Mr HAMPTON - 2007-08-22
Could you please advise the House on new initiatives you announced to make the streets of Alice Springs safer?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Stuart, who was at the Crime Summit on 9 August in Alice Springs. We all want Alice Springs to be a safer place to live, work and raise a family. It is a great place, but we all know it has some significant issues that we need to tackle.
The Crime Summit was the culmination of six community forums which gave residents of Alice Springs and surrounding communities an opportunity to contribute to solutions to make Alice Springs a safer place to live. The overwhelming agreement was that excessive alcohol consumption is the cause of the majority of crime and antisocial behaviour.
When looking at some of the things that are already in place that were raised at the summit, the liquor supply restrictions, I believe, are already beginning to work. Over the last six months, the consumption of pure alcohol in Alice Springs has declined something like 10%. Police report that serious assaults have declined significantly over the last nine months and, importantly, the demand on the hospital for alcohol-related services continues a downward trend, that is over two quarters, and is a very important aspect of controlling alcohol.
However, there is much more to be done. For example, over 113 000 litres of pure alcohol was consumed in Alice Springs in the March quarter. That was the lowest quarter consumption for four years, but it does translate to six million cans of full strength beer. That is an awesome amount of alcohol. We have the lowest figures for four years, but, boy, do we have a long way to go!
Police also tell me that 85% of their workload is taken up by alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour. From a policing point of view, that is a real target area. These statistics are unacceptable. We are getting some movement in the right direction but we have a long way to go.
The four key issues that were raised in the forums were: alcoholism and public drunkenness; children on the streets who should be at school, or late at night; humbugging of locals and tourists; and fighting in public places and residences. We have listened very carefully to the voice of the Alice Springs community, and I can assure Alice Springs that we will deliver.
Some of the initiatives coming from the summit include a commitment to keep police numbers at quotas. That has been an issue and that is my very strong commitment. Also important is the continuation of the City Safe initiative. Talking to business, they are very pleased by the impact of City Safe; the centre of Alice Springs is a lot quieter. If you put that together with the first 22 days of the public dry areas legislation, the centre of Alice Springs is a lot quieter and, importantly, a lot safer.
Initiatives from the summit include:
the introduction of a new police-led public safety model - more about that in the next few weeks;
we committed to operational funding for CCTV - that will be up and running in Alice Springs by December;
a youth diversionary camp, a youth at-risk intervention centre, and increased funding for youth services in Alice Springs; and
funding for a Return to Country program.
I also talked about renewed consideration from the Alcohol Reference Group of a buy back of some takeaway alcohol licences, and further consultation with the community about the proposal for a takeaway-free day. There has been discussion about that; not surprisingly, some for it, some against it. However, we are discussing it at the Alcohol Reference Group, and more work is to be done.
As government, we will continue to work with the Alice Springs community to take strong and decisive action to make the wonderful town of Alice Springs an even better place to live, work and raise a family.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I welcome the question from the member for Stuart, who was at the Crime Summit on 9 August in Alice Springs. We all want Alice Springs to be a safer place to live, work and raise a family. It is a great place, but we all know it has some significant issues that we need to tackle.
The Crime Summit was the culmination of six community forums which gave residents of Alice Springs and surrounding communities an opportunity to contribute to solutions to make Alice Springs a safer place to live. The overwhelming agreement was that excessive alcohol consumption is the cause of the majority of crime and antisocial behaviour.
When looking at some of the things that are already in place that were raised at the summit, the liquor supply restrictions, I believe, are already beginning to work. Over the last six months, the consumption of pure alcohol in Alice Springs has declined something like 10%. Police report that serious assaults have declined significantly over the last nine months and, importantly, the demand on the hospital for alcohol-related services continues a downward trend, that is over two quarters, and is a very important aspect of controlling alcohol.
However, there is much more to be done. For example, over 113 000 litres of pure alcohol was consumed in Alice Springs in the March quarter. That was the lowest quarter consumption for four years, but it does translate to six million cans of full strength beer. That is an awesome amount of alcohol. We have the lowest figures for four years, but, boy, do we have a long way to go!
Police also tell me that 85% of their workload is taken up by alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour. From a policing point of view, that is a real target area. These statistics are unacceptable. We are getting some movement in the right direction but we have a long way to go.
The four key issues that were raised in the forums were: alcoholism and public drunkenness; children on the streets who should be at school, or late at night; humbugging of locals and tourists; and fighting in public places and residences. We have listened very carefully to the voice of the Alice Springs community, and I can assure Alice Springs that we will deliver.
Some of the initiatives coming from the summit include a commitment to keep police numbers at quotas. That has been an issue and that is my very strong commitment. Also important is the continuation of the City Safe initiative. Talking to business, they are very pleased by the impact of City Safe; the centre of Alice Springs is a lot quieter. If you put that together with the first 22 days of the public dry areas legislation, the centre of Alice Springs is a lot quieter and, importantly, a lot safer.
Initiatives from the summit include:
the introduction of a new police-led public safety model - more about that in the next few weeks;
we committed to operational funding for CCTV - that will be up and running in Alice Springs by December;
a youth diversionary camp, a youth at-risk intervention centre, and increased funding for youth services in Alice Springs; and
funding for a Return to Country program.
I also talked about renewed consideration from the Alcohol Reference Group of a buy back of some takeaway alcohol licences, and further consultation with the community about the proposal for a takeaway-free day. There has been discussion about that; not surprisingly, some for it, some against it. However, we are discussing it at the Alcohol Reference Group, and more work is to be done.
As government, we will continue to work with the Alice Springs community to take strong and decisive action to make the wonderful town of Alice Springs an even better place to live, work and raise a family.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016