Page 3448 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 25 November 1992
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PUBLIC SAFETY IN CIVIC
Discussion of Matter of Public Importance
MADAM SPEAKER: I have received letters from Mr Cornwell, Mr De Domenico, Mr Humphries, Mr Kaine and Mr Westende proposing that matters of public importance be submitted to the Assembly. In accordance with standing order 79, I have determined that the matter proposed by Mr Kaine be submitted to the Assembly, namely:
Public safety in the Civic area.
MR KAINE (Leader of the Opposition) (3.16): It is a great pleasure that I have the opportunity today to address what really is one of the most important matters of public importance that confront the ACT community today. Madam Speaker, the first duty of a government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. The Follett Labor Government has demonstrably failed to discharge that obligation. By any measure, the safety of citizens in Civic Centre after dark is at grave risk. Almost daily now, the media recounts details of yet another victim of violent crime in the centre of our city.
Parents have complained to the Liberal Party, and I am sure to the Government also, that their children are attacked by kickboxing gangs. Young men have been stabbed to death in Civic in the last few years. Old people are being robbed and bashed. Concerned citizens have variously described Civic at night as a disaster area and a war zone. These are emotive words that describe what, for most people, is the real situation. It indicates a real community concern, a concern that is echoed by the police themselves.
The city centre is important for residents and for the economy. It has become a focus for entertainment for both Canberrans and visitors to our city. We are promoting Canberra as a safe and exciting place to visit, but the face of the city after dark gives the lie to the promotion of the city as a safe city. It is evident to even the most naive that the city after dark is an unsafe, insecure place. For some people, it may well be that that very jittery atmosphere has an excitement that is addictive. However, to those people who are in town for a night of entertainment, those ordinary people going quietly about their lives, the element of risk to their safety, even their lives, is a disincentive to visiting Civic Centre.
Neither tourism nor domestic entertainment industries will benefit from a continuation of the present situation in Civic. The attractiveness of the inner city to Canberrans is diminishing. The Government has a dual responsibility to protect its citizens and to ensure that the amenity of the city is guaranteed. The heart of the city should be revitalised by projects that enhance the amenity not only for workers between the hours of nine and five, but as a place for the community to live, work and enjoy at any time. It should be a place in which we have civic pride.
Unfortunately, crime in Canberra is a growth industry not confined to the city centre or to Garema Place in particular. In their recent report, the police clearly indicate that crime is growing at an astonishing rate - not my words; theirs. Garema Place is no more than a symptom of a general decline in civic law and order. Sexual assaults have increased by almost 150 per cent in the past year; common assault by 38 per cent; robbery and extortion by 10 per cent; burglary by 13 per cent; and motor vehicle theft by 14 per cent.
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