During 1997 the Country Liberal Party government developed a repressive and unreasonable response to perceived criminal activity in the Northern Territory. The measures adopted are in clear contravention of international Human Rights Conventions, particularly in their effect on young people. Specifically, the introduction of mandatory sentencing, imprisonment of children in the maximum-security section of the Alice Springs prison, incarceration of young people for non-payment of infringement notices (community service orders are no longer an available option), the proposal to review the right to silence, proposals for electronic surveillance of young people under curfew, and proposed increases in police armament and numbers, can only be viewed as direct attacks on the rights and liberties of young people for the sake of cheap electioneering and vote catching. Mandatory sentencing and imprisonment for non-payment of fines were the priority issues for the most recent campaign.