The National Network strongly condemns the incoming Northern Territory (NT) Government’s proposed law and order changes, which include lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years to 10. ‘This move represents a significant retrograde step in justice policy. It is a direct attack on Aboriginal children and will result in a net widening of the carceral system,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘The incoming government know that this policy will result in more Aboriginal children being swept up into the carceral cage, exacerbating the already alarming rates of mass incarceration of Aboriginal children in the NT,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘The government’s plans to reintroduce truancy officers, a policy rooted in the racist and violent NT Intervention that predominantly punished Aboriginal families for their children’s school attendance blatantly demonstrates how carceral logics operate in our school system,’ said Tabitha Lean. ‘These kinds of punishments practices should have no place in our education system. Instead of being places of care and abundance, our schools are being transformed into sites of punishment and harm, alienating the students they should be nurturing and the parents they should be including,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘The National Network also strongly reject the expansion of police powers,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘The expansion of police powers usually equals an increase in police resourcing, and also signals a deepening of punitive approaches to social issues,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘The new Chief Minister’s decision to meet privately with Police Commissioner Michael Murphy on her first day in office demonstrates very clearly the direction this government is heading and where her priorities lay,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘The incoming government are using prisons and policing as a default response to solve complex social issues created by decades of underfunding, under resourcing and disenfranchising of communities,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘There is always money to lock people up, but never money to house them,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘When are we going to say enough is enough? We have to demand that our governments do more, be better, and actually do the work of building up our communities, not simply disappearing people into cages,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘Additionally, the National Network stand in solidarity with the National Ban Spit Hoods Coalition, calling for collective action against the government’s vow to reinstate spit hooding in children’s prisons. This cruel, inhumane and too often lethal practice has zero place in our prisons,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘Spit hoods are torture devices and are death making. We oppose their use and will continue to oppose their use until they are completely banned from use across every jurisdiction in Australia,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘The National Network warned before this election that it was a law-and-order election, and now we are witnessing the rise of a racially motivated law-and-order government intent on disappearing Aboriginal people into their prisons, including the two new women’s prison they have committed to building,’ said Tabitha Lean. ‘The racial animus embedded in the Country Liberal Party’s (CLP) policies is undeniable. These legislative changes are not just racially motivated—they are directly and intentionally designed to target and oppress Aboriginal people,’ said Tabitha Lean.
For further comment, please contact Debbie Kilroy on 0419 762 474 or Tabitha Lean on 0499 780 226
