Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Week That Was - 1st April 2022

Transcript

The Week That Was - 1st April 2022 · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And it is Friday morning.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: It is time for the week that was, and joining
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: us in the studio this morning, We've got the colp's
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Josh Burgoin, Good morning to you.
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie, Good morning to your listeners.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: We've got Independent member Farrah lu and Robin Lamley, Good
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: morning to.
• 0:13
  Speaker 4: You, God morning Katie.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: We've got the Health Minister Natasha Files, Good morning to
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: you Files.
• 0:17
  Speaker 5: E morning, will Fine.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: And we've got Matt Cunningham from Sky News.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: Good morning Mats, Katie.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: And Matt's sort of sitting right next to me between
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: me and Natasha Files, just to paint a picture. So
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: he's going to be sharing a microphone. I might even
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: let him take over if things get too.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Hairy throughout the morning.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Well, and speaking of I tell you what I always
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: say on this show that I listened to Parliament, so
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: you don't have to, but I've got to tell you
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: listening to parts of Parliament this week, well it's been
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: pretty woeful at times and even embarrassing.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I think you'd have to say.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: I've been getting on air for the last few months
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: and saying that Parliament's descended into chaos and the sittings
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: this last two weeks has reached a whole new level.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: I can understand that the opposition certainly gets under the
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: skin of the government. I know that the opposition leader
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Leafanocchiaro certainly gets under the skin of the government. But
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: for the first twelve minutes of question time on Wednesday,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: the opposition leader attempted to ask her a question. It
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: was a hairy question, but it was stopped numerous times
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: before she was told that her question had too many
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: imputations and would need to be changed. She was thrown
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: out of Parliament for the third time this sittings. Now,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: I know that there were insults thrown on both sides,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: and I get that Parliament's all about the theater, and
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: I know that some people listening to the show may
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: not listen to Parliament. But this is really, you know,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: whether we like it or not, it is a sacred
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: part of our democracy, and I think that it's an
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: area where we need to see a little bit better
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: behavior from all of you guys, no matter what side
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: of the fence that you sit on.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: I know, Josh you're the opposition whip.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Valzi, you're obviously the leader of government business, and like
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I say, Wednesday, I was embarrassed listening.
• 1:58
  Speaker 5: Yes, mum, we've heard you embarrassing, Oh Katie.
• 2:01
  Speaker 6: I mean I think that you know, you do raise
• 2:04
  Speaker 6: valid points and we always take that on.
• 2:06
  Speaker 5: It's an interesting and Robin's been in there.
• 2:08
  Speaker 6: A long time, but you you do reflect upon, you know,
• 2:11
  Speaker 6: how things proceed and the standing orders are there to
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: guide you.
• 2:14
  Speaker 5: And in terms of that question, it.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Was standing orders at the moment are there to stop
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: any kind of debate going on?
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Is how it's coming.
• 2:21
  Speaker 7: The government's using standing orders effectively to gag debate.
• 2:25
  Speaker 6: Well, in fairness that the opposition we're you know, using
• 2:29
  Speaker 6: standing the imputation a lot as well.
• 2:31
  Speaker 7: So I think that because you started it.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: Just instigating, I've.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Got the capacity, unlike the poor old speaker in Parliament
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: to turn your microphones off.
• 2:46
  Speaker 8: But the point that I do want to make, I
• 2:48
  Speaker 8: can kick them out as well as you're on. I'll
• 2:50
  Speaker 8: do any But the point I want to make is
• 2:52
  Speaker 8: I think that the sentiment around the Northern Territory at
• 2:54
  Speaker 8: the moment is we've got to read the room and
• 2:57
  Speaker 8: right now people are really frustrated about a law of
• 3:00
  Speaker 8: different things and we'll get to all of those topics
• 3:02
  Speaker 8: in a short time. But they're also expecting questions to
• 3:05
  Speaker 8: be asked and answered on really important issues. Now, we
• 3:09
  Speaker 8: know that debate gets stifled for a whole number of reasons.
• 3:13
  Speaker 8: We know that sometimes on both sides of the fence
• 3:16
  Speaker 8: and the independence, things go too far, and I totally
• 3:19
  Speaker 8: understand that. But even this week, yesterday alone, we've now
• 3:22
  Speaker 8: seen that Parliament's powerful Privileges Committee has obviously cleared the
• 3:26
  Speaker 8: COLP member Steve Edgington over a Facebook post. Now let's
• 3:31
  Speaker 8: not forget that was this towards the end of last year,
• 3:33
  Speaker 8: that this really stifled discussion and debate as well, and
• 3:36
  Speaker 8: now he's been cleared.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: It does just make me wonder what games are being
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: played at the moment.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: It's very true, Katie, And at the end of the day,
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: it comes down to the freedom of speech. We have
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: to be able to go into Parliament and fearlessly represent
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: the people that have put us in there, and when
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: we're constantly being shut down at every opportunity, it really
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: does limit our ability to do that. And when you,
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: for anyone that actually watches Federal Parliament, I'll tell you what,
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: there are some things you get thrown across the chamber there.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: But the freedom of debate is allowed to continue and
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: that's what needs to happen.
• 4:07
  Speaker 9: Here I query what happened. There's a document that Labour
• 4:11
  Speaker 9: put together in twenty fifteen. It was tabled in the
• 4:13
  Speaker 9: Parliament just after they came to power, that listed a
• 4:16
  Speaker 9: whole heap of parliamentary reforms that they believe that should happen. Now,
• 4:20
  Speaker 9: one of the proposals they put forward was an independent speaker,
• 4:23
  Speaker 9: and of course we know Keesy Epiric was a speaker,
• 4:26
  Speaker 9: but she's not anymore. Now there's a speaker who's a
• 4:29
  Speaker 9: member of the Labor Party. Now in this document lists
• 4:33
  Speaker 9: a whole heap of problems that Labor has recognized with
• 4:37
  Speaker 9: Parliament and with question time one is Dorothy Dixons. Now
• 4:40
  Speaker 9: we all know how painful they are. Fifty of question
• 4:44
  Speaker 9: time gets wasted with backbenches from the government asking ridiculous
• 4:49
  Speaker 9: questions of their ministers so that they can rab it
• 4:51
  Speaker 9: on about how great they are. Last Tuesday, Labor spent
• 4:55
  Speaker 9: all of its time during its questions in Parliament slagging
• 4:59
  Speaker 9: off Damian Ryan, the former.
• 5:01
  Speaker 10: Mayor of Alice Springs.
• 5:03
  Speaker 9: I mean, the only explanation you can give to that
• 5:05
  Speaker 9: is that they are seriously concerned about the federal seat
• 5:08
  Speaker 9: of Lingiari. They think they're probably going to lose it
• 5:10
  Speaker 9: and so they're running a campaign to discredit Damien Ryan.
• 5:13
  Speaker 9: But that's not what parliament true question time is supposed
• 5:15
  Speaker 9: to be for. I just wonder what's happened to the
• 5:18
  Speaker 9: proposal for there to be an independent speaker while we
• 5:20
  Speaker 9: don't have an independent speaker anymore, why Labours walked away
• 5:23
  Speaker 9: from that. Their own document says we should either have
• 5:25
  Speaker 9: an independent speaker or even have a speaker who's not
• 5:29
  Speaker 9: an MLA, a statutory appointment, so that you can have
• 5:31
  Speaker 9: someone who is truly independent who can rule on these things,
• 5:34
  Speaker 9: because at the moment with a Labor MLA as a speaker,
• 5:37
  Speaker 9: it's just not working.
• 5:38
  Speaker 6: So in terms of the speaker, we did have the
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: independent speaker and Kesier Puic resigned from that position as
• 5:44
  Speaker 6: we know a couple of years ago now, I think,
• 5:46
  Speaker 6: and the caucus made a decision to elect the Member
• 5:48
  Speaker 6: for Karama for that speaker role. So you know, Matt
• 5:51
  Speaker 6: is right to point out that there is that document,
• 5:52
  Speaker 6: but we feel that things have moved on since then,
• 5:55
  Speaker 6: and is in that role as speaker.
• 5:56
  Speaker 7: Things have completely backflipped since that document came out. Remember
• 6:00
  Speaker 7: opening the Parliament to the people, the scrutiny committees. We
• 6:03
  Speaker 7: used to have a day of Dorothy Dix free question time.
• 6:08
  Speaker 7: That's all sort of been thrown out and we're back
• 6:10
  Speaker 7: to a position which I think we've never seen before.
• 6:13
  Speaker 7: I think the Parliament has deteriorated and what we're seeing
• 6:15
  Speaker 7: is this constant interjection by the government on what I
• 6:19
  Speaker 7: think are frivolous points of order. You know, the thin
• 6:23
  Speaker 7: skin nature of the government at the moment. Things that
• 6:27
  Speaker 7: are seen as offensive years ago were absolutely nothing.
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: The word incompetent, remember that was.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Last year.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: You can't call anyone a clown.
• 6:38
  Speaker 7: I mean, you know that used to be not seen
• 6:40
  Speaker 7: as particularly offensive.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: It's become absolutely ridiculous.
• 6:45
  Speaker 7: Katie and I think it's time for the government to
• 6:47
  Speaker 7: think about this strategy because it's not working for anyone.
• 6:51
  Speaker 7: We're not getting to make speeches that are very important
• 6:54
  Speaker 7: for our constituents. Josh and I travel a long way
• 6:58
  Speaker 7: to come to Parliament from Alice Springs for eleven weeks
• 7:01
  Speaker 7: a year, from Alice Springs to Darwin, and if we
• 7:04
  Speaker 7: can't do the job that we're paid to do, that
• 7:07
  Speaker 7: our constituents expect us to do. Then you have to
• 7:10
  Speaker 7: question why should we even do it at all?
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: Like, what's the point?
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: I think you hit the nail on the head there.
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: You know, it costs an awful lot of money each
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: and every one of you, not Matt and I of course,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: but you guys are employed to represent the views of
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: your constituents. You're employed to raise the issues that your
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: constituents want raised. And I do think that we need
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: to remember the spirit of the Parliament and what it
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: is intended for.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: I'm not anybody, so you know, I'm not judge and
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: jury here, but I just I think that it's really
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: important that on behalf of the community. I point out
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: that people are incredibly frustrated listening to Question Time. Like
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: I said from the get go, I always say to
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: my listeners, I listen so they don't have to. But
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: it's getting really bloody hard to listen to us.
• 7:54
  Speaker 7: It's not clever shutting down debate. It's just not clever.
• 7:58
  Speaker 7: It's disrespectful and I think it shows a lack of
• 8:01
  Speaker 7: respect or even understanding of what Parliament is meant to be.
• 8:04
  Speaker 4: You don't see.
• 8:06
  Speaker 7: This level of interjection and disruption in other parliaments. It
• 8:10
  Speaker 7: just doesn't happen, and it didn't happen in the Northern
• 8:12
  Speaker 7: Territory Parliament up until the last couple of years.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: To this extent, that document that was spoken about just
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: before restoring Trust Integrity, we've come a long way from
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: that and I think we certainly need to have another
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: look at it and get back to actually making sure
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: that Parliament is reflective of that.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: Well, look, we will move along to the issues that
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: are certainly very important to Territorians at the moment.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: And we know that well.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: Earlier in the week, it was reported by The Australian newspaper.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: Matt Cunningham and Kirsten Shorten reported that police notes obtained
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: by The Australian show that senior police executives, including mister Chalker,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: meeting Deputy Commissioner Michael White's office at three point thirty
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: four on November thirteen, twenty nineteen, the afternoon that Constable
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Zachary Rolf was charged with the murder of Indigenous man
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: cumen Ji Walker. So know that the Akak Commissioner issued
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: a statement this week saying that he will investigate allegations
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: of improper conduct relating to the arrest and charge of
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: mister Zachary Rolf. He said, my investigation will focus upon
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: the period between the shooting incident and the presentation of
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: mister Rolf for charging mash. It has been an interesting
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: week of developments when you talk about this situation.
• 9:23
  Speaker 9: Absolutely, and it's going to be an interesting Ikak investigation
• 9:27
  Speaker 9: and also interesting. I think that the Ikak Commissioner has
• 9:30
  Speaker 9: flagged for the first time the possibility of public hearings
• 9:33
  Speaker 9: when it comes to this particular investigation. I think people
• 9:37
  Speaker 9: Katie have a lot of questions around the process.
• 9:40
  Speaker 10: That happen in those four days.
• 9:42
  Speaker 9: You know. I know a lot's been said about the
• 9:44
  Speaker 9: Chief Minister's comments at Yundamu, but to be honest, I
• 9:48
  Speaker 9: think they should probably be put to one side. I
• 9:51
  Speaker 9: think where the issue that needs to be examined here
• 9:54
  Speaker 9: is in the notes of those police officers. These are
• 9:57
  Speaker 9: police officers, detectives, seeingior detectives w working on this case.
• 10:01
  Speaker 9: Kirk Pernudo, the superintendent who's supposed to be in charge
• 10:04
  Speaker 9: of the investigation. You've got Detective Sergeant Mark Greeb, You've
• 10:08
  Speaker 9: got Detective Sergeant Kieran Wells, Detective Sergeant Leith Phillips, all
• 10:13
  Speaker 9: writing as well as Detective Sergeant Isabel Commins from Darwin,
• 10:16
  Speaker 9: all writing in their contemporaneous notes that they have issues
• 10:20
  Speaker 9: with the haste with which this murder charge is being
• 10:23
  Speaker 9: pursued that they have described. In one of those police notes,
• 10:28
  Speaker 9: described the process as abnormal, saying that it was unusual
• 10:32
  Speaker 9: that the dpp an opinion was sought so quickly, it
• 10:35
  Speaker 9: was unusual that Constable Rolf they were being asked to
• 10:38
  Speaker 9: interview Constable Rolf so quickly, and that it was unusual
• 10:42
  Speaker 9: that the murder charge. They were being told to lay
• 10:45
  Speaker 9: this murder charge at a time where they did not
• 10:48
  Speaker 9: believe a sufficient investigation had taken place. And I think
• 10:52
  Speaker 9: that's what we need to get to the bottom of here,
• 10:54
  Speaker 9: why that happened. You know, why was there to the
• 10:58
  Speaker 9: direction given to those detectives to do that when it
• 11:00
  Speaker 9: is clear from their notes that they were not comfortable
• 11:03
  Speaker 9: with that situation and that they do not believe that
• 11:06
  Speaker 9: a normal process was being followed.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: It was really interesting this week. We asked a number
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: of questions in question time, you know, whether the Chief
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: Minister was being investigated. He answered no to both of
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: those questions, and I think it's really important that no
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: one should assume they will or will not be required
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: to be a witness for all of this. There are
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: a lot of questions, as Matt's rightly said, that need
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: to be answered, and I think Territorians have the right
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: to know exactly what is going to be going on.
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: Those public hearings will be a good thing if that's
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: what ends up happening, and I'll be very interested to
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: see what ends up happening throughout this process.
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: And I think that comes to the point where the
• 11:39
  Speaker 6: questions were out of order in terms of the standing orders,
• 11:41
  Speaker 6: because it's not that who possibly can be investigated or
• 11:45
  Speaker 6: asked to appear before the IKAK, but it was you know,
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: are you being and the Chief Minister answered that factually.
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: So you know, this of course has been a really
• 11:53
  Speaker 6: tough process for the community of you and NIMU and
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: Alice Springs, Central Australia, but also our police force. And
• 12:00
  Speaker 6: so we know that we've seen the judicial process and
• 12:03
  Speaker 6: we respect that verdict, but we have not only the
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: i CAAC but also the coronial process ahead of us.
• 12:11
  Speaker 9: Just on the point of the issue he raise about
• 12:13
  Speaker 9: what was set in question time yesterday, So Steve Edgington,
• 12:15
  Speaker 9: the Member for Barkley, asked, Chief Minister, are you a
• 12:18
  Speaker 9: witness in the Rolf inquiry and the Chief Minister answered no. Now,
• 12:23
  Speaker 9: I've just received a statement from the IKAQ Commissioner that's
• 12:26
  Speaker 9: also been reported in the Anti Independent, and he says
• 12:30
  Speaker 9: that he's not aware of the comments as he does
• 12:32
  Speaker 9: not listen to or follow Parliament while he is at work. However,
• 12:35
  Speaker 9: he says whether or not someone will be required as
• 12:37
  Speaker 9: a witness is ultimately a matter for me to determine
• 12:40
  Speaker 9: as my investigation progresses. No one should assume they will
• 12:44
  Speaker 9: or will not be required as a witness. I have
• 12:47
  Speaker 9: nothing further to add, so I'm not sure it's correct
• 12:52
  Speaker 9: correct what the Chief Minister said in question time yesterday.
• 12:56
  Speaker 9: I think it's going to be up to the IKAC
• 12:57
  Speaker 9: Commissioner to decide exactly what he is investigates and exactly
• 13:01
  Speaker 9: who he calls as a witness as a part of
• 13:03
  Speaker 9: that investigator.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: And another question that was asked yesterday is the Chief Minister,
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: as the ICAC Minister, somehow conflicted in this and I
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: think that there is a real perceived conflict of interest
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: there that this report could be given to the Chief
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: Minister before anyone else as the KAK minister.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: What is the process there when an ICAC report is
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: handed down, does it go to the Chief Minister before
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: it is publicly released?
• 13:27
  Speaker 6: Katie, I'm not going to answer that because I can't
• 13:29
  Speaker 6: remember the legislation off the top of my head.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: What happened with that dodgy grandstandal. I'm pretty sure the
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: government got to look at that before the opposition.
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: So in terms of the ICAC, they are completely independent
• 13:39
  Speaker 6: and I think that it would be offensive the comments
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: that have just been made around the IKAK. The IKAC
• 13:43
  Speaker 6: process is something that we set up with strong legislative
• 13:46
  Speaker 6: powers so that there is an independent body that can
• 13:49
  Speaker 6: look into any type of matter that someone believes there
• 13:52
  Speaker 6: may be a conflict or corruption, and so that process
• 13:55
  Speaker 6: has been put in place in the territory.
• 13:56
  Speaker 9: I think we do need to at some point get
• 13:58
  Speaker 9: clarity around that question, though I think that clarity will
• 14:01
  Speaker 9: eventually come from the Northern Territory Supreme Court, because there
• 14:04
  Speaker 9: are four Supreme Court actions that have been launched in
• 14:08
  Speaker 9: relation to the turf Club matter. And my understanding is
• 14:11
  Speaker 9: that one of the matters that has been complained about
• 14:14
  Speaker 9: to the Supreme Court.
• 14:15
  Speaker 10: Is the fact that with the Turf Club report, the
• 14:18
  Speaker 10: report was.
• 14:19
  Speaker 9: Given to the Chief Minister the day before it was
• 14:24
  Speaker 9: made public and whether that is the correct process now,
• 14:27
  Speaker 9: I don't know what the correct process is.
• 14:28
  Speaker 10: I'd have to go back and read the IKAK legislation.
• 14:30
  Speaker 9: But there's certainly a complaint put forward by those four
• 14:33
  Speaker 9: parties that the process as they believe it should occur
• 14:38
  Speaker 9: was not followed in that case.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: It's certainly I think it's certainly very interesting stuff. No
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: matter what, the KA Commissioner should be able to and
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: feel that he can investigate and I'm sure he does
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: without fear or any kind of you know, any fear
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: in any way, shape or form, and be able to
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: do that independently and be able to do exactly what
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: he needs to do in order to to get through
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: this investigation and do a thorough job of it.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: And I have great confidence that he'll be able to.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: But look, we are going to take a very short
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: break because there is so much to cover off on
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: this morning and next I am keen to discuss well
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: some of the issues that we've seen around the top
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: end in Well and also Central Australia. That's a bit
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: rude of me to not say the whole of the
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Northern Territory when we talk about anti social behavior and
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: some of those changes which are potentially going to come
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: into place. You are listening to Mix one oh four
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: point nine's three sixty. It is the week that was well,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: it has certainly been a big week. And if you've
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: just joined us, I'm joined by Joshua Burgoy and Robin Lamley,
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Natasha Files and Matt Cunningham. And one of the topics
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: which has been high on the agenda for so many
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: territorians for quite a long period of time. I think
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: you'd have to say, but over the last couple of
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: weeks there's been a real concern in this space, and
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: it is that public drunkenness, alcohol misuse and the crime
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: and anti social behavior that we see which is so
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: often associated with it. Not only you not only crime
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: against businesses and against other people, but also the rates
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: of domestic violence that we're seeing now. This, like I said,
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: this is something that we've spoken about on numerous occasions.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Yesterday we had on the show the Assistant Police Commissioner
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: Travis Wurst, and he had spoken about the fact that
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: there has been a twenty percent increase in calls taken
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: for our Northern Territory Police, so as you would imagine,
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: there's certainly an increase in day to day work. He
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: also touched on the fact that they've seen an increase
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: or they've seen an escalation in violence with the crime
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: that we are seeing now. For you two who are
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: in Alice Springs, I know that this has been a
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: hot topic, high on the agenda for an awfully long
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: period of time.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: There is no doubt about that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Right now in Alice Springs, we know that there is
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: going to be Operation Sayer.
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: It's going to be running for seven days.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: As I understand it, antisocial behavior and property offending is
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: going to be targeted in this seven day operation. But
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: I think it would be right who can see that
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: right now in the territory, we've got a real issue here.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: Whether you're talking about that misuse of alcohol, but you're
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: talking about all the associated crimes and in some cases
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: not even crime, but that public drunkenness and alcohol issues
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: that we are seeing as well, that's associated.
• 17:17
  Speaker 7: Well, I think it's good to get a feeling that
• 17:21
  Speaker 7: the government's woken up after this long COVID coma and
• 17:25
  Speaker 7: realize that they may have kept us safe from COVID,
• 17:28
  Speaker 7: but they certainly haven't kept us safe from crime. So
• 17:32
  Speaker 7: it's good to see that something's happening on the horizon,
• 17:35
  Speaker 7: despite the fact that the police are doing a great
• 17:38
  Speaker 7: job with the best resources at their disposal. But you know,
• 17:44
  Speaker 7: there's a need for the government to do more in
• 17:46
  Speaker 7: this space. And this is what we spent in the
• 17:49
  Speaker 7: last two weeks in parliament, didn't we Josh hammering the government,
• 17:53
  Speaker 7: pleading with them, trying to get them to respond to
• 17:56
  Speaker 7: the problems in Alice Springs, which are obviously widespread.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Not just in Alice Springs, but right across the territories.
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: Last Thursday, in Alice Springs, I had a lot of
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: people get in contact with me. I had a police
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: car parked out the front of my office on the footpath.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: Now that does not usually occur. Someone was assaulted in
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: the middle of town in broad daylight, and I sent
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: an email off just saying what is occurring in Alla
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: Springs because I've been getting a lot of reports of
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: an increase of people in town. And the response I got, Look,
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: I don't want to knock anyone, but it was very vanilla.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: It don't worry. We're doing all that we can. Now
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: a week on to find out that over the weekend
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: we've been dealing with huge amounts of any social behavior,
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: assaults and that escalation that you spoke about, Katie, and
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: now we've got a seven day crime lockdown crackdown. Thank you, Robin.
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: You know this. This is things that we've been dealing
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: with for a long time. Unfortunately, that escalation continues to happen.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: Right after the Rough decision, we saw a huge increase
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: in police resources in Walo Springs. I drove around one
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: night and saw four police units. That's four groups of
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: two people walking around the sea, which never happens at night,
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: and town for those two weekends was a bit quieter.
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: So we've seen what it takes to bring this thing
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: under control. Why don't we have those resources every week, Katie.
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: These are difficult issues and there's no single solution, and
• 19:18
  Speaker 6: it's difficult in the sense that you have to deal
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: with the here and now, but we also know those
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: generational factors that drive the antisocial behavior, particularly we're just
• 19:28
  Speaker 6: talking about domestic violence overcrowded housing situations. So police are working.
• 19:33
  Speaker 6: We've provided additional resources to police we're looking at. And
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: I met with Police Health who have the alcohol policy
• 19:40
  Speaker 6: and licensing. I meet with them regularly, but I have
• 19:43
  Speaker 6: been meeting with them around making sure that what police
• 19:46
  Speaker 6: see out on the beat, is there any policy areas
• 19:49
  Speaker 6: that we can shift around that space to help them,
• 19:51
  Speaker 6: because I think that you can't let up.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: There's not one solution, it's a multitude, really can't and
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: I think that we're seeing that at the moment. You know,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: yesterday I spoke to a bus signer who'd had a
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: van stolen in Coconut Grove. I could hear his voice
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: cracking as he was talking to us. You know, this
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: is not just having an impact in the sense that
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: it's like, oh, okay, we're out of action for a
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: couple of days. It is seriously hurting businesses at the moment.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: And in addition to that, last night, we know that
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: police are searching for two women who stole from a
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: service station in Darwin City and attacked an attendant overnight.
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: So detectives are reviewing this CCTV footage this morning.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: But the Watch.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Commander, Neil Mellon has said that the worker was punched
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: during the ordeal and then was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: You know, I wish that this kind of thing was
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: like a one off that we hear about occasionally, but
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: it is not. It's unfortunately something that's happening often. You know,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: I really feel for people working overnight, let's say in
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: a service.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Station, I would be quite frightened. I thought I was
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: going to say.
• 20:51
  Speaker 6: The Chief Minister spoke to you earlier in the Beak.
• 20:53
  Speaker 6: We've been focused around providing that pathway for people to
• 20:57
  Speaker 6: return to community, but it's also making sure that those
• 20:59
  Speaker 6: communities are places that people want to be, that there's
• 21:02
  Speaker 6: amenity there, that there's you know, it's got the functions
• 21:05
  Speaker 6: of a town. So you know, it's a multitude of factors.
• 21:09
  Speaker 6: These are difficult issues, but the community can certainly be
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: assured that, you know, and it's just devastating hearing, you know,
• 21:14
  Speaker 6: the heartbreaking business owners.
• 21:15
  Speaker 7: So you guys have taken your eye off the ball
• 21:17
  Speaker 7: for the last two years. You've neglected the bush, You've
• 21:21
  Speaker 7: neglected Central Australia, no doubt, other parts of the Northern Territory.
• 21:25
  Speaker 7: It's like you've just woken up and realized that you
• 21:27
  Speaker 7: haven't been doing your job for two years. It's been
• 21:30
  Speaker 7: blatantly obvious to the rest of us. I mean, why
• 21:34
  Speaker 7: has crime deteriorated to the point it is now? Why
• 21:38
  Speaker 7: we're hearing that crime is more serious than what we've
• 21:42
  Speaker 7: seen for a long time. There's an explanation for that,
• 21:44
  Speaker 7: and that is you've taken your eye off the ball,
• 21:47
  Speaker 7: and territorians can see this very clearly.
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: I mean I would disagree with the common in terms
• 21:51
  Speaker 6: of the bush We've been investing in houses, making sure
• 21:53
  Speaker 6: that there is appropriate accommodation, but also you know, lights
• 21:56
  Speaker 6: on footy fields, grass on footy fields, those types of
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: you know, making sure that there's the amenities that people
• 22:01
  Speaker 6: want to stay in those.
• 22:02
  Speaker 7: Remote housing in Central Australia is behind schedule and it
• 22:06
  Speaker 7: has been for years.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of people as well at the moment
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: questioning the alcohol policies.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: They are seriously.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: Going, well, hang on a second, can the Northern Territory
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: government really hang their hash on the things like the
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: BDR and things like the floor price when we are
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: seeing what we're seeing around the territory right now.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: It needs to be reviewed. I mean, there's there's clearly
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: a breakdown in alcohol policy at the moment and there
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: needs to be a review into this to find out
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: exactly what's working and what's not. How many people are
• 22:32
  Speaker 3: on the BDR, and when they go on the BDR,
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: how long are they on there for, because I speak
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: to a lot of organizations and quite often I'm saying, well,
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: how many people are actually ending up on this scene
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: and what's happening with it, because we just don't hear
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: those figures anywhay.
• 22:45
  Speaker 6: Completely figure published monthly, there's about two thousand people on
• 22:49
  Speaker 6: the BDR. People transition on and off. There's the four
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: pathways as we know, through the courts, polemonies on themselves.
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: Now there's about two thousand. I think it's I was
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: looking at the figures the monthly figure just earlier in
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: the week in terms of the transaction, so there's people
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: that know that they can't purchase, and then there's around
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: three to four hundred transactions a month where people springs.
• 23:08
  Speaker 7: You can see the proliferation of alcohol at any point
• 23:12
  Speaker 7: in the day. You can drive down the road at
• 23:14
  Speaker 7: eight o'clock in the morning and see people falling over drunk,
• 23:18
  Speaker 7: seeing alcohol. Despite the BDR. The BDR is having zero impacts.
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: It's pushing people towards hand sanitizer. I recently went down
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: the river for clean Up Australia Day. There are bottles
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: of hand sanitizer all through the river. Now that's next
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: to bottles of orange juice, Coca Cola and in some
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: instances you know runs. Yeah, it's shocking to see and
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: this is what's happening. You know, there needs to be
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: a review into this because it's pushing people in some
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: instances away from what they can access and now they're
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: drinking hand sanitizer, which I cannot even imagine the health
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: implications of that.
• 23:52
  Speaker 9: I think if you still think the BDR works, you
• 23:55
  Speaker 9: haven't been paying attention. I mean it's been for as
• 23:57
  Speaker 9: long as it's been as it's been in there's not
• 23:59
  Speaker 9: a single bit of data that shows that it's had
• 24:02
  Speaker 9: any impact on reducing alcohol related harm. I think what
• 24:06
  Speaker 9: needs to be looked at now is whether an increasing
• 24:08
  Speaker 9: property crime can be linked back to the BDR where
• 24:11
  Speaker 9: the people who are getting knocked back at the bottle
• 24:13
  Speaker 9: shop because they're on the BDR are then going to
• 24:16
  Speaker 9: breaking into licensed premises to get alcohol. I think the
• 24:20
  Speaker 9: government did commit to reviewing all of those alcohol policies
• 24:24
  Speaker 9: and at this stage you'd have to say that they've
• 24:26
  Speaker 9: had no impact the BDR, the floor price, any of them,
• 24:29
  Speaker 9: that the numbers are all in the wrong direction. Now,
• 24:32
  Speaker 9: there might be other factors at play here. I know
• 24:34
  Speaker 9: that all of the COVID money and the early access
• 24:37
  Speaker 9: to superannuation had a big impact, but that money ran
• 24:41
  Speaker 9: out a long time ago and was still seeing those
• 24:43
  Speaker 9: numbers go up. I think that the biggest thing, the
• 24:46
  Speaker 9: biggest concern in the crime statistics is the domestic violence,
• 24:49
  Speaker 9: which is just like the rates are just extraordinary.
• 24:52
  Speaker 6: Now.
• 24:52
  Speaker 9: That's going to be no surprise to the two members
• 24:54
  Speaker 9: we've got here from Alice Springs who see that sort
• 24:56
  Speaker 9: of thing all the time.
• 24:57
  Speaker 10: But we've got to do something differently what we're doing
• 24:59
  Speaker 10: at the moment.
• 25:00
  Speaker 7: The alcohol policy isn't working, and we know in Central
• 25:04
  Speaker 7: Australia that the lack of services in the bush, the
• 25:07
  Speaker 7: luck the fact that a lot of clinics are not
• 25:10
  Speaker 7: open full time or open at all. We've got police
• 25:13
  Speaker 7: stations that are not open full time. You've got young
• 25:17
  Speaker 7: people that are feeling bored and disconnected to their communities.
• 25:23
  Speaker 7: They're all coming into town, they don't have anywhere to live,
• 25:26
  Speaker 7: and the problem just goes.
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: On and on and on.
• 25:29
  Speaker 7: You can't take your eye off the born Natasha. You know,
• 25:32
  Speaker 7: I know you've been busy saving the world from COVID,
• 25:34
  Speaker 7: and thank you for that. But meanwhile, alcohol policy has
• 25:38
  Speaker 7: been put on hold for a couple of years, and
• 25:41
  Speaker 7: we're all bearing the brunt right across the territory.
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: I think, and do you know.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: What I also look, I think that it's not only
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: that alcohol policy, but even earlier in the week when
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: I did speak to Travis Wiz from the police, we've
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: spoken about an incident that occurred earlier in the week
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: where a lady was walking in Coconut Grove and was
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: essentially robbed a couple of teenagers. Now from what he
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: had said, they were people that were living rough in
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: one of the nearby park areas from what I can gather,
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: But they were young people.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: They weren't you know, I'm not talking adults here, So.
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: You've got to ask yourself, you know why if we've
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: got a situation where there are young people who are
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: in town with their families and are able to then
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: not attend school and are able to not actually you know,
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: like this this is across the board, like it's a
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: very broad discussion I think that needs to be had
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: and I really hope that it is one that the
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: government is currently having with all of those service providers
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: and with education and you know, with all the various
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: different departments, because it's across the board here, I think
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: you'd have to agree that we're not just being let
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: down in one space, I e.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: That crime. There's a letdown in a lot of areas here, Okatie.
• 26:45
  Speaker 6: I think it's around engaging those families and engaging those
• 26:47
  Speaker 6: young people. And what I mean with that is, so
• 26:49
  Speaker 6: the Johnstoke Square redevelopment, where I'm going to get a
• 26:52
  Speaker 6: social housing provider to provide support because we put some
• 26:55
  Speaker 6: of the most vulnerable people in these situations to manage
• 26:57
  Speaker 6: a tendancy. We've had some real success with the mental
• 27:00
  Speaker 6: health public housing program support program that we've got.
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: We're looking at that, but.
• 27:04
  Speaker 6: Also engaging these you know, people come into town for
• 27:07
  Speaker 6: business for medical reasons, and so how can we engage
• 27:09
  Speaker 6: those young people when they're here in education and meaningful
• 27:12
  Speaker 6: activities and something going back, you know twenty years ago
• 27:15
  Speaker 6: when I was teaching at Saint Mary's there was a
• 27:17
  Speaker 6: close relationship with the Tiwi Islands and children would come
• 27:20
  Speaker 6: into the school for two or three weeks and participate
• 27:23
  Speaker 6: in school. The nuns, because we were the nuns were
• 27:25
  Speaker 6: the principals at Saint Mary's then and also on the
• 27:27
  Speaker 6: tee Wee's and so there was this flow through and
• 27:30
  Speaker 6: you know it gave the children. It might not have
• 27:33
  Speaker 6: been perfect, but it was engaging them in activity each day.
• 27:36
  Speaker 6: You know, they were learning. And so I think that
• 27:39
  Speaker 6: it's a part of being adaptable like that here in
• 27:41
  Speaker 6: the territory. And there's some of the conversations that are certain.
• 27:43
  Speaker 7: Is that happening, Natasha. I mean, the attendance rates in
• 27:48
  Speaker 7: remote and very remote areas of the Northern Territory have
• 27:51
  Speaker 7: never been as low for decades. The statistics speak for themselves.
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: Kids are not engaging. You're not engaging with the families
• 27:59
  Speaker 7: and the children in remote and very remote areas of
• 28:02
  Speaker 7: the Northern Territory. And you know that the Education Minister,
• 28:05
  Speaker 7: Lauren Mule stands up and gives the most eloquent speeches
• 28:08
  Speaker 7: of anyone in Parliament, and yet she doesn't appear to
• 28:11
  Speaker 7: do much.
• 28:12
  Speaker 4: Apart from that.
• 28:13
  Speaker 6: There are some good success stories and I think we
• 28:15
  Speaker 6: have to look at that community leadership and how that
• 28:17
  Speaker 6: is happening and how we can translate that further.
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Look, we're going to take a very short break because
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: there is so much to cover off on this morning.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: You're listening to the week that was or Mix one
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: oh four nine. Well, there is so much to cover
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: off this morning, and in the studio Joshua Burgoy and
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Robin Landley, Natasha Files and Matt Cunningham, and we know
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: that a little bit earlier this week, there's been some
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: changes to the chow directions for those who are unvaccinated.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: So my understanding is now that if you are unvaccinated,
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: you're allowed to go to a sporting event, but you're
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: not allowed to get yourself a beer. So essentially, if
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: there is a major event more than five hundred people,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: you're now allowed to go if you're unvaccinated, but there
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: are certain things that you're not allowed to do, i e.
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: Go to the bar and purchase alcohol. But in addition
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: to that, we've still got a situation where licensed venues
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: you've still got to show your vaccination status. Now it's
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: got a lot of people questioning, well, why can I
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: go to the footing now unvaccinated? I can go and
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: buy myself a pie or a packet of chips, but
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: I can't go off and buy myself a BIA. I mean,
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: is this a situation with covid or is it a
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: situation with alcohol.
• 29:23
  Speaker 3: I would love to see the health advice that proves
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: unvaxed people can go to sporting events and not drink,
• 29:29
  Speaker 3: but can't have a meal in a restaurant with a
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: liquor license. So I need to see that health advice
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: being given to government.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: It seems very bizarre to me, Natasha.
• 29:39
  Speaker 6: So there's a number of chow directions, as we know,
• 29:41
  Speaker 6: across the board, and we're in this precarious position where
• 29:43
  Speaker 6: we are seeing the case numbers slightly increase, but we're
• 29:46
  Speaker 6: trying to wind back on those directions. And so after
• 29:49
  Speaker 6: I finish having lots of fun with you mov, I'm
• 29:51
  Speaker 6: going to head into another meeting of SEMSE with the show.
• 29:53
  Speaker 6: And you know, we can't just remove all the directions.
• 29:56
  Speaker 6: Some of them are intertwined in terms of the sporting
• 30:00
  Speaker 6: and the major events. It's an acknowledgment that we are
• 30:02
  Speaker 6: stepping out of the pandemic. We're very conscious of some
• 30:04
  Speaker 6: of the comments that have been made around you know,
• 30:06
  Speaker 6: the point that Josh just made around. You know, you
• 30:09
  Speaker 6: can go for a meal, but going to you know,
• 30:11
  Speaker 6: perhaps the football where there's more people.
• 30:12
  Speaker 5: So we're certainly working with the chows.
• 30:14
  Speaker 9: I just think we're putting an unfair burden on the
• 30:17
  Speaker 9: people who work in those businesses. I went to the
• 30:20
  Speaker 9: beach Front for a sneaky lunchtime beer last Friday to
• 30:23
  Speaker 9: reward myself all throughout, and the poor woman behind the bar,
• 30:29
  Speaker 9: you know, I walked up and tried to order a
• 30:31
  Speaker 9: beer and she's like, have you got your VAX certificate?
• 30:33
  Speaker 9: So then I bought up my phone and I'm trying to, like,
• 30:36
  Speaker 9: you know, stand there and she's got five people waiting.
• 30:39
  Speaker 10: You know, I'm holding them up.
• 30:41
  Speaker 9: You know, she's like getting frustrated that, you know, she
• 30:44
  Speaker 9: can't serve anyone else, you know.
• 30:47
  Speaker 10: You know, we're having a scan.
• 30:49
  Speaker 9: Their licenses in the bottle shop for the BDR that
• 30:51
  Speaker 9: doesn't work, and then when they're inside behind the bar,
• 30:54
  Speaker 9: they're having to look for everyone's vacation.
• 30:56
  Speaker 4: Must have been a bee.
• 30:57
  Speaker 7: After a couple of bees, you become a bit breathy
• 30:59
  Speaker 7: and rest and want to sort of kiss.
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: Someone or breathe all over someone. You know what happens
• 31:04
  Speaker 4: all the time, you said, sort of everywhere a drink.
• 31:10
  Speaker 7: I have to make a discuage you here, I got
• 31:13
  Speaker 7: COVID from New Year's Eve kissing and drinking and having
• 31:17
  Speaker 7: a great time with a group of friends.
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: So you know, it can happen in a lot of cases.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: Though we're talking about literally a restaurant where you know,
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: where you got to have a quiet meal, you know,
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: with your family or with your friends, you go to
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: have a meal. But if you want to have a
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: wine as well, well, you're going to have to show
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: you VAC status because.
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: You lose control. Lose control after a couple, I can't
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: be trusted.
• 31:39
  Speaker 9: I always thought the reason for all of these vaccination
• 31:42
  Speaker 9: mandates was to lift the vaccination rate, right, and that's
• 31:48
  Speaker 9: why I think most people supported them at the time,
• 31:50
  Speaker 9: because we wanted to get that vaccination rate up. I
• 31:53
  Speaker 9: think the vaccination rate is at the level that the
• 31:56
  Speaker 9: highest level it's going to get to. You know, if
• 31:58
  Speaker 9: people are holding out from getting VAXs now, they're going
• 32:01
  Speaker 9: to be the hardcore anti vaxxis. It doesn't matter what
• 32:04
  Speaker 9: you're going to do, they're not going to get vaccinated,
• 32:06
  Speaker 9: but they must be like, you know, five percent of
• 32:08
  Speaker 9: the population.
• 32:09
  Speaker 10: I don't have the number.
• 32:10
  Speaker 5: I haven't seen that, so I think third dose I'm interested.
• 32:14
  Speaker 6: It was about fifty five percent last time I was
• 32:16
  Speaker 6: looking at it, so I think it is. It is
• 32:18
  Speaker 6: really important for people because there is a bit of complacency,
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: you know, stepping in, but that third dose is really vital.
• 32:24
  Speaker 6: But we're certainly trying to wind these directions back. They
• 32:27
  Speaker 6: are intertwined with each other. It is quite complex because
• 32:30
  Speaker 6: we're acknowledging that we've got not only the vaccination but
• 32:32
  Speaker 6: also the fact that a lot of people in the
• 32:35
  Speaker 6: community have had it. The health professionals say that that's
• 32:37
  Speaker 6: another important thing.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: I also say, though we all saw, we also worked
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: out towards the.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: End of last week. You can now you can now actually.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: Drop your kids into childcare when you're COVID positive, So
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: you know, you can do things like that. Well you
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: COVID positive, but you can't get a beer at the
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: footy if you're unvaccinated. Now, I don't know about you guys,
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: but when I got COVID, I caught it from someone
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: who was vaccinated, you know, So I'm just concerned.
• 33:04
  Speaker 6: Point that you made their Katie, So we made changes.
• 33:06
  Speaker 6: If you were COVID positive, that you could drop children
• 33:09
  Speaker 6: to school and childcare. It's meant to be contactless. You
• 33:11
  Speaker 6: do need to stay in your vehicle just trying.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: To drop a child's child care content.
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: Kids no childcare center.
• 33:25
  Speaker 6: But it was around some of the practicalities because if
• 33:28
  Speaker 6: you were COVID positive, you weren't allowed to take children
• 33:32
  Speaker 6: to sport or school or childcare.
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: But equally they were entitled to go.
• 33:36
  Speaker 6: And so it was a complicated factor, and so that
• 33:38
  Speaker 6: was acknowledging to be a little more practical. I don't
• 33:41
  Speaker 6: suggest you drop your two year on the verge. I
• 33:43
  Speaker 6: suggested to ring your childcare and they'll probably come out.
• 33:46
  Speaker 6: And the point is clarifying, Robin.
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: The point is that a lot of people are feeling
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: very confused by some of these changes, and they're thinking
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: to themselves, hang on, where's the health advice here. If
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: somebody can catch a fly while they're COVID positive, but
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: they're not able to get a beer at the footy
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: if they've not been vaccinated. And I think that this
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: is where there's a lot of confusion.
• 34:08
  Speaker 6: Now.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: We did ask if we could have the chief health
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: officer on the show earlier in the week to try
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: and clarify this confusion, and we were told that he's
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: not available.
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: And again, I think that this is part.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Of the issue that a lot of people are feeling
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: at the moment, is they want to be able to
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: just you know, to know exactly what the health advice is,
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: why it's required, and then you know, then they're able
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: to make up their own minds, I guess, rather than
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: everybody's sort of feeling quite confused about what feels like
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: it is working against some industries and.
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: It's not punitive, isn't it. It's like if you're not vaccinated,
• 34:46
  Speaker 4: you can't have it.
• 34:47
  Speaker 3: At the foot The Cameraman's conference was a classic example
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: of this. You had you had bushies rocking up at
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: ten am in the morning, eight am in the morning
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: to go to a conference and they're being asked for
• 34:57
  Speaker 3: their back certificate because they were going to have a drink.
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: But I believe that was because of the actual size
• 35:04
  Speaker 3: of the gathering. So that was another rule there. But
• 35:07
  Speaker 3: now we're going to have the footy the NRL. That's
• 35:10
  Speaker 3: happening and I think things have now changed. So do
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: you have to show your activitic to get into the footy?
• 35:14
  Speaker 6: Well, that was the the point that you made there
• 35:17
  Speaker 6: was so those events over five hundred and the COVID
• 35:19
  Speaker 6: management plans.
• 35:20
  Speaker 5: So this week the direction was issued that you can
• 35:24
  Speaker 5: go to those.
• 35:25
  Speaker 9: Large gaps up and then that I then have another
• 35:30
  Speaker 9: question around what's driving some of those decisions.
• 35:34
  Speaker 10: Is that changed because they know there's this event coming up?
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: You know?
• 35:38
  Speaker 9: And it happened with the protest rallying dah And at
• 35:41
  Speaker 9: the beginning of the pandemic, where quietly on the Thursday
• 35:44
  Speaker 9: before the rally was being held, the rules were changed.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: There's no such thing as coincidences for two years, there's
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: no such thing.
• 35:55
  Speaker 2: Hey, a question that I've got from a listener, It
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: says katieurrently, there's only four people in Howard Springs. Can
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: the minister confirm how many are in Howard Springs? And
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: then how many police and staff we've still got there?
• 36:08
  Speaker 5: Yeah, Katie.
• 36:09
  Speaker 6: So, as we've been saying, Howard Springs has been winding down.
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: We I think we were speaking about this.
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: We were expecting some repatriation flights during March and April,
• 36:17
  Speaker 6: but so far they haven't come to fruition. In terms
• 36:20
  Speaker 6: of the staffing out there, it has been winding down.
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: As well at June thirtieth. So the Commonwealth have been
• 36:26
  Speaker 6: providing the resources on invoice until June thirtieth and then
• 36:30
  Speaker 6: we'll look at transitioning. So we still need the asset
• 36:33
  Speaker 6: on standby. But I can absolutely sure people it's not
• 36:36
  Speaker 6: you know, at the full number of resources when it
• 36:38
  Speaker 6: had you know, hundreds and hundreds of people. Is there
• 36:40
  Speaker 6: only four people in their mom there's less than half
• 36:42
  Speaker 6: a dozen. But I haven't got the latest figure, but
• 36:44
  Speaker 6: it's certainly quite a small amount. It's a pretty good
• 36:47
  Speaker 6: I don't think it was, but yeah, that's a good
• 36:54
  Speaker 6: point that Josh brought up there in our Springs. We've
• 36:58
  Speaker 6: relinquished the hod facility asset, so hopefully that can go
• 37:02
  Speaker 6: back to being because I know, well I tried to
• 37:03
  Speaker 6: get some accommodation and it's it's.
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: Really tough at the moment if you're traveling down for
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: patch and right, I tell you what, I hope you
• 37:09
  Speaker 3: booked last year because you were strugging Josh's place.
• 37:11
  Speaker 5: Well, somebody else you'll have you up in there.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: Someone else has just messaged and said it's actually three
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: people in Howard Spring.
• 37:16
  Speaker 8: So because you want to help me out, it's somewhere
• 37:24
  Speaker 8: between seven and six.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: Anyway, we'll take a very short break. You are listening
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: to Mix one O four point nine three sixty.
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: It is the week that was.
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: Well, you are listening to the week that was and
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: in the studio is Joshua Burgoyne, Robin Lambley, Na Tasha
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: Files and Matt Cunningham. Now it's certainly been an incredibly
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: busy week. We know that the federal budget was handed
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: down earlier in the week. Things were looking positive for
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: our looking positive for the Northern Territory. More than two
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: point six billion dollars to be spent on infrastructure projects
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: across the territory in the coming years, including one point
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: five billion dollars on a new Darwin Port. What it's
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: looking like now all new port infrastructure. Simon Birmingham joined
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: me on the show on Wednesday and I asked him
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: is this an upgrade to existing infrastructure.
• 38:08
  Speaker 5: Or is it new?
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: He said it was going to be new, but there
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: wasn't really any further detail provider. But we now know
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: Peter Dutton has provided a bit further detail, hasn't he?
• 38:16
  Speaker 7: Matt a little bit?
• 38:18
  Speaker 9: A little bit. It's all sort of smoking mirrors, but
• 38:20
  Speaker 9: you know the government says that it's Middle Arm and
• 38:22
  Speaker 9: that it's I think upgrade of facilities at Middle Arm.
• 38:25
  Speaker 9: There've been that speculation before about the US building another
• 38:28
  Speaker 9: port I think out at Bladon Point, but I don't
• 38:32
  Speaker 9: think it's going to be that.
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: No.
• 38:34
  Speaker 9: My query is one point five billion dollars for this
• 38:37
  Speaker 9: new port infrastructure. Couldn't we know if the federal government
• 38:40
  Speaker 9: had committed the seven hundred and fifty million dollars the
• 38:42
  Speaker 9: Northern Territory government had been asking for ten years ago,
• 38:45
  Speaker 9: the port that we have would never have needed to
• 38:48
  Speaker 9: have been on the Chinese. So in the end it's
• 38:51
  Speaker 9: going to cost us twice as much.
• 38:53
  Speaker 4: Another lead the ship lift.
• 38:57
  Speaker 10: There's a lot of.
• 38:57
  Speaker 9: Questions about isn't it A lot of people have got
• 39:00
  Speaker 9: a lot of questions about the ship lift. But anyway, anyway,
• 39:03
  Speaker 9: we shouldn't probably scoff at one point five billion.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: Well, and all that infrastructure has been that has been
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: announced now. I do have a message on the text
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: line though somebody is saying, Katie, can you please ask
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: the politicians about the prawn farm and the dollars that
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory government contributed. We know that that now
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: isn't going ahead by the look of it. No jobs, jobs, jobs,
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: as the Minister would say, no check on that.
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: But I was of the understanding that it had been
• 39:28
  Speaker 6: delayed but it was still happening. But that's just what
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: I've heard in passing, so don't quote me.
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: Boy.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: I believe that there was a story on the ABC
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: yesterday and I will try and have a little look
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: for that to double confirm that. But yes, my understanding
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: is that it had been announced. I believe that they'd
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: made an announcement to the to the agent coming back
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: to the port. I thought my understanding, but don't quote
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: me over. Peter Dutton and and others at the federal
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: level that provided the funding, but it was around the
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: enabling infrastructure to support those projects.
• 39:58
  Speaker 9: So we know that.
• 39:59
  Speaker 6: So you have obviously your wharves and those access but
• 40:03
  Speaker 6: then as soon as you step away from that, it's
• 40:05
  Speaker 6: making sure that you've got the infrastructure to support that
• 40:08
  Speaker 6: significant good services.
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: Yes, a report by Matt Bran, Yes, it was that
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: plans to build the world's largest prawn farm on Lagoon
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: Station in the Northern Territory have been deemed unviable by
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: Sea Farms.
• 40:21
  Speaker 4: Katie. I've been hearing for years that that project was
• 40:25
  Speaker 4: never going to.
• 40:25
  Speaker 3: Be viable, the chief ministers holding it up as this
• 40:30
  Speaker 3: is going to be a fantastic thing. It's been given
• 40:32
  Speaker 3: major project status. What's actually going to happen is that
• 40:35
  Speaker 3: now going to come off as well?
• 40:36
  Speaker 7: And I know a few years ago was identified as
• 40:39
  Speaker 7: one of the top five economic stimulus generators in the
• 40:45
  Speaker 7: Northern Territory, and I remember people saying it will never
• 40:48
  Speaker 7: ever get off the well.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: And look, you know it would have Yeah, that's exactly right.
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: We all would have liked it to have delivered those
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: jobs that had been spoken about, but unfortunately it's looking
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: as though that's not going to be the case. I
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: do want to take your cross though, while we obviously
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: were talking about about the federal budget, but I do
• 41:05
  Speaker 2: want to talk about some of the other issues that
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: we're seeing when it comes to politics, and it's certainly
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: not smooth sailing. I don't think for the seal P
• 41:13
  Speaker 2: at the moment, the vice president Jed Hansen's resigned from
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: the party and plans to run in Solomon as an independent.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Josh, what was your reaction to this?
• 41:22
  Speaker 3: Look, good luck to Jed. I'll be backing Tina McFarlane,
• 41:25
  Speaker 3: I can tell you that right now.
• 41:27
  Speaker 5: Good answer, you'll.
• 41:29
  Speaker 10: Go where you get into government.
• 41:30
  Speaker 9: Josh. I think we spoke about this yesterday and I
• 41:36
  Speaker 9: think that the biggest winner out of this is Luke Gosling.
• 41:38
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 41:39
  Speaker 9: You know, he's just must be sitting back rubbing his
• 41:41
  Speaker 9: hands together saying thank you very much.
• 41:44
  Speaker 7: I'll be call out to all the Conservatives in the
• 41:47
  Speaker 7: Northern Territory. We have to get our acts together. Truly,
• 41:50
  Speaker 7: this has just gone on for too long. Are you
• 41:52
  Speaker 7: going to do you want to read your fragmentation. No,
• 41:55
  Speaker 7: I'm happy where I'm sitting around at the moment, but
• 41:57
  Speaker 7: it's really sad to see that this is continued.
• 42:00
  Speaker 2: Well, I think the biggest thing is, you know, no
• 42:02
  Speaker 2: matter what happens around the Northern Territory, you need a
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: strong government, you need a strong opposition. And very often
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: we see that party politics go on behind the scenes,
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: no matter what political party you're talking about, and it
• 42:13
  Speaker 2: does overshadow the work that Territorians actually want done. But
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: it's this is going to be interesting because it really
• 42:21
  Speaker 2: it has the potential obviously then to split that Conservative vite.
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, he hasn't been caught sniffing Kkaine. He hasn't
• 42:28
  Speaker 3: been caught doing anything wrong. He's just decided to go
• 42:30
  Speaker 3: his own way, so that's his decision.
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: Well that's true.
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: Well, before we rap for the morning, I was we
• 42:36
  Speaker 2: also know Senator Sam McMahon she as she is leaving,
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: and she did.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: She made a pretty explosive speech on her way out,
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: didn't she.
• 42:45
  Speaker 5: Matt E was.
• 42:49
  Speaker 10: And obviously she.
• 42:51
  Speaker 9: Repeated allegations that have been aired before about issues with
• 42:57
  Speaker 9: her chief of staff. For former chief of staff Jason
• 42:59
  Speaker 9: Riley is a director of the CLP, and she made
• 43:02
  Speaker 9: those allegations in parliament. One thing that I find interesting
• 43:06
  Speaker 9: about this whole situation, so those allegations were first reported
• 43:10
  Speaker 9: probably two years ago, and we're in this era of
• 43:13
  Speaker 9: the me too movement and everything else. But I've never heard,
• 43:17
  Speaker 9: you know, the people who usually stand up on these
• 43:20
  Speaker 9: issues and stick up for women who may have been
• 43:25
  Speaker 9: the victims of violence, I've never heard anyone stand up
• 43:29
  Speaker 9: for Sam McMahon under those circumstances. I've never you know,
• 43:33
  Speaker 9: she's never put in the same baskets as people like
• 43:37
  Speaker 9: Britney Higgins or others who are subjected to similar abuse.
• 43:42
  Speaker 9: And we need to make it clear that that Jason
• 43:44
  Speaker 9: Riley has never given his version of events. She raised
• 43:47
  Speaker 9: this in Parliament during her valedictory speech, and we've never
• 43:51
  Speaker 9: heard his side of the story. But I mean that
• 43:54
  Speaker 9: there have been other situations where simply allegations have been
• 43:57
  Speaker 9: made and the assumption is, well, we have to believe
• 44:02
  Speaker 9: the woman involved in this situation, and therefore, you know,
• 44:05
  Speaker 9: there's been a whole heap of sympathy towards the woman
• 44:07
  Speaker 9: and a whole heap of outrage directed towards a man
• 44:10
  Speaker 9: in that situation.
• 44:11
  Speaker 10: In this situation with Sam McMahon, that has not happened
• 44:13
  Speaker 10: to be silence.
• 44:14
  Speaker 7: Look, i'd like to acknowledge Sam McMahon. I've got a
• 44:17
  Speaker 7: lot of time for Sam. I think she's very intelligent,
• 44:20
  Speaker 7: she's a professional woman. She's a doctor of veterinary science.
• 44:24
  Speaker 7: She's obviously been very successful. She's wealthy, she's independent. She's
• 44:30
  Speaker 7: everything you want in a politician, a local member, a senator.
• 44:36
  Speaker 7: I think what's happened to Sam is very unfortunate. I'd
• 44:39
  Speaker 7: like to wish her all the best.
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, I think well done to Sam, and
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: she can hold her hid high. Obviously leaving the Federal
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: Parliament now before we wrap up just very briefly. I
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: think it would be remiss of me not to mention
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: the fact that Colin Wicking has well put that cap
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: on his pen to finish up those wonderful cartoons said
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: he brings to territorians each and every day. Yesterday was
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: his last one. I'm a massive fan of his work.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: I think he hits the nail on the head each
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: and every time. And he's a real loss.
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: It's a real loss.
• 45:14
  Speaker 10: He's an institution Wicking.
• 45:16
  Speaker 9: And I can say as someone who spent a couple
• 45:20
  Speaker 9: of years as his editor, he gave me plenty of
• 45:22
  Speaker 9: sleepless nights.
• 45:25
  Speaker 10: But he had an amazing.
• 45:27
  Speaker 9: Ability to cut through, to cut through the spin and
• 45:30
  Speaker 9: the bull dust and just to get right to the
• 45:33
  Speaker 9: point of an issue. And I think that, you know,
• 45:35
  Speaker 9: Territorians are going to miss him greatly, but he's made
• 45:38
  Speaker 9: an amazing contribution to the Northern territory.
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: And absolutely do you guys get scared worrying what he's
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: going to draw you like, how are you going to
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: be illustrated?
• 45:48
  Speaker 6: In the past why, I used to read the paper,
• 45:50
  Speaker 6: the sports at the back and see what was happening
• 45:52
  Speaker 6: and then flicked to Wicking and that's going back many
• 45:54
  Speaker 6: years before I was even in parliaments.
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: I think that, yeah, he'll certainly there was a void
• 45:58
  Speaker 5: today in the paper.
• 46:00
  Speaker 3: I say a picture, you know, it tells a story
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: of a thousand words. I think with Wikings sometimes it
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: was closer to two thousand.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: So yeah, no, dush, Robin, I'm sure he used to
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: draw you. How were you ever unhappy with the way
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: that you're illustrated?
• 46:13
  Speaker 6: Never?
• 46:13
  Speaker 9: I once received a complaint from an advisor, a government
• 46:17
  Speaker 9: and adviser about Wicking, and I said to that advice said,
• 46:19
  Speaker 9: do you really want me to relay this complaint to
• 46:22
  Speaker 9: Colin Wicking? Because there will be nothing surer than the
• 46:25
  Speaker 9: fact that said politician will feature many moms.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: Well that is it for the week that was this morning.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Thank you all so much for joining us.
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: Of course, Joshua Burgoyne, Robin Lamley, Natasha Fhiles, Matt Cunningham.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: We always appreciate your time on the show.
• 46:40
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Koby, thank you.
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Mix one O four nine's three sixty