Government Senator Matthew Samuda has rubbished claims by the opposition that government timed the recently ended states of emergency with the FIFA World Cup, because crime usually falls whenever the global championship is being played.

Last week, Opposition Senator Damian Crawford said the football tournament was responsible for a fall off in murders during the SOE and not the security measure itself.

He referenced statistics from 2018 which he said showed a similar reduction in murders during the event’s last staging.

However, speaking in the Senate today (December 2), Senator Samuda said this is simply not true.

Mr. Samuda further chastised the opposition for its lack of support for the extension of the States of Emergency, which ended on Tuesday (November 29).