcohol Protection Orders which ban people from buying, possessing or consuming alcohol and from entering licensed premises. This means we have turned more than 800 people off alcohol. These are people who are charged with committing a crime under the influence of alcohol which attracts a possible sentence of six months or more.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: I am happy to provide an update for people other than the Labor Party: there are 206 in Darwin and Palmerston; more than 100 in Katherine; 213 are banned in Alice Springs; and there were 152 orders in Tennant Creek and the Barkly area.
We are implementing Alcohol Protection Orders as a suite of measures to deliver on our promise of driving down crime and tackling the scourge of alcohol-fuelled violence across the Northern Territory. These are tools the police welcome and they are already seeing substantial results.
People across the Northern Territory already know the success we are having in driving down property crime - the lowest property crime in the Territory’s history on record. But let me tell you about assaults. Let me give you some early assault figures. Labor will not like to hear this because it shows success. I will speak clearly for those opposite.
In February 2013 there were 631 people charged with assault offences. The number of assaults has been going up, with more police on the street and more active programs designed to target the offender. If you compare February 2013, where 631 people were charged with assault offences, in February 2014, the figure was 496. This is 496 too many serious assaults, but it shows a 22% reduction which, statistically, is almost too good to be true. If the trend continues we will see a significant change in assaults in the Northern Territory.
We have more police on the beat and targeting assaults. Police have been directed to go to the heart of the issue and make sure those perpetrators of assaults, particularly domestic violence, are charged and prosecuted. We are no longer letting them off. We started to see an increase with more policing, and now with the APOs, a complete downward trend - a drop of 22% in the February figures, making a substantial change across the Territory and to people’s lives.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura for his question. He has a great deal of interest around alcohol abuse and alcohol consumption and is very opinionated on this. We are very keen to hear concerns in this area on a regular basis.
There are now more than 800 people on Alcohol Protection Orders which ban people from buying, possessing or consuming alcohol and from entering licensed premises. This means we have turned more than 800 people off alcohol. These are people who are charged with committing a crime under the influence of alcohol which attracts a possible sentence of six months or more.
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: I am happy to provide an update for people other than the Labor Party: there are 206 in Darwin and Palmerston; more than 100 in Katherine; 213 are banned in Alice Springs; and there were 152 orders in Tennant Creek and the Barkly area.
We are implementing Alcohol Protection Orders as a suite of measures to deliver on our promise of driving down crime and tackling the scourge of alcohol-fuelled violence across the Northern Territory. These are tools the police welcome and they are already seeing substantial results.
People across the Northern Territory already know the success we are having in driving down property crime - the lowest property crime in the Territory’s history on record. But let me tell you about assaults. Let me give you some early assault figures. Labor will not like to hear this because it shows success. I will speak clearly for those opposite.
In February 2013 there were 631 people charged with assault offences. The number of assaults has been going up, with more police on the street and more active programs designed to target the offender. If you compare February 2013, where 631 people were charged with assault offences, in February 2014, the figure was 496. This is 496 too many serious assaults, but it shows a 22% reduction which, statistically, is almost too good to be true. If the trend continues we will see a significant change in assaults in the Northern Territory.
We have more police on the beat and targeting assaults. Police have been directed to go to the heart of the issue and make sure those perpetrators of assaults, particularly domestic violence, are charged and prosecuted. We are no longer letting them off. We started to see an increase with more policing, and now with the APOs, a complete downward trend - a drop of 22% in the February figures, making a substantial change across the Territory and to people’s lives.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016