Ms CARNEY - 2009-11-25
Your taxpayer-funded advertisement in Friday’s Centralian Advocate claims that serious assaults in Alice Springs are down by 21%, yet your own Justice Department figures, figures that are publicly available and figures that can be validated, clearly contradict your paid claim by showing that assaults are up 25% from the June quarter last year. You have often said that one assault is one assault too many. Rather than spin a number that suits your political purposes, will you simply acknowledge that your neglect of Alice Springs has led to an increase in violent crime?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the question from the member for Araluen. As the member quite rightly said, one violent assault is one too many. In Alice Springs, as I have explained, up hill and down dale over the last few years, with the additional police attention, additional police resources focused on domestic violence, alcohol-related domestic violence abuse in Alice Springs, we have more reports, more incidences of reports of alcohol-fuelled domestic violence and serious assaults over the last year. We can all play with statistics …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: We release quarterly crime statistics, quarter on quarter. We are the most transparent government in Australia, probably in the world, in terms of the quarterly release of crime statistics. If you compare, quarter on quarter, you can come up with another number compared to year on year, or half year on half year. The tragedy here is that violent crime is absolutely unacceptable, and the vast majority of assaults in Alice Springs that police, tragically, have to deal with on a daily basis, are domestic violence reports and assaults.
Since we have a domestic violence squad based in Alice Springs on a permanent basis, and since we have given the police the capacity to initiate, without reference to a court in the first instance, their own domestic violence orders, for the year 2009-10, 737 DVOs were initiated by police - a 39% increase from the same period last year. Police also investigated and initiated prosecutions of alleged breaches of those domestic violence orders and, for the 2009-10 financial year, 513 DVO contraventions were reported - a 34% increase compared to the same period.
Why do we have this increase? It is because we have dedicated police resources and we have the confidence of women to report. If we actually look at the figures in regard to assaults …
Madam SPEAKER: We have a stranger in the House. Can we please ask this media person to leave the Chamber? Leave the Chamber, please. Thank you.
Mr HENDERSON: In regard to the reality of these statistics, I know the opposition want to paint a particular picture here but, of the 1400 assault offences recorded over the last year, 54% were domestic violence-related, compared to 48% for the same period in 2007-08, and over 45% of the increase in assault offences are attributed to domestic violence incidences.
What we have here is a government acknowledging that this is a blight on our community. This is an absolute affront to our community. We have a complex set of policy responses, not just policing responses.
What is the Country Liberals’ policy in terms of reducing crime, reducing violence?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: What is the Country Liberals’ policy in Alice Springs to reducing violence? I think the people who are here …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … in this Assembly this evening need to understand that this is the policy position of the member for Araluen to reduce violence and to reduce assaults in Alice Springs. Their policy is to increase the sale of alcohol by an additional four hours a day. To increase the sale of alcohol by an additional four hours a day is a recipe for more assaults, more violence, more admissions to the hospital in Alice Springs, and more women, in particular, being bashed to a pulp. That is the Country Liberals’ response.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The Country Liberals’ response is to pour more alcohol onto this problem by increasing the supply of alcohol by four hours a day. That is absolutely irresponsible; it is recklessly irresponsible.
Today is White Ribbon Day, and we are all wearing white ribbons in recognition of the abhorrence of domestic violence in our community. It is an abhorrent crime. It is one we are cracking down on. It is one that our police are focused on. It is certainly a crime that all the Country Liberals want to do is to pour more alcohol onto it.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the question from the member for Araluen. As the member quite rightly said, one violent assault is one too many. In Alice Springs, as I have explained, up hill and down dale over the last few years, with the additional police attention, additional police resources focused on domestic violence, alcohol-related domestic violence abuse in Alice Springs, we have more reports, more incidences of reports of alcohol-fuelled domestic violence and serious assaults over the last year. We can all play with statistics …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: We release quarterly crime statistics, quarter on quarter. We are the most transparent government in Australia, probably in the world, in terms of the quarterly release of crime statistics. If you compare, quarter on quarter, you can come up with another number compared to year on year, or half year on half year. The tragedy here is that violent crime is absolutely unacceptable, and the vast majority of assaults in Alice Springs that police, tragically, have to deal with on a daily basis, are domestic violence reports and assaults.
Since we have a domestic violence squad based in Alice Springs on a permanent basis, and since we have given the police the capacity to initiate, without reference to a court in the first instance, their own domestic violence orders, for the year 2009-10, 737 DVOs were initiated by police - a 39% increase from the same period last year. Police also investigated and initiated prosecutions of alleged breaches of those domestic violence orders and, for the 2009-10 financial year, 513 DVO contraventions were reported - a 34% increase compared to the same period.
Why do we have this increase? It is because we have dedicated police resources and we have the confidence of women to report. If we actually look at the figures in regard to assaults …
Madam SPEAKER: We have a stranger in the House. Can we please ask this media person to leave the Chamber? Leave the Chamber, please. Thank you.
Mr HENDERSON: In regard to the reality of these statistics, I know the opposition want to paint a particular picture here but, of the 1400 assault offences recorded over the last year, 54% were domestic violence-related, compared to 48% for the same period in 2007-08, and over 45% of the increase in assault offences are attributed to domestic violence incidences.
What we have here is a government acknowledging that this is a blight on our community. This is an absolute affront to our community. We have a complex set of policy responses, not just policing responses.
What is the Country Liberals’ policy in terms of reducing crime, reducing violence?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: What is the Country Liberals’ policy in Alice Springs to reducing violence? I think the people who are here …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: … in this Assembly this evening need to understand that this is the policy position of the member for Araluen to reduce violence and to reduce assaults in Alice Springs. Their policy is to increase the sale of alcohol by an additional four hours a day. To increase the sale of alcohol by an additional four hours a day is a recipe for more assaults, more violence, more admissions to the hospital in Alice Springs, and more women, in particular, being bashed to a pulp. That is the Country Liberals’ response.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr HENDERSON: The Country Liberals’ response is to pour more alcohol onto this problem by increasing the supply of alcohol by four hours a day. That is absolutely irresponsible; it is recklessly irresponsible.
Today is White Ribbon Day, and we are all wearing white ribbons in recognition of the abhorrence of domestic violence in our community. It is an abhorrent crime. It is one we are cracking down on. It is one that our police are focused on. It is certainly a crime that all the Country Liberals want to do is to pour more alcohol onto it.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016