Lawlessness Rules on Katherine Streets

The Minister for Justice, Chris Burns, is playing the people of Katherine for mugs with his media release about the Crime and Justice statistics for the December 2007 quarter.

"The December quarterly statistics release yesterday show that both personal crime and property crime are on the rise in Katherine but the Minister goes statistic shopping to peddle the fiction that crime is falling,” says Fay Miller, the Member for Katherine.

"The facts are stark and disturbing, assault increased by 20% from the same quarter of the previous year, all offences against the person increased by 18% and property offences by 27%.

"Those facts should have alarm bells in Darwin but the Minister opens his media release with the one area where crime has fallen – house break-ins – and ends it claiming the NT Government will tackle crime and anti-social behaviour if required.

"Decisive action on law and order is required now, not sometime in the future, and if the Minister for Justice spent a little more time in Katherine he'd be fully aware of that fact.

"The people of Katherine are sick and tired of living with ever rising levels of personal and property crime.

"Too often the people of Katherine are being intimidated by a lawless element on the streets.

"What is required is a stronger police presence on the beat and tougher sentences for those breaking the law.

"The Minister's claim that Katherine becoming a dry town will reduce crime hasn't been borne out by the experience in Alice Springs.

"Despite Alice Springs being declared dry in August last year the level of violent crime increased in the second half of 2007 when compared with 2006.

"This Government spends more time trying to massage the figures and concoct excuses than devising policies to deal with the problem.

"Violent crime has reached plague proportions in the Territory and the Labor Government lacks the necessary courage to deal with it.”

2008-03-26