Liberals convention applauds mandatory law defence Source: AAP | Published: Saturday April 15, 11:26 AM Northern Territory Chief Minister Denis Burke and Western Australian Premier Richard Court today launched a strong defence of their mandatory sentencing laws at the federal Liberal Party convention. The two leaders were applauded by the convention when they declared law and order issues should not be subjected to federal interference. Burke, who forged a $5 million deal with Prime Minister John Howard to ease the impact of mandatory sentencing on young people, said the laws were overwhelmingly supported in the Northern Territory. He said the NT government believed there was a place for the government to intervene to force repeat offenders, including juveniles, into detention and rehabilitation programs. Court told critics in Victoria and New South Wales to look after their own problems and stop telling WA what it should do. "Mandatory sentencing is just simply not an issue in Western Australia," he said. Court said a survey in WA found 93 per cent of people in his state supported the laws. "It's interesting listening to people from what we call the eastern states criticising our legislation, saying that it is basically the issue that children are being put at risk," he said. He said more children were at risk of death and injury from crime in Victoria and New South Wales. "So I suggest you look after your home base first before you start telling us what to do," he said. Burke said people in the eastern states did not understand the issues. "In the Northern Territory it is widely supported within the community,'' he said. "They understand the issue. "In Territorians' minds, punishment has a real place in the justice system. "At the end of the day, when you are dealing with recidivist criminals, there is a place where you need direct intervention." He said the judiciary believed politicians should not intervene on sentencing. "We simply say there is a point, particularly when you are dealing with recidivist criminals, particularly juveniles at a certain age, where the appropriate intervention is necessary." He said the intervention programs at the Don Dale detention centre in the NT were positive and focused on rehabilitation. New South Wales Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski said mandatory sentencing laws were not on her agenda for the next election. But she fully supported the right of the NT and WA to make their own laws on the issue. -- _________________________________ Truth is a pathless land. --- Krishnamurti ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
