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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-03 Daily Xml
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Question Time

GANG OF 49

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about the gang of 49.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Just after 4am this morning three men of Aboriginal appearance robbed one service station and attempted to break-in to at least two others. They threatened staff with a sword and stole the cash register. Soon after they forced their way into a locked service station on North East Road at Holden Hill and threatened staff with a pole, before leaving empty handed. This type of crime in Adelaide is not unusual under the current Labor government and, despite countless reports, recommendations and announcements, youth crime in particular and activities of the so-called gang of 49 are as rife as ever.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable member will refrain from expressing opinion in his explanation.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I accept your guidance, Mr President. I will now quickly summarise the chronology of some of the events. In June 2003, Operation Mandrake began, and there were reports that teenagers were being offered cigarettes and alcohol to act as decoys for organised crime perpetrators.

In September 2004, following reports that youths were still being enticed into crime, SAPOL relaunched Operation Mandrake for the third time in 18 months. In November 2004, the SAPOL annual report showed that 313 young offenders, including 38 under the age of 12, were charged with driving stolen cars during 2003 and 2004.

In July 2005, the state government pledged to adopt a number of recommendations contained in the report from the select committee on the youth justice system. In May 2006, a 17 year old who had been arrested 36 times since 2001 was released from detention to attend an 18th birthday party.

In January 2007, a crime spree left a man seriously injured in a smash with a stolen car, and Aboriginal youths were blamed for the attack. In January 2007, police expressed frustration as a 16 year old gang member was arrested while on bail. He and two others were charged with illegal use of a motor vehicle, breaching bail and possessing housebreaking implements. Three hours later, three more men were arrested in possession of a stolen safe, and they were charged with aggravated serious criminal trespass.

In January 2007, the state government had still not acted on the 43 recommendations from the July 2005 report of the select committee on the youth justice system. Also in January 2007, two alleged gang members of the gang of 49 were arrested after a break-in and a high speed chase in Adelaide's west.'

In February 2007, Monsignor Cappo was asked by the government to provide a plan to address the issues, focusing on Aboriginal defendants targeted in Operation Mandrake. In April 2007, suspected gang of 49 members were involved in a robbery in which a taxi driver was forced off the road and threatened with a gun, and victims were targeted in eight separate incidents across eight suburbs. In June 2007—

The PRESIDENT: Order! I remind the honourable member that matters of interest was yesterday.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Thank you, Mr President. In June 2007, a violent night of crime on Adelaide streets included robbery and assaults on shops, at the wheel of taxis, and in a phone box. Police believe that four of the six offences were linked, and the offences were investigated under Operation Mandrake.

The list goes on until the latest incident in March 2008. In a study carried out for the Guardian for Children and Young People, Pam Simmons found that nearly every South Australian youth offender re-offends within four years and two-thirds in the first six months. In April 2008, two hold-ups occurred, as I mentioned earlier. My question is: does the minister now acknowledge that his government's rhetoric on law and order, including promises he made during the 2006 election campaign, has failed, and will the minister provide real solutions to address the increasing problem with the gang of 49?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:24): No, I do not concede that at all. In fact, the evidence shows that, under this government, there has been a significant reduction in crime rates over the full six years we have been in government. One particular element of crime in relation to Operation Mandrake targets is that, incidentally, they are not all Aboriginal, as suggested by the honourable member. Certainly a large number of them are but by no means are the problems of young offenders exclusively an Aboriginal problem, and it would be totally wrong to suggest that that is the case. Youth crime has, of course, been with us ever since we have had youth, and there is nothing—

An honourable member: That's a profound statement.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, it probably needs to be stated. However, the whole point regarding youth crime is that, while police obviously have a key role in dealing with the consequences of youth crime, they are not the solution to the problem. Obviously, there are a number of far deeper, societal—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: We didn't have the gang of 49 when we were in office.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: You had lots of gangs, but the previous government did not do anything about it; in terms of dealing with youth crime it is absolutely true that when the Liberals were in government they did nothing about it. Operation Mandrake was established and resourced as were other initiatives which the honourable member himself referred to, such as Monsignor Cappo's report: breaking the cycle. We are dealing with it.

I would like to refer to Monsignor Cappo's report entitled breaking the cycle. That report indicates that to deal with the problems of youth crime—particularly of many of the Aboriginal offenders—you need a whole-of-government response. Just catching them and locking them up may be necessary with certain groups (and that is what the police have successfully been doing; whether or not they have been successfully put away by the courts in all cases is another matter, and I will leave others to judge that); however, as far as the police are concerned I would defend their record and activities in terms of detecting and acting proactively in preventing these crimes.

We need to deal with the social causes of these crimes. We are dealing with some of the most disadvantaged people in our society, people who have been totally alienated from a very early age, and a lot of that can actually be traced back to some policies—particularly those of previous federal governments—that have led to the neglect of young people. People do not just become hard-core offenders who have no respect for the community or for law and order; they do not just turn into hardened criminals overnight. There are obviously significant social causes, some of which relate to the accessibility of housing, for example, as well as other conditions of support for such families. Unless we deal with these social problems in a whole-of-government way we will not be successful.

Police will do what they can—and they have been very successful in apprehending some of the perpetrators of these crimes—but, as Monsignor Cappo has himself said, sometimes there will be no option but to lock up young people who continually commit serious crimes that put the public at risk, and this government will do everything it can to ensure that that happens. Ultimately, of course, the courts are responsible for sentencing, but this government will certainly do everything it can, and I am sure the police will continue to do everything they can to apprehend the perpetrators of violence.

If we are to prevent the activities of the so-called gang of 49 and other highly criminalised young people from spreading more widely into a broader section of the community, we need to deal with some of the underlying social issues that are the cause of these problems—and I suggest that this government has done far more than any other in terms of dealing with those problems. Indeed, with the 'To Break the Cycle' report we are doing a significant amount to ensure that we deal with the underlying social causes of these problems.

It is not just a police problem; it is a problem for society as a whole. Of course, Aboriginal communities themselves, as well as other sectors of the community (because, as I said, this is not just an Aboriginal problem by any means), have a role to play, and we need to assist them to strengthen their sense of community, if you like, so that they can more readily direct their young people into more effective tasks. One of the things we do need to do is to ensure that these young people have options in terms of jobs. This government has been successful in achieving the highest levels of employment.

Indeed, through my other portfolio, for example, mining, I am certainly doing everything I can, with the help of the mining industry, in some of the more remote areas from where some of these young people come. Many of these young people in the so-called gang of 49 come from the West Coast and the northern areas of the state. They gravitate to the city for a while and then return to their own communities. In relation to them, it is it is important that we provide them with the training and job opportunities, and this government has again been very pro-active in ensuring that happens.

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