New bail laws set to be introduced following stabbing death

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory parliament has reconvened for an urgent session as it looks to pass new bail laws in response to the fatal stabbing of a Darwin supermarket owner last week.  The Territory's Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says she wants the Territory to have the "toughest bail laws in the country" with the NT set to adopt measures similar to those in New South Wales.

Transcript

00:00The Northern Territory Government has introduced amendments to the Territory's existing bail

00:06laws and in essence these changes would bring about two extra steps or tests which judges

00:12would have to consider before releasing someone on bail.

00:14That first test would be whether or not that person poses a risk to the community and that

00:19second test or step is whether or not that person might be likely to go out and commit

00:24further violent offences.

00:25As you mentioned, this is modelled off existing laws in New South Wales, but unlike New South

00:30Wales, these changes would apply to both youths and adults and the list of offences that would

00:35be relevant to these reforms is far more extensive in the Northern Territory.

00:39Our Chief Minister spoke to our local radio program this morning.

00:42Here's a bit of what she had to say about these reforms.

00:45This reform is a necessary measure to make sure we're really enshrining as an overarching

00:50principle and consideration for the judges that, you know, is this person a risk to

00:55the community?

00:56Will they go on to commit further offences?

00:58And we've made it very simple and ultimately we believe it really aligns with the expectations

01:04of Territorians that judges are considering the safety of the community above everything

01:08else.

01:09And what's been the response to the reforms?

01:12Well, the opposition has said that they are going to support these reforms.

01:17Our opposition leader, Selina Yubo, today told Parliament that she was doing that in the

01:22spirit of bipartisanship.

01:23She felt that that's what the community expects, that both sides of Parliament work together

01:28to address the issue of crime in the community.

01:30But she did make a point of saying that she didn't feel the government was doing their

01:34job in terms of looking at a holistic picture to crime prevention, not only bail laws, but

01:39also addressing the root causes of crime.

01:42And these reforms come just two years after another young man in our community, Declan

01:47Laverty, was murdered at work.

01:49That sparked a raft of reforms which came into force earlier this year.

01:53And she said that this latest tragedy of Mr Fyke's death last week is just proof that

01:58this is not enough, that we need to be doing more to address the whole picture of crime

02:02prevention.

02:03The reforms have also sparked criticism from the Office of the Children's Commissioner here

02:08in the Northern Territory, and we are expecting a number of the independents to argue against

02:13these reforms as they continue to be debated in NT Parliament today.

02:16Ros?

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