This is a transcript from The World Today. The program is broadcast
around Australia at 12:10pm on ABC Local Radio.
Transcript: West Australian Govt faces
challenge over curfew laws
Mark Colvin: The West Australian Government is facing a challenge in
the Human Rights Commission over its curfew for children, a challenge
which could end up in court. The Youth Affairs Council has asked the Commission to investigate
whether the curfew for inner city Perth is legal.
David Weber: Northbridge is the 24-hour zone — it's got nightclubs,
late-closing pubs, video game arcades, sex shops and upmarket and
downmarket restaurants. And it used to have large groups of kids hanging
around or walking the streets at night-time. Nearly 250 kids have been picked up by police since the curfew policy
began in late June. More than 200 of them were Aboriginal and girls have
outnumbered boys two-to-one.
The Executive Officer of the Youth Affairs Council, Midge Turnbull,
believes young people are being demonised as criminals or possible
criminals.
Midge Turnbull: We're hearing stories of young people up to
19-years-old being picked up and detained, young people who are
purchasing train tickets in Fremantle and not being able to hop on
trains that head towards the city, young people over the age of 16 who
are not at risk and who have the capacity to get home and look after
themselves are being picked up and young people who are just catching
trains and happen to be at Perth Central train station, which isn't any
fault of their own, being harassed.
David Weber: Is it not better to being
taking some of those kids off the streets?
Midge Turnbull: Those kids were already being
taken off the streets, that's our issue with this, that it's a cheap
shot at young people, all young people, most of which have not done
anything wrong.
David Weber: The Premier, Geoff Gallop's
making no apologies for the curfew. He says it will continue for as long
as it's required. He says those children who're considered most at risk
are being looked after.
Geoff Gallop: There's no doubt that the amenity of Northbridge has
lifted, the amount of anti-social and violent behaviour in that district
has gone down and most importantly also, we've started working with
these young people to try and turn them around from a future based on
despair to one based on hope.
David Weber: Some kids are being taken to
lock ups. Are you comfortable with this?
Geoff Gallop: We've had no evidence that
children have been taken to lock ups that ought not to have been taken
there, according to their behaviour.
David Weber: So only those that have
broken the law are being taken?
Geoff Gallop: That's right - the curfew policy
takes them into the police unit in central Perth, which is connected up
with a non-government association, Mission Australia, and we work with
those youngsters to re-unite them with their parents.
This is not a lock ‘em up policy, this is a policy based on the
welfare of the children.
David Weber: A lot of kids are being picked up
week after week. What can be done about those kids?
Geoff Gallop: Well, I mean, we don't pretend
that this is easy. We simply don't accept the proposition that this is about freedom. I mean, the freedom of youngsters to be on the streets, unaccompanied
by adults, late at night, early in the morning, to us is not a freedom
that we believe is important.
We want to make sure these youngsters have a future and we're going
to continue to work with them.
Now, it's going to take time and we recognise the fact that some of
them are in the habit of going into Northbridge, and we're going to have
to keep working with them.
David Weber: Do you have any concerns
about a possible legal challenge to this policy?
Geoff Gallop: No we don't. I mean, this policy
is based upon the Child Welfare Act, it's based upon the best interests
of the children, it’s improving the amenity of that area and we're very,
very confident of the legal foundations upon which we're acting, but
most importantly we're doing right thing by these kids.
Mark Colvin: The West Australian Premier, Geoff
Gallop, with David Weber.
By David Weber
14 August 2003
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2003/s923826.htm
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