Mr GILES - 2008-11-25
On 22 January this year you claimed, in respect of violent crime in Alice Springs, that things are better than they were four, five and six years ago, and that 15 years ago, when the CLP was in government, the place was a war zone. You made that statement despite a shocking 41% increase in the rate of violent crime in Alice Springs in the previous three years. Recently, the Minister for Central Australia exposed your statement with her honest and forthright statement, agreeing with me that Alice Springs is at boiling point. Is it not time to end your cynical public denials about the real state of violent crime in the Territory, and agree with me and the Minister for Central Australia, that things are at boiling point, and it is time you did something about it?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for his question. He should have put the comments I made into context. I was quoting from an Alice Springs alderman, David Kosh, who made those comments at an Alice Springs Town Council meeting. If the member for Braitling was to be honest in regard to the context of what I was saying, it was that I was reporting to the parliament what a long-serving resident of Alice Springs, and a long-standing member of the Alice Springs Town Council had observed. He is also, I believe, someone who has very close relations to the Country Liberal Party. It was in that context that I made those comments.
I have never denied, and do not deny, that there are significant antisocial behavioural problems which affect Alice Springs. There are significant juvenile delinquency problems, which the Minister for Central Australia reports to me on a regular basis. The minister made a report to this House this morning, totally supported by me and my Cabinet, about pulling together youth agencies and other agencies in Alice Springs to have an independent look at the gaps in services regarding youth issues in Alice Springs, and wanting to do that in a bipartisan manner.
I acknowledge there are very significant issues affecting Alice Springs. Tragically, so many of them surround the excessive consumption of alcohol. We have implemented a number of measures to try to reduce alcohol consumption in Alice Springs. I cannot believe the CLP would wind back those measures and throw them out. I find it very hard to comprehend groups in Alice Springs which believe we should be winding back the measures that are in place before we have seen the results of the independent evaluation that my colleague, the Licensing minister, has put in place. It staggers belief that the opposition would say we will just go back to …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! My question was to the Chief Minister. I asked if he would agree with me and the Minister for Central Australia that things are at boiling point in Alice Springs, and if he agreed that it was time he did something about it. It was not about alcohol at all.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, it was quite a long and complex question and the Chief Minister is still on his feet. Chief Minister, if you could come to the point fairly soon.
Mr HENDERSON: I will, Madam Speaker, and I will address the member for Braitling’s concern. I am not trying to be churlish. It is a well known fact that over 80% of all police work in Alice Springs is alcohol related. If you are talking about crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs, you cannot talk about it and isolate alcohol from those issues, because over 80% of all crime and antisocial behaviour is surrounding alcohol: the abuse of alcohol and the devastation it does to individuals and communities.
I agree with the member for Braitling that there are significant issues to be addressed in Alice Springs. My colleague, the Minister for Central Australia, will be addressing those youth-related issues in forums around Alice Springs once this session of parliament has concluded. She will have my support as Chief Minister, and our government, in progressing outcomes in relation to the work she will be doing.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for his question. He should have put the comments I made into context. I was quoting from an Alice Springs alderman, David Kosh, who made those comments at an Alice Springs Town Council meeting. If the member for Braitling was to be honest in regard to the context of what I was saying, it was that I was reporting to the parliament what a long-serving resident of Alice Springs, and a long-standing member of the Alice Springs Town Council had observed. He is also, I believe, someone who has very close relations to the Country Liberal Party. It was in that context that I made those comments.
I have never denied, and do not deny, that there are significant antisocial behavioural problems which affect Alice Springs. There are significant juvenile delinquency problems, which the Minister for Central Australia reports to me on a regular basis. The minister made a report to this House this morning, totally supported by me and my Cabinet, about pulling together youth agencies and other agencies in Alice Springs to have an independent look at the gaps in services regarding youth issues in Alice Springs, and wanting to do that in a bipartisan manner.
I acknowledge there are very significant issues affecting Alice Springs. Tragically, so many of them surround the excessive consumption of alcohol. We have implemented a number of measures to try to reduce alcohol consumption in Alice Springs. I cannot believe the CLP would wind back those measures and throw them out. I find it very hard to comprehend groups in Alice Springs which believe we should be winding back the measures that are in place before we have seen the results of the independent evaluation that my colleague, the Licensing minister, has put in place. It staggers belief that the opposition would say we will just go back to …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! My question was to the Chief Minister. I asked if he would agree with me and the Minister for Central Australia that things are at boiling point in Alice Springs, and if he agreed that it was time he did something about it. It was not about alcohol at all.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, it was quite a long and complex question and the Chief Minister is still on his feet. Chief Minister, if you could come to the point fairly soon.
Mr HENDERSON: I will, Madam Speaker, and I will address the member for Braitling’s concern. I am not trying to be churlish. It is a well known fact that over 80% of all police work in Alice Springs is alcohol related. If you are talking about crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs, you cannot talk about it and isolate alcohol from those issues, because over 80% of all crime and antisocial behaviour is surrounding alcohol: the abuse of alcohol and the devastation it does to individuals and communities.
I agree with the member for Braitling that there are significant issues to be addressed in Alice Springs. My colleague, the Minister for Central Australia, will be addressing those youth-related issues in forums around Alice Springs once this session of parliament has concluded. She will have my support as Chief Minister, and our government, in progressing outcomes in relation to the work she will be doing.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016