Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

I realise that there is no question there, but I would just say that the permit system was used time and time again to say, ‘We don’t need police and we don’t need the rule of law and order; we’ve got this permit system and it protects us.’ Senator, as you would know, the permit system has not protected those communities. All the communities that are mentioned in the report were supposed to be protected by the permit system—and it simply has not been enough.

We are saying that we need to replace that notional protection with real protection—the rule of law and order—and police officers, so people feel happy, comfortable and free to be able to report inappropriate behaviour or inappropriate people, knowing that there will not be some sort of payback, bullying or those sorts of behaviours. You do not need the permit system when you have the rule of law and order. The other thing is that there are benefits in having an open community. There are not only the obvious benefits that come from tourism, business and the opportunities of an economy but also the benefits that come from job opportunities. When we lift the permit system, it will only be from the road into the community and a specific discrete area of the township itself. As you would be aware, the permit system applies in all other areas.