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Katie Woolf spoke with newly appointed Alice Springs Deputy Mayor Jacinta Price · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Alice Springs, counselor Just Enterprise, has been appointed the town's
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  Speaker 1: new deputy mayor, and she joins me on the line
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Good morning, just into.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Congratulations, Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 2: I'm very honored. I think our former deputy mayor, Matt
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  Speaker 2: Patterson has done a wonderful job the last couple of years,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm very very happy to be stepping up into
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  Speaker 2: the role.
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  Speaker 1: How come you decided now is the time to step
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  Speaker 1: up and have a crack at the deputy role? Sure?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think that I'm in a position. You know,
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  Speaker 2: I was nominated at the beginning of the thirteenth Council
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  Speaker 2: and I was very busy in terms of, you know,
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  Speaker 2: in my role and my new job and that sort
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  Speaker 2: of thing, and I thought that I wouldn't be able
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  Speaker 2: to give it a position sort of exactly what it needed,
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  Speaker 2: you know, needed a good commitment, meant to be, you know,
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  Speaker 2: being a role one hundred and ten percent. And I've
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  Speaker 2: certainly at a stage at the moment where I can
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  Speaker 2: offer that, and you know, and given the COVID situation also,
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  Speaker 2: I think I'm the flip side of things. You know,
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  Speaker 2: It's been tough, but on the fifth side of things.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's brought our community together and there's certainly
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  Speaker 2: I've had a lot of individuals also within the community
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  Speaker 2: who have urged me to, you know, consider the role
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  Speaker 2: from from you know, a wide range from the multicultural
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  Speaker 2: community to the indigenous and the non Indigenous community. So
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  Speaker 2: I thought, well, yep, no, I'm ready for it, certainly.
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  Speaker 1: And Jainda, what are some of the bigger things that
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  Speaker 1: are issues at the moment in Alice Springs that your
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  Speaker 1: reckon council needs to get stuck into.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, one of the biggest issues, which is
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  Speaker 2: the same sort of issue right across the territory, is
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  Speaker 2: the issue of crime. And you know, we, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: we do look to their Northern Territory government to be
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  Speaker 2: able to implement I guess better policies to deal with that.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm certainly hoping that we're able to as a
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  Speaker 2: council come come and be at the same table as
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory government. Because we're on the front line,
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  Speaker 2: we get contacted in terms of our residents who are
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  Speaker 2: concerned about what they're all confronted with. And we did
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  Speaker 2: have a deputation last night from our police and in
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  Speaker 2: many regards, it almost feels like our police are also
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  Speaker 2: quite hamstrung in what they're able to do, what they
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  Speaker 2: can and sort of can't do. And I've also liked
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  Speaker 2: to see look at the prevention side of things. I'd
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  Speaker 2: like to understand more how we can support in terms
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  Speaker 2: of the rehabilitation organizations like DASA and KAPU and trying
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  Speaker 2: to get in there, you know, and deal with the
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  Speaker 2: prevention side of olcohol and substance abuse harm.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think that's something that we're dealing with
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  Speaker 1: right across the territory as well, trying to you know,
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  Speaker 1: really trying to make inroads in this space.
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  Speaker 2: Definitely. And you know, I mean, I'm well aware of
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  Speaker 2: the fact that we've got an ICE program here in
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  Speaker 2: Alice Springs which services much of the surrounding area as well.
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  Speaker 2: And I know that they're struggling and that they need
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  Speaker 2: a lot of support. So I'm hoping perhaps in this
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  Speaker 2: particular role, I can do more to find that sort
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  Speaker 2: of support that they need. And also, you know, it
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  Speaker 2: was sort of asked Counselor Banks that asked the police
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  Speaker 2: deputation last night what we can do as a counsel
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  Speaker 2: to help given it's largely an issue that the NTG
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  Speaker 2: has to deal with, and I found it quite I
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  Speaker 2: mean it was saddening in that the Police Commissioner said, Look,
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  Speaker 2: the Assistant Commissioner said, look, it's everybody's responsibility, and it
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  Speaker 2: is everyone's responsibility in that you know, what we can
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  Speaker 2: do is call if there's ever any issues or anything
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  Speaker 2: like that. But I think we feel like we certainly
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  Speaker 2: want to do more than just be able to pick
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  Speaker 2: up the line of call crimestoppers when we can see
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  Speaker 2: something happening before us. I mean, you know, I had
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  Speaker 2: to jump in and you know, help a woman being
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  Speaker 2: attacked last year, and in that event I was assaulted
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  Speaker 2: as well, and we don't want to have to deal
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  Speaker 2: with situation once we've got that far. So I'd certainly
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  Speaker 2: be interested to know more about what the plans are
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  Speaker 2: for the Northern Territory Government going forward in terms of
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  Speaker 2: getting these kids off our streets and ensuring that they're
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  Speaker 2: safe as well.
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  Speaker 1: And Jacina, of course, you know it is a collaborative
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  Speaker 1: approach in some ways when it comes to Council working
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  Speaker 1: with the Northern Territory Government. Both you and the mayor
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  Speaker 1: are former COLP candidates on a federal and territory level.
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  Speaker 1: Is it hard to manage that relationship or do you
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  Speaker 1: think that it's quite doable still, well.
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  Speaker 2: There's nothing. I don't feel there's an issue from our
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  Speaker 2: end of it. You know, we are here to represent
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  Speaker 2: the community and we'd hope that members of the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory government are also there in their capacity to support
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  Speaker 2: the wider community and that's where the focus has to be.
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  Speaker 2: It has to be about well, we're elected representatives and
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  Speaker 2: where there to support the community and their needs, and
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  Speaker 2: we need to have a working relationship in order to
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  Speaker 2: be able to do that. And we've always said we're
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  Speaker 2: here at the table. We want we want to be
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  Speaker 2: part of this and we want to work through this together.
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  Speaker 2: We don't want to be told this is how it's
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  Speaker 2: going to be done and we have no other choice.
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  Speaker 2: We want to be able to work through a lot
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  Speaker 2: of these processes with the entergy and that's always been
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  Speaker 2: the case.
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  Speaker 1: Well just Enterprise the Deputy Mayor of Allas Springs. Now,
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  Speaker 1: it's always good to catch up with you, but really
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  Speaker 1: good to speak with you.
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  Speaker 2: In your new role. You too, Thanks Katie, Thank you