The Northern Territory government has followed through on an election commitment to tackle a “crime crisis” by urgently introducing laws to lower the age of criminal responsibility and create new offences and tougher penalties including mandatory sentencing for assaults on emergency workers.
The laws have been widely criticised for the troubling impact they will have, particularly on Aboriginal children. But the Country Liberal party government has maintained it was given a mandate for overhauling the justice system after campaigning heavily on crime in the lead up to the August election.
