Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson has acknowledged the ABC’s apology over its coverage of a recent crime meeting but believes the article should be retracted

Transcript

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson has acknowledged the ABC’s apology over its coverage of a recent crime meeting but believes the article should be retracted · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, the ABC has issued an apology over its Alice
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Springs coverage, just hours after it was threatened with an
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: official investigation into the matter. So on Friday, the public
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: broadcaster released a statement with a partial apology, admitting that
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: it had failed to provide the full context regarding a
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: meeting which was held between people in Alice Springs in
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the crisis riddled town.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Of course, as has.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Been reported now, you'll recall that we did actually have
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: the organizer of the Save Alice Springs meeting which was
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: held last week, Garth Thompson. He joined us on the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: show to tell us that more than three thousand residents
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: had attended to discuss the crime wave which is impacting
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: the town. But the ABC interviewed several attendees outside that meeting,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: with one woman describing it as a total white supremacist
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: fest with a scary vibe. Now joining me on the
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: line is the mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Patterson.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Matt, Good morning Cody.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Matt.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: You were very vocal about this last week and said
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: that the ABC should apologize. What did you make of
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: that apology that was issued on the weekend.
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: I think the acknowledgement that they've done the wrong thing
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: is appreciated. I didn't think much of the apology, to
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: be quite frank, Katie, I think that it still doesn't
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: go far enough for me, to be completely honest, I
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: think that the whole story needs to be retracted because
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: you can still access that story online, and they obviously
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: know that they've done the wrong thing that they can't
• 1:27
  Speaker 4: still leave that story up there. So whilst I acknowledged
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: the apology, I think that it needs to be retracted.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Matt.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: I know some people might be listening thinking, well, you know,
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: there was someone who'd made a racist comment outside, and
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: you know, and there were obviously some people who didn't
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: feel comfortable inside that meeting.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: But the point here is that.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: You wanted to make sure or you wanted to ensure
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: that it was fair coverage.
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right, And I mean the story was that
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: the inside the meeting was full of white supremacists. Now
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: I've called out that the racist comment that happened outside
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: the meeting, that's obviously pretty vile comment and should be
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: called out. That wasn't inside the meeting. There's three and
• 2:10
  Speaker 4: a half thousand people there that you know that come
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: together because they want change. I think that's the powerful
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: message in all of this. And I think the disappointing thing,
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: Katie is because of the story, we're talking about the
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: ABC and they're disappointing coverage rather than talking about the
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: real problem and that we're still facing the challenges that
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: we're facing.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: Well, that's spot on, and look, I am going to
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: get to that. I do.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I'm keen to find out how things are going in
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Alice Springs, but I do want to just read that.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I'll read part of that statement out. So the ABC
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: statement says, we acknowledge that one report on AM was
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: incomplete and did not adequately cover the full context of
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: the meeting or the range of perspectives expressed at it.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: ABC News apologizes to audiences for providing an incomplete picture
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of the event in this instance, and in an editor note,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: ABC News management said that they take responsibility regarding the oversight.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, from what from what I can hear from you, Matte,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: really it's it's not enough. You actually want that story
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: taken down?
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: Well, yes, and clearly they've admitted that they've done the
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: wrong thing, and that's great, but they can't still leave
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: that story up there and let it get the airtime,
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: you know, because it doesn't it's not right, it's not
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: it's not truthful. And I know that, you know, the journalists,
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: you have a code of ethics to follow. It should
• 3:35
  Speaker 4: be withdrawn. I don't think that it's an inappropriate request
• 3:38
  Speaker 4: that it's retracted.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, we do have a code of ethics to to,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: you know, to make sure that we are doing things fairly.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: And I think that that's really the point.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: You know, that what you're making is correct, that you've
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: got to make sure that if you go, if you
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: do attend a meeting, that you do present both sides
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: of that story. And let's be honest, like the full
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: and complete part is that there were more than three
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: thousand towns people who actually attended that meeting, and they
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: all joined together because they've had enough with what's going
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: on in Alice.
• 4:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right. I mean that's a pretty powerful message.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Over ten percent of the population coming together on a
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: Monday night to voice their concerns. I think that that
• 4:16
  Speaker 4: sends a clear message in itself. And you know, we
• 4:19
  Speaker 4: can't continue going on kicking the can down the road.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: We need changes, and I know you're going to ask me,
• 4:26
  Speaker 4: but it is you know that whilst we're in the
• 4:28
  Speaker 4: media attention, there has been a definitely more place and
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: the presence has been felt down here and all reports
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: the alcohol restrictions at the moment have helped, but we
• 4:37
  Speaker 4: were waiting and to see over the twelve weeks if
• 4:40
  Speaker 4: the Monday and Tuesday does help it all.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well that is good to hear.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: So from your perspective, things have been a little bit
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: better over the weekend.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, they've been a little bit better. I'm not
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: certainly not going to say that crimes disappeared. You know,
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: we did see a break into the licensed premises last night,
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: so that was you know, this is the fear of
• 4:59
  Speaker 4: the react into the action of putting in the bands
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: in place.
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: So we'll continue to wait and see.
• 5:05
  Speaker 4: But as I said, there are a lot more places
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: in town and yeah, look, I'm hopeful Katie that we'll
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: see a positive outcome. Yeah, I'm skeptical of the changes
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: that they've made, but we'll continue to wait and see.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Matt, can I ask where was broken into overnight and
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: was there much damage?
• 5:22
  Speaker 4: There was Gillen Club was broken into. I think there
• 5:26
  Speaker 4: was around four to five hundred dollars worth of alcohol stolen.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Two people were involved.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Hey, we know that the report from Darrell Anderson.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: It was handed down last week to both the Northern
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Territory and the federal governments. Have you have you seen
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: that report or what's in it?
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: No? I haven't.
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: I do understand obviously the first recommendation is the stronger
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: Futures to implement that back in So that's obviously something
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: that I've been pretty vocal about. I'm not saying that
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: that needs to be forever, but it needs to be
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: back in place whilst the government considers the next steps
• 5:59
  Speaker 4: that they are to take. And so whether that is
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: the ballot or you know, the vote or whatever that
• 6:05
  Speaker 4: may be, we just need to put it back in
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: place and go and consult properly that they should have,
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: which is what they should have done before. But I
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: understand that that being the first one is that stronger
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: future should be put back in place.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: What else do you reckon needs to happen? I know
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: that you'd touched on this last week that you do
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: think there needs to be a bit of an order
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: of some of the services that are being provided, particularly
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: with use.
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, and I've said it many times that if we
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: were going to start again, there's no way in a
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: town of twenty seven thousand people that we would fund.
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: Thirty five service providers. So doing it, it's the accountability piece.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: In any other.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: Industry, you'd have to show k to ther eyes.
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: It's part of that conversation going forward to make sure
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: that people are accountable, you know, the police. Obviously in
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: the immediate term the police and you know, stronger futures
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: to be implemented. But then a broad discussion, like the
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: broader picture is as well as our health is you know,
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: short staffed and because of they're finding hard to recruit.
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: So it really is this big picture of what happens
• 7:08
  Speaker 4: if we don't address it, and then what does Alla
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: Springs turn into.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's exactly right now. As you've touched on before.
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: It's been a bustling tourist town for so many years.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, we don't want Alice Springs to turn into
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: purely a service town. It has to you know, like honestly,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: you just wanted to go back to the way it
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: was when it was thriving.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, I understand that obviously throughout through
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: the media attention for the wrong reasons over the last
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: three to four weeks certainly going to have an effect
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: on the tourism industry, and which is difficult because they've
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: had a you know, a rough end of the stick
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: during COVID. But you know, hopefully this is the short
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: term paying for a long term gain and we'd come
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: up with some solutions. You know, we're already seeing the
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: motocross with drawn be withdrawn from Alice Springs and go
• 7:52
  Speaker 4: to Darwin. So it's obviously that those sort of things
• 7:55
  Speaker 4: that trickle down that do have an effect.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: But you know, if we can.
• 7:59
  Speaker 4: Get this addressed and it becomes that destination that people
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: want to travel to and we're safe, and I think that,
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: you know, the short campaign could.
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: Be worth it.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Matt just on that we know that the junior motocross
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: championships were obviously canceled. I did not as well overnight
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: and I'm not sure whether you've seen it, but the
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: Chief Minister had put a post up on social media
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: saying we're supporting organizers to deliver amazing events just like
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Chariots of Thunder and the Allie Springs Beanie Festival, and
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: that it is part of territory Labour's Events Funding program
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: and from tomorrow you can apply for up to one
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars for event development support. How local sort of
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: feeling about that at this point in time, given the
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: fact that you know, just last week you have had
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: to have those motocross championships canceled due to safety concerns,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: are you worried that you're going to see further events impacted?
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it is a worry absolutely that I think that
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: you know, hopefully, as I said, it's a short term pain,
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: but we don't lose those events through the year because
• 9:00
  Speaker 4: you know, it's very hard to come back from months
• 9:03
  Speaker 4: and avenue scraped. You know, we've seen the Masters Games
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: was obviously stopped during COVID but hasn't hasn't come back yet,
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: and it won't come back this year in the format
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: that it was, So you know, once.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: It disappears for a year, it's really hard to get
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: it back on the ground.
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: So we'll just you know, fingers fingers crossed that people
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: still do come here, and you know, but at the
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: same point that they come here and that they're safe,
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: and so you know, I really hope that the it's
• 9:32
  Speaker 4: just going to be addressed and We're not having this
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: conversation in twelve months time.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Oh same here, Matte, same here, mate.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: You know, we are expecting the Northern Territory and federal
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: governments to really outline their plan at some point this week.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: You know, tell us in a couple of sentences what
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: exactly you are hoping to.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Say or to hear from those two tiers of government.
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: Look, I think that the immediate piece is the re
• 9:54
  Speaker 4: implementation of stronger futures and that the police that are
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: on the ground are going to be here for a
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: a period of time, not just a police operation, because
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: it is having an impact. And you know, the short
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: term solutions are stronger futures and police.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: And we'll go from there. I mean, that's what I hope.
• 10:12
  Speaker 4: And you know, the long term and the medium term solutions, Kadie,
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: are fine. But we've been talking about them for a
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: very long time and we've got ourselves into a situation
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: which was worse than where we were, you.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: Know, all those years ago.
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: So my thing is across that, you know that we
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: don't keep the can down the road with this one anymore,
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: and things are addressed and hopefully, you know, we can
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: be used as a blueprint to address the challenges that
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: you guys are going to be facing up and Dull
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: and pretty soon I've made I'd imagine.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: And what makes you think that we are going to
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: be facing those problems up here pretty soon?
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: Well, because where you are right now is where we
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: were twelve months ago, and so if it's not addressed,
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: then what we're going through now will be up there
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: in you know, twelve months. So I think that and
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: that's what I've urged that if alcohol is the root
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: of the problem that you that the government need to
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: look at alcohol problems in Darwin. I am hesitant to speak,
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: you know, on behalf of darl because I'm down here
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: and we don't like when people in darl And speak
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: about our springs. But you know, you certainly need to
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: have that conversation. We understand what you're going through because
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: we were there twelve months ago, and so it's only
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: you know, it only gets worse from here with the brazen,
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: destructive and sensus standalism that happens within the community.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Matt Patterson, I appreciate your time this morning, as I
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: have you know in recent weeks, will no doubt talk
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: to you again. I'm sure this week when we do
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: find out exactly what the plan is from the territory
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and federal governments. Thank you again for having a chat
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: with us.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: Thanks Coatie