Mrs HICKEY - 1997-02-27
Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table a typed list of a police roster with the names of individual officers removed to protect their privacy. I am passing to the government an unexpurgated list for its information.
Leave granted.
Mrs HICKEY: Mr Speaker, the roster shows that, at the Casuarina police office over the last 2 weeks, 28 officers worked 443 hours of overtime, more than 63% of which was due to staff shortages. It also shows that 16 staff at the Darwin police office worked 240 hours of overtime, 50% of which was due to staff shortages. Police at these 2 stations are being worked beyond their capacity because of staff shortages. Does that not prove beyond a doubt that the police force is seriously understaffed?
Page 1981
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I do not know the veracity of this document. The Leader of the Opposition comes in here and says that this is the roster ...
Mr Ah Kit: Read it.
Mr STONE: The member for Arnhem tells me to read it. I do not know if the opposition has re-created this document.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr Ah Kit: Check it out.
Mr STONE: Look, do you mind? I am trying to answer the question. You are exceptionally rude.
Mr Ah Kit: Yes? Check it out.
Mr STONE: He agrees that he is rude. Now I have lost my train of thought because of him.
Mrs Hickey: We will give you a prompt. Do you ...
Mr STONE: No, I am back!
We have seen doctored documents here before from members opposite. We have seen documents tabled here before which we have subsequently looked at closely and found that bits have been whited out and things have been changed. This is the Leader of the Opposition's problem. She has priors for coming in here and tabling documents that have been doctored and fiddled with. She has tried to explain that away by saying that it has been done to protect the innocent, or words to that effect - although I see the names down the side.
Mr Bailey: We tabled copies with the names out. We have given you the full list to prove the veracity of the document.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members will please make their comments through the Chair. Discussion across the Chamber is not on.
Mr STONE: As I said, members of the opposition have priors for coming in here and presenting documents that do not live up to the claims made in their questions.
To return to the issue of staffing levels and the like, I went through this in a very detailed way in a ministerial statement this week. I took the fight up to the opposition. We had waited all last week. If they had had the courage of their convictions, they would have gone at least down the path of introducing this for discussion as a matter of public importance. They did not do that. Therefore, it was left to the government to put the facts on the record.
Page 1982
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Members opposite may laugh, but I can tell them that, from what I have been told by police, it is clear that they do not appreciate the way that the opposition is undermining their efforts. They do not appreciate its attempts to imply that somehow they are not doing their jobs. The reality is that overtime is a fact of life for many police officers ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: If the member for Barkly would be quiet, she would get her answer.
Overtime is a fact of life for many police officers. There are police officers who seek overtime. They see it as a means of enhancing their income. There are other police officers who would prefer to be able to work simply the standard hours because they have family and other commitments in the community. Where police management is able to balance the 2, it does exactly that.
Mr Bailey: Oh, so they create staff shortages so they can fit in the overtime?
Mr STONE: If the member for Wanguri will be quiet, he will be told the answers.
The Northern Territory Police Service has the highest staffing level in its history. As I demonstrated in the course of the ministerial statement, the Territory spends more on police per head of population than any other jurisdiction in Australia.
Mr Bailey: There is more overtime.
Mr STONE: `There is more overtime', he claims. You can run around in circles with this until the cows come home but, at the end of the day, the Northern Territory Police Service is being resourced to the tune of $94m a year. That is 3.5% of our budget. Show me anywhere else in Australia where that percentage of the total budget is committed to policing. The Leader of the Opposition comes in here and drops this rosters and makes claims but, at the end of the day, how police are rostered is properly a matter for police management. That is where it will stay.
Page 1983
Leave granted.
Mrs HICKEY: Mr Speaker, the roster shows that, at the Casuarina police office over the last 2 weeks, 28 officers worked 443 hours of overtime, more than 63% of which was due to staff shortages. It also shows that 16 staff at the Darwin police office worked 240 hours of overtime, 50% of which was due to staff shortages. Police at these 2 stations are being worked beyond their capacity because of staff shortages. Does that not prove beyond a doubt that the police force is seriously understaffed?
Page 1981
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I do not know the veracity of this document. The Leader of the Opposition comes in here and says that this is the roster ...
Mr Ah Kit: Read it.
Mr STONE: The member for Arnhem tells me to read it. I do not know if the opposition has re-created this document.
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr Ah Kit: Check it out.
Mr STONE: Look, do you mind? I am trying to answer the question. You are exceptionally rude.
Mr Ah Kit: Yes? Check it out.
Mr STONE: He agrees that he is rude. Now I have lost my train of thought because of him.
Mrs Hickey: We will give you a prompt. Do you ...
Mr STONE: No, I am back!
We have seen doctored documents here before from members opposite. We have seen documents tabled here before which we have subsequently looked at closely and found that bits have been whited out and things have been changed. This is the Leader of the Opposition's problem. She has priors for coming in here and tabling documents that have been doctored and fiddled with. She has tried to explain that away by saying that it has been done to protect the innocent, or words to that effect - although I see the names down the side.
Mr Bailey: We tabled copies with the names out. We have given you the full list to prove the veracity of the document.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members will please make their comments through the Chair. Discussion across the Chamber is not on.
Mr STONE: As I said, members of the opposition have priors for coming in here and presenting documents that do not live up to the claims made in their questions.
To return to the issue of staffing levels and the like, I went through this in a very detailed way in a ministerial statement this week. I took the fight up to the opposition. We had waited all last week. If they had had the courage of their convictions, they would have gone at least down the path of introducing this for discussion as a matter of public importance. They did not do that. Therefore, it was left to the government to put the facts on the record.
Page 1982
Members interjecting.
Mr STONE: Members opposite may laugh, but I can tell them that, from what I have been told by police, it is clear that they do not appreciate the way that the opposition is undermining their efforts. They do not appreciate its attempts to imply that somehow they are not doing their jobs. The reality is that overtime is a fact of life for many police officers ...
Mrs Hickey interjecting.
Mr STONE: If the member for Barkly would be quiet, she would get her answer.
Overtime is a fact of life for many police officers. There are police officers who seek overtime. They see it as a means of enhancing their income. There are other police officers who would prefer to be able to work simply the standard hours because they have family and other commitments in the community. Where police management is able to balance the 2, it does exactly that.
Mr Bailey: Oh, so they create staff shortages so they can fit in the overtime?
Mr STONE: If the member for Wanguri will be quiet, he will be told the answers.
The Northern Territory Police Service has the highest staffing level in its history. As I demonstrated in the course of the ministerial statement, the Territory spends more on police per head of population than any other jurisdiction in Australia.
Mr Bailey: There is more overtime.
Mr STONE: `There is more overtime', he claims. You can run around in circles with this until the cows come home but, at the end of the day, the Northern Territory Police Service is being resourced to the tune of $94m a year. That is 3.5% of our budget. Show me anywhere else in Australia where that percentage of the total budget is committed to policing. The Leader of the Opposition comes in here and drops this rosters and makes claims but, at the end of the day, how police are rostered is properly a matter for police management. That is where it will stay.
Page 1983
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016