Ms SCRYMGOUR - 2011-08-09
Can you please update the House on the progress of the government’s alcohol reforms?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura - who has had a keen interest in this area for many years - for her question. All in this Assembly know that 60% of all crime in the Northern Territory is alcohol-related. If you are not tackling alcohol, you are not tackling crime, and are not serious about tackling crime. That is why my government is showing leadership, taking action, and implementing the toughest alcohol reforms this nation has seen ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: I know the member for Fong Lim finds this funny ...
Mr Tollner: The nanny state!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: I know he finds it funny. I know he finds alcohol-related crime and violence funny, but the government does not.
We introduced the toughest reforms in the country. The Banned Drinker Register came online on 1 July this year. In just over one month of operation, 858 people who have committed alcohol-related crime or antisocial behaviour have been put on the Banned Drinker Register - a significant number of people ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: That is 858 offenders, whether they have been high-level drink-drivers, repeat drink-drivers, people who have committed acts of violence, people taken into protective custody three times in three months - they have all lost their rights to purchase takeaway alcohol ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The message is clear: people who commit alcohol-related crime in the Northern Territory will end up on the Banned Drinker Register and will be banned from drinking takeaway alcohol ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The message from the CLP is very clear: it has given these 858 people a commitment that if it were to come to government at the next election their rights to drink would be restored – the tap would be turned back on full-time under the CLP policy ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members!
Mr HENDERSON: On this side, we believe the reforms banning people from takeaway alcohol, as a result of the crime and antisocial behaviour and the neglect of their children, make sense.
I congratulate our Territory police today for their diligence in putting so many people on this register in one month.
There are a number of commissioners-in-exile sitting on the opposition benches. Every police officer I have spoken to across the Northern Territory, across the show circuit in Darwin, is supportive of these reforms. They say these are the best reforms any government has introduced in the Northern Territory for many years ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: So, the CLP wants to change direction, and the CLP wants those 858 people to have access to alcohol tomorrow ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Honourable members, clearly you are having trouble remembering the standing orders, particularly in relation to Question Time:
It has certainly had that effect on me, and I would appreciate some decorum.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Arafura - who has had a keen interest in this area for many years - for her question. All in this Assembly know that 60% of all crime in the Northern Territory is alcohol-related. If you are not tackling alcohol, you are not tackling crime, and are not serious about tackling crime. That is why my government is showing leadership, taking action, and implementing the toughest alcohol reforms this nation has seen ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr HENDERSON: I know the member for Fong Lim finds this funny ...
Mr Tollner: The nanny state!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: I know he finds it funny. I know he finds alcohol-related crime and violence funny, but the government does not.
We introduced the toughest reforms in the country. The Banned Drinker Register came online on 1 July this year. In just over one month of operation, 858 people who have committed alcohol-related crime or antisocial behaviour have been put on the Banned Drinker Register - a significant number of people ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: That is 858 offenders, whether they have been high-level drink-drivers, repeat drink-drivers, people who have committed acts of violence, people taken into protective custody three times in three months - they have all lost their rights to purchase takeaway alcohol ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The message is clear: people who commit alcohol-related crime in the Northern Territory will end up on the Banned Drinker Register and will be banned from drinking takeaway alcohol ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The message from the CLP is very clear: it has given these 858 people a commitment that if it were to come to government at the next election their rights to drink would be restored – the tap would be turned back on full-time under the CLP policy ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members!
Mr HENDERSON: On this side, we believe the reforms banning people from takeaway alcohol, as a result of the crime and antisocial behaviour and the neglect of their children, make sense.
I congratulate our Territory police today for their diligence in putting so many people on this register in one month.
There are a number of commissioners-in-exile sitting on the opposition benches. Every police officer I have spoken to across the Northern Territory, across the show circuit in Darwin, is supportive of these reforms. They say these are the best reforms any government has introduced in the Northern Territory for many years ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: So, the CLP wants to change direction, and the CLP wants those 858 people to have access to alcohol tomorrow ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, your time has expired.
Honourable members, clearly you are having trouble remembering the standing orders, particularly in relation to Question Time:
- No Member may converse aloud or make any noise or disturbance which, in the opinion of the Speaker is designed to interrupt or has the effect of interrupting a Member speaking.
It has certainly had that effect on me, and I would appreciate some decorum.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016