Selena Uibo slams CLP’s bail policies as alleged offenders walk free
Tough talk by Lia Finocchiaro from the Opposition benches about stopping bail for people charged with serious crimes is proving harder to implement in government.
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Tough talk by Lia Finocchiaro from the Opposition benches about stopping bail for people charged with serious crimes is proving harder to implement in government, with bail releases last week prompting ridicule from her political opponents.
In Opposition, Ms Finocchiaro attacked the Labor government for judicially granted bails for people charged with serious crimes.
When Labor introduced amendments to the bail act in 2023 that introduced a presumption against bail for unarmed alleged co-offenders in an offence when a weapon was involved, Ms Finocchiaro said this didn’t go far enough.
“It should be government’s absolute intention that this legislation stop people from being bailed in the first place,” she said.
“The Attorney-General has shown … this legislation is deliberately designed to save face, deliberately designed to trick Territorians into thinking it’s going to make their lives safer.”
This year, discussing Declan’s Law reforms to tighten bail, it was clear lenient bail would not be tolerated by the CLP government.
“This is not for people who’ve stolen a chocolate bar because they’re hungry, but continuously [allegedly] have disrespect for themselves, the police, the community and the law,” she said.
In his opening address for the year, Territory chief justice Michael Grant played down the impact of tough bail laws on increased prisoner numbers in the Territory.
Since August last year, the number of persons in the NT Corrections system has increased by about 500, with more than 2700 in custody - with about 55 per cent on remand.
“The reality is that regardless whether the presumption is for or against bail, the court simply takes into consideration the matters set out in s24 of the Bail Act to determine whether bail should or should not be granted. That is a largely onus-neutral undertaking,” he said.
Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said recent days had proven the CLP’s hard line on bail from opposition could not be matched in government.
“Lia Finocchiaro promised her new bail laws would put the rights of victims above those of (alleged) offenders, but the past few days have proven otherwise,” Ms Uibo said.
“Not only did her so-called tough laws fail to prevent an alleged serious violent offender from being granted bail - the very outcome she claimed they would stop - but her government also spent taxpayer dollars chartering a private flight for that alleged offender across the Territory.
“It’s time Lia Finocchiaro stopped hiding behind press releases and photo ops. Territorians deserve real action that tackles the root causes of this crisis.”
The Chief Minister did not respond to questions, referring instead to Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby.
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