Ms FINOCCHIARO - 2012-12-05
Can you please inform the House as to the status of the promised boot camps and the benefits of such camps?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question because an important component of our legal system is how to deal with juveniles who come to the attention of the criminal justice system.
The concern we have on this side of the House is the arrangements under the former government were structured in such a way as to try to make excuses for many of these juvenile offenders. They were taking an approach which was soft on crime. This Northern Territory government on this side of the House believes that when juvenile offenders go through the system we should be challenging them, and challenging them inside institutions which will seek to correct their conduct, not just give them a little warm cuddle but challenge them on a mental, psychological and physical level.
To that end, the Northern Territory government has dedicated $1m in the mini-budget to start establishing appropriate boot camps in the Northern Territory. This requires research, it requires work. Nevertheless …
Ms Walker: Boot camps fly in the face of the youth justice review done by Jodeen Carney. Out the window; cannot find it on a website.
Mr ELFERINK: I hear the member for Nhulunbuy complaining desperately about us being tough on kids. We do not mind being tough on kids because we have expectations of children. We have an expectation they do the right thing and, when they live in our communities, that they attend to the normal standards of those communities.
Moreover, there is not only $1m this year to go into researching and the establishment of boot camps, but a further commitment of $2m ongoing funding from the year 2013-14 so these juvenile young offenders, when they come to our attention, will be placed into boot camps and be challenged. They will be challenged in all sorts of ways by specialised professionals.
We are not scared of asking young people who engage in miscreant behaviour to say they are responsible for themselves and will be responsible for themselves into the future. That is what a correction system and boot camps are about; it is about challenging young people to change their behaviour and putting real pressure on them, not just giving them a nice little warm cuddle and an emotional hug in the corner, but saying to them, ‘You are responsible and you will correct your conduct’.
The Country Liberals are unafraid and unembarrassed to go down this path. We look forward to a future where these young people will find themselves in a correction system that will actually correct them, and not tell them they are victims.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for her question because an important component of our legal system is how to deal with juveniles who come to the attention of the criminal justice system.
The concern we have on this side of the House is the arrangements under the former government were structured in such a way as to try to make excuses for many of these juvenile offenders. They were taking an approach which was soft on crime. This Northern Territory government on this side of the House believes that when juvenile offenders go through the system we should be challenging them, and challenging them inside institutions which will seek to correct their conduct, not just give them a little warm cuddle but challenge them on a mental, psychological and physical level.
To that end, the Northern Territory government has dedicated $1m in the mini-budget to start establishing appropriate boot camps in the Northern Territory. This requires research, it requires work. Nevertheless …
Ms Walker: Boot camps fly in the face of the youth justice review done by Jodeen Carney. Out the window; cannot find it on a website.
Mr ELFERINK: I hear the member for Nhulunbuy complaining desperately about us being tough on kids. We do not mind being tough on kids because we have expectations of children. We have an expectation they do the right thing and, when they live in our communities, that they attend to the normal standards of those communities.
Moreover, there is not only $1m this year to go into researching and the establishment of boot camps, but a further commitment of $2m ongoing funding from the year 2013-14 so these juvenile young offenders, when they come to our attention, will be placed into boot camps and be challenged. They will be challenged in all sorts of ways by specialised professionals.
We are not scared of asking young people who engage in miscreant behaviour to say they are responsible for themselves and will be responsible for themselves into the future. That is what a correction system and boot camps are about; it is about challenging young people to change their behaviour and putting real pressure on them, not just giving them a nice little warm cuddle and an emotional hug in the corner, but saying to them, ‘You are responsible and you will correct your conduct’.
The Country Liberals are unafraid and unembarrassed to go down this path. We look forward to a future where these young people will find themselves in a correction system that will actually correct them, and not tell them they are victims.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016