Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to talk about the No. 1 issue that people come to me with in my electorate of Solomon: crime. Darwin and Palmerston are by far the best places to live in Australia, but, unfortunately, the safety of our families is being threatened by gangs hanging out in local streets and shopping centres, by hoons paying no regard to the children playing in our streets, by itinerants taking over our parks and by hooligans threatening people as they go about their daily business. Our families deserve to feel safe in their own homes, while walking to the shops, while cycling along our pathways and when taking the kids to the local park. So today I want to outline my grievances on the lack of action on crime.

When the Labor government were elected in the Northern Territory in 2001 they made huge promises on tackling crime and then again in 2005 they made even more grand statements about reducing crime. They promised increased numbers of police and extra resources. Sadly, like most Labor governments, they say one thing but do the opposite and then when they are caught out they try to spin their way out of it. For example, the Labor government promised an extra 200 police on the beat by 2006. Their 2005 election campaign advertisement said that there were already ‘120 extra police out on the beat with property crime nearly cut in half.’ Clare Martin also said on 17 June 2005:

We’ve increased police numbers by 120, we’ll put in another 80 by the end of next year so we’ve actually got more police on the street.

But this promise was blown out of the water by the Police Association. This is what Vince Kelly, President of the Northern Territory Police Association, said on 25 August last year:

But the reality in relation to police numbers is that there will not be an extra 200 police on the beat by the end of 2006 and one only has to look at the police annual reports to know that is the case.

What is that? Is that the Police Association directly refuting the major plank of Labor’s claim to be tough on crime? Vince Kelly went on to say:

So clearly there hasn’t been an increase of 200. It’s quite simply that the claim that there will be 200 extra police on the beat is wrong. And I think that Territorians when they hear the Police Minister say there will be 200 extra police on the beat, they think he means police officers driving around doing the job and that is just not going to happen.

So, when we have the Police Association saying that the NT Labor government have not put 120 or 200 or whatever extra police on the beat, it is clear the NT government are not living up to their own rhetoric. The NT Labor government continue to claim that they are spending more than ever in reducing crime. True, they do spend more than other states on a per capita basis. But guess what? The crime rate has not decreased and in most cases it is increasing.

The recent report on government services provides these statistics for the Northern Territory. First, the NT government spends more than twice the Australian average on police per person. The Northern Territory spends $788 per person; the rest of Australia spends $304 per person. Second, across Australia 58 per cent of the population said that they had contact with police in the previous 12 months. In the Northern Territory this figure is about 75 per cent. Third, figures also show that Territorians rank very low on whether they felt ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ after dark in their own homes. Fourth, the Territory also has a lower proportion of people who felt ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ walking or jogging locally after dark compared to the rest of Australia. Fifth, fewer people in the NT feel either ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ travelling on public transport after dark.

The report also stated that the proportion of Territorians who consider physical assault in a public place and family violence to be either a ‘major problem’ or ‘somewhat of a problem’ in their neighbourhood was higher than anywhere else in Australia. The Northern Territory also had the highest rate of victims of personal crime, victims of property crime and recorded victims of homicide, assault and robbery and the highest estimated number of victims of break-in and attempted break-in. That paints a pretty grim picture, but there is more.

Let us have a look at the most recent of the NT government’s own crime statistics. Offences against the person in Darwin have increased by six per cent since the same time last year and sexual assaults have jumped by 17 per cent in the same period. House break-ins, break-ins to commercial premises, other theft and damage to property in Darwin are all at the higher level of the long-term average. A similar picture emerges in the city of Palmerston with assaults and sexual assaults both on the increase. There was also a statistically significant upward trend identified in the number of house break-ins in Palmerston. In addition, break-ins to commercial premises are on the rise, along with motor vehicle theft and related offences and property damage. Territory Labor’s own information shows they have a pitiful record on this issue. Despite much rhetoric, spin and downright falsehoods, the NT Labor government have failed to tackle crime in our suburbs and they should hang their heads in shame.

Some people have asked me why I am getting involved in an issue that is predominately in the realm of the NT government. Initially, I like many others believed that the NT government was serious about tackling this issue, but time has shown that I was misled in this belief. The situation has got so serious that there are now suggestions by some to form community vigilante groups. This is not something I encourage, but I can certainly understand these people’s frustration. I have had a gutful of the lack of action in this area and I aim to do something about it.

A couple of months ago, in response to the many calls to my office about the spiralling problems of crime, I held a community crime forum in the suburb of Malak to hear the local community’s concerns. I also invited the federal Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison, to attend so that he could hear first-hand of these problems. And we did hear of problems. We heard that Malak is like a gangland, that juveniles were out of control and that houses were being broken into with alarming frequency. Over 200 residents turned up, an indication that, despite what the NT Labor Party says, crime is the No. 1 issue in the northern suburbs.

Apart from making the federal minister acutely aware of local problems, we also finally got some action from the Territory government with more police patrolling these suburbs and access to a local mobile police station. It was a pretty good result, but people should not have to go to these lengths. I plan to hold more of these forums and have already moved to form local action groups to tackle these problems from the ground up. I have also got involved in helping local organisations access funding under the Community Crime Prevention Program and other programs that tackle the causes of crime. As I stated at the start, this is the No. 1 issue in the electorate of Solomon. It is the issue that occupies people’s minds the most. The Territory government have not lived up to any of their lofty promises. Our community deserves better and I intend to do something about it.