Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, says the overwhelming and sustained pressure on the Chief Minister from the public, police and Opposition has forced the Gunner Government to face its gross failures, weak laws and incompetence on bail and youth crime – but today’s announcement is a farce.
“Today’s announcement by the Gunner Government is humiliating political spin and lacks basic detail, let alone any substance. It has clearly been cobbled together in the last week, in a desperate attempt to salvage what little dignity Labor has left following A Current Affair’s airing of the Chief Minister’s crime shame.
“We have listened to the deafening outcry from residents and businesses sick of the revolving door of repeat offending and that’s why we’re introducing, on urgency, the Bail Amendment Bill 2021 in parliament tomorrow.
“If the Gunner Government is serious, it must pass our Bill. If it can’t support our legislation then, from tomorrow, Territorians will hold the Chief Minister and his Labor team directly responsible for every single man, woman or child who is assaulted, broken into, traumatised and victimised by repeat offenders who are on bail.
“Our legislation is the first step in a raft of necessary changes to fix Labor’s weak bail laws. We’ve made it so simple for this rudderless Government: we’ve drafted the legislation, it’s had the tick of approval from the peak body representing 99% of the Territory’s police force and the changes, if supported by Labor, can be implemented immediately.
“They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: but we take no comfort from today’s announcement – the desperate Gunner Government has simply latched onto the Opposition’s plan to reform the broken bail system. But the only thing spinning more than the revolving door of bail is the Gunner Government.
The Opposition has a simple plan:
- Repeat offenders start with a position of no bail
- Bring back breach of bail as an offence
- Every repeat offender, every time they’re bailed will be electronically monitored
REPEAT OFFENDERS
CLP: There will be a presumption against bail for youths or adults who have committed another offence while on bail, or have been found guilty of two or more offences in two years. We will bring back breach of bail as an offence. These changes will target both youth and adult offenders because we know this isn’t just a youth problem.
Labor: If a young person commits a ‘serious’ breach of bail, their bail will be revoked. There is no clarification whether the Gunner Government will change the presumption of bail from ‘in favour’ to ‘against’ for repeat offenders.
PRESCRIBED OFFENCES
CLP: Adds all of the prescribed offences to section 7A of the Bail Act, meaning that after passage, both youths and adults will face a presumption against bail if they are alleged to have committed those offences – even for a first offence.
Labor: Leaves the presumption of bail for these offences at ‘neutral’ for youths, for prescribed offences. The government is busy tinkering with the inadequate list of prescribed offences which doesn’t include hit and run, threats to kill, or recklessly endangering life.
ELECTRONIC MONITORING
CLP: If bailed, even with the presumption against bail – every repeat offender, every time will be bailed with electronic monitoring. Under a CLP government, police would be given full control of electronic monitoring, including real-time monitoring of offenders.
Labor: Expansion of electronic monitoring by police only. This is an admission the current system is failing. Territory Families already has the capacity for 1,000 ankle monitoring bracelets yet, as revealed in Estimates, only 50 have ever been used at one time. Estimates also revealed just one person was bailed by police with electronic monitoring over the 2019-20 financial year. This plan is simply fixing the glaring issues with the current inadequate system.
“The Opposition has been working on this important reform for months now. Our Bill is ready for debate tomorrow. We won’t see the Government’s cobbled together attempt to deal with the Territory’s crime crisis introduced to parliament until at least May. It will take many more months to pass and implement the government’s proposed laws before Territorians will be impacted by anything that resembles the change they’re desperate to see,” said Ms Finocchiaro.