Mr KURRUPUWU - 2013-08-21
The scourge of alcohol abuse is widespread across the Territory and is particularly high in our Indigenous population. Can you advise the House how seriously you take this issue, and outline some of the plans to address it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura. I know he is very passionate about supporting his people, particularly from the Tiwi Islands, and on the mainland, in ensuring they have appropriate support services to address their chronic alcohol issues where they are prevalent in that small population.
Everyone in this Chamber has an understanding of the scourge of alcohol on a small part of our population which has a terrible detrimental effect on people’s health as individuals, their children, their families and their communities.
When we came to government we were resolute that we were going to address this problem. The Minister for Alcohol Rehabilitation is doing a fantastic job putting in place a nation-leading initiative to try to help resolve some of these issues people have.
It is very interesting when you look at how some of our changes have occurred over a period of time. When we came into government we removed the Banned Drinker Register. The Banned Drinker Register was stopping people buying takeaway alcohol; it was not stopping people from going into a pub and drinking or from breaking into premises and obtaining it.
That was when we saw the levels of crime with commercial and residential property break-ins go through the roof. You can see in the crime figures that came out on Friday that property crime has reduced substantially.
Also, by not criminalising it, people can now buy grog while, at the same time, we are helping people who have chronic problems. We have seen a reduction in the number of protective custodies, and I will go through some figures. I alluded to some earlier, but I will go through some more. This is data from 1 July last year to 31 May this year. These are the reasons people say we are not seeing as many drunk people on the streets at the moment, which is having a much better outcome …
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: I explained, Madam Speaker. This is 31 May data: Darwin Metro Command in that period of time for the 2011-12 financial year had 7670 people taken to the watch house, and in the last financial year it was 6482, which is a reduction of 15.49%; Northern Command, 4918 to 3842, a reduction of 21.89%; and Southern Command, 5786 compared to the last financial year of 2783, a reduction of 51.9%. That is a substantial difference to people’s lives.
Under the previous government, people would be picked up on the street and thrown into a police cell every night, which is a reflection of those 2011-12 figures; 19 045 people were chucked into a cell overnight. That figure dropped to 13 116 as opposed to the data I just presented. That is, overall for the Northern Territory, a 31% change.
There is a substantial difference of us not throwing people into goals. This is part of the change we want to see: fewer Aboriginal people in goal for being drunk, but going through rehabilitation.
Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Minister for Alcohol Rehabilitation for her tenacious efforts in trying to help Territorians, something Labor completely forgot about ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura. I know he is very passionate about supporting his people, particularly from the Tiwi Islands, and on the mainland, in ensuring they have appropriate support services to address their chronic alcohol issues where they are prevalent in that small population.
Everyone in this Chamber has an understanding of the scourge of alcohol on a small part of our population which has a terrible detrimental effect on people’s health as individuals, their children, their families and their communities.
When we came to government we were resolute that we were going to address this problem. The Minister for Alcohol Rehabilitation is doing a fantastic job putting in place a nation-leading initiative to try to help resolve some of these issues people have.
It is very interesting when you look at how some of our changes have occurred over a period of time. When we came into government we removed the Banned Drinker Register. The Banned Drinker Register was stopping people buying takeaway alcohol; it was not stopping people from going into a pub and drinking or from breaking into premises and obtaining it.
That was when we saw the levels of crime with commercial and residential property break-ins go through the roof. You can see in the crime figures that came out on Friday that property crime has reduced substantially.
Also, by not criminalising it, people can now buy grog while, at the same time, we are helping people who have chronic problems. We have seen a reduction in the number of protective custodies, and I will go through some figures. I alluded to some earlier, but I will go through some more. This is data from 1 July last year to 31 May this year. These are the reasons people say we are not seeing as many drunk people on the streets at the moment, which is having a much better outcome …
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: I explained, Madam Speaker. This is 31 May data: Darwin Metro Command in that period of time for the 2011-12 financial year had 7670 people taken to the watch house, and in the last financial year it was 6482, which is a reduction of 15.49%; Northern Command, 4918 to 3842, a reduction of 21.89%; and Southern Command, 5786 compared to the last financial year of 2783, a reduction of 51.9%. That is a substantial difference to people’s lives.
Under the previous government, people would be picked up on the street and thrown into a police cell every night, which is a reflection of those 2011-12 figures; 19 045 people were chucked into a cell overnight. That figure dropped to 13 116 as opposed to the data I just presented. That is, overall for the Northern Territory, a 31% change.
There is a substantial difference of us not throwing people into goals. This is part of the change we want to see: fewer Aboriginal people in goal for being drunk, but going through rehabilitation.
Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Minister for Alcohol Rehabilitation for her tenacious efforts in trying to help Territorians, something Labor completely forgot about ...
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016