Mr CONLAN - 2015-12-03
Can you please update the House on how electronic monitoring bracelets are being utilised by Correctional Services?
Ms Walker: There were none at the Datjala Work Camp.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I understand the question is to the Minister for Correctional Services.
Mr CONLAN: Do you want me to repeat it?
Mr Elferink: Yes, I could not hear it for all the noise coming from members opposite.
Madam SPEAKER: Perhaps you should repeat it.
Mr CONLAN: Can you please update the House on how electronic monitoring bracelets are being utilised by Correctional Services?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is curious to hear the members opposite complaining about this because electronic monitoring was promised by the former minister, the member for Barkly, who never introduced it. He stood in this House and said he would introduce electronic monitoring, but never got around to it.
Mr Giles: He was too busy giving away Stella Maris.
Mr ELFERINK: Yes, he was too busy being involved in other things.
This government thinks electronic monitoring has a useful purpose.
Ms Walker: You promised that every prisoner at the Datjala Work Camp would have one and they do not.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy!
Mrs PRICE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 20; I cannot hear the member for Port Darwin.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Stuart.
Mr ELFERINK: Clearly they had a bit too much red cordial over lunch.
I have in my hand one of the GPS units being used by the government at the moment. We also have the base units which are used in people’s homes. We have 132 active units in the community, either being used in the custodial environment for people leaving work camps, or by Community Corrections for people who have already received parole.
Electronic monitoring is a very useful system. If a person is on parole with one of these attached to them, and for whatever reason they choose to cut the band, we will immediately know about it. Compare that to the former Labor government, which used Community Corrections as the oversight body. Up to 10 days would pass before you would discover somebody had gone. We now have immediate notification. That is a vast step in the right direction.
Moreover, the bill before this House means, should it pass, we will be able to put these devices on the little darlings who have a history of breaking into houses, particularly in the Darwin and Palmerston area. Around 80% of those crimes are committed by 30% of the youth who appear before the court system. We will be proud, should the legislation pass today, to tag those kids so we can keep an eye on them and know what they get up to.
The Labor government promises, but the CLP government delivers. This makes the Territory a safer place for Territorians
Ms Walker: There were none at the Datjala Work Camp.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! I understand the question is to the Minister for Correctional Services.
Mr CONLAN: Do you want me to repeat it?
Mr Elferink: Yes, I could not hear it for all the noise coming from members opposite.
Madam SPEAKER: Perhaps you should repeat it.
Mr CONLAN: Can you please update the House on how electronic monitoring bracelets are being utilised by Correctional Services?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is curious to hear the members opposite complaining about this because electronic monitoring was promised by the former minister, the member for Barkly, who never introduced it. He stood in this House and said he would introduce electronic monitoring, but never got around to it.
Mr Giles: He was too busy giving away Stella Maris.
Mr ELFERINK: Yes, he was too busy being involved in other things.
This government thinks electronic monitoring has a useful purpose.
Ms Walker: You promised that every prisoner at the Datjala Work Camp would have one and they do not.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy!
Mrs PRICE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 20; I cannot hear the member for Port Darwin.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Stuart.
Mr ELFERINK: Clearly they had a bit too much red cordial over lunch.
I have in my hand one of the GPS units being used by the government at the moment. We also have the base units which are used in people’s homes. We have 132 active units in the community, either being used in the custodial environment for people leaving work camps, or by Community Corrections for people who have already received parole.
Electronic monitoring is a very useful system. If a person is on parole with one of these attached to them, and for whatever reason they choose to cut the band, we will immediately know about it. Compare that to the former Labor government, which used Community Corrections as the oversight body. Up to 10 days would pass before you would discover somebody had gone. We now have immediate notification. That is a vast step in the right direction.
Moreover, the bill before this House means, should it pass, we will be able to put these devices on the little darlings who have a history of breaking into houses, particularly in the Darwin and Palmerston area. Around 80% of those crimes are committed by 30% of the youth who appear before the court system. We will be proud, should the legislation pass today, to tag those kids so we can keep an eye on them and know what they get up to.
The Labor government promises, but the CLP government delivers. This makes the Territory a safer place for Territorians
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016