Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Senator Jacinta Price opens up about a cowardly attack on her 78-year-old grandmother in Yuendumu

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Senator Jacinta Price opens up about a cowardly attack on her 78-year-old grandmother in Yuendumu · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: And we know that. Prominent Indigenous leader, Senator just Enter
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  Speaker 1: Price has shared a shocking photograph of her injured grandmother
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  Speaker 1: and pleaded for Australians to stop turning a blind eye
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  Speaker 1: to violence within remote communities now. She said that the
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  Speaker 1: brutal assault on her grandmother, who attended her swearing in ceremony,
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  Speaker 1: resulted in the elderly woman's head being split open. She
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  Speaker 1: shared the photograph of her grandma and I tell you
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  Speaker 1: what it is. It's absolutely terrible and it's really very
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  Speaker 1: sad to see. Just Enterprice joins me on the line
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  Speaker 1: right now. Good morning to you, Senator.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Can you tell me how did this assault unfold on
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  Speaker 1: your grandma.
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  Speaker 2: It's been a result of family feuding that's gone on
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  Speaker 2: out of the community of Hindermoo. It seems to have
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  Speaker 2: stepped up. The level of violence in Yindamoo has increased
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  Speaker 2: recently and prior to this incident taking place, my grandmother
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  Speaker 2: and aunts have called me because of their concern around
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  Speaker 2: the threats of violence being made on them and they
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  Speaker 2: feel unsafe. They don't feel like there's enough of a
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  Speaker 2: police presence in the community or that they can call
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  Speaker 2: on police. Immediately enough to deal with these problems. And
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  Speaker 2: as a result, my grandmother was attacked. She's had to
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  Speaker 2: receive five stitches in her head because of this attack.
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  Speaker 2: And she's a seventy eight year old woman. You know,
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  Speaker 2: no woman at that age should be living with this
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  Speaker 2: sort of threat on their life all the time.
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  Speaker 1: How is she going now following on from that assault.
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  Speaker 2: Well, she's out of the hospital. She's you know, obviously
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  Speaker 2: taking it very easy and staying at home. There's always
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  Speaker 2: sort of the threat, the possibility of the threat flaring
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  Speaker 2: up again. My nieces, so my cousin's sons are also
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  Speaker 2: who are quite young for six years old, have been
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  Speaker 2: threatened with violence as well, threatened to be stabbed. Like
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  Speaker 2: you know, if no child should have this kind of
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  Speaker 2: threat around them, you shouldn't have to feel for the safety,
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  Speaker 2: you know, feel worried for the safety of your own children.
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  Speaker 2: But this is what goes on at a place like Hindmo.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's not just Demo. We've seen outbreak of
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  Speaker 2: violence up in whatever. And to think that in Australia
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  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two, that there's this level of threat
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  Speaker 2: going on in any sort of community in this country,
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's just it's appalling and it shouldn't be happening.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's absolutely mortifying. And you know, then we've got
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  Speaker 1: a situation obviously today where the federal governments say that
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  Speaker 1: they're going to be releasing an updated plan which aims
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  Speaker 1: to end violence against women and children within ten years.
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  Speaker 1: They say that this plan had input from the states
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  Speaker 1: and territory, survivors and organizations who help victims deal with
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  Speaker 1: the aftermath. Senator, how far do you think a plan
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  Speaker 1: like this will go in a community like you and
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  Speaker 1: demou for example, Well, I think.
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  Speaker 2: Any plan has to actually recognize where the violence comes from.
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  Speaker 2: And I think in a lot for a lot of organizations,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people have political correctness sort of you know,
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  Speaker 2: masks across their eyes because they don't want to admit
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  Speaker 2: that any sort of level of you know, culture actually
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  Speaker 2: plays a role in the way that violence is accepted
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  Speaker 2: in communities. Certainly, paybacks, the way that paybacks are you know,
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  Speaker 2: carried out, all of those sorts of elements need to
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  Speaker 2: be recognized and tackled from that perspective if we're going
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  Speaker 2: to see any sort of success towards tackling violence. If
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  Speaker 2: you don't have that it's just not going to stop
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  Speaker 2: and when you and in the meantime, there needs to
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  Speaker 2: be more of a police presence in these communities. And
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  Speaker 2: what really disappoints me is the fact that there are
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  Speaker 2: leaders in the community of Yindamu who call for no
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  Speaker 2: more guns, but then they don't call for no more
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  Speaker 2: violence amongst community members or you know, no more other
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  Speaker 2: weapons out in communities. They ignore the fact that there's
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  Speaker 2: the community led violence between community members, instead focusing their
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  Speaker 2: efforts on attacking our police, who we actually need more
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  Speaker 2: of because there's people in those communities who are unsafe.
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  Speaker 1: J Just sin do you've shared the photos of your
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  Speaker 1: grandma on social media? Honestly they make me feel really sad,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and I can't imagine how you feel. Obviously
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  Speaker 1: as her granddaughter, all you want to do is protect her.
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  Speaker 1: What are you hoping is going to come from sharing
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  Speaker 1: those photos and sharing this story?
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  Speaker 2: Well you until all Australians get up their backsides and
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  Speaker 2: demand change, and if they're a demand better for you know,
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  Speaker 2: Ariiginal vulnerable Aboriginal Australians, we're not going to see the
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  Speaker 2: sorts of change that need to take close because it
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  Speaker 2: needs to be a whole entire response from everybody, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the same way that people get up in arms about
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  Speaker 2: climate change or Black Lives Matter. But seriously, this is
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  Speaker 2: this is where people should should actually be calling out
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  Speaker 2: and demanding better for Indigenous Australians to be protected.
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  Speaker 1: Uh.
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  Speaker 2: And certainly community members also need to take responsibility because
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  Speaker 2: because obviously they're the leaders of those communities and until
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  Speaker 2: such time as community members take responsibility, it will continue.
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  Speaker 2: But and you know our police, then something needs to
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  Speaker 2: happen in terms of our police in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Whether it's a royal commission into what the hell is
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  Speaker 2: going on, I'm not sure, but I know that there's
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  Speaker 2: been We all know that there's been not a lot
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  Speaker 2: of confidence in the leadership, and all of that needs
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  Speaker 2: to be seriously looked at because what we're what we're
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  Speaker 2: confronted with cannot continue.
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  Speaker 1: And so do you feel as though there is not
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  Speaker 1: enough police out in various communities at the moment or
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  Speaker 1: just specific for you and to move.
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  Speaker 2: Now? Look, I think it's the circumstances quite across the board,
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  Speaker 2: not just in Yndmu. Obviously, you know there are women
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  Speaker 2: in the community of what who feel like they're unsafe
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  Speaker 2: because you know, when they call for police, they're not
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  Speaker 2: getting an immediate response. That response is coming hours, even
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  Speaker 2: the next day later, and quite often in these communities,
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  Speaker 2: that's the difference between life and death.
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  Speaker 1: You know.
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  Speaker 2: I think communities, even prior to what's going on at
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  Speaker 2: the moment, have been calling for more police presence, better
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  Speaker 2: relationships with some police, sort of long term situations. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's an ongoing issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
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  Speaker 1: Senator, How are things going from your perspective as well
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  Speaker 1: in Alice Springs Right now? We are certainly hearing word
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  Speaker 1: this morning that well that a senior business person has
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  Speaker 1: been punched or king hit in the Alice Springs calls complex.
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  Speaker 1: How are things going from your perspective?
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  Speaker 2: Situation is not getting any better at all. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, daily we're hearing reports of this going on.
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  Speaker 2: You know, no one should feel afraid to run their
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  Speaker 2: own business, to simply go about their lines in this town.
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  Speaker 2: And I hear from business people that quite often they
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  Speaker 2: won't be in their shop without another person after four
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  Speaker 2: o'clock because that's when you know, young kids are terrorizing
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  Speaker 2: people in the community. My own son who's the twenty
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  Speaker 2: three year old. He and his friends both had to
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  Speaker 2: be escorted to their vehicle because they were surrounded by,
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  Speaker 2: you know, eleven year old gang of eleven year old
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  Speaker 2: kids threatening to stab them. And if they actually retaliate
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  Speaker 2: or defend themselves against these kids, they're the ones that
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  Speaker 2: will end up being charged. And you know, this is
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  Speaker 2: the situation we're confronted with. At some point, the community
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  Speaker 2: is going to be at breaking point and people will
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  Speaker 2: take the law into their own hands, and we can't
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  Speaker 2: have that either.
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  Speaker 1: No, that's exactly right. I just enterprise the Senator for
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory. I always appreciate your time. Please pass
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  Speaker 1: on our love and best wishes to your grandmother. I
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  Speaker 1: really hope that she recovers quickly. And I've got to
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  Speaker 1: tell you, I think that everybody listening this morning, if
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  Speaker 1: they've seen those photos, must have been all. I certainly
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  Speaker 1: felt mortified you know that she was in that situation.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, thanks, thanks Katie. I will pass that on
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  Speaker 2: and yeah, I'll demanding for change. We all need to.
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  Speaker 1: Please keep in contact with us, just sintil. We appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your time.
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  Speaker 2: Well do thank you, thank you,