Donna Demaio: Australia Correspondent on Northern Territory reintroducing the use of spit hoods as a tough on crime policy

Australia’s Northern Territory is reintroducing a controversial device in its efforts to get tough on crime. 

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy says that spit hoods will once again be used to restrain children. 

Murphy says that over the last three months 68 police officers were assaulted, with 20 counts of spitting. 

Australia Correspondent Donna Demaio told Ryan Bridge that it’s in opposition to the UN Committee against torture recommending last year that Australia take all necessary measures to end their use.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Look out, New Zealand. They're coming for our doctors at
quarter to six. This is the Australian government. Doctors from
the UK, Ireland and New Zealand will be fast tracked
to work in Australia and changes designed to address their
GP shortage. They are Donna Demaz their Australia correspondent, donnad
just leave them alone.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Oh look, we don't have enough doctors here. So we
have heard now that well the Federal Health Minister Mark
Butler and his state counterparts have recommended this proposal. It's
effectively going to get rid of a significant amount of
red tape. In fact, so the Medical Watchdog looks like
it will proceed with this overhaul of the accreditation process
for overseas doctors. And yes it does include NZ doctors.

(00:40):
And this means that gps who are qualified from New Zealand,
Ireland and UK can then get this specialist registration with
the Watchdog and they don't need to be assessed by
the Royal Australian College of Gps anymore. Well, the College
is a little myf to say the least. They're bringing
up issues with oh you know what about safety standards.

(01:01):
So the Health minister says no safety standards will not
be compromised. He says, for too long, highly trained doctors
have been caught up in this red tape. So I
think it's about three hundred gps from these areas and
countries apply each year. But now interestingly they will now
no longer have to pay. It's about twelve thousand dollars

(01:23):
for this assessment feed that they used to pay for
the college. Perhaps that's why the college is unimpressed with.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
This many Yeah, okay, so this side stepping it, trying
to get some of the cut, some of the fat
out of it. Hey, what's going on with the spit
hoods in Northern Territory.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, this is described as a way to be tough
on crime. It is a controversial device. It's a spithood.
It's exactly what it sounds like. It's put over the
head of a young people. And in this instance we're
talking about the Northern Territory and it's used to restrain
Northern Territory children. Now I know that we heard from
the police chief that over the last x three months,

(02:01):
sixty eight police have been assaulted in the Northern Territory
and there've been twenty counts of spitting. It's been described
as abhorrent to what's happened to police. So they're saying
now that the new government, the Country Liberal Party, is
going to reintroduce spithoods on Northern Territory children only when
they're being held at watchhouse facilities. But we know that

(02:23):
last year the UN Committee against Torture recommended Australia take
all necessary measures to end the use of spitthoods. So
interesting that it's being reintroduced.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
Yeah. God, that's a tough one, isn't it, Because if
you're the police officer, you don't want to be spat at,
do you? And if it's happened twenty times, thank you
very much for that. Donald de Mayo are Australia correspondent.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live
to News Talks.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
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