Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Anthony Albanese discusses with Katie The Issues of Crime Plaguing the Territory, Yunupingu’s memorial, Australia’s gas needs and a potential visit to China amid improving trade relations.

Transcript

Anthony Albanese discusses with Katie The Issues of Crime Plaguing the Territory, Yunupingu’s memorial, Australia’s gas needs and a potential visit to China amid improving trade relations. · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: You are listening to Mix one O four nine's three
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  Speaker 1: sixty now. Anthony Albanzi as well as the Opposition leader
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  Speaker 1: Peter Dutton. They were among friends, family and community members
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  Speaker 1: who joined your news speakers at the memorial for land
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  Speaker 1: rights giant Unipingu in northeast arnam Land yesterday. Dignitaries joined
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  Speaker 1: Unipingu's family to pay their respects at that service. The
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Anthony Albanzi joined me on the line a
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  Speaker 1: little bit earlier this morning after attending the service yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Prime Minister.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. It's good to be back in Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: And it was a magnificent memorial for a great Australian
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  Speaker 2: and a great Indigenous leader in Unipingu yesterday afternoon. I
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  Speaker 2: regarded as an incredible honor to have been there.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Unipingu was remembered fondly for his ability to
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  Speaker 1: walk in two worlds, as well as his advocacy for
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  Speaker 1: Indigenous people. How would you like Australians to remember Unipingu.
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  Speaker 2: As someone who was committed to raising up the aspirations
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  Speaker 2: of his people, as someone who was an extraordinary leader
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  Speaker 2: who's connected with the land rights movement. A direct connection
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  Speaker 2: through the Barunga statement, through the Ikala Park petition, through
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  Speaker 2: the Ularu statement from the heart, but someone who was
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  Speaker 2: absolutely committed to reconciliation. The Gama Festival is an extraordinary
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  Speaker 2: celebration of First Nations culture and all of us who
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  Speaker 2: live in Australia have the great privilege of sharing this
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  Speaker 2: beautiful continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth. That's
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  Speaker 2: something that should be a source of pride for all
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  Speaker 2: of us. And Unipingu, of course, was absolutely committed to
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  Speaker 2: recognition in our constitution and in the discussion that I
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  Speaker 2: had with him on the very day that we had
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  Speaker 2: our press conference with the Referendum Working Group in Canberra
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  Speaker 2: to declare the wording that would be in the legislation
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  Speaker 2: that would go to the Parliament, he was very pleased
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  Speaker 2: that that had occurred and really wanted to bring Australians
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  Speaker 2: together and in a spirit of unity. And I think
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  Speaker 2: that is why he was so widely respected by all Australians.
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  Speaker 2: I think it is one thing to be a great
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  Speaker 2: leader of your own people. He was a great Australian
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  Speaker 2: leader of all of us.
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  Speaker 1: I think a lot of Australians will agree and the
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  Speaker 1: work that he has done over the years has been phenomenal.
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  Speaker 1: I will go back to the voice in just a moment.
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  Speaker 1: We very much appreciate the fact that you're in the
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  Speaker 1: territory at the moment, taking some time to speak to
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  Speaker 1: me on your way to Japan. I want to ask, though,
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  Speaker 1: there's been a lot of calls from the community for
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  Speaker 1: you to be here to help out with some of
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  Speaker 1: the really serious issues that we've been experiencing around crime.
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  Speaker 1: Since the beginning of the year, we've had a terrible
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  Speaker 1: situation where we've had four people brutally killed in different situations,
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  Speaker 1: but one of those we saw a man assaulted at
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  Speaker 1: Rapid Creek who lost his life, A young bottle shop
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  Speaker 1: worker was allegedly stabbed on the job, a woman killed
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  Speaker 1: in a domestic violence incident which your Indigenous Affairs Minister
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  Speaker 1: and staff actually rendered aid in that incident, and then
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  Speaker 1: just two weeks ago, we were in a terrible situation
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  Speaker 1: where an international student was allegedly murdered inside the home
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  Speaker 1: in which he was staying. It's safe to say that
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  Speaker 1: we as a community are feeling really quite broken at
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  Speaker 1: the moment when it comes to crime. Are you concerned
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  Speaker 1: about what's happening in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I certainly am very conscious of the concerns that
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  Speaker 2: are here in the territory, and I met with the
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  Speaker 2: Chief Minister just yesterday. Of course we had a discussion.
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  Speaker 2: Natasha came back with me on the plane to Darwin
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  Speaker 2: from MILUMBOI and of course we handed down a budget
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  Speaker 2: just a couple of weeks ago now that had in
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  Speaker 2: it a significant package of support for crime, including two
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  Speaker 2: new national partnerships to deliver additional police officers and community
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  Speaker 2: safety support here in the territory. We continue to work
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  Speaker 2: closely with the Anti government to tackle crime, to keep
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  Speaker 2: women and children safe, and to support young people.
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  Speaker 1: Looking from the outside in to the Northern Territory right now,
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  Speaker 1: do you feel as though the Northern Territory government's got
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  Speaker 1: control of this.
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  Speaker 2: I do, and they have plans to go forward and
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  Speaker 2: they're implementing them in partnership with the funding that we're
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  Speaker 2: put forward. We had of course a two hundred and
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  Speaker 2: fifty million dollar LA plan for a better safer future
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  Speaker 2: for Central Australia. But we're also working with the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory government about these issues around the territory and I'm
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  Speaker 2: very confident in Natasha Files. I think that she has
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  Speaker 2: really emerged as a very effective Chief Minister here in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory in the relatively short time that both
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  Speaker 2: of us have held our role Prime Minister.
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  Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot of people listening this
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  Speaker 1: morning who don't feel the same way. They're going to
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  Speaker 1: be thinking to themselves. We've got these really violent situations.
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  Speaker 1: Even last week, we've got a situation where there's twenty
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  Speaker 1: nine cars stolen in one week, then more than thirty
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  Speaker 1: homes broken into. That's in Darwin alone. We also know
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  Speaker 1: that Alice Springs continues to grapple with these really serious,
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  Speaker 1: serious situations on a daily basis. Could the federal government
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  Speaker 1: be doing more or are you doing enough to support
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory government.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we're providing every bit of support that is requested
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  Speaker 2: for the Northern Territory government. Some of the proposals that
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  Speaker 2: have been put forward aren't ones I don't believe that
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  Speaker 2: are the right solutions. It's important.
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  Speaker 1: Is that like calling in the federal police, or.
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  Speaker 2: How is calling in federal police going to assist the
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  Speaker 2: NT police to do their job? That has not been
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  Speaker 2: put forward that's a slogan rather than a plan to
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  Speaker 2: deal with the issues. We need to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: local communities are empowered in this process, that the police
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  Speaker 2: are given every support that they need going forward, and
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  Speaker 2: that we work these issues through. And when I've met
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  Speaker 2: with the NT police in Alice Springs, when I visited there,
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  Speaker 2: they certainly were not calling for that, And the people
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  Speaker 2: I met with last night here in Darwen were also
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  Speaker 2: not calling for that.
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  Speaker 1: Are you speaking to everyday people, Are you speaking to
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  Speaker 1: those victims of crime, because that's been one of the
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  Speaker 1: real criticisms I think after your trip to Alice Springs
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  Speaker 1: was that you didn't spend enough time in Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 1: People are wanting you to spend more time in the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory to I had a real gauge of how
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  Speaker 1: broken they're feeling, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: I've been in the Northern Territory six times since I've
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  Speaker 2: been Prime Minister one year ago. I compare that with
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  Speaker 2: my predecessors who very rarely visited, and indeed with the
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  Speaker 2: leader of the Oppositions record on how many times he
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  Speaker 2: visited in the time in the nine years that he
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  Speaker 2: was the senior minister in the government.
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  Speaker 1: So not planning on another more extensive troop at this point.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I am, and I regularly visit here and we
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  Speaker 2: do have further visits in the schedule, including visits to
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  Speaker 2: communities with the Chief Minister.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister. I know you very pressed for time this morning.
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  Speaker 1: I do want to ask there has been some discussion
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  Speaker 1: raised over the last few weeks Marion Strimjaw, your member
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  Speaker 1: Filingiari has been really strong on this area, and she's
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  Speaker 1: spoken about whether there needs to be some discussions around quarantining,
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  Speaker 1: welfare and the like. Is that something that you'd look
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  Speaker 1: at doing well.
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  Speaker 2: We're continuing to discuss issues, including through our local members
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  Speaker 2: Mary and Scrimjaw, and of course Senator Malanderira McCarthy and
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  Speaker 2: also Luke Gosling, and we are constantly looking at solutions
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  Speaker 2: to issues as they arrive and will continue to do so.
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  Speaker 2: It's good that we have such local members who are
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  Speaker 2: very much in touch with what is happening in their electorates.
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  Speaker 1: Last week, Marion Scrimjaw acknowledge that we have got a
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  Speaker 1: crime crisis on our hands here in the territory. Is
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  Speaker 1: that how you would describe it?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I don't paraphrase Mary and Scrimjaw, I think that
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  Speaker 2: she is perfectly positioned to comment on what is happening
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  Speaker 2: in her electorate.
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  Speaker 1: A very quick one. We need to have a quick
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  Speaker 1: discussion about. We know there's a lot going on on
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  Speaker 1: a national stage, but there are a lot of Territorians
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  Speaker 1: who are quite skeptical about the voice actually making a difference.
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  Speaker 1: How could the voice actually help to deal with the
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  Speaker 1: very serious issues that we are grappling with here in
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  Speaker 1: the territory right now.
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  Speaker 2: Well, if you look at where justice reinvestment, for example,
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  Speaker 2: has worked, something that's come from the bottom up in
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  Speaker 2: Indigenous community. So I've seen firsthand how successful it's been
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  Speaker 2: in Indigenous communities such as Maury and work in New
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  Speaker 2: South Wales in reducing crime rates, in diverting young people
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  Speaker 2: at risk of falling into a life of crime into
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  Speaker 2: a different a different pathway. And when you engage with
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  Speaker 2: people you get better outcomes. If you look at the
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  Speaker 2: successful programs in the Indigenous Ranges programs, if you look
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  Speaker 2: at community health programs, the ones that have been most
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  Speaker 2: successful have been ones where Indigenous people have been listened to,
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  Speaker 2: where programs have been developed with Indigenous people rather than
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  Speaker 2: for them.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister to the people of the territory today, as
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  Speaker 1: I said, that are feeling very broken around this issue.
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  Speaker 1: They're feeling really concerned around their public safety, the continuous
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  Speaker 1: issues that we've been grappling with. I mean, what is
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  Speaker 1: your message as the Prime Minister of Australia to those territorians.
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  Speaker 2: Well, my message is we're working each and every day
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  Speaker 2: together with the Northern Territory Government to resolve these issues,
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  Speaker 2: to produce better solutions. Many of the issues that we're
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  Speaker 2: dealing with are intergenerational, their complex issues. They go to
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  Speaker 2: a intergener generational disadvantage that has led to issues being
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  Speaker 2: created on the ground. You can't turn them around instantly.
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  Speaker 2: But there are successful programs as well of our street
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  Speaker 2: to businesses last night, that we're working with, for example
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  Speaker 2: indigenous ranges in places like Man and Gritter that make
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  Speaker 2: a difference going forward, and will continue to work constructively,
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  Speaker 2: will continue to engage in the Commalce. Government, will continue
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  Speaker 2: to have a presence here through local members as well
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  Speaker 2: as with the regular visits that my Cabinet ministers are undertaken.
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  Speaker 2: Just this week you have today Brendan O'Connor is here
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  Speaker 2: in Darwen in the territory talking about skills and they
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  Speaker 2: need to give people opportunities into employment, into those pathways.
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  Speaker 2: It'll make a big difference for them.
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  Speaker 1: I do want to move on. You've got two of
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  Speaker 1: your Indigenous parliamentary members voicing concerns around fracking at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: Marion Scrimjaw and MALANDERI McCarthy both raising those concerns. We
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  Speaker 1: know the Labor government announced earlier this month here in
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  Speaker 1: the territory that it would allow full scale onshore gas
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  Speaker 1: industry that industry to go ahead in the region, saying
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  Speaker 1: it had adopted all one hundred and thirty five recommendations
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  Speaker 1: of an inquiry now the Federal Labor lingiarimp as we know.
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  Speaker 1: Marion Scrimjaw said that traditional owners, pastoralists as well as
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  Speaker 1: environmentalists were seriously concerned that some of those key recommendations
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  Speaker 1: had not been properly addressed, particularly around water use. We
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  Speaker 1: know that fracking and certainly the gas industry is going
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  Speaker 1: to assist with the nation's energy needs. Where do you
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  Speaker 1: think we need to go to from here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, my government will continue to work with the Ent
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  Speaker 2: government on the implementation of the Peppery view that was
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  Speaker 2: handed down the NT government have said that they support
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  Speaker 2: every single one of the recommendations and that provides a
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  Speaker 2: plan for the b Toloo. The government will support projects
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  Speaker 2: that meet environmental and regulatory approvals. That's the task that
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  Speaker 2: we have and will continue to do that.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, does there need to be a wholes though
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  Speaker 1: until those water needs a meat or those water concerns
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  Speaker 1: the meat.
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  Speaker 2: Well, currently there are no projects in the Bterloo Booth
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  Speaker 2: base and that are currently seeking these approvals for the government.
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  Speaker 2: So we have committed to expanding the water trigger to
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  Speaker 2: all forms of unconventional gas and that's part of what
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  Speaker 2: we're we called the Nature Positive Plan legislation that we're
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  Speaker 2: releasing for consultations this year.
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  Speaker 1: Projectso in the b Toloo need to go ahead to
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  Speaker 1: help Australia to meet those energy needs.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we certainly need to increase the supply of gas.
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  Speaker 2: We know that that is an issue. But as I said,
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  Speaker 2: we are bringing forward our Nature Positive Plan legislation and
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  Speaker 2: that will expand the water trigger to all forms of
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  Speaker 2: unconventional gas.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister, I know I'm going to have to let
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  Speaker 1: you go very quick. One China trade. We know that
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  Speaker 1: Beijing well top diplomats with their top diplomat in Australia
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  Speaker 1: has revealed that talks are underway for you to visit
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  Speaker 1: China as quickly as possible. Are you going to head across.
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  Speaker 2: Well. I welcome the improved relations between Australia and China.
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  Speaker 2: It's a good thing that you have dialogue and with
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  Speaker 2: Our Foreign minister has visited, our Trade minister has visited,
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  Speaker 2: and I will be working with the appropriate authorities in
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  Speaker 2: China to determine a date in which I could visit China.
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  Speaker 2: I have said that we need to deal with the
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  Speaker 2: impediments to trade which are still in place, and there
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  Speaker 2: are other issues, of course that are still there. But
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  Speaker 2: I've made it very clear on behalf of my government
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  Speaker 2: that will cooperate with China where we can, will disagree
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  Speaker 2: where we must as well. But China is our major
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  Speaker 2: trading partner and it is in both China and Australia's
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  Speaker 2: interest for us to have any impediments to trade removed.
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  Speaker 2: It's a good thing that yesterday it was announced that
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  Speaker 2: the impediment that was there to timber has been removed,
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  Speaker 2: but we want to see it removed as well for
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  Speaker 2: products like barlei and Wine.
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister, you are about to board a plane to
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  Speaker 1: the G seven Summers in Japan. What is on the agenda.
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  Speaker 2: It will be a huge medium of course of the
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  Speaker 2: seven largest economies and they are dealing with, of course
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  Speaker 2: the fallout global inflation from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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  Speaker 2: It's having a real impact and we'll be discussing that
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  Speaker 2: in terms of the future of the economy and also
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  Speaker 2: the issues of international security as in addition to that,
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  Speaker 2: I'll be meeting with the Quad leaders of the United States,
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  Speaker 2: President Biden, Prime Minister Consuter of Japan and Prime Minister
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  Speaker 2: Modi as well about our ongoing relationship and the QUAD.
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  Speaker 2: That's an important body to ensure cooperation and peace and
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  Speaker 2: security and stability in the Indo Pacific.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi, we better let you get
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  Speaker 1: on that plane. Thanks so much for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Katie, Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That is the Prime Minister of Australia. There, Anthony Albanesi.
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  Speaker 1: You are listening to Mix one for nine.