Leader of the Opposition – Lia Finocchiaro
Shadow Minister for Youth – Joshua Burgoyne
The past week has seen Labor tangle themselves up in their own lies with Eva Lawler trying to make it sound like it had always been Labor’s intention to only bulldoze the old Don Dale facility, and the deceit continued with Ngaree Ah Kit, despite a 2018 Government Report to the Children’s Commissioner clearly showing Labor had planned to demolish both.
Yesterday, Eva Lawler couldn’t keep up the charade and basically admitted she changed her mind – and this lack of certainty in decision making has been a hallmark of Labor’s failures.
But while Labor spent a week trying to cover-up their failure to demolish Don Dale in 8 years, Eva Lawler has also banned the media from going into Don Dale to inspect the damage following the riot.
Fourteen youths are facing 79 charges including engaging in a riot, property damage, arson and assault worker, and yet Eva Lawler has decided to put the rights of the offenders above the rights of innocent Territorians who want to know how much ‘wear and tear’ there is.
Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro said, “Fires were ignited, projectiles hurled, police injured and there was chaos for hours on end. Eva Lawler has banned the media because she doesn’t want Territorians to know what the damage bill is this time.”
“It shows Labor will say and do anything to try and keep their jobs with the election looming. Territorians know Labor cannot be trusted,” Mrs Finocchiaro said.
Shadow Minister for Youth, Josh Burgoyne, said, “The cover-up of the damage at Don Dale is not going to cut it with Territorians who want answers on how much this riot is going to cost them”
“Territorians deserve better than Labor treating them like fools”.
If elected in August 2024, the CLP will:
- reduce the age of criminal responsibility back to 10 so that youth offenders and their parents are held accountable
- introduce ‘Sentenced to a Skill’ and ‘Sentenced to a Job’ to give offenders pathways out of crime
- criminalise breaches of bail
- mandatory community work programs, and
- strengthen bail.
A CLP Government will deliver a Safe, Strong Territory by taking back control of our streets, rebuilding the Territory’s reputation and getting our economy moving forwards.
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