Dave Tollner (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to advise the House that on Wednesday, 30 August I convened a community crime forum for residents of Malak and Karama in Darwin’s northern suburbs at O’Loughlin Catholic College gymnasium. There were almost 200 people in attendance. The community in Malak and Karama is made up mostly of families where both parents work, and to get 200 people to turn up on a busy weeknight means that the issue of law and order is very strong there. I would like to thank the organising committee, particularly Ken Mildred from Neighbourhood Watch and also Bill Turner from the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory, who had put his support behind the initiative. The committee organised a speaking panel that included Senator Chris Ellison, the federal minister for justice; Peter Adamson, Lord Mayor of Darwin; Paul Henderson, a Northern Territory government minister; Delia Lawrie, the local Labor MLA; Paul Wyatt from Neighbourhood Watch; and Bill Sommerville of Offenders Aid and Rehabilitation Services.

Why did the group come together? The hard truth is that the community came together to discuss law and order problems because they do not feel safe and secure in their own homes. In these times, not feeling safe and secure in your home in the Top End shows that we have moved somewhere, somehow, that we should not have. Not long ago you could leave your back door wide open and your car unlocked on the street and still feel pretty safe. In Malak, Karama and other parts of the northern suburbs there are young gangs that roam the streets at night. Astoundingly, they are generally underage kids who should be at home under the safety and protection of their parents and fast asleep.

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