Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Week That Was – 30th June 2023

Transcript

The Week That Was – 30th June 2023 · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us in the studio today for the week that was.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: We've got the oppositions Marie Claire Boothby, Good morning to.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: You, Good morning Katie, and listeners.
• 0:07
  Speaker 3: We have got well the Government's Kate Warden.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: She's the Minister for Police and Territory, Families and various portfolios.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Good morning to you, Kate.
• 0:15
  Speaker 4: I thing Katie. Great to be with you again.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And from nine years Darwin for the first time, we've
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: got Georgie Dicketson. Good morning to you, Georgie, Katie. Happy Friday,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Happy Friday. I love Fridays. I love it when we've
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: got a full line up. It certainly makes my job
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: easier because everyone does the talking. And I'm very pleased
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: to say that we are back online. We're having some
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: issues with our live streaming, and I know that there
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: was a lot of people who were messaging all throughout
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the last couple of days saying Wolfie, please sort it out.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: I'm trying to listen and we can't hear. So we
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: are back online. You'll be able to hear everything as
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: it happens.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: First off, this morning, I'm keen to talk about the
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: fact that we found out yesterday on the show Well
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I read a message out from one of our listeners,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: and listener question was, Hi, Katie, we tried to book
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: a Jetstar flight from Darwin to Bali for October. Flight
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: schedule between the seventh of October and the tenth of November.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Now we asked Minister Nicole Manison about this, a tourism
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: minister on the show yesterday, and she said she wasn't
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: sure why those flights weren't happening, but to her credit,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: got back to us within about thirty minutes to tell
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: us I can confirm the changes to Jetstars, DOO and
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to dimpest our flights that your listener noticed is due to.
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: The runway works.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: This is why we need Defense to urgently give certainty
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: around the scheduled works and the timeline. The Northern Territory
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: government had been calling for this to be sorted out
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: as quickly as possible and to minimize disruptions to airlines,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: as we don't want to see a loss of services
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: on or higher prices.
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: I should say during these.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Works now, there is no doubt that this flight is
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: going to have an impact to lots of Territorians. I
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: think it's safe to say everybody enjoys going across to.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: Bali for our holiday.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: But I think the concern here as well is that
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: these works that are going to get underway, we know
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: that they're will and truly needed, but what impact it's
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: going to have Two other flights that have been scheduled Now,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the Department of Defense has said that Defense intends to
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: undertake major maintenance works of runways and associated taxiways at
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the Royal Australian Air Force Base in Darwen and Darwen
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: International Airport during twenty twenty three twenty four. These essential
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: works will support the safe and efficient operation of the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: airport for at least the next decade. It continues by
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: saying that Defense does not have any involvement in the
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: scheduling or cancelation of civilian flights. The Airport Development Group,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: which manages the Darwin International Airport, is responsible for liaison
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: with those commercial airlines. Now we know then that the
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Airport Development Group has said that Defense has management and
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: control for delivering maintenance and repairs at the Darwin International Airport,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: with major runway works planned to take place over the
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: coming twelve to eighteen months. Meanwhile, we know then that
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Jetstar is saying, well, we have temporarily stopped selling direct
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: flights between Darwen and Dimpas are scheduled from the ninth
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: of October to the eighth of November due to potential
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: runway works by the Department of Defense. Now they have said, well,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the dates and times of the runway works have not
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: yet been confirmed. We've proactively stopped selling flights during this
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: period to limit the number of customers potentially affected. I
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: think it's safe to say, based on those conversations that
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: we've had over the last twenty four hours, that there's
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: a lot of Territorians who are concerned about whether it's
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: just going to be flights to Ballei that are impacted,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: or whether it's going to be more.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: Broad, which sounds like we need more information there, Katie,
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: for sure. And it's doesn't that raise the very interesting
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: fact about Darwin and the territory that our main airport
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: is actually a defense is a shared defense facility, and
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: I think this shows you the complications that comes with that.
• 3:49
  Speaker 4: On the good side of that, I also heard though
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: that Jetstar are absolute committed, so we've got a commitment
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: out of them not to change. They're going to come
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: back in the minute that they can but it'd be
• 3:58
  Speaker 4: really good if they could get some certainty. By the
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: sounds of what you're reading out there, that information be
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: good if they could get some certainty so that they
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: can sell those flights, because like you said, I think
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: at this time of the year, particularly territories would jump
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: on them even if they had the last minute bit
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: of notice to be able to go. So hopefully they
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: can work that through and actually work out if it's
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: possible to have some.
• 4:20
  Speaker 5: Flights quicker than you sooner than later, and when it's
• 4:22
  Speaker 5: cheaper to fly to Bali than the rest of the country,
• 4:26
  Speaker 5: I think it's so important to have it certain as
• 4:28
  Speaker 5: to win you can actually fly there for a holiday,
• 4:30
  Speaker 5: because October that's the peak time of year that you'd
• 4:32
  Speaker 5: want to be tripping around.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Well, this is the thing, and that raises a very
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: good point, and something that we have spoken about as
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: well is the cost of those air fares. And I
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: think that you know, anecdotally, we've sort of been told
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: that maybe part of this is because those Bali flights
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: can't be rescheduled, and I know that they at different
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: times flight at night. I'm not sure whether some of
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: that work is due to happen at nighttime too. But
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: let's be honest, anyone that's called a flight out of
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory in the last few weeks would know
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: that a lot of those flights, the only things that
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: are affordable are the ones that are leaving at two
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning.
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: It's pretty insane.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Baby, Yeah, Katie, there was a lot of commentary that
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: you said there about who was doing what and who
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: was responsible. The part that I'm really confused about. I
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: don't know many territories are with this, and it's not
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: just the overseas flights. Of course, we're very worried about
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the domestic flights as well, especially given we've had the
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: skyrocketing costs of flights. Is that where was the plan
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: for this to happen? I think the Minister for Tourism
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: yesterday said that runways do have to be upgraded every
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: fifteen to twenty years. I mean we have a government, Yeah,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: we have a government who you would hope that was
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: responsible for the airport and the flights coming out of
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: the territory and the economy. So I don't understand why
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: there hasn't been any planning put into this from our government.
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: Because we can't afford to have this uncertainty, especially off
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: the back of obviously COVID a few years ago, plus
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: our reputation on crime, Like we need to have certainty
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: in all of these flights. We need to have would
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: flight costs so that people can come in out and
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: an out of Darwin libability.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: Look in the government's defense and it's not very often
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: that I'll jump in to defend them, but.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: List in their defense. It is defense that are.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Doing this, and I know that it can be quite
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: difficult in terms of trying to schedule that, in terms
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: of trying to work with the Department of Defense on
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: a federal scale to sort of make sure that it
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: has as minimal impact as possible.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: You would think that different layers of government, including the
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: Defense would all be speaking to each other.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Well, And we did speak to Luke Gosling yesterday who
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: said to us, look, Katie, if there's a situation where
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: we're not getting the scheduled information that's required, that he's
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: prepared to have those discussions with the federal Minister for
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Defense to ensure that that info is coming through. But
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I don't know where the breakdown in communication is coming here,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: because to me, what was quite surprising yesterday is the
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: fact that we've got a situation where for a whole
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: month it's looking as though this route has been canceled
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: or it's not happening, and the Minister for Tourism hadn't
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: been notified by anybody.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: Now, I would think that.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: That would be something that was being passed on to
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: the minister so that she's aware of what's going on,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: because you know, the government will we can criticize, as
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: you know all the time, but the government will try
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to work things out so that you can come up
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: with some contingencies. So I don't understand where it's broken down,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: and I hope that in moving forward that there is
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: that communication because if we end up in a situation
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: here where there is flights to everywhere around the country
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: that are being canceled, that are being put up in price,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: we understand that they might be rescheduled, but that's going
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: to have a really big, big impact on a location
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: like the Northern Territory where we are already in different
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: ways struggling.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: And I think the other thing is that worldwide flights
• 7:45
  Speaker 4: have gone up post COVID that if we've seen that
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: the cost of flights is significantly higher. I hear it
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: from lots and lots of people trying to book. In fact,
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: just a couple of weeks ago, I was told that
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: you could actually get better fairs out of Bali King
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: to Europe than you can anywhere else and of course jets.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: So I've now put on that great flight for us. Well,
• 8:07
  Speaker 4: it helps the territory out of Cans into Tokyo and
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: personally with a daughter that's now moved to Japan, that's
• 8:13
  Speaker 4: very exciting news. But there's so many you know, there's
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: so much going on in that space at the moment
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: to try and particularly those flights out of den Pasar,
• 8:23
  Speaker 4: which everybody was saying is the next way to go
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: because we haven't got those direct routes that we had
• 8:27
  Speaker 4: to Singapore. So I know that Quantas are really keen
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: to put those back in. So I think, you know,
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: those opportunities might be being missed because of the changes
• 8:37
  Speaker 4: that we're seeing. But all that's said and done, we
• 8:40
  Speaker 4: also do need to have those updates, upgrades to our airport,
• 8:44
  Speaker 4: and I think you're right, Katie, what needs to happen
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: is that we need more information around scheduling. Are all
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: the morning flights, early overnight flights. Are they going to
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: go or is it just this one? Is it just
• 8:55
  Speaker 4: the timing for this one? And I think that's the
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: missing detail for us today and i'd be keen to.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Here giving that to the government who's not providing that.
• 9:02
  Speaker 4: Maybe we need to ask that question about what I'm
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: sure that the airport group is talking to the the
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: flight operators. I'm absolutely certain that would be happening. So
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: it's nothing new for this sort of thing to happen
• 9:17
  Speaker 4: around layers. And I guess Defense, you know, Defense will do.
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: That is their airport and it is the Airport Development
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: Corporation that's in charge to there. So we just need
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: to make sure that there's some certainty and information. I'm
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: sure after your call to a Minister Madison yesterday, she
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: would be chasing all of that up.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Can call me a skeptic, but I am absolutely shocked
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: and I'm sure territories will be too that the Tourism
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Minister wouldn't have had any of this detail. I mean,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: this has been it would have been talked about in
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: circles throughout those groups that you talked about, So I
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: just I find it highly unusual that a minister and
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: a government wouldn't know this, and then she gets she
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: finds out from radio. I mean it was your show
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: yesterday where a listener had text in asking about it. So,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, it just goes to show that this government
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: doesn't seem to have its finger on the pulse with
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: what's happening in its own jurisdiction.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Well, look, the thing that I think is going to
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: also be really difficult, just to sort of deviate away
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: for a moment, is that the minister had also said
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: in that discussion that we're having yesterday that they're trying
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: really hard to entice other airlines.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: To the Northern territory.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Right now, how on earth are we going to do
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: that over the next twelve to eighteen months. If we've
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: got this work going on and we're in a situation
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: where the airlines that are currently operating don't know exactly
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: when that work is happening or how long it's going
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: to take, I don't know how.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: We're going to We're dating an additional Katie.
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: Wouldn't it be awesome to have a lot more daytime
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: flights if that's the case, Yeah, yeah, absolutely affordable. But
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: this is an international problem, right now with flights. You know,
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: if you talk to family and friends in the state,
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: they're all saying the same thing. Nobody's got cheap flights.
• 10:57
  Speaker 4: I think we had if you think about it, those
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: ninety nine dollar fares sometimes return out of BALI weren't
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: we spoilt? And I think back to the nineteen eighties.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: I drove continuously back and forth from South Australia to
• 11:11
  Speaker 4: the Northern Territory because the cost of a flight for
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: per person was over one thousand dollars and you could
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: do the run for five hundred with everybody in the car.
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: So I think times have changed. We did get very
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: spoilt for a while, and we just hope that we
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: can get back to those cheap fares.
• 11:24
  Speaker 5: But in saying that, flights from say Sydney to Melbourne
• 11:27
  Speaker 5: you can get for fifty dollars one hundred dollars, can
• 11:30
  Speaker 5: then say flights from here to Alice or even that's
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: Alaru I looked the other day was twelve hundred return,
• 11:36
  Speaker 5: which is just insane when you can fly from Melbourne
• 11:38
  Speaker 5: to Ularu for eight dollars.
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: Spot on, you know.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: And the fact is like right now you can travel
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: overseas cheaper than what you can absolutely to fly into Statement,
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: which I think is obscene.
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: I do know that Ladie also is a fun fact
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: for you that you can if you drive out to Ulara,
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: which some people in all of Springs are doing, you
• 11:54
  Speaker 4: can get a cheaper flight out of your Lara, which
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: including the petrol from a four hour drive to get there.
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: I think that that's a significant issue that we have
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: been looking at and trying to bullets.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: You know, you think to yourself, that's obscene for the
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: people of Alice Springs who are already on their knees,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: you know, in terms of wanting those additional tourists to
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: come to town, correct for then them to be in
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: a situation where people are literally you know, traveling to
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: Lara to be able to catch a flight or to
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: be going on twelve months.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: I want to see whether the government are fighting for
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: the territorians on this. I mean, we had Alan Joyce
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: come out last week and blame our tourism industry and
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: our operators for the problem that we have in Allie
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Springs and the reason why he's struggling to get flights there.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: We didn't see Natasha Filestick up for our tourist operators.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: We heard Nicole Madison kind of say how she always
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: sticks up for them yesterday, but she certainly couldn't tell
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: us what those conversations were that she had Valan Joys,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: like was she fighting for territorians or was she just
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: trying to She was No, we.
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: Just sit there, Mary Claire, we just sit there and go, oh, look,
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: just forget about the territory. It's you're dreaming. Honestly, you
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: always here and say that sort of dire tribe. It's rubbish.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: Of course we're fighting for them. I wrote to now
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: is in Alice Springs? How ironic she she foss me off?
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: And I wrote to her the other day passing it
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: off to the tourism minister, like she fobs off everything
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: else that should be her responsibility.
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: Now I do here, and just of course.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: I'll defend her because she's out there actually working on
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: the ground. She's doing a great job, and she's doing
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: a good job.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to step in for a moment because
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: someone has just text through and said Kati Quantus is
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: offering return flight Sydney to Los Angeles for one thy,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: two hundred and ninety nine dollars, which is three hundred
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: dollars cheaper than Darwin to Sydney return right now, which.
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: Actually current sale out to the US. I noticed those
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: the other day because they sort of flush out through
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: your emails.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, look, this is I guess where you
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: know we're Murray clear. The point that you're making is
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: a fair enough one in the sense I guess what
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: people are after right now, is you know, is for
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: the Tourism minister to go.
• 13:55
  Speaker 4: Do you know what?
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I didn't shirt front Alan Joyce, but I certainly you know,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: I said to him, this is not fair.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: We need to you know, we need to be patients happened.
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: Of course we do. But you don't just shirt front.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: You work through things with people that you actually want
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: to do business with, and you do it in a
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: very very professional way in order and you have formal
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: meetings with them, and you put proposals to them and
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: you ask them for support. Of course we did that.
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: We did it repeatedly while the Quantius executive were here.
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: We didn't miss an opportunity with the entirety of the
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: executive board from Quantus here in Darwin. Of course we didn't.
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: We missed. We slammed them with what we need here
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: in the Northern Territory. They have left here with no
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: illusion about how important it is that they provide an
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: increased and better service.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Genterity, I reckon they're going to come to the party cake,
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: because I think that that's probably what lots of people
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: are listening this morning, wondering are we actually going to
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: see flights that are a little bit cheaper, that are
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: a little bit fairer that really you know, I remember
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: the fact that the Northern Territory.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Is in their name, that is in that quantity name.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: At that point was made and I told him that
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: to the point was also made that over COVID we
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: were the only international airport that kept those flights running
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: in and out of London, and there was a lot
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: of appreciation from Quantus executives about that. I think the
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: point is, we do also have a new executive CEO
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: coming in and we need to work with them to
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: make sure they left under no illusion that we need
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: more flights and a better service from Quantus here in
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: the Northern Territory. And we had a great opportunity to
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: do that on more than one occasion, and there was
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: lots of meetings held around that. You know, we didn't
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: just sit with our hands and then you know, shirt
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: front them over issues. We did it in a professional way,
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: which is what you're expected to do when you're an
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: elected member of parliament.
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: His comments on crime, though, saying that people don't want
• 15:43
  Speaker 5: to come because of crime, I don't think that's the
• 15:45
  Speaker 5: only issue. Obviously, we do have crime in Alice Springs,
• 15:48
  Speaker 5: we all know that. But why would anyone want to
• 15:49
  Speaker 5: fly to Alis Springs when you're spending hundreds and hundreds
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: of dollars, if not thousands, if you're taking your whole
• 15:54
  Speaker 5: family when you can fly to overseas and that stuff.
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: So I feel like that's more of an issue than
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: the crime in Alice.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: But then again, and you know, down I went down
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: to Alice Springs for the think and there was a
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: family that had come down there. In fact, there was
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: about six families they'd come together with. They'd hired minibusses,
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: those little what do they call them, those travel things
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: in their families and they were spending five weeks in
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: the territory traveling all the way around. Also, speaking to
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: tourism operators in Alice Springs that they have had people
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: that are tentative that have come for a day and
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: have then rebooked and stayed a week. So I think,
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: you know, this week we could also see that they're
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: absolutely full in Alice Springs for a range of reasons.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: So it's contrary though to what to what Daniel Rochford
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: had said to us on the show earlier in the week.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: He'd said, Katie, I'm standing in the mall this morning.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: There's two tourists in the mall matually heading back to
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Alice next week.
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: Again for the whole week, that wasn't my observation, and
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: during think it was absolutely bustling. So Alice Springs does
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: definitely have those ups and downs. And also the main
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: shopping precincts actually we aren't now in them all, so
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: that's all sort of changed.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: Do you think people are scared to go to them
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: all though, because of how much crime we've seen them?
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: Absolutely not. I do not think that that's the case.
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: I think overnight you probably wouldn't, but then I haven't
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: walked anywhere dark overnight for a long time.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Well, the businesses in the mall that were telling me
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: a couple of weeks in our Springs that people that
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: do go in there and they are few and far between.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: They are always asking you know, what is it really
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: like in here, because people are telling them all the
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: time that is unsafe to go down the Todd Mall,
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: even during the day, and of course that is what
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Australians are telling them. And so if we have that reputation,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: of course it's going to have an impact on who
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: wants to go and visit Alice Springs.
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: So we absolutely need to work back and make sure
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: that we are working with people in Alice Springs to
• 17:43
  Speaker 4: change that perception of Alice Springs because I am there repeatedly.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: There doesn't a month that doesn't go past that I'm
• 17:50
  Speaker 4: not in Alice Springs and spending time there. We need
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: to make sure that the shop fronts are looking better.
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: There's a lot of work to do with the council.
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: There's a lot of work do we need to make
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: sure those works are finished, all the road works are finished.
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: The impact that alcohol has had on Alice Springs over
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: a long period of time has been significant and we.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: Need to grow with what Alan Joyce had said that
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: those you know that those businesses in Alice need to
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: step up.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: The tourism operators need to step up.
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: Look, I would never say those words about stepping up.
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: I think we all need to keep working together. It's long,
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: hard work and we've got lots of investments going into
• 18:24
  Speaker 4: Alice Springs. At the moment, we're doing some particular deals
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: to attract people back to Alice Springs, particularly you know,
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: the people that are in their motor homes, because they,
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: I mean the traditionally Alice Springs has got a lot
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: of people coming in with vans and caravans, particularly during
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: the dry season. We need to make sure that people
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: know that it's safe and it's a great place to visit.
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: And we won't be talking Alice Springs down.
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Sorry, Georgie. Well, we'll take a very short break.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: There is so much to discuss this morning, and we
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: will be back very shortly. You are listening to the
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: to the week that was. Plenty of messages flowing through
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: on the text line this morning, lots of you getting
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: in contact with those flows prices and telling me how
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: much cheaper it is to fly in different locations around
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: the world comparatively to the Northern Territory. And don't worry,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: I'm feeling you. I know exactly how expensive it is now.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: I do want to discuss though, the Police Association. They're
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: due to join us on the show just after ten
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: o'clock this morning, but they've got some new data. They
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: released in a press release yesterday saying that new data
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: has revealed an alarming decline in the number of constables
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory Police Force compared to staffing levels
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: ten years ago. They say that there's currently eight hundred
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and sixty three full time equivalent constables, twenty three less
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: than in twenty thirteen. That is according to the Police Association.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Now the president, Nathan Finn says the figures cast out
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: on the government's claims that there are more police on
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: the beat than ever before.
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: So, Kate, I know that you'd said during.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Estimates, as at the thirtieth of March, we had one
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: six hundred and forty nine point twenty five full time
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: equivalent and the Northern Territory Police. These associations say that
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: they subsequently sought a breakdown of the full time equivalent
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: from the Department of NT Police Foreign Emergency Services and
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: that when you compare the figures from twenty thirteen to
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: fourteen staffing numbers, which shows that there are eight hundred
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: and eighty six point four to nine constables. With fresh
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: data provided by PFES, it shows that constable numbers have
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: dropped to eight hundred and sixty three point one four.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: Now they say that.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: The concern is that it's like that it is, you know,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: it's a loss of that front line, you know, those
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: front line. They say the constables are the backbone of
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Police Force and they perform a fundamental
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: role and are at the core of the agency's operations.
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: Okay, so just to give some facts around and I
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: did bring my cheat sheet today because I want to
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: give you some figures.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: We don't usually allow.
• 20:50
  Speaker 4: Not they're actually plucking a figure from thirteen fourteen. Obviously
• 20:55
  Speaker 4: Labor wasn't in government then, but also the COLP and
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: GOUD was in government for two following years. Their figure
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: of eight six was in thirteen fourteen. In fourteen fifteen
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: there was less than that. There was eight sixty, and
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: in fifteen sixteen before we came to government, there was
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: eight hundred and five. So they're picking a figure from
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: behind that is not relevant when you're comparing stats to
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: when we came to government. So if you're starting figure
• 21:21
  Speaker 4: with the COLP was eight hundred and five. What they're
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: also doing is only picking a figure around constables, whereas
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: what that says is nobody else does frontline. So since
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: that time, we've also got an additional forty sergeants who
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: also do frontline work. But we've also got huge numbers
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: of auxiliaries. So the auxiliaries actually are sworn police officers.
• 21:44
  Speaker 4: They are also members of the NTPA, so they're members.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: What they're saying is they're not frontline police officers, but
• 21:50
  Speaker 4: when you walk into a police station, what you find
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: is a police auxiliary or a constable at the front line.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: So they're doing frontline work, which allows the more constables
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: to be out on the beat at the time. But
• 22:02
  Speaker 4: instead of looking also at all of those figures. We
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: currently have eight hundred and sixty six constables at the moment,
• 22:10
  Speaker 4: we also have an extra sixty five in training, so
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: very shortly we'll have an additional sixty five and by
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: the end of this month we'll have an additional forty
• 22:19
  Speaker 4: five constables. So if we're just talking about constables, by
• 22:23
  Speaker 4: the end of July, sworn constable numbers will be nine
• 22:26
  Speaker 4: hundred and thirty one. So I hate to be technical
• 22:29
  Speaker 4: with data coding, We don't usually get into the weeds here,
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: but there's been some misinformation and can I say good
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: on the NTPA. We are really working hard on a
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: good relationship with them. But this is obviously an advancement
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: of us doing a resource looking at the resources in depth.
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: And of course they want to say we want more,
• 22:46
  Speaker 4: and that's their job to do that, but they're ignoring
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: their membership. So if we're talking about frontline officers, you
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: have to include those sergeants. You have to include all
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: of those police auxiliaries and Aboriginal community police officers who
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: do frontline work.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: So you're saying that there are more police, and I
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: know the line that we hear from the government very
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: often is there's more police than ever before two.
• 23:08
  Speaker 4: Hundred and thirty additional policements when we came to government
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: in twenty sixteen. They are whether there are know a.
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: Lot of people will be questioning though, and look, I
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: understand the numbers that you're saying, but whether there is enough?
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: You know, Georgie, I know that you'd run a story
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: I think it was last night when you look at
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: some of those crime stats over yeah, correct, I mean
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: talk us through some of what you reported last night,
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: and then when you look at the impact that that
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: has obviously on those frontline offices.
• 23:35
  Speaker 5: Well, I mean the stats were from the Australian Burea
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: of Cystics. So last year there was an addition that
• 23:40
  Speaker 5: was around one thousand people that had been victim I
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: think just of motor vehicle thefts, which was up around
• 23:45
  Speaker 5: forty percent from the previous year. And obviously we have
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: COVID in there a few years ago. Twenty twenty was
• 23:50
  Speaker 5: when we saw the lowest, but that's still you know,
• 23:53
  Speaker 5: ten thousand assault victims just last year alone, which is
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: crazy and we obviously always say we never land the
• 24:00
  Speaker 5: police for doing their job. They're doing everything they can
• 24:02
  Speaker 5: with the restources. But even listening to the Coronal Inquest
• 24:05
  Speaker 5: the other day, eighty percent or over of all of
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: the call outs for general duties are for domestic violence.
• 24:11
  Speaker 5: So they're doing as much as they can. So you know,
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: how many police do you actually think we need?
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: So we're doing now stepping into a point, We're going
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: to do a body of work and do a review
• 24:19
  Speaker 4: around place resourcing. That's not just about bodies and numbers.
• 24:23
  Speaker 4: It's much more complicated than that. We have. We've got
• 24:26
  Speaker 4: the electronic rostering project underway, which will show us the
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: gaps really clearly.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Tonay's and Finn about that, and he said that it
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: really isn't required, that you don't really need electronic monitoring
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: or the electronics.
• 24:39
  Speaker 4: Elsewhere. Now, yes, so that wasn't That was a revelation
• 24:43
  Speaker 4: quite recently and I've made that made that comment before
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: publicly that we were told and advised at one point
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: that we had to wait for the electronic rostering which
• 24:51
  Speaker 4: will be done by the end of the year to
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: show the gaps. And it will show the gaps. But
• 24:54
  Speaker 4: what we also know is we can do some data
• 24:56
  Speaker 4: mining in some other areas and interrogation of ours the
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: data and that trike's already start.
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: So that review has already started.
• 25:03
  Speaker 4: So we're going to get an independent review to do
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: the financial and the structural review that will well, I'm
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: calling it a resources review because all of that, whether
• 25:12
  Speaker 4: it's human bodies or it's funding, they have to match.
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: So if you've got x amount you need in it,
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: you've got a shortfall and it's say of one hundred officers,
• 25:21
  Speaker 4: you need the resourcing to go with that. That work
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: will be done within the next six months.
• 25:25
  Speaker 5: In terms of the police officers though, obviously we've seen
• 25:27
  Speaker 5: a lot of experienced officers leave the force, and it's
• 25:31
  Speaker 5: great that we're getting new recruits in, but they're junior
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: officers being sent out to places that need desperate help.
• 25:37
  Speaker 5: How do we attract more people in Obviously, you know,
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: Michael Murphy is saying that there's a twenty thousand dollar
• 25:43
  Speaker 5: moving fee that you can have, so obviously that will
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: help attract people and showing how many people you have left.
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: The force are actually coming back.
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: So I do know, No, I don't actually have the
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: exact figure, but we do know that. You know, we're
• 25:55
  Speaker 4: fielding phone calls from people that have gone into state
• 25:59
  Speaker 4: that want to come. We're working with the NTPA because
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: at the moment, if you say you're a sergeant somewhere
• 26:04
  Speaker 4: else and you want to come in at level, that's
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: not the case at the moment, and there's a good
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: reason for that, because if you're constable and you want
• 26:10
  Speaker 4: to progress in your job and a job becomes available,
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: you don't once someone's coming in from on the side.
• 26:16
  Speaker 4: But we're working through that with the NTPA about coming
• 26:20
  Speaker 4: to some sort of a compromise to allow those police,
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: senior police to come in. We do have a number
• 26:27
  Speaker 4: of people that are seeking to come back to work
• 26:29
  Speaker 4: with us, and Michael Murphy is working with those directly.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Katie, how many times have we heard Atasha Files say
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: that we have more police than ever before?
• 26:39
  Speaker 4: She said it all the time.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: But do you know who doesn't believe her territories and
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: our police don't leave her. You've got all these stats
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: going on, but at the end of the day, we
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: have record levels of crime, as Georgie reported on nine
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: News last night, in every facet, and yet we have
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: we don't have more police to deal with that crime,
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: and more than when you're in government.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: And I want to go to a point that's made
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: with us quite often, and that is about the police
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: stations and whether they are or are not opened. Now
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: I will read out part of a post that was
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: posted by Nigel Brown, the CEO of Larachie Development Corporation,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: earlier in the week. Now he'd said, my eldest daughter intervened.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: I did get his We did get his permission to
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: read this out through the week. My eldest daughter intervened
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: in a serious assault on three young girls at Casarina
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: Bus Exchange by a much larger group of older girls.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: She drove them to the Casarina Police station for their
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: protection and to report the incident. The station's front doors
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: were closed. This wasn't midnight, this was yesterday afternoon. Now
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: he goes through obviously his experience and the fact that
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: he's lived here for a very long time, and you know,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: and he said that he's while he is immensely proud
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: of his strong daughter, who has a heart of gold
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: and an even stronger sense of justice. I asked the question,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: of all those impositions of power and influence, why was
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: the station closed? Why did these three terrified young girls
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: have to wait for their parents to come and pick
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: them up because there was no one at the Casarina
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Police station to help. Now, that's not the only instance
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: where we've been told that. The Nightcliffe Police Station has
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: been another one where we've had that raised with this.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: So I guess, Kate, you know, the concern is that
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: while we may have more police officers on the ground,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: and while we may have more offices around the Northern Territory,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: people are really questioning that if they are not able
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: to actually particularly in that situation, we've got these young
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: girls absolutely, who've gone through that pretty terrifying situation. I
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: would imagine you front up to the police station and
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: you're not able to speak twenty one.
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: So that's a conversation that I've had with the Acting Commissioner,
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: and we're really keen to make sure there's much more
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: accessibility of those police stations. We did see a number
• 28:48
  Speaker 4: of them close their doors during COVID. We need to
• 28:51
  Speaker 4: make sure that we get back to that and what
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: we need for that. That will all fall part of
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: that review, Katie, and it is important work to do.
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: I don't know why that was open, because it actually
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: should have been. My understanding is that those front those
• 29:05
  Speaker 4: you know, those police stations like Casarina and Nightcliffe are
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: open between eight and four thirty. That's my understanding as
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: a shop front. They also have an after ours buzza
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: there which should get them a response. So I saw
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: that yesterday from Nigel. We'll be making sure that we're
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: following that up for him on no environments.
• 29:22
  Speaker 2: Are out and about well after four thirty in the afternoon, Like,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: why can't someone go and get help from a police station?
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, isn't that why we spend millions of dollars
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: having that sort of frontal.
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: Criminals are out and about and so are police officers,
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: so you're just you're just saying they're not there. They
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: might be actually out on a job, but you can't
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: just say, oh, criminals are out twenty four to seven,
• 29:39
  Speaker 4: because well, police are out twenty four to seven.
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: Throw away like.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: About in the situation though, like the Nightcliffe police station
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: where we do have a lot of people who contact
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: us pretty regularly going we've got this massive police station
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: there and we're not actually able to you know, to
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: access the police.
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: There are a lot of police officers actually already working
• 29:59
  Speaker 4: out there. You Vision is out there, and there's another
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: crime division out there, so they are actually so the
• 30:04
  Speaker 4: school based Constable Coordination Group is out there as well.
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: We're looking at other putting other operations out into that
• 30:12
  Speaker 4: space at the moment, but its front counter should be
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: open between eight and four thirty is my understanding. But
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: we are working to make sure that they are more
• 30:20
  Speaker 4: available and open for longer amounts of time.
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: Should there be more officers in these problem areas, obviously
• 30:25
  Speaker 5: Nightcliff and CAZ where there is police stations. I did
• 30:28
  Speaker 5: a story similar to those girls there was a young
• 30:30
  Speaker 5: man that tried to intervene someone ended up getting bashed.
• 30:33
  Speaker 5: It took an hour for police to arrive and then
• 30:35
  Speaker 5: a subsequent three days to actually get a police statement
• 30:39
  Speaker 5: to the officers. So, you know, all these problem areas,
• 30:41
  Speaker 5: people aren't I don't think, really feeling that safe when
• 30:44
  Speaker 5: they do go to Casurina if there's all of this violence.
• 30:47
  Speaker 4: And I guess there's been a lot of work at Cashurina,
• 30:50
  Speaker 4: and I do want to say a huge shout out
• 30:51
  Speaker 4: to Polly who's worked with the police there manager. Yep,
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: she's the center manager. But there has been an awful
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: lot of work in and around Casharina. I know that
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: around safety for elders, there's been a lot of work
• 31:03
  Speaker 4: around that, and we need to continue to work around
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: those hot spots. We have got an operational antisocial behavior
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: center that's now stood up, that's now looking at those
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: hot spots and different ways of responding through group patrollers.
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: You know, it doesn't all fall on police. It doesn't.
• 31:21
  Speaker 3: And I think that we all understand that.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: We think that the police do an incredible job underwater,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: extremely trying circumstances.
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: But that's a bit of a low blow there Maury.
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: Claire, you're just smart from the side. I do just
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: like I do on getting leadership.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: I do just want to say though, like right now,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: we have got a situation where we know that the
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: coronial inquest is underway. I know that that is still happening,
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: so you know, I'm very cognizant of that. But we
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: talk about the high level of domestic violence, we talk
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: about the volume of calls. You know, we've got a
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: situation where throughout that coronial they did say that there
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: are situations where you should be able to all or
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: they would want to get somebody out to those jobs
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: as quickly as possive, and they're not able to So
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: I think the point that I want to go back
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: to is that we can say we've got, you know,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: all the police we need, or we've got more than
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: we ever have before. But you know, if we're not
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: able to get police out to some of those really
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: critical incidents, and then if you've got young girls in
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: the community of being assaulted and they're not able to
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: access a police officer, if you've got a bloke who's
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: been bashed, as Georgie had covered earlier this week, they're
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: the kinds of things that people are going, Okay, we
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: might have more police than ever before, but they do
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: a really great job and we want them.
• 32:37
  Speaker 4: So the question is, Katie, do we have enough? And
• 32:40
  Speaker 4: we are looking at that very closely and we will
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: make sure that we've got an external look at that.
• 32:44
  Speaker 4: The other thing is is the peace around well being
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: for police. So we knew that at one point in
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: time when I became the Minister, that there was a
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: lot of police officers that are you know, quite rightly
• 32:56
  Speaker 4: off on leave for a variety Plus we also had
• 32:58
  Speaker 4: a backlog of police that were on standing up during
• 33:01
  Speaker 4: COVID that never got their leave their leave entitlement. So
• 33:04
  Speaker 4: we had this sort of a lag where police were
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: taking are taking their leave from that COVID period. Plus
• 33:10
  Speaker 4: some of them are sick. There's been an incredible amount
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: of work that stood up in that space to make
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: sure that not only do we have those numbers, but
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: they're able to come to work and feel safe and
• 33:19
  Speaker 4: supported at work in their job. So we've done all
• 33:22
  Speaker 4: of that work with them. That will take time to
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: embed itself, but it's really positive. I went to the
• 33:27
  Speaker 4: launch of the well Being strategy the other day and
• 33:30
  Speaker 4: all the families were coming in because it's not just
• 33:31
  Speaker 4: about the officer, it's about their families making sure that
• 33:34
  Speaker 4: they are feeling supported. So all of that will come together.
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: Okay, we are going to have to wrap up.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: I just want to ask you very quickly though, as
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: in just to go to some ads, but I do
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: just want to ask with that review, it's going to
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: happen in the next six months, you see, Well, he's
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: going to be in six months.
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: Will it be made public?
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: I can't see the problem with that now, But I'm
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: reluctant in my experience to say yes. But I can't
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: see that there's a problem with that at the moment.
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: It depends what information is in there and how you know,
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: it might identify different people in it, and all those
• 34:04
  Speaker 4: sorts of things. So at this point I would think
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: that that's not a problem.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: We're going to take a very short break. You are
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: listening to Mix one oh four nine's three sixty. You
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: are listening to the week that was, And if you've
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: just joined us, Marie Claire Boothby, Kate Warden and Georgie
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: Dickerson joining us in the studio this morning. Now, one
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: of the topics that we have been talking about throughout
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: this week. If you've been listening over the last few days,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: you'd know that we have spoken about the ABC's report
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: about fuel disclosure records showing that backbench MLA Duran Young
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: spent more than seven thousand dollars in fuel purchases over
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: a four month period from December twenty twenty two. So
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: the ABC reported of this, more than two and a
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: half thousand dollars was spent on private travel in New
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: South Wales and Queensland. The records also show that the
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: Northern Territories Attorney General Chancey Paike racked up more than
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: seven hundred dollars in fuel costs on a private on
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: private travel driving between Adelaide and the Northern Territory between
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Boxing Day and January seven. Now we know that from
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: what I from the info I've been given by the
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Speaker's office, it is within the entitlements, which obviously are
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: determined by the Renunerration Tribunal in determination published annually. But
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: I think what it has shown is that a lot
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: of people are sort of going, well, hang on a
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: sec does it pass the pub test? Is it just
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: because it's an entitlement? Is it the right thing? To
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: do to be racking up or to be using your
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: taxpayer funded fuel card interstate when you're not on taxpayers work.
• 35:36
  Speaker 3: And no, it doesn't pass the pub test.
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: I don't think technically obviously they've done the right thing.
• 35:41
  Speaker 5: They've asked for permission, So technically on that side, I
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: don't think they've.
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: Done anything wrong.
• 35:44
  Speaker 5: But seven grand in a few months, there's quite a
• 35:47
  Speaker 5: lot of money on fuel.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: Can I eat is there's a bit that's sort of
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: missing in that, Katie, and that is when you become
• 35:52
  Speaker 4: an elected member, you get an option. Yeah, so you
• 35:54
  Speaker 4: get an option of a private car or a government vehicle.
• 35:57
  Speaker 4: I've always opted for a private car because at the
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: end of that time you can keep your vehicle.
• 36:03
  Speaker 3: Because you pay for it, like as you're getting for it.
• 36:04
  Speaker 4: So but you get that allowance, So you get an
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: amount of allowance. So at the end of my tenure,
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: I'll keep my car that I've put that money into,
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: and you use it for fuel and registration and all
• 36:12
  Speaker 4: of the other things. But also you're using it for
• 36:14
  Speaker 4: private use because it's your car. So but when you're
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: I think when you're a Bush member, if you take
• 36:21
  Speaker 4: a private car, you need a very robust vehicle and
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: at the end of your tenure it's probably going to
• 36:26
  Speaker 4: be quite worn out and used. So I know that
• 36:29
  Speaker 4: with some Bush members. A lot of US town members
• 36:33
  Speaker 4: opt for a private vehicle. I think Marie Claire probably
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: has a private vehicle because we've both got ours badged up.
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: But you know they've opted for government vehicles. It's the
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: same like we get. I've always said this, I'm very clear.
• 36:46
  Speaker 4: We get twenty five thousand dollars a year for a vehicle,
• 36:48
  Speaker 4: and that's what you spend that twenty five and it's
• 36:50
  Speaker 4: an allowance, so you need to spend that allowance on
• 36:53
  Speaker 4: that vehicle.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: Fuel limits on those fuel cards?
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Is that like for the members that the other option
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: where they have a government fleet car or a government vehicle,
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: is there a limit on how much they can spend
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: on fuel?
• 37:06
  Speaker 5: What?
• 37:06
  Speaker 4: I believe that would be the same amount. It's about
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: twenty five thousand dollars a year that would be on
• 37:11
  Speaker 4: a vehicle that is the case. I believe I'd have
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: to ask for that. I mean, you know, you wouldn't
• 37:16
  Speaker 4: travel all year round into state. But I think the
• 37:19
  Speaker 4: fact is is that they do do long distances in
• 37:22
  Speaker 4: those vehicles. Seven thousand dollars is higher obviously because he
• 37:25
  Speaker 4: did a lot of driving in that time. But we
• 37:28
  Speaker 4: all do a lot of driving in our vehicles, and
• 37:31
  Speaker 4: nobody queries about how much private use we actually have
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: in our own vehicles anyway, But we get the allowance.
• 37:36
  Speaker 4: So there's two options, and this is something definitely for
• 37:39
  Speaker 4: the real numeras renumeration Tribunal. It's been the same forever
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: and a day.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: Is my underchanged in two thousand and six, I believers
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: when it changed to include the fuel card, that's my
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: understanding based on what the information that I've been provided
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: by the speakers.
• 37:55
  Speaker 3: Of first I thought it was as well for my time. Yeah,
• 37:58
  Speaker 3: but look, I.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Mean the thing is, I don't think anybody's got a
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: real issue with, you know, with the vehicle allowance or
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: with those vehicles being used into state. But I think
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: what people are going hang on a say, how far
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: do you take this is when you're using a fuel
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: card to actually pay for your travel into state holidaying around.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: Yes, and we're not every minutes that you've spoken to
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: Katie and on Channel nine News basically defend and back
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: these labor members for you have the same entitlement for
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: using those fuel cards. And just because it's in the determination,
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. I mean,
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: we have territorianes who are suffering high cost of living
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: and you've still all these don't care about stuff. Would
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: you use it, Murray Claire, I would not go into
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: state and travel around on the taxpayers perse.
• 38:42
  Speaker 4: You will in your own private car. So I'm just
• 38:44
  Speaker 4: here's a question for you.
• 38:45
  Speaker 3: But you'd pay for your own petrol.
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: So I get twenty five thousand dollars a year for
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: my vehicle. I don't pay petrol because I have an
• 38:52
  Speaker 4: electric vehicle. One of my car is electric. So but
• 38:56
  Speaker 4: I would ask that question, Murray Claire. You've got a
• 38:59
  Speaker 4: private vehicle which you get government taxpayer money to pay for.
• 39:03
  Speaker 4: When you go over the border, do you suddenly use
• 39:06
  Speaker 4: money out of your bank that's separate to your car allowance?
• 39:08
  Speaker 4: Are you saying that, because if you're saying.
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: No, this is very different. Like I think you're blurring
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: the two lines.
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: Being clear. Maybe I'm not being clear. There's two schemes
• 39:19
  Speaker 4: that you can opt. You can for twenty five thousand
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: dollars a year, which is given to you. There is
• 39:24
  Speaker 4: no checks and balances around spending it. It's an allowance,
• 39:27
  Speaker 4: but you put it back into your car. That's fuel, right,
• 39:29
  Speaker 4: So we could actually Mary Claire could be actually driving
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: her car. Hang on a moment, Mary Claire could be
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: driving her car into state now using money over twenty
• 39:38
  Speaker 4: five thousand dollars on fuel, which is taxpayer payer money,
• 39:41
  Speaker 4: and hiding behind that and then saying those that opted
• 39:44
  Speaker 4: for the other scheme are doing the wrong thing. Doesn't
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: all of those can't let.
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: Me do it this way?
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: Then, So let's go by Durand's fuel records for a
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: four month period. So you're talking here about seven thousand
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: dollars over a few month over that twelve month period,
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: if he continues traveling at that's right, that's twenty one
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars twenty one grand plus a car that you're
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: driving around for free on the taxpayer's dime. So that's
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: where I think it's time.
• 40:11
  Speaker 4: You did some holiday travel. You wouldn't do that twelve
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: months of the year.
• 40:14
  Speaker 5: That was a lot of holiday travel all around New
• 40:16
  Speaker 5: South Wales, around traveling.
• 40:19
  Speaker 3: Box spend of taxpayers money.
• 40:21
  Speaker 6: So would you take your car across the border Murray Claire, Well,
• 40:24
  Speaker 6: I would not use taxpayer money for my interstate true,
• 40:27
  Speaker 6: so you wouldn't use that I spent fuel personally your
• 40:31
  Speaker 6: allowance money.
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: So essentially, like again, I'll go back to that fuel,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: the amount that you're using on fuel and using the
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: fuel card interstate. Nobody is disputing the vehicle being used
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: into state. People are going, hang on a second, should
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: you be paying for your petrol on the taxpayer's dime?
• 40:52
  Speaker 4: Essentially, if you're taking out of your allowance to do
• 40:54
  Speaker 4: the same thing, it's the same thing, Katie. So Mary
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: Clay's nothing here about I would actually ask for those
• 41:02
  Speaker 4: of us there own private vehicles, how many of us
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: have taken them over the line and used our car allowance.
• 41:06
  Speaker 4: It's the same thing. This is a matter for the
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: tribunal to determine, and I would think given the publicity lately,
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: maybe they're going to look at that. They're going to
• 41:15
  Speaker 4: have to I think it's an absolutely privilege to get
• 41:17
  Speaker 4: the allowance to have a vehicle to be able to
• 41:20
  Speaker 4: do and deliver on my job properly. So this is
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: a question for that tribunal. They sit every single year
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: and review our allowances and the rigor around that. And
• 41:29
  Speaker 4: I think if these are valid questions then.
• 41:32
  Speaker 3: They will look at it.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: I think those are it doesn't mean sure, Look we
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: are going to have to take it. We're going to
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: have to take a very short break. You are listening
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: to Mix one O four nines three sixty. It is
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: the week that was. You are listening to Mix one
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: O four nines three sixty. It is the week that
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: was in the studio with us this morning Murray clear
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: Booth by Kate Warden and Georgia Dickinson. And well, let's
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: talk about these parking fees very quickly. In the CBD
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: City of Darwin have announced it Saturday on stream. Parking
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: fees are going to be reintroduced in Zone A only
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: in Darwin, CBD, effective from the first of August.
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: Might ask if I can borrow someone's field card to
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: pay my own.
• 42:12
  Speaker 4: Katie, you're disgrace.
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: Just telling that market is coming.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Now, what do you think of these of these parking fees?
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: So I don't know, my god, i't mind it's only
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: two dollars and for me, I don't want people parking
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: there all day. But I can understand why it's going
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: to have an impact for some people.
• 42:30
  Speaker 4: I think the reason that it got taken away, Katie
• 42:32
  Speaker 4: was because people wanted people to be able to park
• 42:34
  Speaker 4: in the city quite close to shops, so it's a
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: bit of a balancing act. I wouldn't want to be
• 42:39
  Speaker 4: on the council right now making that decision, but I
• 42:42
  Speaker 4: enjoyed free parking. I thought it was a good incentive
• 42:45
  Speaker 4: for people to shop in the city, particularly when you've
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: got air conditioning centers that they're up against. So I
• 42:51
  Speaker 4: probably wouldn't have voted for it, but that's no longer
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: on council.
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: I think it's it is a real concern because we
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: do have our city retail who you know, they haven't
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: had a great time recently with a lot of antisocial
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: behavior that's been going on, plus you know, just a
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: low trade anyway, and I think that having an extra
• 43:10
  Speaker 2: disincentive to charge people to park in front of their stores,
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: like I know that they would not be happy about this,
• 43:16
  Speaker 2: and I really hope that council listened to the retailers
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: about that.
• 43:20
  Speaker 5: On the devils advocates side, I could have encouraged more
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: people through the CBD. If people have to move after
• 43:25
  Speaker 5: two hours, if they don't want to keep paying, then
• 43:27
  Speaker 5: therefore we've got another car coming through shopping.
• 43:30
  Speaker 3: It could on that flip side be something moving.
• 43:33
  Speaker 5: Look, I'd rather not pay for parking, but if it's
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: two bucks.
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Well you could be like me and start the app
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: and then forget to turn it off.
• 43:42
  Speaker 3: That's me every time you go and remember and you
• 43:51
  Speaker 3: just keep buying. Well, we are going to have to
• 43:53
  Speaker 3: wrap up. Thank you all so very much for your
• 43:55
  Speaker 3: time this morning.
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: Very clear.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: He can I just give a shout out to the
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: Parmesan Boxing class who are really striving to get new
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: committee members on board. They're looking to do some more
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: youth activities and parmesans, so if anyone wants to join,
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: please get in touch.
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: Kate Warden, thank you, Thank you Katie.
• 44:09
  Speaker 4: And if I can give it a last minute plug
• 44:10
  Speaker 4: as I did this morning with the mixed crew, it's
• 44:14
  Speaker 4: not too late to sign up for the Grand Fondo
• 44:16
  Speaker 4: one Sunday. It's a nice early ride. You can do
• 44:18
  Speaker 4: the family run, you could do the twenty two k's
• 44:20
  Speaker 4: if you're like me, you can do the fifty two
• 44:21
  Speaker 4: k's struggle through but the polypedal luck yeah, absolutely, you'll
• 44:26
  Speaker 4: be fine. We'll be done and dusted within maybeast five hours.
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: Fantastic fantastic.
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but people can still hop on today and sign up.
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: Just have that first crack, get on your bike.
• 44:35
  Speaker 3: Good stuff, Georgie, thank you, first time in wonderful to have.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: It with you.
• 44:39
  Speaker 3: My shot UT's territory day.
• 44:40
  Speaker 5: Go buy some crackers and set the friend Saturday and
• 44:43
  Speaker 5: a safe way.
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: Thank you all so much for your time this morning.
• 44:48
  Speaker 3: You are listening to Mix one O four nine and
• 44:50
  Speaker 3: that was the week that was