Mr BELL - 1995-05-18
My question without notice is to the minister for health and private police forces. The minister's tokenistic attempt to shift responsibility for antisocial behaviour to local government has been rejected by police, business leaders and night patrol operators. Darwin's Lord Mayor, George Brown, believes his council will reject the proposal, and Tennant Creek alderman, David Curtis, says the Tennant Creek Town Council was not consulted. Will the minister concede that his attempt to pass responsibility for this function to local government is creating problems that would not exist if the money were used to better resource our Northern Territory Police Force?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, without wishing to intrude on the province of the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services ...
Mr Bell: You did that yesterday.
Mr REED: ... may I just say that, if members opposite ...
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Do you want the answer to your question?
Mr Bell: It is your mates who are interjecting and creating the problem.
Mr REED: Mr Speaker, if members opposite, and in particular the Leader of the Opposition, want to tell the police that they should be picking up litter, that they should be ...
Mr Ede: That is not what this mob will be doing.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Mr Speaker, I pick up the interjection. The problem with members opposite is now clear. Not one of them has read the statement. The Leader of the Opposition interjected to the effect that they will not be picking up litter. If he had read the statement, he would know that that is one of the primary things that they will be doing. They will be responsible for a range of activities.
Mr Ede: How will that solve the drinking problems?
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Mr REED: What do you do, Mr Speaker, to get through to this man? He has been unable to get through to the electorate. He went from 9 seats to 7 seats at the last election. He is still the leader, but I do not know why. He cannot even read a statement, absorb it and understand what is proposed in it. It is proposed that full funding will be provided to local government councils to address the problems of antisocial behaviour, of public drunkenness, of the personal harm that besets those who are caught in that cycle and the littering that results from it. All that was spelt out very clearly in the statement.
Everyone understands it except 6 of the 7 members opposite. The member for Arnhem understands it and he can see some benefit in it. Do those 6 members wish to tell the police that they have to supervise the clearance of litter or undertake the clearance of litter, and that they have to undertake the more social role that will be pursued by these officers? Do they want to tell the police to intervene in the cycle of public drunkenness and try to persuade those who binge drink in public to change their habits and make Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Palmerston and Alice Springs better places to live in so that people are not confronted by the fights, the drunks and the litter?
Mr Ede: You are making it a bigger farce than it is already.
Mr REED: If you want the police to focus on those matters rather than on issues that I consider to be of higher priority to them, then go and tell them.
We will be pursuing this matter. We will provide the opportunity to councils. The mayors and the town clerks were very responsive and, as I indicated in my statement, they are keen to discuss the implementation of this program further. If some councils do not want it, they do not have to be involved. However, they will have to explain to their ratepayers why they did not accept the money offered to them to find solutions to a problem that those ratepayers are very concerned about.
We will be working in cooperation with the police and the Aboriginal organisations. We are trying to find solutions. The Leader of the Opposition talks tough about law and order but, when it comes to making a decision, when it comes to being innovative and, most difficult of all, when it comes to doing something, he is not there.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, without wishing to intrude on the province of the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services ...
Mr Bell: You did that yesterday.
Mr REED: ... may I just say that, if members opposite ...
Members interjecting.
Mr REED: Do you want the answer to your question?
Mr Bell: It is your mates who are interjecting and creating the problem.
Mr REED: Mr Speaker, if members opposite, and in particular the Leader of the Opposition, want to tell the police that they should be picking up litter, that they should be ...
Mr Ede: That is not what this mob will be doing.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr REED: Mr Speaker, I pick up the interjection. The problem with members opposite is now clear. Not one of them has read the statement. The Leader of the Opposition interjected to the effect that they will not be picking up litter. If he had read the statement, he would know that that is one of the primary things that they will be doing. They will be responsible for a range of activities.
Mr Ede: How will that solve the drinking problems?
Page 558
Mr REED: What do you do, Mr Speaker, to get through to this man? He has been unable to get through to the electorate. He went from 9 seats to 7 seats at the last election. He is still the leader, but I do not know why. He cannot even read a statement, absorb it and understand what is proposed in it. It is proposed that full funding will be provided to local government councils to address the problems of antisocial behaviour, of public drunkenness, of the personal harm that besets those who are caught in that cycle and the littering that results from it. All that was spelt out very clearly in the statement.
Everyone understands it except 6 of the 7 members opposite. The member for Arnhem understands it and he can see some benefit in it. Do those 6 members wish to tell the police that they have to supervise the clearance of litter or undertake the clearance of litter, and that they have to undertake the more social role that will be pursued by these officers? Do they want to tell the police to intervene in the cycle of public drunkenness and try to persuade those who binge drink in public to change their habits and make Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek, Palmerston and Alice Springs better places to live in so that people are not confronted by the fights, the drunks and the litter?
Mr Ede: You are making it a bigger farce than it is already.
Mr REED: If you want the police to focus on those matters rather than on issues that I consider to be of higher priority to them, then go and tell them.
We will be pursuing this matter. We will provide the opportunity to councils. The mayors and the town clerks were very responsive and, as I indicated in my statement, they are keen to discuss the implementation of this program further. If some councils do not want it, they do not have to be involved. However, they will have to explain to their ratepayers why they did not accept the money offered to them to find solutions to a problem that those ratepayers are very concerned about.
We will be working in cooperation with the police and the Aboriginal organisations. We are trying to find solutions. The Leader of the Opposition talks tough about law and order but, when it comes to making a decision, when it comes to being innovative and, most difficult of all, when it comes to doing something, he is not there.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016