Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Member for Solomon Luke Gosling says a Voice to Parliament would make a big difference to the likes of welfare reform, with information session soon to be held in the NT

Transcript

Member for Solomon Luke Gosling says a Voice to Parliament would make a big difference to the likes of welfare reform, with information session soon to be held in the NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that the first sittings of the year here
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory at always an interesting time. But
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Federal Parliament, well they've also been sitting and there's been
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: quite a lot happening. Now. Joining me on the phone
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  Speaker 1: from Canberra is a Member for Solomon Luke Gosling. Good
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: morning to you, Luke.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie Luke.
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  Speaker 1: Quite a bit of discussion this morning about the Voice
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: after the Northern Territory Parliament moved a motion for the
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: NT Parliament to support it. A lot of the feedback
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: on the text line and that this morning though, has
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: been that people want some more detail.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah right, So has that gone to both yet, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not.
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  Speaker 1: One hundred percent sure. I don't know if they've put
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: it to a vote yet, probably not, because I reckon
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: it only started a bit after ten this morning. But
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  Speaker 1: the colp have sent a statement out. They say that
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  Speaker 1: they've been clear on their position and they want the
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Federal government to come to the territory and sit down
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: with territories and explain what the Voice is and how
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: it's going to make our lives better. They also, though
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: they reckon that today's motions clearly come from the direction
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: of Federal Labor who keep telling the Chief Minister how
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  Speaker 1: to do her job. Is that the case from your perspective.
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  Speaker 2: Luke, No, not all. It's a bit cheeky, but you know,
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  Speaker 2: as far as Alice Springs has gone, obviously the Prime
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  Speaker 2: Minister went down there to talk to people, and certainly
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  Speaker 2: the NT government has got a lot of support from
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  Speaker 2: us for the short time stuff and also for the
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: longer term work that needs to be done there. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I wouldn't have thought that had come from here at all.
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  Speaker 2: But from what I've heard, and I've only just recently
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  Speaker 2: heard about this motion this morning, is it you know
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  Speaker 2: there there's some misunderstanding or maybe in some cases some
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  Speaker 2: deliberate trouble making by people because they're trying to I
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  Speaker 2: guess set it out as an issue of practical action
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  Speaker 2: or the voice, and I think the biggest thing to
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  Speaker 2: understand about what the Voice will do is make sure
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  Speaker 2: we get better outcomes from the decisions that made when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to policies that affect First Nations communities around
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  Speaker 2: the country. And obviously some people have been there in
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  Speaker 2: the Parliament, the Federal Parliament right now talking to all
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  Speaker 2: members from all different political parties to see what other
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  Speaker 2: detail they want, and the Referendum Working Group, it's got
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: liberals like Ken Whittt, the previous Liberal Party Indigenous Affairs
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  Speaker 2: Minister Marshall Langton, Meghan Davis Pit people are that no
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  Speaker 2: old peerson. And the thing is that they've all agreed
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  Speaker 2: to these key things that the Voice is going to
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  Speaker 2: need to do. But what it's going to do from
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  Speaker 2: where I sit and looking at this process has been
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: happening for six years, since since the Ulary Statement was
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  Speaker 2: formed and agreed by representatives from more around the country,
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  Speaker 2: is that it's just going to get a better outcome
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  Speaker 2: because it's going to be going to inform policy, not
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  Speaker 2: a detail on policy, but just advice on what the
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  Speaker 2: best way to do things are. With representatives of Aboriginal
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  Speaker 2: communities and different regions around the country coming together giving
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  Speaker 2: their advice to government. I'll tell you a good example
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  Speaker 2: of where it's going to help to kdios, things like
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  Speaker 2: welfare reform, things like parental responsibility, where it's not going
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  Speaker 2: to be top down Canberra saying you know, we've got
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  Speaker 2: the best way to do things, or we're going to
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  Speaker 2: intervene into the Northern Territory again, but it's going to
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  Speaker 2: be advice from average and representatives that have been supported
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: by their communities about the way forward and get better results.
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  Speaker 1: Luke, I know, look, I'm supportive of the Voice, but
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  Speaker 1: I think, you know, there are a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: that do want some further detail, and I can understand that.
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  Speaker 1: Even for me, you know, I think I just want
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  Speaker 1: to get a better understanding of exactly how it's all
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  Speaker 1: going to work. But one of the concerns that I
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  Speaker 1: had throughout what was going on in Alice Springs and
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  Speaker 1: in Central Australia is that we actually had indigenous voices
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  Speaker 1: that were screaming quite loudly, you know, for some action
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  Speaker 1: to be taken, and they didn't seem to be getting
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  Speaker 1: listened to, you know, and and there seemed to be
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  Speaker 1: quite a long period of time before they were getting
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  Speaker 1: listened to. So how well, and yeah, how do we
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  Speaker 1: look how do you make sure with something like the Voice,
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  Speaker 1: where people are you know, where some people might be
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  Speaker 1: like me, where they're thinking, all right, well, I'm very
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  Speaker 1: supportive of this in theory, but I just want to
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  Speaker 1: know how it's all going to work. How's the federal
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  Speaker 1: government going to to ensure that we do have that
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  Speaker 1: understanding so that we can go to the referendum with
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  Speaker 1: very you know, with an educated view.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we're still and even though it's been
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  Speaker 2: a long process to get to this point, this is
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  Speaker 2: something that's come from their aboriginal leadership around our nation themselves.
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  Speaker 2: As I said, it's been six years since they all
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  Speaker 2: came together in var Root, which is quite amazing that
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  Speaker 2: they agreed on this form of words about how they
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  Speaker 2: think we can get better outcomes into the future. So
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  Speaker 2: we're now at a point where the Prime Minister Anthony
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  Speaker 2: Albane's come to Garma really soon after he became the
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  Speaker 2: Prime minister last year. You'll remember that Katie and at
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  Speaker 2: Garma said, you know, these will be the words that
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  Speaker 2: will put in the referendum. And I guess now what
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  Speaker 2: we're doing through the consultation process is looking at explaining
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  Speaker 2: to Australians and there'll be a yes case and a
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  Speaker 2: no case that people will be able to read. But
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  Speaker 2: I guess people got a lot going on right now
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  Speaker 2: and I think we need to keep in mind that
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be later in the year is referendum,
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  Speaker 2: So I think what we want to see is the
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  Speaker 2: grassroots work continue so that people were informed. Will be
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  Speaker 2: having information sessions in daw and Our Springs, everywhere else
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  Speaker 2: in the territory, in the major centers, so that people
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  Speaker 2: have their questions answered, and by the time it gets
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  Speaker 2: round to the referendum, everyone will be well aware of
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  Speaker 2: what they're voting on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I hope. So, Hey, Luke, let me take you across.
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  Speaker 1: I know that the fifteenth anniversary of the Apology to
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: the Stolen Generation, so the federal government unveiled as part
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  Speaker 1: of that four hundred and twenty four million dollars that
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  Speaker 1: Closing the Gap plan. Is there something in it for
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory that we should be aware of.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot in it for the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 2: and for your listeners, particularly if they were members of
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  Speaker 2: the territory Stolen generations. There is the redress scheme for
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  Speaker 2: the NT for the Act as well, because they were
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  Speaker 2: the responsibility of the Commonwealth and people can still apply
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  Speaker 2: if they were part of the Stolen gen And it
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  Speaker 2: was wonderful to see a couple of territory and territorians
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  Speaker 2: who were members of the Stolen gen here for the
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  Speaker 2: fifteenth anniversary. Kevin Rudd, who obviously gave the apology fifteen
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  Speaker 2: years ago, was here for that and it was a
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  Speaker 2: good event. The practice practicalities of it will mean that
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  Speaker 2: good chunk of that funding will be available for Territorians,
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  Speaker 2: and you know that's obviously very welcome. But I think
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  Speaker 2: it's important for people to understand, and this is in
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  Speaker 2: the context of Alice Springs or wherever else, is that
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  Speaker 2: there's the long term work we need to do with it,
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  Speaker 2: the early childhood education, youth engagement hubs that we've committed
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  Speaker 2: to for Darwin, so the education, health and how peace
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  Speaker 2: which you know we're working on, and that funding is
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  Speaker 2: going to be absolutely vital to closing the gap. But
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  Speaker 2: there's also the short term stuff, and I want to
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  Speaker 2: acknowledge to you and your listeners that we don't hide
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  Speaker 2: from the fact that crime is an issue and is
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  Speaker 2: on people's minds. I think now with the changes that
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: have been made to the alcohol availability, I want to
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  Speaker 2: shout out to the police who are doing a fantastic job.
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  Speaker 2: But also I think it's going to needs to be
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  Speaker 2: an all community effort where we pass on information, where
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  Speaker 2: our people in our suburbs know what's going on, so
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  Speaker 2: we can crack down on those that are not doing
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  Speaker 2: the right thing and we'd sort of moved through this
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  Speaker 2: difficult period together. But it's just on that one side.
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  Speaker 2: There's a supply side we need to attack both.
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  Speaker 1: Just on that. It's not only like there's not only
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  Speaker 1: the issues obviously with alcohol issues and what we see there,
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  Speaker 1: but there's also some really serious issues with youth crime,
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  Speaker 1: like you and I have spoken about before, and it
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  Speaker 1: doesn't seem as though it's only here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: I know that there was a public meeting held in
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  Speaker 1: too Woomba overnight in regional Australia. My understanding as well
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  Speaker 1: is that there was a grandma out of Harvey Bays.
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  Speaker 1: You know that she's got a petition going which I
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  Speaker 1: believe has garnered more than one hundred thousand signatures and
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  Speaker 1: I will double check on that, but a grandma out
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  Speaker 1: of Harvey Bay raising it as a concern as well,
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  Speaker 1: there's no doubt that across Australia at the moment there
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  Speaker 1: is an issue in regional parts of Australia with youth crime.
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  Speaker 1: Is that something that is on the Prime Minister's agenda
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  Speaker 1: and if it's not, is it something that you are
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  Speaker 1: keen to put on his agenda.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's definitely on the agenda. And sorry, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: I'm just walking to the chambers. I've got to give
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  Speaker 2: a speech on the National Reconstruction Fund. But it is
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  Speaker 2: on his agenda. Obviously, law and order is a state
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  Speaker 2: and territory issue, but the Prime Minister knows exactly what's
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  Speaker 2: happened around the country because he's moving around a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Towns is another place where I've heard there's some significant
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  Speaker 2: issues as well as up in the Kimberley. I think
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  Speaker 2: we've been throughning a difficult time obviously with COVID and
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  Speaker 2: their natural disasters. On top of that, there's a lot
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  Speaker 2: of stress. There's a lot of mental illness in various places,
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  Speaker 2: and there's people that aren't feeling connected. And I think,
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  Speaker 2: as I mentioned earlier, it's not all indigenous where these
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  Speaker 2: issues are, but where there are serious issues that do
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  Speaker 2: involve people who don't feel connected and don't feel, for
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  Speaker 2: whatever reason, that they have any responsibility in our society.
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  Speaker 2: We need to rectify that through obviously through the police
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  Speaker 2: and through the courts, but we also need to very
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  Speaker 2: quickly connect people in so that they feel part of society,
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  Speaker 2: they feel valued, and obviously there's various ways that we
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  Speaker 2: can do that. One of the most important ways, though,
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  Speaker 2: is that we listen to the people from within those communities.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's where the voice has got a very
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  Speaker 2: important role to play, whether it comes down to parental
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  Speaker 2: responsibility or just ways in which we can connect people better.
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  Speaker 2: I think if we listen to that advice, we'll get
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  Speaker 2: some better outcomes. And that's what everyone's hope is, because
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  Speaker 2: it can't go on like it is. But at the
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  Speaker 2: end of the day, responsibility needs to be taken. I
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  Speaker 2: think the Voice will play a role in ensuring that
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  Speaker 2: or doing our best to ensure that accountability because they've
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  Speaker 2: listened to those that have some solutions.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Mae, I know that you are rushing back into the chamber.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Have you got one time for a very quick question
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: about the cost of living. We know that the Reserve
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  Speaker 1: Bank governor who was getting grilled yesterday, are we going
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  Speaker 1: to see some movement in this space?
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  Speaker 2: And what did he say? I haven't caught up on
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: those transcrips.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Well, I haven't read through all the transcripts, but I
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: do know that he said, I don't think we're at
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: the peak, yet how far we have to go up.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I don't know. That is obviously in relation to you know,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: to inflation and in relation to those those interest rates.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: It's a struggle for people right now, Luke.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that absolutely is, and I'm going to I can
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: see the treasure in now, so I'm going to grab
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: him and just get get the lowdown on what he
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: had to say and where he thinks it's going, because
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: he'd want to. You know, it's an independent body, obviously,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: the Reserve Bank, and you know there's some smart people there,
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  Speaker 2: but there's also a lot of people hurting and they
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: would want to be defending whatever rag wises they still
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: think are required to bring inflation under control. But meanwhile,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: we're doing everything we can in this place, and we've
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: past legislation today on our housing Australia fun to build
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: more affordable housing for example, but also the cheaper childcare
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: comes in on the first of July and seeing people
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: get real wage risers. There are some of the ways
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: that we're attacking the cost of living. The Northern Territory's
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: done pretty well out of the October budget and I'm
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: expecting the same in the May budget and we'll get together.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: We'll all go forward together if we can just make
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: sure we keep on looking after people that on the
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: bottom run, that we can also realize that people who
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: are aspirational that have got those big mortgages, they need
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: support as well, and that's what we're committed to doing.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Well, Louke Gosling or we'll let you go and grab
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: the treasurer and we'd be keen to have a chat
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to him at some point as well. Always good to
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: catch up with you. Thanks so much for your time
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: this morning.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: Good on your kadie, and I'll let him know that.
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  Speaker 2: But we've also got the Veterans Affairs Minister and the
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Assistant Defense Minister in town this weekend so people can
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: grab them with any questions go as well.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff, and I know that there is plenty
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: on for the bombing of Gallowa and commemorations.
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Thanks like