NT Parliament considering a new legislation around snap curfews
The Northern Territory parliament is considering new legislation which would make it easier for the Police Commissioner to impose snap curfews.
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00:00 The new laws will allow the Police Commissioner of the Northern Territory to declare a snap
00:06 three-day curfew over parts of the Territory without any ministerial oversight or any ministerial
00:11 override.
00:13 Then if the curfew is further necessary, he can request the Police Minister to approve
00:18 a seven-day extension to those curfews.
00:21 Now this legislation is modelled off legislation that was brought in by the New South Wales
00:26 Government following the 2005 Cronulla riots.
00:30 This of course all follows on from the curfew that we did see in Alice Springs in March.
00:35 That three-week circuit breaker curfew was heralded by the Government and by law enforcement
00:40 for buying authorities valuable time to get on top of what was some serious unrest that
00:45 was emerging in that town.
00:47 But obviously it was subject to some concerns around its legality.
00:52 The Police Union for one warned its officers that acting under this curfew, making arrests
00:57 on behalf of this curfew, could end up with them facing potential criminal consequences.
01:05 And other organisations, legal agencies, did also express some concerns around the legality
01:10 of the legislation that was used to declare that Alice Springs curfew.
01:13 Now the Government said that its declaration of a curfew in Alice Springs was legal, but
01:18 that it wants this new legislation, the legislation that is being debated as we speak, to come
01:22 into force because it believes that the new powers that are given to the Police Commissioner
01:28 allow it to be more flexible, Joe.
01:30 And how are people feeling about these new powers?
01:32 Well it's been a mixed reaction.
01:35 The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, or NJAJA, its principal legal officer, Jared
01:40 Sharp, was on the ABC News Channel earlier this afternoon where he said that he had concerns
01:45 around the impact that these laws could have on civil liberties.
01:49 There's also been concern from some quarters about the potential impact of the exemptions
01:54 that are provided under these laws, in particular the fact that any curfew will be exempt from
02:00 the Northern Territory's anti-discrimination laws.
02:02 Now one very high profile legal expert in the Indigenous community here in Darwin, Natalie
02:09 Hunter, has expressed concerns that that will mean that these laws are targeted at Indigenous
02:14 kids.
02:15 There have also been youth advocates who have come forth and spoken to the ABC with their
02:20 concerns.
02:21 But as for the government, Eva Lawler, the Chief Minister, was out this morning announcing
02:25 that these laws would be debated this morning.
02:27 Here's what she had to say.
02:29 I know there has been opposition and we've heard those voices in the last few days, opposition
02:34 to curfew legislation.
02:35 But as a government, we know that the majority of Territorians, the vast majority of Territorians,
02:42 want police to be able to have a string to their bow, something that they can use to
02:47 put in place if we see that public disorder raise.
02:53 So the proposed laws are before Parliament.
02:54 Now is there any indication when they'll be passed?
02:58 Well Joe, all things go to plan for the government.
03:00 It should be within the next couple of hours.
03:02 My understanding before I came in here was that it was just getting into the final sort
03:06 of debate around that.
03:07 There was at least one member of Parliament who was flagging that there could be potential
03:11 amendments to these laws.
03:13 But nevertheless, with both sides of Parliament supporting this piece of legislation, it looks
03:17 likely to be waived through Parliament within the next couple of hours.
03:21 The bipartisan support for these laws is important because, as many of your viewers may know,
03:26 there is an election due in August.
03:28 So regardless of who wins that poll, it looks likely that these powers will remain in place
03:34 and that curfews could become another tactic that police use to deal with outbursts of
03:40 violence in parts of the Northern Territory.
03:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]