Page 3097 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Madam Assistant Speaker, there is a fact: the Labor government is treating people with compassion. We want to restore people and rebuild them. We want to give them back a life. Some of these people never had one: from the day they were born, they were destined for the judicial system. We want to change that around and give them a life again.
In ending so that my colleague Mr Corbell can have some time to have a chat to you people, let me say that it is open now and it has got people in it. We are actually doing something for somebody. If you don’t like it, suck it up.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (10.54): This is a strong and good budget for the justice portfolio. Members have mentioned a range of initiatives that are already underway and that are designed to further strengthen the delivery and the administration of justice in the ACT as well as provide a comprehensive level of support and ongoing building of our emergency services and policing capability.
Community safety is a strong focus. The money set aside for the closed-circuit television monitoring builds on the very significant investments the government has made in previous budgets to enhance and expand the closed-circuit TV network here in the territory. That funding will make sure that the CCTV network is now monitored at peak times in the city and, for the first time, at Manuka and Kingston.
That capacity basically puts at least another police patrol on the beat in our city centre, in Manuka and in Kingston. This virtual patrol—real-time eyes of police watching the activities in these areas and assisting to deploy police resources to potential trouble spots—is an important initiative in helping to try and improve safety and security for everyone who enjoys our city centre, not just during the day but especially at night.
The funding for the Director of Public Prosecutions is a particularly important initiative. Some $3.4 million recurrent over four years will deliver eight additional staff, including six additional prosecutorial staff for the DPP. The DPP performs a vital function. Its work is central to the administration of justice. It needs to have the resources available to do that job.
The government is also moving ahead with significant investment in the future structure of our courts. We are a small territory; our court system is compact and well understood. There are opportunities to further streamline, at the very least, the administrative arrangements as well as consider the possibility of the enhancement of the court structure with the establishment of a single court for the territory with different divisions to deal with summary, trial and appellant functions. These are options that the government will provide $100,000 for in the coming financial year—to allow this assessment to begin and to engage with all stakeholders in the legal community.
The government also is moving ahead with important measures to enhance community safety, in particular through the responsiveness and the capability of our
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .