Ms CARNEY - 2006-02-21
Is it not the case that the 22 000 people who were taken into protective custody last year are those whom most people in the community consider to be offensive, and who are rarely charged with offences at all? Is it not the case that these people are the ones who swear, urinate, defecate, and cause havoc in our public places? My question is: is it true that your get out of gaol free package will not touch anyone arrested for protective custody?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is good to have a day in this parliament where we focus on the issue of antisocial behaviour and strategies to deal with it. Can I say very clearly that what we have in front of us in the parliament today is only one aspect of tackling what is a difficult and complex problem right across the Territory. I have noticed with interest the CLP’s Safe Streets Policy and, to give it credit, I read it. What concerns me about what the opposition is putting forward is that it is a recriminalisation of drunkenness. Think about this: what does recriminalising drunkenness mean? It is interesting that it is not recriminalised in any part of Australia, so there is obviously a reason why it is not.
Essentially, what the CLP’s policy, which the Opposition Leader launched this morning, would do, is, if you make drunkenness a crime, you can finish a night out on Mitchell Street. That is it. That is what is going to happen. That is the strategy that the opposition is saying will solve our very complex issue of antisocial behaviour. That is the way that they say it will be solved. It is a much more complex problem that we are tackling through an alcohol court, through a strategy for those who are repeat offenders, in terms of being picked up for protective custody or going to sobering up shelters. That is one element.
In Darwin, we also have the Larrakia Intervention and Transport Service, which will be going to the long grassers in places around Darwin and case managing people from where they are back to rehabilitation or home. We have Return to Home strategies. We have a number of different strategies which the Country Liberal Party says are ‘a whole lot of hogwash’. They are not. When we have the Opposition Leader saying, ‘What about the 22 000 drunks’, and putting out press releases saying, ‘thousands of drunks across the Territory’, it is rubbish.
We know that our serious problem is one of a small group; we are talking about 150 to 200 repeat offenders. They are the ones we are going to target. To hear the kind of hyperbole and lack of accuracy of the Opposition Leader is simply not addressing what is a serious problem for the Northern Territory, and it is just political opportunity. It is not a good policy. I have taken a look at it, it will not work. Recriminalising drunkenness will put an end to many Territorians having a good time on Saturday night, and we will not support that.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is good to have a day in this parliament where we focus on the issue of antisocial behaviour and strategies to deal with it. Can I say very clearly that what we have in front of us in the parliament today is only one aspect of tackling what is a difficult and complex problem right across the Territory. I have noticed with interest the CLP’s Safe Streets Policy and, to give it credit, I read it. What concerns me about what the opposition is putting forward is that it is a recriminalisation of drunkenness. Think about this: what does recriminalising drunkenness mean? It is interesting that it is not recriminalised in any part of Australia, so there is obviously a reason why it is not.
Essentially, what the CLP’s policy, which the Opposition Leader launched this morning, would do, is, if you make drunkenness a crime, you can finish a night out on Mitchell Street. That is it. That is what is going to happen. That is the strategy that the opposition is saying will solve our very complex issue of antisocial behaviour. That is the way that they say it will be solved. It is a much more complex problem that we are tackling through an alcohol court, through a strategy for those who are repeat offenders, in terms of being picked up for protective custody or going to sobering up shelters. That is one element.
In Darwin, we also have the Larrakia Intervention and Transport Service, which will be going to the long grassers in places around Darwin and case managing people from where they are back to rehabilitation or home. We have Return to Home strategies. We have a number of different strategies which the Country Liberal Party says are ‘a whole lot of hogwash’. They are not. When we have the Opposition Leader saying, ‘What about the 22 000 drunks’, and putting out press releases saying, ‘thousands of drunks across the Territory’, it is rubbish.
We know that our serious problem is one of a small group; we are talking about 150 to 200 repeat offenders. They are the ones we are going to target. To hear the kind of hyperbole and lack of accuracy of the Opposition Leader is simply not addressing what is a serious problem for the Northern Territory, and it is just political opportunity. It is not a good policy. I have taken a look at it, it will not work. Recriminalising drunkenness will put an end to many Territorians having a good time on Saturday night, and we will not support that.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016