Police Minister Kate Worden has again dodged calling the Territory’s crime crisis exactly what it is – a crisis.
On Mix FM yesterday morning with Katie Woolf, the minister was asked directly if she was dealing with the crime crisis with the same urgency as the COVID crisis.
Katie Woolf: Why isn’t the government treating this crime crisis in the same way that they treated COVID? With that same level of urgency. What would you say to those people?
Kate Worden: We are. We have a lot of urgency around the issue. Police are doing their absolute best. Our jails are absolutely full and I think that’s a point people are missing.
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said it was ridiculous the minister asked for more time to fix the crisis, when Labor had been in government for six long years.
“The Fyles Labor government cannot beat around the bush any longer – crime in our communities is at crisis point,” she said.
“People are unsafe in their own homes, in the streets, and at the shops. They are packing their bags and they are leaving the Territory.
“There are so many great reasons to stay here and have a family here. But this Labor government is creating one giant reason to move interstate.”
Mrs Finocchiaro said the crime statistics spoke for themselves.
“The government’s own police figures show crime is at crisis point, it is right there for them to read,” she said.
“Since Labor came to office, robberies are up 134 per cent in Darwin, 283 per cent in Palmerston, and 300 per cent in Katherine. House break-ins are up 22 per cent in Alice Springs and 156 per cent in Tennant Creek. The figures confirm what everyone knows – there is a crime crisis.
“Across the board, Territorians are trying their best to go to work, raise a family, and be model citizens but they are under attack not just from senseless criminals, but also a Flyes Labor government who continue to put the rights of the offender above the rights of victims.”
ENDS