[Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this press release contains the name of deceased persons]
The National Network strongly condemn the Finocchiaro CLP Government’s proposed overhaul of the Youth Justice Act 2005 and Youth Justice Regulations 2006.
‘These proposed changes represent a punitive attack on the rights, dignity, and lives of children in the Northern Territory,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘The removal of detention as a last resort, the reintroduction of spit hoods, and the use of a child’s full criminal history in sentencing are regressive, harmful and dangerous. These changes will not keep the community safe, they will result in more harm, more trauma, and more deaths in custody,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
This is an all-out assault on the children of the Northern Territory.
‘Let us be clear: spit hoods are instruments of torture. They are used to degrade, control and silence. Their deadly consequences are well documented,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
In 2016, Wayne Fella Morrison, a Wiradjuri, Kookatha and Wirangu man, was killed in custody after being restrained, hooded, and left unresponsive in the back of a prison van. In 2021, Selesa Taifaifa, a Samoan woman, was killed in custody at Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre while being forcibly restrained with a spit hood.
‘To bring spit hoods back, especially for use on children, is a grotesque failure of leadership. It will not prevent harm. It is harm,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘The removal of the principle that detention must be a last resort for children flies in the face of national and international human rights obligations, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘Many of the children who appear before the courts are themselves victims: victims of violence, poverty, neglect, racism and state failure,’ said Debbie Kilroy. ‘They are not born “offenders”, they are criminalised by a system that was never designed to protect them,’ said Debbie Kilroy.
‘It is deeply inflammatory and irresponsible for Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro and her ministers to label people who want a fair and safe justice system as “offender apologists”. This rhetoric is unbecoming of any public leader, let alone one tasked with safeguarding all Territorians, including children,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘When government policy enables cruelty, the results are fatal. We will see children harmed. We will see children die in custody. And when those deaths occur, the responsibility will lie squarely at the feet of Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro and her government,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘The National Network rejects the narrative that justice must be cruel to be effective. We reject reforms that criminalise trauma, deepen inequality, and shred human rights,’ said Tabitha Lean.
‘We call for the urgent withdrawal of this legislation and a complete halt to this escalating war on children,’ said Tabitha Lean.
For further comment, please contact Debbie Kilroy on 0419 762 474 or Tabitha Lean on 0499 780 226
