Opposition promises mandatory sentencing

MANDATORY sentencing will return to the Northern Territory if the Opposition wins government in the coming election.

The Country Liberal Party (CLP) said today it would introduce a three-strikes policy for property crime, and target public drunkenness, child abuse and petrol sniffing, if elected.

The three-strikes move – less harsh than the CLP's original regime that jailed offenders on their first conviction – was condemned by Aboriginal leaders, lawyers and the Territory Government.

But CLP leader Denis Burke was unapologetic, saying residents "should not have to tolerate the current situation a moment longer".

"Safe communities are a fundamental right that I will fight to protect," Mr Burke said.

"The CLP will act immediately to guarantee that those habitual criminals who repeatedly vandalise and damage the property of others will be dealt with in a way the community expects."

The Labor Government repealed the CLP's controversial mandatory sentencing laws as one of its first acts after winning the 2001 election.

The move followed a national backlash against the regime, following the suicide of a 15-year-old Aboriginal teenager imprisoned for 28 days for stealing pens, liquid paper, oil and paint.

"I accept we were too open to criticism in the past because of the people being jailed in the first offence," Mr Burke said.

"Certainly with the third offence, there will be proper instructions given to the courts."

Mr Burke believed the mandatory regime would not result in a large increase in people being jailed, but would act as a deterrent to would-be offenders.

Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin said mandatory sentencing did not work and the Government had slashed property crime by 50 per cent with other initiatives.

"If the CLP wants to return to the past with a strategy that didn't work, then that simply is an indication that they're not looking forward for territorians," she said.

"(They're) simply harping back to past failed policies."

The North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (NAALAS) condemned the CLP stance, saying it lacked imagination.

"We are fairly dismayed at the thought that anyone could be that stupid," NAALAS director Sharon Payne said.

"I think it's been shown to be not only lacking in humanity but a failure.

"We need to recognise that the legal system, in terms of locking people up, doesn't work."

ATSIC regional councillor Kimberley Hunter said the law had serious implications for the Territory's indigenous population, who were already over-represented in prisons.

The Territory Government is due to go to an election by October.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 13 April 2005
Source: Australian Associated Press
Author: Karen Michelmore
Website: http://www.aap.com.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Associated Press