Mr MILLS - 2004-03-31
Violent crime has increased under your government. Autistic teenager, Anthony Barker, was just one of the many to suffer, forced to flee his Housing Commission unit after violent attacks. Following a previous incident, this young man had pleaded to be relocated from his Housing Commission unit to safer accommodation, but he was refused. Now Anthony is too traumatised to even continue his studies and lives in fear of another attack. What do you have to say to Anthony and his family, who themselves have now become a target of this gang?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I hope the Opposition Leader is not asking me for an opinion.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: What do I have to say? You have just had one of your members raise the issue. Can I just establish whether this in Justice, or is it the Housing Commission, or Police? Which area ...
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: No, I am just making the point that we do have standing orders in this parliament, and I am very happy to answer this question. We do have standing orders that state that you ask ministers about areas of their portfolio responsibility. Clearly, the last question should have been directed to the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General. Maybe if the Opposition Leader does not understand the standing orders, he should actually refresh himself about what they are.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: It is an issue, and I believe that the Opposition Leader should be aware of the workings of this parliament.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Now, I am saying …
Madam SPEAKER: Cease, thank you. Enough of the interjections and carrying on. Let us get an answer to the question, Chief Minister, without telling the Opposition Leader what he should do and should not do. Could you just get on with the answer?
Ms MARTIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is not acceptable when any Territorian experiences the disruption to their lives as this young man has. When we look at the figures of crimes committed across the Territory, and how that impacts on Territorians then, certainly, it is why we have had a very strategic and concentrated approach to tackling all forms of crime across the Territory. We are having a great level of success dealing with property crime. We have seen an area like property crime being reduced in, for example, Darwin, by 40%. This really is, in building a safer community, a good outcome.
We still have an unacceptable number of personal crimes. Even one is an unacceptable number. There are strategies in place, many of those were outlined by the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General yesterday, and that is why we have increased the funding to get more police in the streets. It is why we have increased the youth and community patrols, to work in conjunction with the police. It is also why we have put increased funding into our domestic violence and indigenous family violence strategies. Every time an incident happens, it is unacceptable. From everyone’s point of view in this House, we do not want it to happen. We look at strategies about how we prevent it happen again.
Regarding the housing component of the question asked by the Opposition Leader, I will refer that to the appropriate minister, the Minister for Housing.
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Madam Speaker,it does concern me quite a lot, and members of this side of the House, when we see claims against my Department of Housing in the media regarding public housing tenants being hard done by. I refer members to the article in the paper the other day: ‘Sons going off the rails’, and Mrs Teresa Grear goes on to say:
I tried to transfer to get my kids away from gangs and stuff but Housing wouldn’t play the game … so I’m living in a shed now, but it’s what I had to do.
I feel for her, but we have very hard working public servants in the Department of Housing. As I do when I see an article like this, I very quickly seek a briefing. I have a briefing which I am not going to read out verbatim, nor table in the House. We need to understand the facts of the matter.
You know, you are very quick to jump into Housing and understand …
Mr Mills interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Put your hands up on the other side if you believe every word the Northern Territory News prints. I cannot see any hands up.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Well, listen up! You might learn something. Mrs Grear stated in the article that Territory Housing did not agree to transfer her. Let us listen to some of the facts. She said that the housing department did not agree to transfer her to an alternative dwelling out of the suburb of Moulden. She has further alleged that, as a result of this refusal, she and her sons are now living in a shed.
The department said she first applied for housing on 2 March 2001 with her two sons and a daughter and, on 22 May 2001, Mrs Grear was allocated a three-bedroom dwelling at 4 Orchid Court, Moulden on a priority basis. She specifically requested to be allocated a house in the Moulden area. In May 2002, she applied to transfer under the Transfer Within Entitlement scheme and paid the required $150. When she lodged the transfer, she requested that she be permitted to transfer to her sister’s house at 10 Tamarind Road, Moulden, as this dwelling was shortly to become vacant. She subsequently transferred to that dwelling on 22 May 2002.
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker.
Mr AH KIT: Look, do you want to hear the details?
Madam SPEAKER: Order, minister!
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, the thrust of the question was the issue of violent crime in the Northern Territory and the increasing levels therein under the Martin Labor government, not about this housing issue.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, perhaps you should have phrased your question a little bit more specifically.
Mr Mills: It was quite clear.
Madam SPEAKER: You know the rules about answering questions. Minister, we would like shorter answers today, please.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, she then went on and vacated the house after she moved in to the dwelling at Tamarind Road. She vacated on 16 December 2003. However, when she was moving out, she called at the Palmerston Housing office, on 29 October, to make inquiries about a transfer to Humpty Doo. She was advised that the department did not have three bedroom houses in those centres. She advised that she needed to get her sons out of the city area due to gang-related problems and some mental health issues.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Some mental health issues. No, she wants to get away from the gangs. She wants a three bedroom house out in an area that does not have three bedroom houses. Madam Speaker …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Wind up, minister.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, I think I have covered enough here.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, on second thoughts, I have not and I should go on for may be another 10 minutes if the opposition does not behave themselves, but I will not.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you for doing my job, minister.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I hope the Opposition Leader is not asking me for an opinion.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: What do I have to say? You have just had one of your members raise the issue. Can I just establish whether this in Justice, or is it the Housing Commission, or Police? Which area ...
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: No, I am just making the point that we do have standing orders in this parliament, and I am very happy to answer this question. We do have standing orders that state that you ask ministers about areas of their portfolio responsibility. Clearly, the last question should have been directed to the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General. Maybe if the Opposition Leader does not understand the standing orders, he should actually refresh himself about what they are.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: It is an issue, and I believe that the Opposition Leader should be aware of the workings of this parliament.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Now, I am saying …
Madam SPEAKER: Cease, thank you. Enough of the interjections and carrying on. Let us get an answer to the question, Chief Minister, without telling the Opposition Leader what he should do and should not do. Could you just get on with the answer?
Ms MARTIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is not acceptable when any Territorian experiences the disruption to their lives as this young man has. When we look at the figures of crimes committed across the Territory, and how that impacts on Territorians then, certainly, it is why we have had a very strategic and concentrated approach to tackling all forms of crime across the Territory. We are having a great level of success dealing with property crime. We have seen an area like property crime being reduced in, for example, Darwin, by 40%. This really is, in building a safer community, a good outcome.
We still have an unacceptable number of personal crimes. Even one is an unacceptable number. There are strategies in place, many of those were outlined by the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General yesterday, and that is why we have increased the funding to get more police in the streets. It is why we have increased the youth and community patrols, to work in conjunction with the police. It is also why we have put increased funding into our domestic violence and indigenous family violence strategies. Every time an incident happens, it is unacceptable. From everyone’s point of view in this House, we do not want it to happen. We look at strategies about how we prevent it happen again.
Regarding the housing component of the question asked by the Opposition Leader, I will refer that to the appropriate minister, the Minister for Housing.
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Madam Speaker,it does concern me quite a lot, and members of this side of the House, when we see claims against my Department of Housing in the media regarding public housing tenants being hard done by. I refer members to the article in the paper the other day: ‘Sons going off the rails’, and Mrs Teresa Grear goes on to say:
I tried to transfer to get my kids away from gangs and stuff but Housing wouldn’t play the game … so I’m living in a shed now, but it’s what I had to do.
I feel for her, but we have very hard working public servants in the Department of Housing. As I do when I see an article like this, I very quickly seek a briefing. I have a briefing which I am not going to read out verbatim, nor table in the House. We need to understand the facts of the matter.
You know, you are very quick to jump into Housing and understand …
Mr Mills interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Put your hands up on the other side if you believe every word the Northern Territory News prints. I cannot see any hands up.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Well, listen up! You might learn something. Mrs Grear stated in the article that Territory Housing did not agree to transfer her. Let us listen to some of the facts. She said that the housing department did not agree to transfer her to an alternative dwelling out of the suburb of Moulden. She has further alleged that, as a result of this refusal, she and her sons are now living in a shed.
The department said she first applied for housing on 2 March 2001 with her two sons and a daughter and, on 22 May 2001, Mrs Grear was allocated a three-bedroom dwelling at 4 Orchid Court, Moulden on a priority basis. She specifically requested to be allocated a house in the Moulden area. In May 2002, she applied to transfer under the Transfer Within Entitlement scheme and paid the required $150. When she lodged the transfer, she requested that she be permitted to transfer to her sister’s house at 10 Tamarind Road, Moulden, as this dwelling was shortly to become vacant. She subsequently transferred to that dwelling on 22 May 2002.
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker.
Mr AH KIT: Look, do you want to hear the details?
Madam SPEAKER: Order, minister!
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, the thrust of the question was the issue of violent crime in the Northern Territory and the increasing levels therein under the Martin Labor government, not about this housing issue.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, perhaps you should have phrased your question a little bit more specifically.
Mr Mills: It was quite clear.
Madam SPEAKER: You know the rules about answering questions. Minister, we would like shorter answers today, please.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, she then went on and vacated the house after she moved in to the dwelling at Tamarind Road. She vacated on 16 December 2003. However, when she was moving out, she called at the Palmerston Housing office, on 29 October, to make inquiries about a transfer to Humpty Doo. She was advised that the department did not have three bedroom houses in those centres. She advised that she needed to get her sons out of the city area due to gang-related problems and some mental health issues.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Some mental health issues. No, she wants to get away from the gangs. She wants a three bedroom house out in an area that does not have three bedroom houses. Madam Speaker …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Wind up, minister.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, I think I have covered enough here.
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, on second thoughts, I have not and I should go on for may be another 10 minutes if the opposition does not behave themselves, but I will not.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you for doing my job, minister.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016