Mr GUNNER - 2011-03-29
Could you please outline to the House how this government’s alcohol reforms will target alcohol-related crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the opposition finds alcohol-fuelled violence a joke - they are giggling and laughing on the opposition benches …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: What we do know is that alcohol misuse and related crime is a significant and very serious issue in this community, as it is in communities across the Territory. Alcohol causes 66% of violent crime in Alice Springs. The alcohol reforms that we are introducing - we have bills coming into parliament tomorrow - go to the heart of targeting the problem: the problem drinkers who are causing the crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities at unacceptable levels.
The proposed reforms go the heart of the problem by turning the problem drinkers off tap. We will ban them from purchasing, possessing or consuming alcohol. These are the drinkers who are repeatedly taken into protective custody by police. People who are committing alcohol-related crime are targeted in our reforms, and alcohol-related family and domestic violence offenders are targeted in our tough reforms. If you are not tackling alcohol, then you are simply not tackling the cause of the majority of crime in our communities.
Last sittings, the shadow alcohol minister said there was no link between violence and alcohol. It took him two weeks to work out that the government was right, that he was wrong, and he issued a media statement doing a backflip on his comments. It just proves that the opposition is not serious when it comes to tackling the causes behind the unacceptable levels of crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities, whether it is on our streets, in our public housing complexes, or in private homes. Domestic violence is a leading cause of assaults in our communities ...
Mr Bohlin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, I would like you to withdraw that comment, thank you.
Mr Bohlin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Please, just withdraw.
Mr BOHLIN: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. Minister, continue.
Ms LAWRIE: The government’s proposed banned drinker register is opposed by the CLP. Under their plan, problem drinkers will have unrestricted access to alcohol. In Alice Springs, they want to extend the trading hours by four hours, pouring four hours of more grog onto the streets and onto the problems fuelling crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs. Go out and talk to the local police, the doctors, the nurses who work in accident and emergency. You will know that tough measures tackling grog does see a resultant decrease in serious assaults. The Menzies report showed a 21% drop in serious assaults when we introduced the alcohol management plan to be tough on tackling grog …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the opposition finds alcohol-fuelled violence a joke - they are giggling and laughing on the opposition benches …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: What we do know is that alcohol misuse and related crime is a significant and very serious issue in this community, as it is in communities across the Territory. Alcohol causes 66% of violent crime in Alice Springs. The alcohol reforms that we are introducing - we have bills coming into parliament tomorrow - go to the heart of targeting the problem: the problem drinkers who are causing the crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities at unacceptable levels.
The proposed reforms go the heart of the problem by turning the problem drinkers off tap. We will ban them from purchasing, possessing or consuming alcohol. These are the drinkers who are repeatedly taken into protective custody by police. People who are committing alcohol-related crime are targeted in our reforms, and alcohol-related family and domestic violence offenders are targeted in our tough reforms. If you are not tackling alcohol, then you are simply not tackling the cause of the majority of crime in our communities.
Last sittings, the shadow alcohol minister said there was no link between violence and alcohol. It took him two weeks to work out that the government was right, that he was wrong, and he issued a media statement doing a backflip on his comments. It just proves that the opposition is not serious when it comes to tackling the causes behind the unacceptable levels of crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities, whether it is on our streets, in our public housing complexes, or in private homes. Domestic violence is a leading cause of assaults in our communities ...
Mr Bohlin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, I would like you to withdraw that comment, thank you.
Mr Bohlin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Please, just withdraw.
Mr BOHLIN: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. Minister, continue.
Ms LAWRIE: The government’s proposed banned drinker register is opposed by the CLP. Under their plan, problem drinkers will have unrestricted access to alcohol. In Alice Springs, they want to extend the trading hours by four hours, pouring four hours of more grog onto the streets and onto the problems fuelling crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs. Go out and talk to the local police, the doctors, the nurses who work in accident and emergency. You will know that tough measures tackling grog does see a resultant decrease in serious assaults. The Menzies report showed a 21% drop in serious assaults when we introduced the alcohol management plan to be tough on tackling grog …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016