‘Underdog’ Country Liberal Party contenders take bite out of Territory’s crime crisis

Country Liberal Party contenders Lisa Bayliss and Lisa Sie­bert say they come well-equipped to tackle the Territory’s crime crisis if they manage to steal their seats from Labor incumbents.

Country Liberal Party contenders Lisa Bayliss and Lisa Seibert. Picture: Rebecca Parker / The Australian

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The two Country Liberal Party contenders running in the federal election in the Northern Territory share a lot more than just the same first name.

Solomon candidate Lisa Bayliss and Lingiari candidate Lisa Sie­bert – two police officers with almost a half-century of combined experience – say they come well-equipped to tackle the Territory’s burgeoning crime crisis if they manage to steal their seats from Labor incumbents.

Following Lia Finocchiaro’s resounding win against Territory Labor in August, the self-described “underdogs” say now is the time for a change in the community when it comes to rising crime rates, Indigenous living standards and the cost of living.

Mrs Bayliss, a sergeant in the force, has had an extensive career of more than 30 years in a wide range of roles in general duties, sex crimes unit, professional standards command, professional development, intelligence and as a qualified detective. She has worked with the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force and the Australian Crime Commission.

The mother of three says after crime surged under the Territory’s former Labor government, her husband suggested they consider leaving for a quieter life.

The two police officers have almost a half-century of combined experience. Picture: Rebecca Parker / The Australian

      

“I’ve said it a couple of times, either you put up or you shut up … it’s no good just complaining, you’ve actually got to be part of the solution, and that sort of helped me with my decision … to run,” she said. “Now here we are, I’m in the race to make a difference in the community.”

Mrs Bayliss said Territorians said the No.1 issue was still crime.

“When you go knock on doors, it’s still the No.1 issue with people, and I do have an understanding of the root causes,” she said.

“I’ve seen how poor policy makes crime worse, and I’ve definitely seen how our offenders that have been treated lightly, they reoffend, they’re a nuisance to the community, and then that affects our overall lifestyle, which is the reason sometimes for people (wanting) to leave.

“Particularly in the Territory, we have some of the highest domestic violence rates in the country … Throwing money at the problem, it doesn’t always work.”

Both candidates say they support Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s calls for an audit of government funding in the Territory.

“I think funding is really important, but we want to see outcomes with the funding,” Mrs Bayliss said. “They’re throwing money at the problem, it doesn’t always work, but there are also issues with how the funding models … are done, and people do struggle then to recruit, to maintain people, and there are issues around that.”

Ms Siebert, who has lived in remote communities as part of her career and grew up in Gunbalanya, has seen first hand the conditions in which some Indigenous Australians are living.

“The communities have been neglected 100 per cent, it’s really, really quite sad to see,” she said.

She said she would use her nearly 17 years of policing experience, as well as experience in tourism, hospitality, aviation and mining, to push to get children into school and people “back into jobs”. “I will be strongly pushing for getting our kids back to school, and getting our people back into jobs, and getting our infrastructure to a standard for the whole of the Northern Territory to benefit.

“If we can’t get our kids into school and educated, we can’t have them employed, therefore we can’t get them into jobs.

“So that’s something that I’ll be certainly pushing for because, you know, it’s also taking off reliance on the Australian taxpayer.”

Mrs Bayliss conceded the lack of funding in the federal budget to buy back the port of Darwin, which the CLP leased to a Chinese company in 2015, was “probably a missed opportunity”.

She supports the development of the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct and sees it as “essential” to the “growth and development” of the Territory and in particular Darwin.

Ms Bayliss said Territorians were ready for a change in federal government.

“After eight years of Labor, we’re really struggling, and federally they’ve made a mess of it, not just in the Territory but they’ve made a mess of it federally as well, and people are really hurting and I think people are ready for a change, we’re poised to make a change,” she said.