Mr SETTER - 1994-11-23
Mr Speaker, we are all aware that in recent times outside nightclubs there has been a great deal of violence which has been reported widely by the media. I am aware also that the government has undertaken a feasibility study of the use of surveillance cameras in Darwin's CBD, particularly outside trouble spots. What stage has the feasibility study reached? Is the Leader of the Opposition's suggestion, that temporary surveillance cameras be used to monitor these trouble spots, feasible?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I will take that question in 2 parts and deal with the second part first. I believe most Territorians were amazed at the Leader of the Opposition's call for mobile police posts. He was reported in the NT News as stating that he thought that it would be a good idea to park a mobile police post - a bus or caravan - in a trouble spot and whack cameras on awnings or posts with wires running back to the caravan or bus. Inside the mobile police post, police would monitor closed-circuit television screens and, if there was any trouble outside, they would grab the offender and jump back into the bus or caravan. It is the most ridiculous scenario that I have ever heard. Police were rolling around in the muster room. They thought that it was a great joke.
Mr Ede: You have got it wrong.
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Mr MANZIE: If you were to have police at a trouble spot, you would not have them sitting in a caravan watching it on closed-circuit television screens.
Members interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: It is a most ridiculous scenario for anyone to suggest, let alone the Leader of the Opposition. I am sure that no one would touch the wires which would be hanging from the awnings. I hope that it was said in jest. It is an April fool-type statement.
In all seriousness, however, we have examined the feasibility of providing surveillance cameras in city mall areas. We are considering Alice Springs and Darwin. The idea is that private contractors would operate the process. Private security personnel would monitor cameras in fixed positions in the malls and in some city streets. Police would have access to the video material for evidential purposes. The security personnel could telephone police if they saw problems occurring. The whole process has been the subject of a feasibility study, and reports have been received from the company that was given the task of carrying out that study. I must stress that this is a partnership between government, council and private enterprise to come up with a solution that will not impact on police manpower but will give police a much greater advantage in carrying out their role in a most troublesome area. Surveillance cameras have worked very successfully in other areas of Australia.
Mr Ede: Wrong!
Mr MANZIE: Of course, the Leader of the Opposition is an expert. However, I place on the record here and now that we have no intention of buying a caravan, towing it to places like Cavenagh Street after the nightclubs have closed, parking it on the street, hooking up cameras and watching what occurs outside. It is a ludicrous suggestion.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, I will take that question in 2 parts and deal with the second part first. I believe most Territorians were amazed at the Leader of the Opposition's call for mobile police posts. He was reported in the NT News as stating that he thought that it would be a good idea to park a mobile police post - a bus or caravan - in a trouble spot and whack cameras on awnings or posts with wires running back to the caravan or bus. Inside the mobile police post, police would monitor closed-circuit television screens and, if there was any trouble outside, they would grab the offender and jump back into the bus or caravan. It is the most ridiculous scenario that I have ever heard. Police were rolling around in the muster room. They thought that it was a great joke.
Mr Ede: You have got it wrong.
Page 306
Mr MANZIE: If you were to have police at a trouble spot, you would not have them sitting in a caravan watching it on closed-circuit television screens.
Members interjecting.
Mr MANZIE: It is a most ridiculous scenario for anyone to suggest, let alone the Leader of the Opposition. I am sure that no one would touch the wires which would be hanging from the awnings. I hope that it was said in jest. It is an April fool-type statement.
In all seriousness, however, we have examined the feasibility of providing surveillance cameras in city mall areas. We are considering Alice Springs and Darwin. The idea is that private contractors would operate the process. Private security personnel would monitor cameras in fixed positions in the malls and in some city streets. Police would have access to the video material for evidential purposes. The security personnel could telephone police if they saw problems occurring. The whole process has been the subject of a feasibility study, and reports have been received from the company that was given the task of carrying out that study. I must stress that this is a partnership between government, council and private enterprise to come up with a solution that will not impact on police manpower but will give police a much greater advantage in carrying out their role in a most troublesome area. Surveillance cameras have worked very successfully in other areas of Australia.
Mr Ede: Wrong!
Mr MANZIE: Of course, the Leader of the Opposition is an expert. However, I place on the record here and now that we have no intention of buying a caravan, towing it to places like Cavenagh Street after the nightclubs have closed, parking it on the street, hooking up cameras and watching what occurs outside. It is a ludicrous suggestion.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016