The previous government had raised the age to 12, but Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said 10 and 11-year-olds should be held accountable for their actions.
Children as young as 10 could face jail with the Northern Territory parliament passing controversial laws to lower the age of criminal responsibility. After the Territory recently became the first jurisdiction in Australia to raise the age to 12, the incoming government has moved quickly to return it to 10. The parliament passed three changes to youth justice laws on Thursday, including lowering the age of criminal responsibility and criminal provisions for ram raiding and boast-and-post laws.
Country Liberal Party members spoke about property crimes committed by young people and the damage to businesses, calling for the specific need to criminalise ram raiding. Education Minister Jo Hersey said the behaviour of young people driving cars into businesses was not "fair" to anyone in the community. "Businesses suffered thousands of dollars in damage from these ram raids with the stolen vehicles," she said.
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