Mr McADAM - 2003-10-07
The Northern Territory Quarterly Crime and Justice Statistics are compiled by the Office of Crime Prevention to ensure independent and accurate information is available to Territorians about the level of crime in our community. Minister, can you please advise the House on the latest crime statistics?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for a very important question. The fourth issue of the Northern Territory Quarterly Crime and Justice Statistics was released on 15 September 2003, and this brings us to the end of the first year of releasing these quarterly figures. The latest release shows that, for the 12 months ending 30 June 2003, compared to the previous 12 months, the overall levels of both offences against the person and against property have decreased over the whole of the Territory. I will give some of the key figures that have come out in that report, which is audited by Ernst & Young before it is released.
Territory-wide, house break-ins fell by 32%; break-ins to commercial and other premises by 16%; motor vehicle theft and related offences by 21%; other theft by 17%; property damage decreased by 18%; assaults fell only by 2%. However, in Darwin and Alice Springs particularly, there were significant drops in assaults in those centres. Sexual assaults fell by 16%.
The statistics also reveal hot spots around the Territory where there have been worrying increases in crimes against the person, namely Katherine and Tennant Creek. That is exactly what we want to find out from these crime figures: where do the police and our other agencies, such as the Office of Crime Prevention, have to focus their efforts to deal with these types of hot spots?
The falls that we have Territory-wide are very encouraging, given that they have now been sustained over several quarters of the release of these figures. The results have been achieved by both targeted police work, by some of the early impacts of our $400 000 a year Crime Prevention Grants Scheme, and the establishment of crime prevention councils. This work will continue and, as the Police minister has announced, there is going to be an enormous increase in the resources available to police. That, in itself, will have a further impact on the situation that these figures are revealing.
Sadly though, the opposition has, to date, severely misused the information that has been put out by the government. We have shown a lot of integrity and courage, I believe, in putting out accurate figures to the Northern Territory people. It beholdens the public figures who want to comment on these figures to do so accurately and respect the statistical structure of these reports. I refer specifically to the member for Araluen’s press release on crime statistics in Alice Springs, which highlighted four different statistics, and she got them all wrong. She tried to accuse the government of trying to put one over the people of Alice Springs. In the member for Araluen’s media release on 24 September, she claimed property crime in Alice Springs increased by 29% last quarter, when it actually decreased by 3%. Motor vehicle theft, she claims, increased by 10% last quarter rather than 9% or six offences. Other theft increased by 5% rather than 4%, or 13 offences. Here is a good one. Here is a beauty: sexual assault increased by 78% when, in fact, it had fallen by 11%.
The member for Araluen misconstrued the figures by picking and choosing figures that suit her to arrive at the Carney trend; one that is not true and is not statistically sound. I call on the member for Araluen, if you are going to enter into the debate, respect the figures and the statistics. What she is dishonouring is not only the figures themselves, but the police who provide this information, and our statisticians who put a lot of time into making sure these figures are a true reflection of crime in the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Barkly for a very important question. The fourth issue of the Northern Territory Quarterly Crime and Justice Statistics was released on 15 September 2003, and this brings us to the end of the first year of releasing these quarterly figures. The latest release shows that, for the 12 months ending 30 June 2003, compared to the previous 12 months, the overall levels of both offences against the person and against property have decreased over the whole of the Territory. I will give some of the key figures that have come out in that report, which is audited by Ernst & Young before it is released.
Territory-wide, house break-ins fell by 32%; break-ins to commercial and other premises by 16%; motor vehicle theft and related offences by 21%; other theft by 17%; property damage decreased by 18%; assaults fell only by 2%. However, in Darwin and Alice Springs particularly, there were significant drops in assaults in those centres. Sexual assaults fell by 16%.
The statistics also reveal hot spots around the Territory where there have been worrying increases in crimes against the person, namely Katherine and Tennant Creek. That is exactly what we want to find out from these crime figures: where do the police and our other agencies, such as the Office of Crime Prevention, have to focus their efforts to deal with these types of hot spots?
The falls that we have Territory-wide are very encouraging, given that they have now been sustained over several quarters of the release of these figures. The results have been achieved by both targeted police work, by some of the early impacts of our $400 000 a year Crime Prevention Grants Scheme, and the establishment of crime prevention councils. This work will continue and, as the Police minister has announced, there is going to be an enormous increase in the resources available to police. That, in itself, will have a further impact on the situation that these figures are revealing.
Sadly though, the opposition has, to date, severely misused the information that has been put out by the government. We have shown a lot of integrity and courage, I believe, in putting out accurate figures to the Northern Territory people. It beholdens the public figures who want to comment on these figures to do so accurately and respect the statistical structure of these reports. I refer specifically to the member for Araluen’s press release on crime statistics in Alice Springs, which highlighted four different statistics, and she got them all wrong. She tried to accuse the government of trying to put one over the people of Alice Springs. In the member for Araluen’s media release on 24 September, she claimed property crime in Alice Springs increased by 29% last quarter, when it actually decreased by 3%. Motor vehicle theft, she claims, increased by 10% last quarter rather than 9% or six offences. Other theft increased by 5% rather than 4%, or 13 offences. Here is a good one. Here is a beauty: sexual assault increased by 78% when, in fact, it had fallen by 11%.
The member for Araluen misconstrued the figures by picking and choosing figures that suit her to arrive at the Carney trend; one that is not true and is not statistically sound. I call on the member for Araluen, if you are going to enter into the debate, respect the figures and the statistics. What she is dishonouring is not only the figures themselves, but the police who provide this information, and our statisticians who put a lot of time into making sure these figures are a true reflection of crime in the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016