Decriminalisation of public drunkenness
Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:12): (116) My question is again to the Attorney and Leader of the Government. I refer you to recent commentary by the police association secretary Wayne Gatt that your government has failed to listen to warnings that the new system is not ready and has not yet answered a range of critical questions. I am referring to the public drunkenness laws. He stated that:
… the community-at-large will be the government’s guinea pigs.
… the government has willingly buried its head, in the sheer hope that nothing will go wrong.
It will.
In light of such extraordinary comments that point to the risk to community safety, will you now admit that your government’s reforms are flawed and that they should be postponed so that community safety is not at further risk?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:12): I think, as I alluded to in my earlier response, this is legislative reform that has been on the agenda for a very long time. Other states have acted on this, and we are proud that Victoria finally has caught up. The underlying policy basis for this legislation is to ensure that people are not placed in police cells when they are drunk. We have evidence of catastrophic results involving people dying. In relation to the laws, they will commence by November this year. We have work to do to ensure that the health system alternatives for people that are drunk in public are established.
I can assure the house that I have regular meetings with the president of the TPA as well as the chief commissioner in relation to the implementation of these issues. The health bodies are having regular meetings as well into how the interaction between police and health bodies can work. We have many months to ensure that it is ready to go, and we will have continual monitoring and observation of these laws to ensure that we can continue to respond. Of course community safety is a part of this policy, which is why I can confirm that just being drunk in public does not get you out of the attention of police if you are acting inappropriately or conducting yourself with problematic behaviour. Indeed any risk to community safety would still be responded to by Victoria Police.
Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:14): Mr Gatt, I believe, wrote to the Premier with these concerns in January and has had no response. You say that you have met with him regularly. But why is the government again ignoring an important stakeholder such as the police association secretary Wayne Gatt, who has said, ‘It will evaporate when the first preventable tragedy occurs’? If you have met with him, why are you not listening to this very important stakeholder?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:15): Ms Crozier, yes, I meet regularly with Mr Gatt. I have met with him this year. When you are in government you actually have to balance a range of stakeholder views. Not agreeing with someone is not ignoring them. I will continue to work with all stakeholders in relation to the delivery of this policy, as will the Minister for Health, who has a lot of responsibility in relation to the health delivery, as will the Minister for Mental Health and Minister for Ambulance Services. This government is committed to getting this legislation right and will continue to engage with police on the ground, including Mr Gatt and the chief commissioner.