Page 3456 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 25 November 1992
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The first way of dealing with a serious problem such as crime in our community is to acknowledge the dimensions of the problem and seek to find solutions. I am pleased to see that the Government has taken action in a number of areas on crime and, in particular, initiatives on crime in the Civic area. We put forward this matter of public importance today well aware of the Government's steps in this area, but determined that we should nonetheless bring the matter to the Assembly's attention and discuss it here because it is, in a very real sense, a matter of public importance. I am heartened to see that the Government is prepared to cooperate - I think that was the implication - with the Opposition on ways in which we might deal with this problem.
In the past it has been irritating, to say the least, to raise constantly indicators of a serious problem - such as the comments of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the comments of the NRMA and comments by police indicating a serious problem and serious changes in the dimensions of the problem - only to be told all the time that we were scaremongering and that the Liberal Party was just beating its own drum. I think that the Attorney today acknowledged, as far as he could, that there is a drum that needs to be beaten in the public interest and that collectively we - government and others - have an obligation to attempt to solve this problem.
The Minister made reference to the conference that he and I attended last week in Melbourne. I was extremely pleased to be invited to that, and I believe that it was a very profitable experience from the point of view of the whole Territory. I noted, for example, that the South Australian model of dealing with crime is a coalition against crime chaired by the Premier of South Australia and consisting of the police Minister, community representatives and a representative of the South Australian Opposition. If the ACT Government is serious about building a cooperative approach to the question of crime, it will find us open to approaches which incorporate that kind of joint effort to dealing with this problem.
What I am saying is that I am prepared to meet the Government halfway. We are prepared to commend the Government for its initiatives in this area - and it has taken some, undoubtedly. If it is prepared to look seriously at what we have had to say about the nature of the problem as reported to us by our constituents and take seriously some of the matters that we are putting forward to deal with that problem, even if only those particular initiatives which have been adopted by the Labor Party in the States in other places, we are very happy to discuss those matters with the Government.
Public safety in Civic is a matter we have all heard about at various times as members of this Assembly. The concern about public safety in that area is sustained and it is very serious. It comes from users of the area, shopkeepers in particular. There are many horrendous stories of incidents of crime. Vandalism is one of the most serious, because it is fairly persistent. It occurs, unfortunately, every day of the week. It has a serious impact on the amenity of that area. We have had reports of shopfronts being defaced, urine and excrement appearing on the walls and windows of shops and buildings, glass being broken, windows being smashed and graffiti being sprayed or scratched on walls. Assaults are a matter of serious concern. The Minister gave us some figures about the level of assault. In the past assault has ranged from shoppers or shopkeepers simply being pushed around by louts to people being knifed or even murdered. Cases of theft and armed robbery have also been recorded, although I assume that there would be fewer cases of armed robbery in Civic than in other parts of the ACT.
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