Mr HIGGINS - 2013-02-12
Last week in the federal parliament, Prime Minister Julia Gillard criticised the Country Liberal government and accused it of taking what she described as retrograde steps when we dismantled the Banned Drinker Register. Is it your intention to reinstate the register?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Yes, we have been really intimidated by the dreadful accusations made by the Prime Minister who, sadly, was misled by the Leader of the Opposition with inaccurate and misleading statistics. Oh dear, that is an unusual occurrence.
The Banned Drinker Register was in operation from July 2011 to August 2012. Across the Territory - I hope the Prime Minister is listening to this - there were 6% more assaults during 2011-12 than the previous year, and 3% more assaults during the September quarter 2012 than the September quarter 2011. There were 2.9% more alcohol-related assault offences during 2011-12 than in 2010-11. It is not very compelling for your case. That is why you hid the statistics; you want to run this notion but do not confuse the people with facts such as the attitude and character of this former government.
The 2010-11 figures for alcohol-related assaults were 3.1% higher than 2009-10. This shows a consistent rise in alcohol-related assaults over the past few years with no apparent impact on the statistics during the period of operation of the Banned Drinker Register from July 2011 to August 2012. On a regional basis the statistics are more variable but they do not show evidence of a consistent drop during the operation of the Banned Drinker Register. Specifically, in Alice Springs the number of alcohol-related assault offences remained on par between 2010-11 and 2011-12: a 0.3% increase.
Since the abolition of the Banned Drinker Register in August 2012, the number of alcohol-related assault offences per month has remained on par with the 2011-12 monthly figures and below the 2009-10 levels. The statistics do not support ….
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. Can the Chief Minister please provide the stats for asking people politely to stop drinking?
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down. There is no point of order. That is a frivolous point of order.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The continual use of frivolous points of orders is deliberately designed to eat into Question Time.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: I do it all the time; I stand up for what is important and encourage any other citizen to do the same. You wimp! Why do you not stand up for what is right and tell people to stop drinking in public places? No, you do not have the guts to do that ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 62 - unbecoming words used by the Chief Minister. I ask him to withdraw.
Mr Mills: Which ones?
Mr McCARTHY: When you referred to a member of this parliament as a ‘wimp’. I ask the Chief Minister to withdraw those unbecoming words.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, withdraw the term ‘wimp’ please.
Mr MILLS: Yes, okay. It reinforces the accusation. I withdraw ‘wimp’ if it hurts you so much.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Yes, we have been really intimidated by the dreadful accusations made by the Prime Minister who, sadly, was misled by the Leader of the Opposition with inaccurate and misleading statistics. Oh dear, that is an unusual occurrence.
The Banned Drinker Register was in operation from July 2011 to August 2012. Across the Territory - I hope the Prime Minister is listening to this - there were 6% more assaults during 2011-12 than the previous year, and 3% more assaults during the September quarter 2012 than the September quarter 2011. There were 2.9% more alcohol-related assault offences during 2011-12 than in 2010-11. It is not very compelling for your case. That is why you hid the statistics; you want to run this notion but do not confuse the people with facts such as the attitude and character of this former government.
The 2010-11 figures for alcohol-related assaults were 3.1% higher than 2009-10. This shows a consistent rise in alcohol-related assaults over the past few years with no apparent impact on the statistics during the period of operation of the Banned Drinker Register from July 2011 to August 2012. On a regional basis the statistics are more variable but they do not show evidence of a consistent drop during the operation of the Banned Drinker Register. Specifically, in Alice Springs the number of alcohol-related assault offences remained on par between 2010-11 and 2011-12: a 0.3% increase.
Since the abolition of the Banned Drinker Register in August 2012, the number of alcohol-related assault offences per month has remained on par with the 2011-12 monthly figures and below the 2009-10 levels. The statistics do not support ….
Mr GUNNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance. Can the Chief Minister please provide the stats for asking people politely to stop drinking?
Madam SPEAKER: Sit down. There is no point of order. That is a frivolous point of order.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The continual use of frivolous points of orders is deliberately designed to eat into Question Time.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Chief Minister, you have the call.
Mr MILLS: I do it all the time; I stand up for what is important and encourage any other citizen to do the same. You wimp! Why do you not stand up for what is right and tell people to stop drinking in public places? No, you do not have the guts to do that ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 62 - unbecoming words used by the Chief Minister. I ask him to withdraw.
Mr Mills: Which ones?
Mr McCARTHY: When you referred to a member of this parliament as a ‘wimp’. I ask the Chief Minister to withdraw those unbecoming words.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, withdraw the term ‘wimp’ please.
Mr MILLS: Yes, okay. It reinforces the accusation. I withdraw ‘wimp’ if it hurts you so much.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016