00:00 These new laws would allow the NT Police Commissioner to call a snap three-day curfew.
00:07 The government argues the legislation it used back in March to call a three-week youth curfew
00:12 in Alice Springs isn't flexible enough.
00:16 And last week they introduced this new legislation to Parliament which they argue would allow
00:20 the Police Commissioner to better respond to social unrest.
00:25 Now these proposed laws would allow the Police Commissioner to call a snap 72-hour curfew
00:30 and then make a request to the Police Minister for a seven-day extension.
00:35 These laws are currently being debated and are expected to be passed today.
00:40 The opposition has indicated it will support this proposed legislation but has flagged
00:45 it will likely call for harsher penalties for people who do break curfew rules.
00:51 Now there has been some criticism of this legislation including from NT Aboriginal Legal
00:56 Aid Service, Naja, as well as the Children's Commissioner.
01:00 They argue this legislation could discriminate against certain groups including vulnerable
01:05 Aboriginal people.
01:07 But the NT Chief Minister, Eva Lawler, has said while she's aware of these concerns,
01:12 she believes the majority of Territorians support this move.
01:16 Here's what she had to say.
01:18 I know there has been opposition and we've heard those voices in the last few days, opposition
01:23 to curfew legislation.
01:25 But as a government we know that the majority of Territorians, the vast majority of Territorians
01:31 want police to be able to have a string to their bow, something that they can use to
01:37 put in place if we see that public disorder raise.
01:41 Charmaine, it's been more than a month since Salis Springs youth curfew.
01:46 How are community leaders feeling about this proposed legislation?
01:50 Yes, we've spoken to several Aboriginal leaders here in Salis Springs and they say while the
01:56 youth curfew was an effective circuit breaker, it didn't actually do anything to address
02:00 the deeper issues behind crime and anti-social behaviour here in the region.
02:05 They argue they've seen very little action from the NT government to actually roll out
02:09 any long-term measures in the wake of the curfew.
02:13 In particular, youth and family services getting more support.
02:17 They say these services are on the front line of these issues and need to be backed better.
02:22 They also say there's been very little consultation with the community in the wake of the curfew,
02:27 in particular towards youth services and NGOs.
02:31 And they say instead of focusing on curfew legislation, the government needs to be looking
02:35 at what they can do to prevent the need for further curfews in the future.
02:40 Here's what they had to say.
02:42 I think it's a political agenda now and it's one that governments try and win elections
02:48 on instead of sitting back and saying let's try something different.
02:54 So as you can hear there are certainly some concerns from Salis Springs leaders that this
03:00 legislation doesn't actually address the deeper issues in this outback town.
03:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]
