Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has labelled the floor price review as a ‘joke’ saying domestic violence and anti-social behaviour is on the rise

Transcript

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has labelled the floor price review as a ‘joke’ saying domestic violence and anti-social behaviour is on the rise · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On the line right now is the opposition leader Leah Finocchiaro.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Leah.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, to your listeners.
• 0:07
  Speaker 3: Leah. Obviously, the pay freeze, or the pay freeze.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Backflip I guess you would call it, occurred late yesterday.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: What was the reaction from the CLP?
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Oh, look, we.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Were so overjoyed to see that government finally backslip. This
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: is a huge victory for the CLP. Of course, the
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: unions and the public service who for two very long
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: years have rallied against this obscene government decision to basically
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: punish the public service for the labor government's own fiscal mismanagement.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: It's the only decision they could have come to and
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: we welcome it.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: So we all are, I guess wondering though, exactly how
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: much it's going to cost and how are they going
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to afford it? Oh?
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, And now Natasha Files has to come forward and
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: explain that the fact that she doesn't sort of have
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: any details around the hit to the budget is certainly
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: a problem. But ultimately they should never have made this
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: decision in the first place. It's just been a complete
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: mess right from the start. In our view, the only
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: way forward is to unleash that handbrake on our economy.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Press green, press the green light, and let's just go
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: for it. Let's get mole mining happening. Let's see the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Beaterloo be developed and provide cleaner gas and energy for
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  Speaker 2: the rest of the country, and let's really show the
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: nation and the world that the territory is a good
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: place to invest.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, do you think though that there is going
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: to need to be some kind of review into you know,
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: the number of public servants that we've got, the you know,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the impact that this is going to have, and how
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: things need to be trimmed down.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: Well, we certainly wouldn't support any public service job losses.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: If public service numbers were to go down through natural
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: attrition or other measures, then that's certainly one way in
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: which you can deal with that. You ever ballooning increase.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: But ultimately, what we've seen, and this really is a
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: six year period to show why debt is bad. I mean,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: at the start of this government coming in, debt was
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: one point eight billion dollars. They spent money like children
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: in a Lolly's shop, and now they don't have money
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: for a rainy day, and as a result, they were
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: literally going to punish the public service and our frontline workers,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: our teachers, our nurses, our corrections offices, our police, our
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: fieries because they're broke. I mean, it's just ridiculous and
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: shows why fiscal management is so important, why a strong
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: economy is so important. They should never have gotten the
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  Speaker 2: territory into this position to start with, and now the
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  Speaker 2: only way out of it is to really unlock our
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: economic potential and just get on with the job.
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  Speaker 1: All right, I want to move along because I want
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: to talk to you about the situation with this minimum
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: unit price. Now.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously the government has come.
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  Speaker 1: Out today and revealed that it is going to stay
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: in place. So essentially just taking you through this evaluation,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: they say that it's acknowledged that it was difficult to
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: solely evaluate the minimum unit price without considering the assistance
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: of other alcohol reform measures. But the evaluation concluded that
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: the mup the minimum unit price had been effective and
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: recommended keeping it in place. Now they reckon that the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: key findings are a reduction in alcohol related harms, a
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: reduction in the supply of low cost alcohol products like
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: cask wine, and no evidence to suggest that the minimum
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: unit price had any negative effects on industry, tourism or
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory economy. Now, we asked the Chief Minister
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: about this pretty extensively this morning, because I've got to say,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of people listening this morning are thinking,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: what the heck? You know, we are seeing an enormous
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: amount of alcohol related crime and anti social behavior. All
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  Speaker 1: you've got to do some days is go for a
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: walk and you can see empty rum bottles. You can
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: see empty gym bean bottles, all sorts of things. I mean, Leah,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: do you think that this minimum unit price is working?
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  Speaker 2: No, this is a total joke and this report probably
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  Speaker 2: isn't where the paper it's written on, to be quite
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: hon as, Katie. I mean, the report itself showed that
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: there was no reduction in harm. Just check out page thirteen. Government.
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  Speaker 2: We know that alcohol feel violence and domestic violence is up.
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  Speaker 2: The crime stats are horrific. We know that anti social
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  Speaker 2: behavior is up. The report also showed that the wholesale
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: supply of spirits increased, and it even says that it
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  Speaker 2: estimates that there was a six point seven percent increase
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: per capita on the wholesale supply of standard spirits, which
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: is something we've been saying and hearing anecdotally right from
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  Speaker 2: the start is that it's driven people off wine and
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: put people, you know, alcoholics onto hard spirits. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: this minimum unit flaw price is a disaster. We do
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: not support it. It does not contribute to the reduction
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: in alcohol related harm. Anyone could look at the numbers
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  Speaker 2: and the eed presentations or the crime stats to see that,
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  Speaker 2: and it's an absolute total joke, this report. It really is.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: I mean, what do you think needs to happen here?
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Well, we need some real policies. We need to be
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: bringing back things like the two kilometer rule and given
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: police power to deal with grog. We need to be
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  Speaker 2: ensuring that people who are most chronically affected by alcohol
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  Speaker 2: have access to treatment instead of just being shipped by
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  Speaker 2: police in and out of so bring up shelters. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: our poor police are picking people up, literally dropping them
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  Speaker 2: off to so bring up shelters and people are walking
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  Speaker 2: back out the door and finding somewhere else to drink
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  Speaker 2: and cause harm. I mean that the system is broken.
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  Speaker 2: We've got a band drinker register that hasn't had a
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: proper review to see how we can make it better.
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  Speaker 2: In years and years and years. This government has just
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  Speaker 2: set and forget its alcohol policies without trying to make
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: them better.
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  Speaker 3: Lea.
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  Speaker 1: We also know that obviously next week Parliament's going to
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: be sitting. I know that the Opposition say that they're
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: trying to harness people power this week to boost the
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: plan for lower petrol prices in the territory. I believe
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: you've launched a petition, is that correct, calling on the
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Labor government to support the opposition's fuel price disclosure Bill.
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we've launched a petition today, So if you want
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: to drive down fuel prices, get on board. You'll find
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: that on our social media platforms and it's an exciting
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: opportunity to really send government a message. I mean, yesterday
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: with the splashing of the pay freeze, they said they
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: want to address cost of living. Well, Government, the best, single,
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  Speaker 2: best way to drive down the cost of living for
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  Speaker 2: Territorians is through cheap of fuel. We know that there
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: has been a clear market failure here and our legislation
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  Speaker 2: is really designed to drive up competition, drive down fuel
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: prices and see more stable, reliable fuel market for the territory.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: I mean we've spoken to the AAINT a little bit
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  Speaker 1: earlier this morning. They weren't one hundred percent sure whether
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: something like this would make much of a difference. They
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: did say that transparency is really the key to bringing
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: those prices down. Look, I guess it's a hard one.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: Do you think that this is going to get across
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: the line? What did the What did the treasurer say
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: to you when you met and gave her that briefing
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: earlier in the week.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was a little bit disappointed in my briefing
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: with government. She kept her cards close to her chest
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  Speaker 2: instead of wouldn't indicate whether or not government would support.
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  Speaker 2: But ultimately there's been clear market failure. I know the
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: AA and T a couple of months ago was on
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  Speaker 2: your program, Katie saying that government needs to be out
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: there knocking on the doors of industry. They said there
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  Speaker 2: was blatant gouging and that thirty percent margins were unacceptable
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  Speaker 2: and not appropriate. And so, you know, Territorians really are
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: paying too much for fuel. We need to be taking
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  Speaker 2: a leadership position on this to hold them to account,
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  Speaker 2: enforce that level of transparency and in the process drive
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: up competition and drive down fuel prices. So that's our intention.
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  Speaker 2: We know fuel is the start of all costs of
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  Speaker 2: living really, whether it's higher prices on food, high prices
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  Speaker 2: in your tank, high prices for goods and services, it
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: all starts with fuel. And we know retailers are paying
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: a forty two percent BUEL levy at the moment on
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  Speaker 2: their deliveries, which in many cases has to be passed
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  Speaker 2: on to consumers.
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: Lea, I do want to ask you as well before
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: I let you go.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: We caught up with the Assistant Commissioner of the Northern Territory,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: well sorry, Assistant Commissioner for Regional and Remote Policing based
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: in Ola Springs, Martin Dole, earlier this morning about some
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: of the issues that are being experienced.
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  Speaker 3: In Alice Springs. Now.
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  Speaker 1: He has said that police are working incredibly hard on
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: the ground in Alice. They have increased that police presence
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks on the ground obviously
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: in the city and different areas like that. But he
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: talked me through some of these statistics. So Strikeforce Viper
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  Speaker 1: since January this year have apprehended eight hundred and twenty
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: six people. They've arrested three hundred and eighty six. There
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: has been one hundred and fifty two summons summons and
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: sent to youth diversion. What do you think that those
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  Speaker 1: numbers tell us.
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  Speaker 2: I think those numbers tell us that the system is
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: absolutely broken and our police have been completely disempowered to
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  Speaker 2: deal with this. If you look through those stats, you've
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: got eight hundred and twenty apprehensions, which is not the
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: same as arrests. You've then got, you know, less than
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: half of that were able to be arrested. You know,
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  Speaker 2: a third of that was then able to be summonsed
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  Speaker 2: to court, and then a third of that was able
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: to be sent to.
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: Diversion.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, this is just absolutely ridiculous and it reinforces
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: the statistics we uncovered, which is that police are essentially
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: being forced to act as a taxi service and that's
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: not efficient for them, that's not the best outcome for
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: the community. That's not them fighting crime, it's dealing with
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: other things like alcohol and dropping youth's home. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: we need to really overhaul how we deal with law
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: and order in this jurisdiction. And the you know, the
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: gun don't want to roll out the police or that
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: the government themselves aren't aren't taking the heat. But our
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: poor police are doing everything they can with the position
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: that the government have put them in.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Well, Leah Finocchio, the opposition leader, we are going to
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: have to leave it there. Always appreciate your time. Thank
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: you for having a chat today.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Take care everyone.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: Thanks, thank you,