Ms CARNEY - 2005-06-30
You waited until the ABC’s Stateline program last Friday night, six days after the election, to tell Territorians that you never intended to gaol drunks who refuse rehabilitation after the sixth pick-up in three months. Only those committing an offence will face imprisonment, subject to judicial discretion, which is the status quo. Chief Minister, did you allow Territorians to believe that you were going to recriminalise drunkenness for votes on election day, or because you do not attach much importance to telling the truth?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is very sad that the Opposition Leader is making up questions not based on facts. Right throughout the election campaign, we were very clear about what we were going to put in place to deal with habitual drunks. I gave numerous interviews throughout the campaign, talked to numerous people, and said we are going to tackle the issue of habitual drunks.
We are going to put $1.76m into rehabilitation and treatment for people with problems. I am on the record a number of times, as is the police minister, saying that we want habitual drunks to get treatment or they can face gaol. I made it very clear, many times, that we were not going to recriminalise drunkenness. Obviously, the cloth ears of the opposition did not hear this clearly.
Over the next few months we will be working on that antisocial behaviour legislation. It will have strong support from our police force, those who are out on our streets trying to deal with the problems created by habitual drunks. The damage is not just to our community but it is what those habitual drunks are doing to themselves as well.
We are committed to moving further on this and hoping that, if we do tackle the problem of habitual drunks - and there are probably between 150 to 250 on our streets across the Territory - we will make a significant difference, not only for those people who are damaging themselves, but for the impact of antisocial behaviour in our community.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is very sad that the Opposition Leader is making up questions not based on facts. Right throughout the election campaign, we were very clear about what we were going to put in place to deal with habitual drunks. I gave numerous interviews throughout the campaign, talked to numerous people, and said we are going to tackle the issue of habitual drunks.
We are going to put $1.76m into rehabilitation and treatment for people with problems. I am on the record a number of times, as is the police minister, saying that we want habitual drunks to get treatment or they can face gaol. I made it very clear, many times, that we were not going to recriminalise drunkenness. Obviously, the cloth ears of the opposition did not hear this clearly.
Over the next few months we will be working on that antisocial behaviour legislation. It will have strong support from our police force, those who are out on our streets trying to deal with the problems created by habitual drunks. The damage is not just to our community but it is what those habitual drunks are doing to themselves as well.
We are committed to moving further on this and hoping that, if we do tackle the problem of habitual drunks - and there are probably between 150 to 250 on our streets across the Territory - we will make a significant difference, not only for those people who are damaging themselves, but for the impact of antisocial behaviour in our community.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016