Youth crime ‘crackdown’ won’t be in until later this year after govt slaps down CLP urgency push

LAWS to crack down on youth crime won’t be in force in the Territory until later this year, after the Opposition’s push to change bail rules on urgency were shot down by the government

LAWS to crack down on youth crime won’t be in force in the Territory until later this year, after the Opposition’s push to change bail rules on urgency were shot down by the government.

The NT government’s proposed package of reforms, which include throwing kids into remand if they breach bail and expanding the use of electronic monitoring devices, will not be introduced in parliam­ent until May, and may not be debated until June or August.

The NT News also understands laws that will allow police to test child drivers for alcohol and drugs without a responsible adult around won’t be introduced in parliament until August.

Opposition Leader Lia Fino­cchiaro slammed the government’s decision to knock back debate of the CLP’s bail amendment bill on urgency as “pathetic” and a “gutless”.

Territory industry heavyweights had called on the NT government to “seriously consider” supporting the CLP’s laws on youth crime, saying “time is of the essence”.

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Chamber of Commerce NT chief executive Greg Ireland

Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce. Picture: Supplied.

NT Chamber of Commerce chief executive Greg Ireland and Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce said their members, particularly in places like Alice Springs and Katherine, were fed up with the spike in commercial break-ins.

“I think it’s fair to say the majority of these people are at their wits end and they don’t feel safe every time they go home and wonder what property damage is going to occur,” Mr Ireland said.

Mr Bruce said if there was “consensus” on both sides of parliament that bail laws needed fixing then that should be done now, as publicans in the regions were “sick to death of the break-ins”.

But Police Minister Nicole Manison had indicated the government was unlikely to support escalating the laws through parliament that very day as time was needed for departmental boffins to digest the details.

The Hon Nicole Manison. Photograph: Che Chorley

Opposition Leader, Lia Finocchiaro. Picture Glenn Campbell

Leader of Government Business Natasha Fyles, in parliament, said it was “very unusual” for laws to be passed on urgency and that the CLP had only handed the government the bill at 8.30pm on Tuesday night.

The NT government, in its previous sitting of parliament, passed on urgency changes to planning laws to fix a “defect” despite an ongoing Supreme Court challenge by a Territory developer against a ministerial decision.

“The Gunner government has proven how gutless it is, hiding behind the pathetic excuse of not being given enough time to look at the details of our crucial reforms to the broken bail system,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

Neither the government nor the CLP have been able to provide evidence that their respective policies will work as intended, only that the statistics pointed to there being a problem with a small group of recidivist youth offenders.

Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker on Tuesday revealed there were 741 children that committed crime in the Northern Territory in 2020, clocking up 6399 charges between them.

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Half of those crimes were committed by just 16 per cent, or 118, of those children.

The government’s latest plan will involve walking away from recommendations of the royal commission into youth detention, a move that has been slammed by advocacy groups including the Jesuit Services, NTCOSS and Central Australia Youth Justice.