Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with NT Council of Social Service CEO Deb Di Natale 29 April 2021

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with NT Council of Social Service CEO Deb Di Natale 29 April 2021 · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolf and three point sixty online at Mix
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  Speaker 1: one O four nine dot com.
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  Speaker 2: Joining me in the studio this morning is Deb Dinatali
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  Speaker 2: from the NT Council of Social Services.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to your deb.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
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  Speaker 2: It's great to have you in the studio. And and well,
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  Speaker 2: I think we caught up around this time last year
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  Speaker 2: as well, before the Northern Territory budget.
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  Speaker 1: Was handed down. We did, and we're going to talk
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  Speaker 1: about that in just a couple of moments.
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  Speaker 2: But I know that the NT course has been one
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  Speaker 2: of the groups that had been opposed to Dan Murphy's
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  Speaker 2: entering the market here in the Northern Territory. What was
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  Speaker 2: the reaction to that decision from Wilworth's yesterday.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we see that reaction as a win. Certainly, we
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  Speaker 3: are extremely pleased for the Northern Territory. I understand it's
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  Speaker 3: a highly controversial position for a number of people across
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  Speaker 3: the territory. But when you look at an evidence space
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  Speaker 3: across US, so if you look at Territorians, we actually
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  Speaker 3: drink more than any other state or terror in Australia.
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  Speaker 3: So that's a really clear indicator that there's no shortage
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  Speaker 3: of alcohol here, and there are plenty of alcohol outlets
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  Speaker 3: because we've got access to so many. We also know
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  Speaker 3: the social harms that we have as a result of alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: So when I have people, even some neighbors, saying to me,
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  Speaker 3: it's not fair, we're missing out, Actually my response to
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  Speaker 3: those people is that you're also saying that you want
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  Speaker 3: to live somewhere that's really, really safe. And sixty six
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  Speaker 3: percent of assaults across the territory are as a result
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  Speaker 3: of alcohol fueled violence.
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  Speaker 2: Stare by no, There'll be pleased people listening right now
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  Speaker 2: thinking to themselves, stopping Dan Murphy's is not going.
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  Speaker 1: To stop those alcohol issues that we've got.
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  Speaker 3: Well, what it will do is it won't increase the
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  Speaker 3: alcohol issues. So what we do know is that if
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  Speaker 3: you have a megastore, which is what we're talking about,
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  Speaker 3: a warehouse, we know the Dan Murphy's model, which is
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  Speaker 3: get as much alcohol in and get as much out
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  Speaker 3: as possible, that will absolutely increase the social harms across
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  Speaker 3: the community. And in fact, an independent liquor commission came
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  Speaker 3: up with exactly that result. There should be no Dan
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  Speaker 3: Murphy's step.
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  Speaker 1: Do you really reckon though?
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  Speaker 2: This is the end of Dan Murphy's or Woolworths expanding
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  Speaker 2: their liquor outlets in the territory.
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  Speaker 3: I would like to think that this is definitely a
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  Speaker 3: sign that Woolworths is exercising its corporate social responsibility. It
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  Speaker 3: has listened to the Aboriginal leaders and grandmothers and mothers
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  Speaker 3: who have really been the heroes here in terms of
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  Speaker 3: their advocacy talking about the impacts it's having on their communities.
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  Speaker 3: And I think now we are in a corporate environment
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  Speaker 3: where a number of shareholders have come to the table
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  Speaker 3: as well, and we've been working with those shareholders. So
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  Speaker 3: Woolworths would need to think very very carefully about their
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  Speaker 3: next step because right now we're seeing that this is
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  Speaker 3: leadership on their part in terms of listening to the
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  Speaker 3: Aboriginal leaders in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: At the moment in the territory, we seem to have
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  Speaker 2: a real issue with that alcohol misuse.
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  Speaker 1: There is no doubt about that.
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  Speaker 2: We know that the council banned alcohol mindle Beach earlier
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  Speaker 2: in the week due to some of that real misuse
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  Speaker 2: that we're seeing. There's been discussion about that being as
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  Speaker 2: a result of an increase in payments, some of those
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  Speaker 2: COVID payments. What's your response to that discussion, and do
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  Speaker 2: you think that that is what's happening here? Do you
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  Speaker 2: think that that increased money that's coming into the community
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  Speaker 2: is being used on alcohol?
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  Speaker 3: Look, Katie, we haven't got the evidence to show us
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  Speaker 3: that that is the case. What we do know in
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  Speaker 3: terms of hard data is that when the COVID supplement
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  Speaker 3: came in, those remote communities had seventy five percent increase
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  Speaker 3: in fresh fruit and vegetables. And we also know there
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  Speaker 3: was an incredible increase in terms of the purchase of
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  Speaker 3: white goods. So I still need to be persuaded in
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  Speaker 3: terms of some genuine data that comes out to demonstrate
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  Speaker 3: that money is being spent on alcohol.
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  Speaker 1: What do you reckon's happening at the moment? Then? What
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  Speaker 1: would you you know?
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  Speaker 2: What would you attribute those additional visitors to town and
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  Speaker 2: that you know that seemingly quite obvious use of or
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  Speaker 2: misuse I would say of alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think in lots of ways we demonize a
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  Speaker 3: lot of public drinking. I think that in terms of
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  Speaker 3: middle class households, they're consuming large proportions of alcohol, but
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  Speaker 3: they have the benefit and the luxury and the privilege
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  Speaker 3: to do it in their homes. So I think this
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  Speaker 3: idea of people consuming alcohol in a public space and
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  Speaker 3: that being very negative. I see that that debate has
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  Speaker 3: really been driven by a number of factors, including poverty.
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  Speaker 2: What about though, when you've got that real you know,
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  Speaker 2: when you've actually got the people fighting and becoming violent
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  Speaker 2: in those public spaces.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, when you've got I mean, violence is not acceptable anywhere.
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  Speaker 3: And this has been our exact argument in relation to
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  Speaker 3: the Dan Murphys. Having a megastore that would provide more alcohol,
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  Speaker 3: easier access, and cheaper prices to a number of territorians
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  Speaker 3: will actually make the territory less safe. We will see
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  Speaker 3: more assaults, we will see more robberies, and we will
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  Speaker 3: see more breaches of domestic family violence orders. We know
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  Speaker 3: that seventy four percent of those breaches are often alcohol driven.
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  Speaker 3: And I know that domestic violence stems from gender inequality,
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  Speaker 3: but alcohol is definitely a driver there.
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  Speaker 2: Oh. Look, I know there'll be some people listening this
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  Speaker 2: morning who don't agree with what you've got to say,
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  Speaker 2: but I think it's really important for all of us
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  Speaker 2: to hear every perspective. You know, no matter what debate
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  Speaker 2: we're having. I do want to ask you though about
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  Speaker 2: the budget. We know that it's being handed down next
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  Speaker 2: week and it's going to make for some interesting reading.
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  Speaker 2: I guess you'd say everybody is sort of anticipating that
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  Speaker 2: we're going to have quite.
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  Speaker 1: High levels of debt.
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  Speaker 2: But there's been quite a bit of discussion around Australia
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  Speaker 2: as well about making sure that you know that Aussie's
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  Speaker 2: and certainly territorians don't get left behind. So when we
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  Speaker 2: specifically talk about the Northern Territory budget next week, what
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  Speaker 2: do you think needs to be included.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we know that a number of Territorians are doing
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  Speaker 3: it tough. You are probably aware that the Causes around
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  Speaker 3: the country ran a campaign not as successful as you
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  Speaker 3: would have liked it to be. Around people who are
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  Speaker 3: on job seeker that living on forty dollars a day
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  Speaker 3: is not enough. So when you see people who are
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  Speaker 3: sleeping rough and who don't have enough to eat, you
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  Speaker 3: need to think about the income that they're getting, which.
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  Speaker 1: Is forty dollars a day.
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  Speaker 3: That increase was three dollars fifty, so now they're living
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  Speaker 3: on forty three dollars fifty a day. Marginal increase, not
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  Speaker 3: really going to have any benefit in terms of getting
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  Speaker 3: people out of poverty.
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  Speaker 1: So for us, it's.
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  Speaker 3: Actually about ensuring that with these territorians who are doing
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  Speaker 3: it tough, that the budget delivers an equitable distribution so
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  Speaker 3: that we're able to ensure that no one's left behind.
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  Speaker 3: One of the things I will say about the social
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  Speaker 3: services sector is we are a major contributor to the economy.
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  Speaker 3: Six hundred and fifteen point five million dollars of our
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  Speaker 3: sector wages goes directly back into the economy every year.
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  Speaker 3: So when you hear people say we need to be
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  Speaker 3: shopping locally, you need to be going to your IgA,
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  Speaker 3: you need to be supporting your local industry, you need
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  Speaker 3: to be going out to the waterfront and supporting those restaurants.
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  Speaker 3: The way that that happens is by supporting the social
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  Speaker 3: services sector. The other benefit there is not only are
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  Speaker 3: we a major driver in terms of the economy, we
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  Speaker 3: provide real benefits to people who are doing it tough.
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  Speaker 3: So it's like a win win.
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  Speaker 2: So when people are listening right now and they're thinking, well,
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  Speaker 2: what exactly is the social services sector, who do you
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  Speaker 2: mean and how do you mean you need to support them?
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  Speaker 1: What's your answer?
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  Speaker 3: To that, Yeah, really good question. I often assume that
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  Speaker 3: people know who we are and what we do. So
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  Speaker 3: a number of those people who are experiencing homelessness, people
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  Speaker 3: who are going to safe houses as a result of domestic,
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  Speaker 3: family and sexual violence, a number of health services, a
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  Speaker 3: number of organizations that are operating out in remote communities,
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  Speaker 3: a number of community legal centers who are assisting people
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  Speaker 3: get free legal advice so that they know what their
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  Speaker 3: rights are. The list does go on mental health, and
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  Speaker 3: also the other area is the Aboriginal justice work that
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  Speaker 3: we've been doing to ensure that we get better outcomes
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  Speaker 3: in that space too.
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  Speaker 2: So, dev what do you reckon What do you think
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  Speaker 2: is going to be in the Northern Territory budget for
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  Speaker 2: that sector.
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, we are hoping to see an increase. We've
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  Speaker 3: been pretty disappointed at the moment. We're worried to see
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  Speaker 3: the announcement like the ongoing boost to mining which is
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  Speaker 3: now an ongoing boost of three million that's now gone
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  Speaker 3: to nine point five million every year, which is nine
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  Speaker 3: point five million of five taxpayer money, and the return
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  Speaker 3: to the territory on that kind of investment is really
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  Speaker 3: hard to see. But I do want your listeners to
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  Speaker 3: hear that there have been some positive steps. So if
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  Speaker 3: you compare that to the news of two million dollars
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  Speaker 3: over two years to improve reliable electricity to remote communities
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  Speaker 3: in the NT, that investment does a number of things.
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  Speaker 3: It increases jobs, it ensures that people's fridges are working properly,
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  Speaker 3: and it means that people can charge their phones. So
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  Speaker 3: that's the sort of stuff that changes lives. So what
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  Speaker 3: we want to see is investment in the territory where
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  Speaker 3: all territory ands benefit from economic development.
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  Speaker 2: Dev Are you going to have a bit of a
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  Speaker 2: scorecard for the government after the budget's handed down on
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday or how does it all work? How are you
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  Speaker 2: going to determine whether they've done or right in your eyes?
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  Speaker 3: So what we're not going to have we have a
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  Speaker 3: scorecard only pre election and that takes much more work
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  Speaker 3: than then. I'm sure the five little dot points would.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we might just.
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  Speaker 2: Keep you back on and ask you what you think
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  Speaker 2: because we usually catch up with those business and industry
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  Speaker 2: groups and I do think it's important to catch up
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  Speaker 2: with the social services sector as well.
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  Speaker 3: So happy to give you a budget wrap up on
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  Speaker 3: what we think that the government has delivered to the
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  Speaker 3: Social services in the next budget.
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  Speaker 2: Demp De Natalie always good to catch up with you.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for your time this morning. Or
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  Speaker 2: Chime and deb is from the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory Council of Social Services