Ms CARNEY - 2007-11-28
Between the June quarter 2002 and June 2007, the rate of violent crime in Darwin increased by 114%. By way of comparison, the population increased by 7%. Given that you were Police minister for most of this time, can you explain why it is, under your watch, law and order and the rate of violent crimes in Darwin increased ...
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the Leader of the Opposition to table that graph.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, Leader of the Opposition. Would you please table that?
Ms CARNEY: I am happy to table it, Madam Speaker. I will repeat the question.
Dr Burns: Well, we know your form in this place.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms CARNEY: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Between the June quarter 2002 and June 2007, the rate of violent …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms CARNEY: I am concerned that a minister of the Crown is not taking violence seriously, but of course, it is not surprising that they do not take violence seriously on that side of the House, given the elevation of some to the ministry …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, just ask the question.
Ms CARNEY: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Chief Minister, between the June quarter 2002 and June 2007, the rate of violent crime in Darwin increased by 114% based on government crime figures. By way of comparison, the population increased by 7%. Given that you were the Police minister for most of this time, can you explain why it is …
Mr Bonson: The question is?
Ms CARNEY: It is very distressing, Madam Speaker, that minister Burns finds violence so funny.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not find it funny. What I am interested in is that graph and the figures that this Opposition Leader is putting to this parliament because we have had instances before of her bogus figures and her bogus presentations …
Ms CARNEY: I have said I will table the graph, you dill!
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Leader of the Opposition, I would like you to withdraw your comments where you implied …
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw ‘dill’.
Madam SPEAKER: No the comments before which implied that the minister somehow accepted violence as an acceptable practice.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Speaker, he was laughing when we were talking about the violent crime in Darwin.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, whatever the minister may have been doing, I do not know. However, I can only go on what words where spoken which I heard. I ask you withdraw those comments, please.
Ms CARNEY: The comments that the minister seems to find violence so funny, I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Those comments, thank you. Could you please table this document?
Ms CARNEY: At your request. I am waiting for …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, could you just give it to the attendant.
Ms CARNEY: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Finish the last part of the question, thank you.
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Could I also ask that the Leader of the Opposition withdraw the word ‘dill’.
Madam SPEAKER: She already has. Resume your seat.
Ms CARNEY: You are on fire, you lot, aren’t you? You are just on fire.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Can you just finish the last part of the question, Leader of the Opposition?
Ms CARNEY: Yes, Madam Speaker, and a serious question it is.
Chief Minister, given that you were Police minister for most of this time, that is June quarter 2002 to June 2007, can you explain why it is that under your watch on law and order, the rate of violent crime in Darwin increased by a staggering 114%?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader for the Opposition for her question. I take the question with a pinch of salt, because we will test the assertion that she is making in her figures. I thought I was pretty comprehensive before about the recording of violent crime, a large part of which is related to the tragedy of domestic violence.
Police advise me that domestic violence accounts for over 50% of assault figures that are recorded in those charts. Over 60% of assaults in the Territory are alcohol-related.
As I have said, the police have done an absolutely magnificent job with the extra resources that this government has provided to them to better protect women and children across the Northern Territory, which has enabled our police force to establish Domestic Violence Task Forces in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Darwin. Previously, they did not exist in those regional centres. Women now have the confidence to report assaults to the police knowing that police will take action. It is a tragedy that in the past, so many of these assaults were not reported because women did not have confidence in police ability because of the lack of resources to follow them through. The government has also introduced domestic violence reforms which put the protection of women and children first, and that legislation is currently before the House.
We have just had a federal election campaign. The seat of Solomon is looking pretty interesting. Postal votes are being counted today and it is going to go down to the wire. The sitting member ran a dishonest campaign, saying that violent crime was up 80% in Darwin in the last 12 months. That is patently untrue. There has been an increase of around 33% over that figure, but as I have said, there are responses to that, which include the way police now have to report figures to match national data sets. I recognise that any increase in assaults on Territorians has to be cracked down on and police are doing that.
Let us look at the overall crime picture across the Northern Territory from what we came to in 2001.
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker. If the Chief Minister wants to take the liberty of going for a very long walk all over the Northern Territory, that is his prerogative. This question is very specific and it deals specifically with Darwin. The Chief Minister, as the Leader of Government Business, had great concern about the length of questions, but he is wandering all over the place and not coming anywhere near answering this one. I am concerned.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Blain, there is no point of order. As you are aware, there is a fair bit of latitude, both in the asking of questions and in the answering of them. The Chief Minister is answering the question.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I said, there are reasons behind what is reported in these figures and they go to the heart of the fact that over 50% of the figures are related to domestic violence and there is a greater level of confidence by women to report.
If we are looking at crime right across the Northern Territory and the impact that our police force is having, since 2001, property crime across the Northern Territory is down 30% as a result of this government being in office. Commercial break-ins are down 23% since 2001. Motor vehicle theft is down 50% since 2001 and house break-ins are down by 48% across the Northern Territory. That was the legacy we were left when we came to government. You could not leave your house for five minutes in the northern suburbs of Darwin because people would be in there like a shot, raiding your house and turning it over.
The neglect by the previous government of our police force was an absolute debacle in the dying days of their government. In so many criminal offences, rates are down. I do not deny that there has been a spike in relation to crimes of violence against the person. Every crime of violence is totally unacceptable. We will continue to put additional resources into our police force. The reasons for the rise in the figures are explainable. Again, I challenge the Leader of the Opposition to seek a briefing from the Police Commissioner so she can hear for herself why these figures are going up.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I ask the Leader of the Opposition to table that graph.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, Leader of the Opposition. Would you please table that?
Ms CARNEY: I am happy to table it, Madam Speaker. I will repeat the question.
Dr Burns: Well, we know your form in this place.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms CARNEY: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Between the June quarter 2002 and June 2007, the rate of violent …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms CARNEY: I am concerned that a minister of the Crown is not taking violence seriously, but of course, it is not surprising that they do not take violence seriously on that side of the House, given the elevation of some to the ministry …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, just ask the question.
Ms CARNEY: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Chief Minister, between the June quarter 2002 and June 2007, the rate of violent crime in Darwin increased by 114% based on government crime figures. By way of comparison, the population increased by 7%. Given that you were the Police minister for most of this time, can you explain why it is …
Mr Bonson: The question is?
Ms CARNEY: It is very distressing, Madam Speaker, that minister Burns finds violence so funny.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not find it funny. What I am interested in is that graph and the figures that this Opposition Leader is putting to this parliament because we have had instances before of her bogus figures and her bogus presentations …
Ms CARNEY: I have said I will table the graph, you dill!
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Leader of the Opposition, I would like you to withdraw your comments where you implied …
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw ‘dill’.
Madam SPEAKER: No the comments before which implied that the minister somehow accepted violence as an acceptable practice.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Speaker, he was laughing when we were talking about the violent crime in Darwin.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, whatever the minister may have been doing, I do not know. However, I can only go on what words where spoken which I heard. I ask you withdraw those comments, please.
Ms CARNEY: The comments that the minister seems to find violence so funny, I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Those comments, thank you. Could you please table this document?
Ms CARNEY: At your request. I am waiting for …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, could you just give it to the attendant.
Ms CARNEY: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Finish the last part of the question, thank you.
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Could I also ask that the Leader of the Opposition withdraw the word ‘dill’.
Madam SPEAKER: She already has. Resume your seat.
Ms CARNEY: You are on fire, you lot, aren’t you? You are just on fire.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Can you just finish the last part of the question, Leader of the Opposition?
Ms CARNEY: Yes, Madam Speaker, and a serious question it is.
Chief Minister, given that you were Police minister for most of this time, that is June quarter 2002 to June 2007, can you explain why it is that under your watch on law and order, the rate of violent crime in Darwin increased by a staggering 114%?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader for the Opposition for her question. I take the question with a pinch of salt, because we will test the assertion that she is making in her figures. I thought I was pretty comprehensive before about the recording of violent crime, a large part of which is related to the tragedy of domestic violence.
Police advise me that domestic violence accounts for over 50% of assault figures that are recorded in those charts. Over 60% of assaults in the Territory are alcohol-related.
As I have said, the police have done an absolutely magnificent job with the extra resources that this government has provided to them to better protect women and children across the Northern Territory, which has enabled our police force to establish Domestic Violence Task Forces in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Darwin. Previously, they did not exist in those regional centres. Women now have the confidence to report assaults to the police knowing that police will take action. It is a tragedy that in the past, so many of these assaults were not reported because women did not have confidence in police ability because of the lack of resources to follow them through. The government has also introduced domestic violence reforms which put the protection of women and children first, and that legislation is currently before the House.
We have just had a federal election campaign. The seat of Solomon is looking pretty interesting. Postal votes are being counted today and it is going to go down to the wire. The sitting member ran a dishonest campaign, saying that violent crime was up 80% in Darwin in the last 12 months. That is patently untrue. There has been an increase of around 33% over that figure, but as I have said, there are responses to that, which include the way police now have to report figures to match national data sets. I recognise that any increase in assaults on Territorians has to be cracked down on and police are doing that.
Let us look at the overall crime picture across the Northern Territory from what we came to in 2001.
Mr MILLS: A point of order, Madam Speaker. If the Chief Minister wants to take the liberty of going for a very long walk all over the Northern Territory, that is his prerogative. This question is very specific and it deals specifically with Darwin. The Chief Minister, as the Leader of Government Business, had great concern about the length of questions, but he is wandering all over the place and not coming anywhere near answering this one. I am concerned.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Blain, there is no point of order. As you are aware, there is a fair bit of latitude, both in the asking of questions and in the answering of them. The Chief Minister is answering the question.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I said, there are reasons behind what is reported in these figures and they go to the heart of the fact that over 50% of the figures are related to domestic violence and there is a greater level of confidence by women to report.
If we are looking at crime right across the Northern Territory and the impact that our police force is having, since 2001, property crime across the Northern Territory is down 30% as a result of this government being in office. Commercial break-ins are down 23% since 2001. Motor vehicle theft is down 50% since 2001 and house break-ins are down by 48% across the Northern Territory. That was the legacy we were left when we came to government. You could not leave your house for five minutes in the northern suburbs of Darwin because people would be in there like a shot, raiding your house and turning it over.
The neglect by the previous government of our police force was an absolute debacle in the dying days of their government. In so many criminal offences, rates are down. I do not deny that there has been a spike in relation to crimes of violence against the person. Every crime of violence is totally unacceptable. We will continue to put additional resources into our police force. The reasons for the rise in the figures are explainable. Again, I challenge the Leader of the Opposition to seek a briefing from the Police Commissioner so she can hear for herself why these figures are going up.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016