On the 19th March last year, my sweet 20 year old son was brutally and horrifically murdered at his workplace.
The offender, Keith Kerinauia, aged 19, was out on bail. He was on bail for a completely unprovoked assault and stabbing of another young man at 540am in May 2022. That's right. He STABBED someone, without any provocation whatsoever, simply because he could.
The night Declan died, Keith was on a crime spree. He had assaulted and robbed a 13yo boy, he had assaulted a security guard at another location, and finally, stabbed Declan to death. All within an hour before he went to BWS.
This petition was started by another young man who had an absolute gutful of the crime spree raging in the Northern Territory.
It was handed over to me after gaining significant traction.
The reality was, crime was rampant and out of control.
The government at that point seemed quite happy to just let it happen.
After Declan's death, a bail review and a knife crime strategy were done. The bail reveiw reccommended NO changes to the bail laws. The knife crime strategy was barely worth the pages it was printed on. More graphics than actual words.
Crime, and Declan's death in particular, became the leading issues. This petition was tabled in Parliament in August 2023. Despite it being the largest ever petition tabled in that Parliament, the incumbent government told us that crime was a perception. That a lot of the people who signed the petition didn't live in the NT so therefore their opinions were irrelevant. I sat and watched and listened to these words with growing dismay.
I entered this with zero knowledge of politics.
I entered this only as a mum who did not want this to happen to anyone else.
The Labor Gov did not listen to me, or the literal tens of thousands of people screaming for change, for acknowledgment.
Lia Finocchiaro, her CLP team and everyone associated with it, did listen to me and the NT.
An election was held in August 2024 with a resounding defeat to the Labor Government.
Some of the platformt the CLP ran on was crime. They made a commitment to enact Declan's Law https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-14/nt-declans-law-bail-changes-explained-legislation-parliament/104440106
I had the privelege of being in Parliament on 16th October 2024 to see the debate, Question Time and official passing of Declan's Law.
On Friday, 1st November, the Administrator of the NT formally signed off on Declan's Law.
Declan's Law is now a reality, his memory and his legacy are forever enshrined in the NT legislation.
This petition was a massive part of that. Over 27.000 people spoke and the CLP listened. I could not have gotten this far with it without every single person signing this petition and the love and support I have received.
Thank you is not a strong enough way to demonstrate how much this has meant to myself and Declan's sister, Bridget.
But it's all I have. So please accept this from the absolute bottom of our hearts and know that you all played a part in changing a very important piece of legislation.
In my eulogy at his funeral I promised him in front of every single person there and watching via livestream, that I would fight for Declan's Law.
593 days later, I kept that promise.
Thank you xxxxx
Samara