Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / ALP candidate for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour will be asking the NT Government to maintain alcohol restrictions in NT communities

Transcript

ALP candidate for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour will be asking the NT Government to maintain alcohol restrictions in NT communities · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But let's try again. I believe we've got Marian Scrimjaw
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: on theline. Good morning to you, Marion.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, And I'm in Nooka community with Selena Yubo.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Ah there you go, traveling out and about Marion. Have
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: you been in what air in recent days as well?
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  Speaker 2: Look, we've been in contact with Melanderie McCarthy, who spent
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  Speaker 2: all of last weekend and has only just come back
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: into Darwin. So she's been out there with Diran Young
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  Speaker 2: who's the local younger for daily just getting around and
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  Speaker 2: talking to people and just trying to get a handle
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  Speaker 2: on what we see as a real crisis that in
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  Speaker 2: the community of.
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  Speaker 1: What is enough being done out there at the moment. Melanderie,
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  Speaker 1: I know that it's been reported that you know that
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  Speaker 1: you've been critical of the Gunner government that there isn't
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  Speaker 1: enough happening at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: Look, Melanderie, So she spoke to both Warren and I
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  Speaker 2: and have kept us informed. She's also done a fantastic
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  Speaker 2: job with Jiran in terms of saying to the non
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: territory government, we all need to work together to try
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  Speaker 2: and deal with this humanitarian crisis because if we don't
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  Speaker 2: address the four hundred people are displaced and moving out
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  Speaker 2: to some of the homelands and in the long grass
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  Speaker 2: around what we will see that movement coming into Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: So we've got to try and deal with this issue immediately,
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  Speaker 2: not today, not tomorrow, but we've you know, it's just
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  Speaker 2: got to be done, Katie, and I think that the
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  Speaker 2: Chief Minister has now got a number of his staff
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  Speaker 2: as well as Nicole Manison, who's the acting Chief Minister,
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  Speaker 2: has now gone out to What to meet with a
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  Speaker 2: lot of the community members and some of the traditional
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  Speaker 2: owners to have a look at how we can try
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  Speaker 2: and work through with the leadership, because this really needs
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  Speaker 2: the leaders of what to work together with governments both
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  Speaker 2: and I think there's a real role as well for
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  Speaker 2: the federal government to start looking at how do we
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  Speaker 2: get some support and some infrastructure into some of those
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  Speaker 2: homelands so we can get people out of the main community.
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  Speaker 1: And so in the short term, I mean, I know
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  Speaker 1: that you said obviously the government have had people go
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  Speaker 1: out there now, they've had staff go out there in
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  Speaker 1: recent days, but many people are asking how it's gotten
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  Speaker 1: to the point where you know, we've seen this vision
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  Speaker 1: from last week we're there is like it looks as
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  Speaker 1: though it's massive brawls and homes being damaged. How we've
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  Speaker 1: reached that point to begin with.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it should never have got to that point, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: And when I've spoken to some of the leaders, they say,
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  Speaker 2: it's the worse that it's got and we've got a
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  Speaker 2: we can't allow this to escalate like we saw what
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  Speaker 2: happened before the Easter period and then through the Easter
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  Speaker 2: period wherehouses were just being absolutely trashed. So and that's
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  Speaker 2: why it was important for Melandery to be out there
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  Speaker 2: as the center there and also Duran and a lot
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  Speaker 2: of the leaders and the traditional owners really respect that
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  Speaker 2: they'd gone out there and sitting down and just trying
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  Speaker 2: to talk to people. We now need to get some
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  Speaker 2: mediators in so that.
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  Speaker 3: All of the groups that are at war with each other.
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  Speaker 2: And where this crisis came from, that we can try
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  Speaker 2: and get some resolution to the unrest. Because if we
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  Speaker 2: don't resolve the unrest, it will further exacerbate get worse.
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  Speaker 2: So we need to support the first responders so that
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  Speaker 2: you know, police need support out there. And I think
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  Speaker 2: that's why it's been good that Nicole Madison has gone
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  Speaker 2: out there to talk to her police members but also
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  Speaker 2: the community, so hopefully we'll get some relief. The leaders
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  Speaker 2: have been calling for some mediators to come in to
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  Speaker 2: talk to the war and groups to try and resolve
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  Speaker 2: that conflict that's been there, and it hasn't just come
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  Speaker 2: in overnight. This has been a conflict in what air
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  Speaker 2: for a long time. Marion.
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  Speaker 1: Are we in a situation here where the Defense force
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  Speaker 1: needs to be called in?
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  Speaker 3: Look?
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  Speaker 2: One of the things that I said, Katie is maybe
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  Speaker 2: we need to if we're looking at a humanitarian crisis,
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  Speaker 2: if we're looking at short term accommodation, and we need
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  Speaker 2: to get people accommodated in some of the homelands, well,
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  Speaker 2: then do we get the defense force to come in
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  Speaker 2: and to support and erect some temporary shelters so that
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  Speaker 2: people can get some respites. There are women and children
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  Speaker 2: and people with disabilities that have fled some of these
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  Speaker 2: to these homelands. They don't have the infrastructure around them,
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  Speaker 2: and that's what's concerning, particularly for old people, and so
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  Speaker 2: we need to try and act particularly to protect those
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  Speaker 2: women and children and old people that are living and
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  Speaker 2: sleeping quite rough out in some of these homelands marian.
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  Speaker 1: One of the other issues that we've been talking about
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  Speaker 1: this morning, and we did just speak to just Enterprise,
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  Speaker 1: who is obviously a candidate for the Colp Senate. We
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  Speaker 1: were talking about the issue with alcohol in communities and
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  Speaker 1: this legislation that's going to be introduced or that's going
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  Speaker 1: to be debate, I believe next week in Parliament for
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  Speaker 1: alcohol to once again be able to be consumed in
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  Speaker 1: various well in the majority of Northern Territory communities. Is
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  Speaker 1: this Is this a worry that you know in some
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  Speaker 1: of these remote communities that they're going to now be
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  Speaker 1: able to access alcohol.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Look, I've always advocate of the dry Areas legislation
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  Speaker 2: and supported those communities that wanted to keep their communities
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  Speaker 2: restricted to the alcohol. Katie, I you know my own
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  Speaker 2: home community on the Tiwey Island, there's a licensed club
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  Speaker 2: in every community. We are seeing that same function, not
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  Speaker 2: to the same extent that we're seeing in what is
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  Speaker 2: but a lot of those issues have been generated through
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  Speaker 2: through alcohol and alcohol abuse. So I think that and
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  Speaker 2: Selena and I have had had a good conversation about this.
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  Speaker 2: She's the Attorney General who will have carriages that led to.
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  Speaker 3: I think that.
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  Speaker 2: The Northern Territory Government will give due consideration. We cannot
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  Speaker 2: allow open slather in these communities to happen without a
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  Speaker 2: better process. There was a good process that happened before
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  Speaker 2: the intervention came, Katie Ye, and I think that, and
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  Speaker 2: I know I have every confidence that Selena and Chancey
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  Speaker 2: and others will give real consideration about the impact that
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  Speaker 2: will happen in communities should that stronger futures legislation lab.
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  Speaker 1: So do you reckon We're going to see a situation
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  Speaker 1: next week where these legislations maybe not as clear cut
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  Speaker 1: as what we'd initially thought, and that we might even
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  Speaker 1: have some of those you know, some of those members
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  Speaker 1: that I've just spoken about. I want to see some
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  Speaker 1: changes before it gets past.
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  Speaker 2: I think that, Look, I'll have to have a I'll
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  Speaker 2: have another further compensation with Selena, but it might be
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  Speaker 2: a good idea to talk to Selena as the Attorney
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  Speaker 2: General about that Northern Territory legislation and what that process
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  Speaker 2: will be going forward. But I will be certainly advocating
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  Speaker 2: to the Northern Territory Government that we maintain those restrictions
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  Speaker 2: in those communities. We cannot have open flavor into those communities. Katie,
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  Speaker 2: we're seeing a lot of dysfunction and unrest that's happening,
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  Speaker 2: and a lot of that.
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  Speaker 3: You know, we've seen fly grog coming into some of
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  Speaker 3: these communities. Having license venues isn't the answer. We've got
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  Speaker 3: to have a look at do we have the policing resource,
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  Speaker 3: do we have the resources from territory families, our kids
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  Speaker 3: going to school, because when these sort of unrest happened,
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  Speaker 3: the first.
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  Speaker 2: Impact is felt in the schools. And I know talking
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  Speaker 2: to the leaders at what they got down to five
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  Speaker 2: students in the school. Now, you know that's a real
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  Speaker 2: blight and it has to be addressed properly. We can't
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  Speaker 2: do the knee jerk and just allow that to lapse
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  Speaker 2: and we go back to what the status quo was before.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, it's going to be interesting. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be incredibly interesting when you've got the likes
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  Speaker 1: of John Patterson, the CEO of am SANT saying we
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  Speaker 1: haven't been consulted and that there you know, there needs
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  Speaker 1: to be that consultation when you've got communities that seem
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  Speaker 1: as though they're pretty worried about it, and yeah, it's
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  Speaker 1: it's uh, it does sound as though there needs to
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  Speaker 1: be more work that takes place in this space. Yes, yeah, absolutely,
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  Speaker 1: Mary instrument and agree. Yeah, well we are going to
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  Speaker 1: have to leave it there. We appreciate your time. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you very much for having a chat with us this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Gattie, thank you.