Debates Day 2 - Wednesday 17 May 1995
Parliamentary Record 10
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1995-05-17
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Wednesday 17 May 1995 Mr ADAMSON: No, it is not an indictment of the Minister for Police and the government because the people are more than supportive of what the police are doing. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition would like to come out to a meeting. They have approached the Labor Party and no one from the ALP will speak to them. They have phoned the Leader of the Oppositions office twice, and their calls have not been returned. If the Leader of the Opposition would like to come to the meeting at any stage, he will hear from them at first hand their support for the Northern Territory Police Force. I have a group of businesses in the northern suburbs, around the Casuarina shopping centre, who are entirely supportive of what the Northern Territory Police Force is doing. They are simply saying that extra measures are necessary. The Leader of the Opposition can laugh at them if he wishes, but that is their opinion. They support the governments support for the Northern Territory Police Force, and they support the police. The Leader of the Opposition should talk to them and listen to them, but the sad fact is that these people find it very hard to talk to the opposition, and the Leader of the Opposition will not listen. Mr Ede: Garbage! Mr ADAMSON: The people running these businesses have spoken to other members of the Australian Labor Party, and they have thrown their hands up in disbelief. At the last meeting that we had, they said they did not want anything further to do with the opposition. You can criticise us, but that is how they feel. Go and talk to them because the more we can work on this as a cooperative venture the better. Criticise us by all means, but you cannot... Mr Ede: You just made it up. Mr ADAMSON: I did not make that up. You are now accusing me of misleading the House. I did not make that up. The Leader of the Opposition cannot accept the fact that these people are saying this. Mr Ede: They have not been in touch. Mr ADAMSON: I am sorry. They made 2 calls that have not been returned. Mr Ede: You are wrong. Mr ADAMSON: If the Leader of the Opposition does not like that, that is his problem. Mr Ede: It is not true. There were no calls to my office. Mr ADAMSON: I am going only by what they told me. If the Leader of the Opposition wishes to take that up with them, that is fine. I am simply telling him what they have told me. They have faith in the Northern Territory Police Force, and this is simply another measure that will put people on the problem full-time. The police service cannot be expected to allocate resources to this problem on a full-time basis, given the amount of time that they have to spend on the many other matters they have to deal with. However, I believe that there is a case to be put that we need people to be employed on a full-time basis to police antisocial behaviour. In my electorate, we have people 3229