Subjects: Visit to Darwin, including crime roundtable with local residents and businesses; crime crisis in the NT and around Australia; Cashless Debit Card; the Coalition’s plan to crack down on youth crime and online notoriety.
E&OE.
KATIE WOOLF:
I am pleased to say that joining me on the line right now is the Federal Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton. Good morning to you.
PETER DUTTON:
Katie, good morning. How are you?
KATIE WOOLF:
Yeah, very well. Thanks so much for your time this morning. I know you’re having some phone reception issues, so hopefully we’re able to get through the interview without you cutting out.
Now, you had the discussion or the roundtable yesterday. Tell us a little bit about who you met with and what was discussed.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Katie, we had a really good meeting. It was, I think, a good reflection of the community sentiment – and not just in Darwin, but across many parts of the NT – where people from businesses and people with a service delivery perspective just told us about what they’re seeing in the community in relation to crime. It’s pretty alarming. I’m not telling people of Darwin or the broader community any news that they don’t already know.
We know that, just according to the stats, I mean, the house break-ins across the Territory are up 22 per cent, vehicle theft is up by 30 per cent in Darwin, and so it goes on. The question is what can be done about it? And, it seems to me, that the Government at the moment has run out of ideas or they’ve made decisions which has really made it less safe and much more difficult for the police to enforce the law. Unfortunately, people are falling victim to these crimes on a more regular basis.
KATIE WOOLF:
What do you think can be done or what do you think should be done? I mean, there’s a real discussion, I guess, in the lead into any election, whether it’s at a state scale or even federally, when you talk about crime, that tough on crime approach, some people come out and say, ‘it just doesn’t work’. I mean, what are your thoughts?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, interestingly, yesterday, Katie, talking to some of the people – I mean, I asked the question, ‘well, why is it so bad now – and why is it much worse than it has been in the past?’. There were a few people there who, obviously were long-term residents of Darwin and in the NT, and they were talking about changes to bail laws, the Government’s approach to not arresting people and allowing there to be a culture where there’s no consequence for your actions. People go before the courts and get a slap on the wrist.
When you look at the appointments that the Labor Government’s made of magistrates and judges over a period of time, are they people that reflect the community values and views in terms of sentencing, and does it provide that deterrence? I think people are living with the outcomes now of this social experiment, which has gone terribly wrong. So, I think there are a number of things you can do. As, I think, people have talked about not just in the Northern Territory, but in Melbourne and in Sydney, when you water down the bail laws, people are back out there before the police can finish the paperwork and they’re back out committing more crimes.
So, there are things that you can do about bail. I think there are things that you can do in relation to providing support to the police, clearly. But, you know, there’s a lot going on in the community at the moment that I think people are starting to see as normal. And it’s not normal behaviour to have the impact that we’re seeing on local residents with their homes being broken into, the windows on their cars being smashed at local shopping centres, and what we’re seeing for businesses. One of the business groups yesterday told us that one of the shopping centres now has a security bill of over $1 million a year. Now, all of that’s passed on to shoppers through higher rents for the tenants in that shopping centre and it has an inflationary impact, and at a time when people can’t afford extra prices, they’re finding that the prices of the goods that they’re paying are being jacked up.
KATIE WOOLF:
Yeah. Well, it’s something we were literally just talking about, with the Australian Hotels Association.
Now, I mean, when it comes to those issues of crime right across Australia though, we know that we are definitely under the pump here in the Territory. There’s no other way to put it. Other parts of Australia are experiencing higher rates of crime as well. Is there more that can happen from a federal scale to really try to help the states to deal with this?
PETER DUTTON:
The short answer is yes. But I’d just make this point – it’s, in my judgement, and we get to move around the country every day – there’s nothing like what we’re seeing in the Territory in other parts of the country at the moment. When you look at Alice Springs – motor vehicle theft is up by 50 per cent. House break-ins in Tennant Creek up by 166 per cent. Palmerston – property damage up 50 per cent. Robbery, extortion-related offences in Alice Springs up 150 per cent. There’s a particular problem here in the NT and I think the Chief Minister really needs to offer a huge apology to local residents because she’s allowed it to get completely out of control.
But to answer your question in relation to what can be done at a federal level, well, there’s more funding that can be provided for policing services. There’s obviously federal legislation, particularly around telecommunications, which is a power that the Commonwealth has, that the Territory doesn’t have. In that regard, where kids are sharing videos or they’re posting images of themselves committing crimes, the Commonwealth can do more to enforce those laws. We’ve put forward a policy to that effect to make sure that we toughen the laws up and make it an offence to share an image of that crime being committed or perpetrated. Because for many kids in gangs now, part of the reason they’re committing a crime is that they can post it online so that they can get likes and that’s part of the psyche – regrettably – but that’s the reality in terms of what’s happening in some of their minds.
KATIE WOOLF:
It’s unbelievable. Yeah, it’s unbelievable.
Hey, we are going to have to get ready to wrap up. I know you’re pressed for time, as are we, but I just want to ask you – and it’s a complex issue so I know there’s probably not a short answer – but when it comes to the serious rates of domestic violence that we’ve got here in the Northern Territory, there’s been a real push for needs-based funding rather than the level of funding that we’re currently receiving from the Federal Government. Is that something that a Coalition Government would be prepared to commit to?
PETER DUTTON:
I’d be very happy to look at it, and some of the groups raised it yesterday. I do think the Territory is underdone in terms of the funding that’s coming from Canberra at the moment. The PM’s just employing another 10,000 public servants in Canberra, and I think that money can be better spent in services that we know are working on the ground. We’ve got to make sure that we’re not putting money into services that aren’t working, but for the services that are shifting the dial and that can demonstrate that they’re reducing the incidence of domestic violence, then I think we should be looking to scale that up so that we can reduce that cycle. Because young kids are growing up watching that violence, it’s being normalised, particularly, in some cases, reinforced with what they’re watching online as well, and then they become future perpetrators as well – and so you become at a generational cycle.
But there are other things you can do as well. The Government removed the restrictions in relation to alcohol in some communities. The cashless debit card was removed and there was just an overnight spike in domestic and family and community violence otherwise. I just think the PM has had a pretty weak approach to all of this. I think we’ve got to make tough decisions to really get back to a position where we can allow people to lead safe, normal lives again. That’s absolutely our priority, and I know Lia’s priority as well. I hope she gets elected in a couple of weeks’ time because, we can turn the Territory around and get it back on track. I think there’s a huge opportunity for that coming up.
KATIE WOOLF:
Well, Federal Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for having a quick chat with us.
PETER DUTTON:
Pleasure, Katie. Take care. Thank you.
KATIE WOOLF:
Thank you. That is Federal Opposition Leader there, Peter Dutton, having a chat to us while he is here in Darwin.
[ends]