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
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Wednesday 17 May 1995 children to see on a daily basis as they grow up. It is something we want to eliminate from our society. However, the scheme proposed here is ridiculous. The people it talks about will not have the power to do the job. There is no power of detention and no power beyond a citizens normal power of arrest. There will be insufficient numbers of these people to do the job and the whole scheme will become a joke. What it will do is break the spirit of people in the community who are trying to find a way to fix this problem because there are things that can be done. I am not against the proposal to place a 350 a litre levy on cask wine, except for one point that we should bear in mind. The member for Casuarina has not been in the Territory to recall this, but the member for Katherine has been around long enough to remember how the consumption of cask wines became a daily event for some people. When I came to the Territory, the consumption of cask wines by these groups was very low. It was more usual for them to consume port and sherry. The consumption levels of port and sherry were very high. If you reckon somebody who has been on the cask wine is in a bad way, you should see somebody who is still affected by the downer from their last hangover from port or sherry and who is trying to get a few more into them to get going again. In that condition, they are pretty violent people to be involved with. The point we should bear in mind is that, if the government continues to increase the price of cask wine, it must ensure that people do not take the cheap option of the metho, the port and the sherry. If consumption levels of those alternatives increase, our society will have major problems. That is where we were some 15 years ago. If the increase pushes people towards light beer, that will be an excellent outcome. However, the money raised should be put into resources that actually will be effective, such as increasing the numbers of police who have the power to have an effect. It should be used to increase their numbers and their resources and, in particular, to increase the number of Aboriginal community police officers (ACPOs) who can work closely with the affected communities. More resources for night patrols and people who are working in those antisocial... Mr Reed: That is in the statement. Mr EDE: I know it is there. I am not saying that everything in there is wrong. Your statement about directing more money to night patrols is fine. However, this hare-brained idea of setting up this other police force is absolutely beyond the pale. Mr Reed: You cannot make a tough decision, that is your problem. Mr EDE: Give that idea away and use the money for extra police officers, additional ACPOs, additional resources for night patrols and additional resources for those groups that are working with the people causing this problem to encourage them to adopt alternative behaviours. I am very disappointed with this announcement. I hope that the proposal will not get off the ground. Some very good work has been done in the Northern Territory as a result of the alcohol levy. We have not seen the data that the Chief Minister promised to provide. 3232