A former Glenorchy mayor is again calling for urgent action on crime in the Hobart suburb, but her successor has hit back, saying the city is safe and accusing her of pushing “political nonsense” during election season.
Independent Member for Elwick Bec Thomas pointed to a violent street fight between two women in Glenorchy’s CBD on Monday as evidence that Labor and the Liberals need to offer “credible plans” to improve community safety and address youth crime ahead of the state election.
But current Glenorchy Mayor Sue Hickey has dismissed the criticism, saying Thomas is using a tragic incident for political gain and that viral footage of the fight is being sensationalised.
“Monday’s incident was disgusting, disturbing and completely unacceptable,” Thomas said.
“It’s yet another example of why Glenorchy residents are fed up. This isn’t just a law and order issue.”
“It’s impacting on community wellbeing, confidence in public spaces and the local economy.”
Thomas urged political leaders to “wake up” to growing community concerns, saying governments have been “reactive at best and negligent at worst”.
“I again call on all parties contesting this state election to put forward serious, evidence-based plans to tackle crime and improve community safety,” she said.
But Hickey firmly rejected any suggestion that Glenorchy is in the grip of a crime wave, calling that claim “absolute nonsense”.
“We are not suffering a violent crime wave affecting the city,” she told Local Radio.
“Glenorchy is a proud city. It’s home to 52,000 people who are just trying to live, work, raise their families.”
She noted the city has over 9,000 young people aged 10 to 19. “99.5% of them are typical teenagers just going about their lives,” Hickey said.
“They’re certainly not all eshays doing crime waves.”
According to Tasmania Police, 57 repeat youth offenders across the state are responsible for the majority of youth crime.
Hickey also defended the city from criticism, saying many incidents involve young people from outside the area who are drawn to Glenorchy’s facilities.
“We did have an incident a while ago where a kid from Bridgewater hurt a kid from Lachlan. Neither of them are our suburbs, but the kids are all welcome in Glenorchy,” she said.
“But that doesn’t mean Glenorchy is a crime city. These aren’t our kids, but we’re still going to try and take care of them if we can.”
Footage of Monday’s fight in the Glenorchy bus mall, which was captured by the Daily Mail, came after Pulse last week revealed Metro bus drivers had been told to hide their cash boxes before entering the area due to coin thefts.
It follows several other incidents involving young people in the suburb, including the storming of a Big W store and a number of assaults.
The Daily Mail described Glenorchy as being a suburb “under siege” from “out-of-control youth gangs”.
Hickey said she was “very disappointed in Bec Thomas”, adding that, as a former Glenorchy mayor, “she should know better”.
“We’re all perfectly safe and the crime is, you know, it’s a terrible thing. We don’t want it on our watch. We don’t condone it. We don’t like it,” Hickey said.
“We don’t want any criminal activity, but it is a fact of life no matter where you live.”
Hickey pointed to recent initiatives like Taskforce Respect, which has boosted visible police presence in the area.
“We think it’s a wonderful, successful model. We’re really thrilled to have these police on our beat and we have noticed a correlation with a drop in crime and petty theft,” she said.
Hickey said the council has also poured over $30 million into community facilities, including new playgrounds, sports grounds and buildings and is on track to be debt-free by the end of the year.
“I don’t know about you, but with all the horrendous bombings and wars in our world, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather live than Glenorchy right now. We’ve got to keep things in perspective,” Hickey said.
