Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / CLP senate candidate Jacinta Price says the unrest in Wadeye epitomises the need for police to carry guns in communities, and calls for defence to deployed.

Transcript

CLP senate candidate Jacinta Price says the unrest in Wadeye epitomises the need for police to carry guns in communities, and calls for defence to deployed. · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that just last week we were talking about
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the terrible situation unfolding in What Air. There were homes destroyed,
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: people injured, and calls now for some greater support to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: be deployed to the region. We know though, that the
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: COLP Senate candidate Center Price has also said that the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: unrest has epitomized the need for police to carry guns
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  Speaker 1: in community, while also calling for defense to be deployed.
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  Speaker 1: And she joins me on the line right now. Good
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  Speaker 1: morning to you, Jacinta.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. How are you?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, really well, thank you, just Sinda. Why did you
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  Speaker 1: see or why do you feel the situation in What Air?
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  Speaker 1: Why has it prompted you to call for those guns
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  Speaker 1: to continue to be used in communities.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's been put to me often whether I agree
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  Speaker 2: that guns should be removed from communities, and I don't agree.
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  Speaker 2: I don't agree that that should be the case. And
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  Speaker 2: we've got a prime example here of what's going on
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  Speaker 2: with What Air. Community safety and vulnerable people in those
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  Speaker 2: communities and their safety, that is what should be first
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  Speaker 2: and foremost. You know, I understand also the people on
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  Speaker 2: communities themselves use guns for hunting, so that would mean
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  Speaker 2: that those would be removed from them if that were
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  Speaker 2: to be the call. But ultimately it is about community safety,
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  Speaker 2: and I know that our police force are under an
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  Speaker 2: immense pressure and they can't they can't. It appears as
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  Speaker 2: though they can't even you know, don't even have the
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  Speaker 2: resources to be able to deal with the circumstances that
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  Speaker 2: they're currently faced with in some way like what air.
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  Speaker 2: And to me that for the people that are vulnerable
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  Speaker 2: in those situations, it would be absolutely frightening. Its absolutely
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  Speaker 2: frightening for them.
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  Speaker 1: I know that the situation and what it's like, it
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  Speaker 1: seems last week some of that vision that came out
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  Speaker 1: was pretty terrifying stuff. And you think of women out there,
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  Speaker 1: you think of kids out there, and the fact that
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  Speaker 1: you know, in some instances it sounds as though there
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  Speaker 1: are not homes small than me that right now.
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  Speaker 2: That's right. I mean, if you can imagine your house
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  Speaker 2: being set on fire and the threat of violence coming
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  Speaker 2: at you, I mean, we talk, this is Australia in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, and this is what's going on in
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  Speaker 2: our own backyards and it shouldn't be happening this way.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's been described in some cases as all
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  Speaker 2: out war, and I would imagine that that would be
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  Speaker 2: absolutely terrifying for people in those houses. And ultimately, I
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  Speaker 2: think the wider public want to know what the gunn
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  Speaker 2: of government are doing about this. Are they holding to
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  Speaker 2: account those individuals who have caused this harm, who have
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  Speaker 2: burnt these houses? Are calling them to account? Now? Are
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  Speaker 2: they facing the consequences of their actions? That's what we'd
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  Speaker 2: like to know.
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  Speaker 1: And Jacintha, I understand that you've also said that you
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  Speaker 1: know that potentially the defense force needs to be called
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  Speaker 1: in in this situation out there.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I guess I've asked do they need to be
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  Speaker 2: called in? Is this a situation where they should be
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  Speaker 2: called in? When it comes to peacekeeping? I mean, as
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  Speaker 2: I said, it's been described as all out war. We
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  Speaker 2: need a peacekeeping efforts to take place in our own
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  Speaker 2: backyard and that's what our ADF has been tasked with
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  Speaker 2: doing previously. Is this what needs to happen now? I
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  Speaker 2: know that there's been ahead of an indigenous organization who
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  Speaker 2: had a personal word to me who said he was
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  Speaker 2: very concerned, particularly about the possibility of alcohol being released
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  Speaker 2: into these communities. And he put it to me, well,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I hate to say it, But is this
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  Speaker 2: where the FEDS need to step in because the territory
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  Speaker 2: government is failing?
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  Speaker 1: And I guess that is another part of this discussion,
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  Speaker 1: and we've spoken about it quite a bit on this show.
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  Speaker 1: Alcohol in the communities and the fact that the change
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  Speaker 1: to legislation which is set to come into play. I
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  Speaker 1: know that Parliament resumes obviously next week. The change which
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  Speaker 1: is set to come into play is going to have
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  Speaker 1: a big impact.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 1: We spoke to the Health Minister about this last week.
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  Speaker 1: I'll play just a little bit of the audio for
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  Speaker 1: you because it was something that we've been asking lots
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  Speaker 1: of questions about and there was quite a bit of confusion.
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  Speaker 1: Take and listen to what she'd told us on the
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  Speaker 1: show last week. From July. Once that legislation passes from July,
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  Speaker 1: they will be able to have alcohol in that community
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  Speaker 1: unless they're community leaders opt to not allow that takeaway alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: Correct, Would it be.
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  Speaker 1: A better option to go the opposite way? And those
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  Speaker 1: that have been dry remain dry unless they actually apply
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  Speaker 1: to have that license and it's led by the community.
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  Speaker 3: So we can't legally do that. That would intertwine with
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  Speaker 3: the Anti Discrimination Act in the terature and the Racial
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  Speaker 3: Discrimination Act Commonwealth. So if we're providing that exact legislative framework,
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  Speaker 3: all the community has to do is say we opt in.
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  Speaker 3: There is the ability for them to opt in and
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  Speaker 3: make these decisions in their own time. They just need
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  Speaker 3: to simply opt in, Jacin.
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  Speaker 1: Do you accept that explanation or is it a situation
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  Speaker 1: here where the Northern Territory government could make some different changes,
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  Speaker 1: but they are saying that it also falls on the
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  Speaker 1: hands of the federal government with the Anti Discrimination Act.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think this is the anti government passing the
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  Speaker 2: buck again. They have known for some time now that
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  Speaker 2: the Stronger Futures legislation would be coming to an end,
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  Speaker 2: and they've done buggerall in terms of community consultation to
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  Speaker 2: talk to communities about how they would like to progress forward.
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  Speaker 2: They're using trigger terms like, you know, we're removing the intervention,
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  Speaker 2: but what does that mean. Does that mean that now
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  Speaker 2: that there's going to be vulnerable children in those communities.
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  Speaker 2: Let's not forget how long ago that there was a
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  Speaker 2: two year old who was raped in a community. Are
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  Speaker 2: they completely forgetting about these children, these vulnerable children and
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  Speaker 2: these women in these communities? You know? And it concerns
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  Speaker 2: me that someone like Sam mcmahonton calls it paternalistic when
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  Speaker 2: she certainly hasn't had to deal with things like ideaing
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  Speaker 2: the body of of your dead cousin after being killed
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  Speaker 2: in an alcohol fuel crash, or dealing with the fallout
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  Speaker 2: and taking care of children whose mother's been stabbed to
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  Speaker 2: death because of alcohol abuse. And these are all things
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  Speaker 2: that I've had to endure it with my own family.
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  Speaker 2: And so this is a very concerning issue about saving lives.
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  Speaker 2: And I know that there are a number of course
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  Speaker 2: indigenous organizations, not just Indigenous organizations, everyday people in the
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  Speaker 2: territory who are concerned about remote about marginalized people and
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  Speaker 2: remote communities who are vulnerable and these circumstances, and quite frankly,
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  Speaker 2: not enough has been done to deal with this, with
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  Speaker 2: this situation right now.
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  Speaker 1: So what do you reckon needs to happen now with
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  Speaker 1: this alcohol legislation, because you know, I guess we've got
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory government saying that they're putting in this
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  Speaker 1: legislative framework so that a community can opt out, but
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  Speaker 1: they don't have the power to do it the other way,
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  Speaker 1: which i'd sort of as you heard in that audio.
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  Speaker 1: I'd asked whether that is what should happen. You know
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  Speaker 1: that they're dry unless they decide to opt in, and
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  Speaker 1: she reckons thats the Northern Territory government doesn't have the
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  Speaker 1: power to do that. That it would need to be
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  Speaker 1: a federal decision.
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  Speaker 2: Well, what I'd say is, then if they want to
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  Speaker 2: opt in, how does that look? What does that look
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  Speaker 2: from her? You know, does that mean just people just
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  Speaker 2: bring in hordes of alcohol into the community. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I'm for communities making well informed decisions about education around alcohol,
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  Speaker 2: the idea of social clubs in communities, that that should
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  Speaker 2: be a well informed, slow process with all the right
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  Speaker 2: mechanisms in place to ensure that it can be done
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  Speaker 2: appropriately for four particular communities that see that that could
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  Speaker 2: happen in their community. But simply just opening the floodgates
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  Speaker 2: that that seriously is so extremely dangerous. And of course
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  Speaker 2: the territory government are responsible for reporting back to the
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  Speaker 2: federal government as to how communities feel, what the next
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  Speaker 2: processes and the next steps would be. But to me,
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  Speaker 2: it almost feels like they would prefer the high crime
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  Speaker 2: rate that's going on that's fueled by alcohol in our
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  Speaker 2: towns and cities to be taken back out bush again,
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  Speaker 2: out aside, out of mind.
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  Speaker 1: Before I let you go, Jacinta, I've got a question
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  Speaker 1: here from Jeff, one of our listeners. He's wondering where
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  Speaker 1: are the elders in this situation and are they stepping
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  Speaker 1: in to discuss these issues that you're speaking about this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Have you had the opportunity to go out to what
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  Speaker 1: Air and have you spoken to them?
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  Speaker 2: I personally haven't had the opportunity to go out to
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  Speaker 2: the What Air as yet, and I would hope to
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  Speaker 2: wait till the situation settles down a bit before I do.
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  Speaker 2: But I know that I know that Melanderry has had
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  Speaker 2: a conversation and I'd like to know what those conversations were,
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  Speaker 2: what Labor is going to do to be able to
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  Speaker 2: support these people, that it's not just empty promises. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we have heard very little from the member for Daily Duran.
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  Speaker 2: We hear very little from a lot of the Labor
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  Speaker 2: members about the issues that are going on in their electorates,
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  Speaker 2: and we'd like to know what is going on. The
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  Speaker 2: wider community is concerned and we do want to know.
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  Speaker 1: Well. We are due to catch up with with Arian
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  Speaker 1: scrim draw in a couple of moments time as well,
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  Speaker 1: so we'll hear her perspective, but just enterprice. I really
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  Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks for having a chat
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  Speaker 1: with us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Thank you