Page 927 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2012
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crime. The bill took a measured approach to the real risk of serious organised crime in the territory and did not follow the extreme approach of the then New South Wales and South Australian governments of banning or proscribing certain organisations.
Instead, the government introduced the offences of affray, participation in a criminal group and recruiting people to participate in criminal activity and expanded the offences relating to the protection of people involved in judicial proceedings to cover people involved in criminal investigations. It also extended the concepts of criminal responsibility to reintroduce the concept of joint criminal enterprise and being knowingly concerned.
This demonstrates that the government has taken a very considered approach to the issue of serious and organised crime based on the evidence of such threats and what the proportionate response should be. It is worth noting, of course, that the approaches taken in other jurisdictions and advocated by those opposite have been held to be constitutionally invalid by the High Court. These issues remain under review by attorneys-general recognising the serious continuing threat posed by organised crime.
Finally, it would be remiss of me to not mention one other important reform, which is liquor licensing. There is little doubt that using an evidence-based approach improves public policy, and this is dramatically demonstrated with our liquor licensing laws. The government, through the introduction of the new liquor licensing laws and fee structure, has achieved a significant downward trend in alcohol-related incidents in Canberra. ACT Policing asserts the trend can be attributed to the higher degree of enforcement of liquor legislation, the establishment of new policing resources directly funded by liquor licensing, as well as an improved working relationship and statutory scheme between ACT Policing, the Office of Regulatory Services and the liquor industry.
In evaluating the use of additional risk factors to determine liquor fees, the government made sure there was an effective risk analysis of the ACT liquor market by identifying market participation rates by licensees, venue size by occupancy, trading hours, alcohol-related incidents and market trends. This has driven significant reductions in alcohol-related crime and violence.
For the first time, information collection processes are coordinated across the ACT government, and they provide confirmation of the relationship between liquor consumption, trading hours, occupancy loadings and alcohol-related incidents. As a result, the territory’s resources can be deployed to tackle the problem hotspots in the liquor industry, drive down alcohol-related crime and violence, and produce a safer community for everyone. It is another example of the evidence-based approach the government adopts when it comes to justice and criminal law policy in the ACT.
I thank Ms Hunter for bringing this matter of public importance before the Assembly today.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (4.17): I certainly thank Ms Hunter for bringing this matter forward because it is always illuminating when you hear the Greens talking about law and order issues and what they call an evidence-based approach to reducing
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