Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro says an inquiry into the NT Police Force is urgently needed despite the Chief Minister calling it a talk fest
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: And as I said, we know that the Chief Minister,
- 0:02Speaker 1: Natasha files Will she fired some of you right up
- 0:06Speaker 1: yesterday when we interviewed her on the show and asked
- 0:08Speaker 1: about the recent results to the Northern Territory Police Association survey.
- 0:12Speaker 1: So the Chief Minister has ruled out any kind of
- 0:14Speaker 1: review into the police force and has confirmed that she
- 0:18Speaker 1: still has confidence in her Police Minister and also the
- 0:21Speaker 1: Northern Territory Police Commissioner, despite the recent results from the
- 0:25Speaker 1: association's survey. Now joining me on the show is the
- 0:28Speaker 1: Opposition leader Leah Fanocchiaro. Good morning to you.
- 0:31Speaker 2: Leah, Good morning Katian to your listeners.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Now, Leah, more than twelve hundred respondents, that's about three
- 0:37Speaker 1: quarters of its membership. The survey also found that ninety
- 0:40Speaker 1: seven percent of police did not feel supported by the
- 0:43Speaker 1: Northern Territory government. Leah, what do you think that this
- 0:46Speaker 1: survey says about the concerns within the police force.
- 0:50Speaker 3: It very clearly shows a crisis in our police force
- 0:53Speaker 3: and unfortunately that has been the case for a very
- 0:56Speaker 3: long time. We know from the results who received last
- 0:59Speaker 3: year's from a very survey of a similar number of police,
- 1:02Speaker 3: that there is a total lack of confidence, low morale,
- 1:06Speaker 3: that they don't feel the government supports them, and that
- 1:08Speaker 3: they don't feel there's enough police. And yet in response
- 1:12Speaker 3: to last year's survey, we've seen no tangible action from
- 1:15Speaker 3: this government to make any improvements. And of course the
- 1:18Speaker 3: survey results that came out last week just reinforce the
- 1:21Speaker 3: crisis that is there. When you have ninety seven percent
- 1:24Speaker 3: of our police believing there aren't enough police and that
- 1:27Speaker 3: the government doesn't support them, that presents an untenable position
- 1:31Speaker 3: for the Government of the day because Lauren, order underpins
- 1:35Speaker 3: a society, a community, and we need to be supporting
- 1:38Speaker 3: our police who go out and support us every day,
- 1:40Speaker 3: and this government has clearly turned their back.
- 1:43Speaker 1: The Chief Minister revealed on the show yesterday that there
- 1:45Speaker 1: are hundreds of officers on sick leave right now. She
- 1:49Speaker 1: wouldn't tell us the exact number. But what's your reaction
- 1:52Speaker 1: to that.
- 1:53Speaker 3: Well, it's hugely alarming and of course unsurprising. Now last
- 1:57Speaker 3: year we knew in May the government received to report
- 2:00Speaker 3: into health and wellbeing of our police and they have
- 2:04Speaker 3: not made that public. We have tried five times in Parliament, Katie,
- 2:08Speaker 3: to have an inquiry examining this very issue which goes
- 2:11Speaker 3: to the core wellbeing of our force, and the government
- 2:15Speaker 3: is failing to be transparent with territories about what it's
- 2:18Speaker 3: doing to address this issue. Now, our police are being
- 2:22Speaker 3: asked to do more with less, They're being put in
- 2:26Speaker 3: dangerous situations, the violent nature of crime is increasing, the
- 2:30Speaker 3: level of crime is increasing, and yet they feel more
- 2:34Speaker 3: and more disempowered through the government's watering down of laws,
- 2:38Speaker 3: through the government's you know, lack of support and understanding
- 2:41Speaker 3: of this situation, or even the lack of the government's
- 2:44Speaker 3: will to try and address this issue. So it's a
- 2:47Speaker 3: terrible situation and for the government to just simply say, oh,
- 2:50Speaker 3: there's a few hundred police on sickly without addressing that
- 2:54Speaker 3: issue is truly shocking.
- 2:56Speaker 4: Leah.
- 2:57Speaker 1: They say the Northern Territory government and the Chiefiness to
- 3:00Speaker 1: set on the show yesterday that they are doing the
- 3:02Speaker 1: hard grinding work that is required to ensure that you know,
- 3:08Speaker 1: that police are able to do what they need to
- 3:11Speaker 1: do and conduct the work that they need to get underway.
- 3:13Speaker 1: But I mean, you came out really strong about this
- 3:16Speaker 1: on Friday saying that the Chief Minister needs to sack
- 3:18Speaker 1: the Police Minister. Why do you think that that needs
- 3:21Speaker 1: to happen if they are doing the hard grinding work
- 3:23Speaker 1: that they say they are.
- 3:25Speaker 3: Well, Natasha Farles is great at slogans, but not great
- 3:27Speaker 3: on delivery, and ultimately territories would judge her on her actions,
- 3:31Speaker 3: not her words. I mean her predecessor, Michael Gunner was
- 3:34Speaker 3: throwing kitchen sinks at things and now she's doing hard
- 3:37Speaker 3: grinding work. Well that's great, but the reality is you
- 3:40Speaker 3: have a failed government with a foiled police minister who
- 3:43Speaker 3: has not shown the commitment or done the hard yeahards
- 3:47Speaker 3: or whatever saying they've got around addressing this police crisis.
- 3:51Speaker 3: The crisis was there when Kate Warden became the police minister.
- 3:54Speaker 3: She inherited that crisis from Nicole Madison. She has failed
- 3:58Speaker 3: to be able to hold an inquiry, do the important
- 4:02Speaker 3: work that needs to be done so that we can
- 4:04Speaker 3: support our police, and ultimately that all happens under Natasha
- 4:08Speaker 3: Farles's leadership. So they urgently need to call an inquiry.
- 4:11Speaker 3: This work needs to be done. The last one was.
- 4:13Speaker 2: Eleven years ago.
- 4:15Speaker 3: And they also need to show a very comprehensive legislative
- 4:18Speaker 3: plan to Territorians and our police on how they're going
- 4:21Speaker 3: to start protecting people and supporting our police to do
- 4:25Speaker 3: their jobs rather than supporting the offender.
- 4:27Speaker 1: Now, just on the inquiry that you've called for as well,
- 4:30Speaker 1: calling for that immediate inquiry into our police force, is
- 4:33Speaker 1: that something that police are telling you that they want
- 4:36Speaker 1: right now?
- 4:37Speaker 3: Absolutely, and the Northern Territory Police Association equally have been
- 4:41Speaker 3: calling for this for a really long time. Like I said,
- 4:44Speaker 3: we've tried five times in Parliament to call an inquiry.
- 4:47Speaker 2: It's well overdue.
- 4:49Speaker 3: The last one was the O'Sullivan Review, which examines all
- 4:53Speaker 3: sorts of things around resourcing, how to best deploy your
- 4:56Speaker 3: police force, what supports are required.
- 4:58Speaker 2: It's very comprehensive and it's incredibly.
- 5:01Speaker 3: Disrespectful for Natasha Files to call that a talk fest,
- 5:04Speaker 3: especially coming from her, which seems to be all she does.
- 5:08Speaker 3: And this is not just some silly report that's going
- 5:11Speaker 3: to sit on a shelf. This is something that needs
- 5:13Speaker 3: to be forensically examined and then implemented because what will
- 5:17Speaker 3: be you know, if our police force all pack up
- 5:19Speaker 3: and go Katie, which eighty five percent have said they've
- 5:22Speaker 3: thought of leaving in the last six to twelve months,
- 5:25Speaker 3: what is left for us.
- 5:26Speaker 4: Well, we'll be bugget.
- 5:27Speaker 1: We'll be absolutely bugged if we end up with that
- 5:30Speaker 1: volume of our Northern Territory police wanting to leave. And
- 5:32Speaker 1: I do think that there is some serious work that
- 5:35Speaker 1: obviously needs to happen here when you've got the results
- 5:37Speaker 1: that we had seen into that Police Association survey. I
- 5:41Speaker 1: mean to play Devil's advocate though, Leah, are you just
- 5:44Speaker 1: trying to muck rag here to really then use that
- 5:47Speaker 1: report for your own political mileage?
- 5:50Speaker 3: Katie, This is beyond politics. This is literally the foundation
- 5:54Speaker 3: of our society being crumbled and eroded and left to
- 5:58Speaker 3: crumble and a roade I mean the government and isn't
- 6:00Speaker 3: even trying to pull the pieces back together. It's almost
- 6:04Speaker 3: like this is all part of their grand plan of
- 6:07Speaker 3: hard work and grind or whatever they say.
- 6:09Speaker 2: It's just it's beyond a joke. It's beyond politics. This
- 6:12Speaker 2: is urgent.
- 6:13Speaker 3: And at Cristi's point, we have eighty five percent of
- 6:16Speaker 3: our police looking to work to rule, which means doing
- 6:19Speaker 3: no overtime, not putting in any extra hours like they
- 6:22Speaker 3: normally would. Eighty five percent are looking to leave. We
- 6:25Speaker 3: have an eleven percent attrition rate, which often means we
- 6:29Speaker 3: have probationary constables, so brand new coppers partnered with brand
- 6:32Speaker 3: new coppers out on our streets tackling the most violent
- 6:36Speaker 3: and heinous of crimes.
- 6:38Speaker 2: That's a risk to them as well.
- 6:40Speaker 3: They're not having the opportunity to then be supported by
- 6:42Speaker 3: more senior police. It is debilitating on every level. And
- 6:46Speaker 3: for the government to stand by and watch this falling
- 6:49Speaker 3: apart before its very eyes, despite the cries and the
- 6:52Speaker 3: pleas from our police, is heartbreaking. And you know, as
- 6:56Speaker 3: a proud territory in Katie, I just I honestly don't
- 7:00Speaker 3: know what it's going to take for these this government
- 7:03Speaker 3: to do something.
- 7:04Speaker 1: Leah, you've obviously said that you think that the Northern
- 7:07Speaker 1: Territory Police Minister Kate Warden needs to go.
- 7:11Speaker 4: I don't you know.
- 7:12Speaker 1: It'll I guess it'll be interesting to see whether our
- 7:15Speaker 1: listeners agree or disagree with that, but we have certainly
- 7:17Speaker 1: had some listeners get in contact with us this morning.
- 7:20Speaker 4: Son, Good morning, Katie.
- 7:21Speaker 1: Would you please ask Leafanocchiaro why she's calling for the
- 7:24Speaker 1: sacking of Minister Warden but not the police commissioner.
- 7:28Speaker 3: Yet, Because ultimately leadership comes from the top, and Kate
- 7:31Speaker 3: Warden is the responsible minister, she should be dealing with
- 7:34Speaker 3: the disconnect between rank and file and the police executive.
- 7:38Speaker 3: We have, as part of our calls for an inquiry
- 7:41Speaker 3: been very clear that as part of that inquiry needs
- 7:43Speaker 3: to be a shoe cause of the police Commissioner and
- 7:46Speaker 3: his executive around what is going on in the force
- 7:48Speaker 3: and what they're doing to respond to these really shocking statistics.
- 7:53Speaker 3: But ultimately that leadership has to come from the Government
- 7:56Speaker 3: of the day. And if Kate Warden's not doing what
- 7:59Speaker 3: it takes to sort health and well being, mental health attrition,
- 8:04Speaker 3: just the lawlessness plaguing in the territory, then the buck
- 8:07Speaker 3: stops with her.
- 8:08Speaker 1: Leah, what laws would you, if you were the chief Minister,
- 8:11Speaker 1: would you be introducing to strengthen that support for our
- 8:15Speaker 1: police force. Because it is something that you've mentioned a
- 8:17Speaker 1: couple of times. I think that our listeners want to
- 8:19Speaker 1: know exactly what you're referring to so that they can
- 8:23Speaker 1: get a better idea of how you'd support the police.
- 8:26Speaker 3: Yep, I can give you a handful, which is just
- 8:28Speaker 3: some there's many. Basically, we want to strengthen mandatory sentencing
- 8:33Speaker 3: for assaults on police and any worker. So if you're
- 8:36Speaker 3: at work right now listening. We want to strengthen laws
- 8:39Speaker 3: to protect our police and protect you, and in fact,
- 8:41Speaker 3: we tried to do that last year and government voted
- 8:43Speaker 3: us down. We would lower the age of criminal responsibility
- 8:47Speaker 3: so that people under the age of twit between ten
- 8:50Speaker 3: and twelve can be held responsible for their crimes. We
- 8:53Speaker 3: would stop the revolving door of bail by making sure
- 8:56Speaker 3: that if you are a repeat offender, you do not
- 8:59Speaker 3: enjoy have having bail go in your favor. There's only
- 9:02Speaker 3: so many chances you get to destroy people's lives in
- 9:05Speaker 3: my u k D.
- 9:07Speaker 2: We would bring back mandatory sentencing.
- 9:09Speaker 3: Of course, last year the government abolished mandatory sentencing for
- 9:12Speaker 3: violent offenses. You know, this is in a long line
- 9:16Speaker 3: of other reform that needs to take place. But ultimately
- 9:19Speaker 3: we need to give back power to our police. You know,
- 9:21Speaker 3: we've got legislation at the moment where we want to
- 9:23Speaker 3: give police more power to deal with problem drunks. Our
- 9:27Speaker 3: police are very skilled people. They need discretion to be
- 9:30Speaker 3: able to deal with situations as they arise. And ultimately,
- 9:34Speaker 3: we as a community have a standard and that standard
- 9:37Speaker 3: needs to be met and set, and ultimately the lawlessness
- 9:41Speaker 3: is destroying our lives, our lifestyles, and people are leaving
- 9:45Speaker 3: because of it.
- 9:45Speaker 1: Lea, have you got evidence to support that these changes
- 9:48Speaker 1: would actually make a difference.
- 9:50Speaker 3: Well, what they do is make police feel like they're supported.
- 9:53Speaker 3: It gives them more tools in their toolbox. It sends
- 9:56Speaker 3: a very clear message of deterrence and a message from
- 9:59Speaker 3: the community saying this is the standard of behavior we
- 10:02Speaker 3: accept and this is the consequence if you breach those standards.
- 10:07Speaker 3: And ultimately it's about sending a very clear message to
- 10:10Speaker 3: offenders that you better think twice under a Finocchiaro led
- 10:13Speaker 3: to CLP government.
- 10:14Speaker 1: Well, I do want to ask so, I mean with
- 10:15Speaker 1: some of those with mandatory sentencing, for example, in some situations,
- 10:20Speaker 1: the jail is busting at the scene, so where are
- 10:22Speaker 1: they going to go?
- 10:23Speaker 2: Well, that is a great question, Katie.
- 10:25Speaker 3: And isn't it sad that we've got our prisons overflowing
- 10:28Speaker 3: and yet there are so many criminals who aren't being
- 10:31Speaker 3: held to account.
- 10:31Speaker 2: I mean, that's how bad crime's gotten under labor.
- 10:34Speaker 3: We have forty percent higher crime rates now than we
- 10:37Speaker 3: had under the previous COLP government. And so when Natasha
- 10:40Speaker 3: Files talks about increasing the police budget by thirty percent,
- 10:43Speaker 3: that's not even matching the increase in crime over her
- 10:47Speaker 3: time in government. So you know, ultimately we know that
- 10:50Speaker 3: if you continue to break the law and destroy people's lives,
- 10:53Speaker 3: then you should end up in prison.
- 10:55Speaker 2: That's a very sad fact.
- 10:57Speaker 3: What we do with people in incarceration is an exciting
- 11:00Speaker 3: opportunity though, and that's why our policy platform around providing
- 11:04Speaker 3: people with education and support whilst in correctional facilities will
- 11:07Speaker 3: hopefully then drive down that repeat offending so that people
- 11:10Speaker 3: aren't ending back in prison over and over again.
- 11:13Speaker 1: Leah. Another topic that I do want to ask you about,
- 11:16Speaker 1: just very briefly, Tiger Brennan Overpass. It's been revealed to
- 11:20Speaker 1: the ABC reporting this morning that there's been quite a.
- 11:22Speaker 4: Major cost blowout.
- 11:24Speaker 1: Originally was set to cost sixty one point five million dollars,
- 11:27Speaker 1: is my understanding that's born out well last May to
- 11:31Speaker 1: one hundred and ten million is what they were reporting
- 11:34Speaker 1: last November that cost was at one hundred and twenty
- 11:36Speaker 1: seven point eight million. Then again my understanding is that
- 11:40Speaker 1: it's now estimated to cost one hundred and sixty five
- 11:44Speaker 1: to one hundred and sixty nine million dollars. I mean,
- 11:48Speaker 1: what is your reaction to that blowout.
- 11:50Speaker 3: Well, one hundred million dollar blowout is not a small
- 11:55Speaker 3: figure Kadian, but it's unsurprising, I mean evil law. There
- 11:58Speaker 3: is the Infrastructure Minister and the Treasurer, and she famously
- 12:02Speaker 3: and repeatedly stands in Parliament and says sometimes projects go over,
- 12:06Speaker 3: sometimes they go under. I mean that is literally words
- 12:09Speaker 3: coming from her mouth. That is her attitude to spending
- 12:12Speaker 3: taxpayers dollars and it's unacceptable. I mean that overpass is key,
- 12:17Speaker 3: it's going to be a fantastic and is a fantastic project.
- 12:21Speaker 3: But to what costs and what justification is government providing
- 12:24Speaker 3: for a one hundred million dollar blowout.
- 12:26Speaker 1: I know that we caught up last week with Dennis Stedman,
- 12:29Speaker 1: who is the bilocal advocate here in the Northern Territory,
- 12:32Speaker 1: and he had raised some concerns about those blowouts with
- 12:35Speaker 1: various projects. Now I don't want to verbal him because
- 12:37Speaker 1: I can't remember his exact words, but I know that
- 12:40Speaker 1: it isn't something that's you know, that's a one off.
- 12:43Speaker 1: There are blowouts, yes, you know, quite often with major projects,
- 12:47Speaker 1: and for a lot of reasons we all understand, you know,
- 12:49Speaker 1: there can be cost of material goes up that kind
- 12:52Speaker 1: of thing. But do you think that we need to
- 12:54Speaker 1: be looking at having you know, a position within government
- 12:58Speaker 1: or an external and into peace position that is maybe
- 13:01Speaker 1: able to oversee some of these different projects, major projects.
- 13:04Speaker 1: May just spending of taxpayers dollars looking at projects to
- 13:09Speaker 1: ensure that we are not seeing money wasted if that
- 13:13Speaker 1: is happening, or money spent frivolously on some of these projects.
- 13:16Speaker 4: And those massive blowouts, well.
- 13:18Speaker 3: We do see significant blowouts under just about every project
- 13:21Speaker 3: this government delivers. And I think it shows again that
- 13:25Speaker 3: lack of leadership from the top. If you have a
- 13:27Speaker 3: treasurer and infrastructure minister who shrugs her shoulders and says,
- 13:30Speaker 3: sometimes projects go over, sometimes they go under, it's little
- 13:34Speaker 3: wonder then that they do blow over and in epic proportions. Ultimately,
- 13:39Speaker 3: what we need is a government that spends taxpayers dollars responsibly.
- 13:43Speaker 3: Now everyone can understand sometimes as a project variation or
- 13:47Speaker 3: sometimes you know, you find as best us and that
- 13:49Speaker 3: requires more remedial cost, or you know, other things like that.
- 13:53Speaker 3: But ultimately, at what point does the government have to
- 13:56Speaker 3: justify the blowout and the spend. And I think it
- 13:59Speaker 3: harks back to planning. You know what is the government
- 14:01Speaker 3: doing to be able to make sure that we've adequately
- 14:04Speaker 3: supported our departments to be doing the detailed planning that
- 14:07Speaker 3: is required of these projects so that we do have
- 14:10Speaker 3: a true understanding of the cost and can properly program
- 14:13Speaker 3: our infrastructure to meet the demand of the community and
- 14:16Speaker 3: also our budgetary constraints.
- 14:18Speaker 1: So could there be something some you know, some kind
- 14:21Speaker 1: of oversight or something done to ensure that we are
- 14:23Speaker 1: able to adequately manage some of those different different projects
- 14:27Speaker 1: but also those different contractors, to try to make sure
- 14:30Speaker 1: that this isn't happening.
- 14:31Speaker 3: Well, that is meant to be the Treasurer's job, Katie,
- 14:34Speaker 3: and the Infrastructure Minister's job, and clearly it's just another
- 14:38Speaker 3: arm of this government that is failing and letting.
- 14:40Speaker 2: The community down.
- 14:41Speaker 3: We do have an Order to General, so she does
- 14:43Speaker 3: a fantastic job and provides a report four times a
- 14:46Speaker 3: year around government spending and how that is going.
- 14:50Speaker 2: Whether there's a requirement for.
- 14:51Speaker 3: Additional oversight, you know, that's absolutely something that could be
- 14:54Speaker 3: looked at. But I think, you know, we try often
- 14:57Speaker 3: because of how terrible this government is to on new
- 15:00Speaker 3: bodies of oversight, when really, if this government just performed
- 15:04Speaker 3: at the level they promised territories to perform at we
- 15:07Speaker 3: wouldn't have these issues.
- 15:09Speaker 2: It's a failure at the top.
- 15:10Speaker 3: And that's why we're moving our motion of no confidence
- 15:13Speaker 3: next month, because they can't even govern the basics anymore.
- 15:16Speaker 2: Katie, it's all fallen apart.
- 15:18Speaker 1: I mean, some listening, we'll be thinking, Lea, you're being
- 15:20Speaker 1: a bit unfair there. You know, of course blow out
- 15:22Speaker 1: all the time with different projects.
- 15:24Speaker 3: Yeah, they do, but one hundred million dollars and of
- 15:27Speaker 3: course the track record isn't good. And off the back
- 15:30Speaker 3: of a government that's delivered a nine billion dollar debt.
- 15:32Speaker 3: When they came to government it was one point eight billion.
- 15:35Speaker 3: And look around you where you're sitting right now, look
- 15:38Speaker 3: around and try and think up even one billion dollars
- 15:41Speaker 3: worth of additional benefit to the territory under this government
- 15:45Speaker 3: for the nine billion dollars debt, our children will be
- 15:48Speaker 3: will be suffering under for many, many decades. It's not
- 15:51Speaker 3: acceptable and ultimately there needs to be greater transparency from
- 15:54Speaker 3: government around why that spend is blowing out.
- 15:57Speaker 1: Leah Finocchiaro, we are going to have to wrap up
- 16:00Speaker 1: before I do though. Last day of feb Fish, Oh,
- 16:03Speaker 1: the cops didn't catch me unless you got all these
- 16:05Speaker 1: steps lined up that you're not adding in.
- 16:07Speaker 2: We were gunning for you this year, Katie. I think
- 16:09Speaker 2: we're still number two on the ladder.
- 16:11Speaker 3: I haven't checked this morning, but yep, COLP Opposition Fighting
- 16:15Speaker 3: Fit Wears step in our hearts out trying to knock
- 16:17Speaker 3: off the mixed team. But you might have just got
- 16:20Speaker 3: overline again this Yukdi.
- 16:21Speaker 1: It was because we ended up with a bit of
- 16:23Speaker 1: an army of walkers. We've got like forty six members
- 16:26Speaker 1: of our team, so when you average that out, it's
- 16:29Speaker 1: not too much.
- 16:30Speaker 4: Very well.
- 16:31Speaker 3: Yeah, well next year, everyone register for CLP Opposition Team.
- 16:34Speaker 3: Let's take Katie out. Let's show them they better be
- 16:37Speaker 3: stepping a bit more.
- 16:40Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time this morning, much appreciated.
- 16:42Speaker 2: Take care everyone,