Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / The Week That Was - May 6th 2022

Transcript

The Week That Was - May 6th 2022 · 360 with Katie Woolf

0:00
Speaker 1: It is time for the week that was and joining
0:02
Speaker 1: us in the studio this morning.
0:03
Speaker 2: We've got a great lineup.
0:04
Speaker 1: We've got Marie Claire Boothby from the COLP, Good morning
0:07
Speaker 1: to you.
0:08
Speaker 3: Good morning everyone.
0:09
Speaker 1: We've got Matt Cunningham from Sky News, Good morning Matting.
0:12
Speaker 2: And we've got Kate Warden.
0:13
Speaker 1: The Minister for Territory Families and various other portfolios.
0:16
Speaker 4: Good morning, good morning Katie.
0:18
Speaker 1: Lovely to have you all in the studio. And it
0:20
Speaker 1: has been a very busy week. I say that I
0:22
Speaker 1: think every week, but we did kick things off earlier
0:25
Speaker 1: in the week. We spoke about a number of police issues,
0:28
Speaker 1: including the situation which saw a veteran police officers suspended
0:33
Speaker 1: for publicly criticizing how his commissioners had treated Constable Zachary
0:37
Speaker 1: Rolf over the fatal shooting of Kumen Jai Walker.
0:40
Speaker 2: We know that well known and well respected.
0:42
Speaker 1: Sergeant Mark Casey, who served in the Northern Territory Police
0:45
Speaker 1: for twenty five years, told the Australian newspaper that he
0:48
Speaker 1: was devastated and terrified after being suspended without pay on
0:53
Speaker 1: Saturday for alleged serious breaches of discipline related to his
0:57
Speaker 1: personal behavior and public views. I now know that that
1:02
Speaker 1: pay has been reinstated, but he is still suspended at
1:06
Speaker 1: this point in time, and it does relate to that
1:09
Speaker 1: opinion piece that he'd written throughout the week.
1:12
Speaker 2: I know that his dad, much.
1:14
Speaker 1: Loved and very highly respected former officer and Northern Territory
1:18
Speaker 1: Emergency Service volunteer, Gary had taken to social media to
1:22
Speaker 1: call out the hypocrisy of his son's suspension, saying that,
1:25
Speaker 1: you know, we've seen a situation at different times where
1:28
Speaker 1: there have been other serving members on criminal charges and
1:31
Speaker 1: suspended on full pay. And he asked where the equity was, Matt.
1:36
Speaker 1: This was a story that you'd run earlier in the
1:38
Speaker 1: week or over the course of the weekend as well,
1:40
Speaker 1: wasn't it.
1:41
Speaker 5: That's right, and it was I think right that his
1:46
Speaker 5: pay was reinstated yesterday because I don't think that double
1:51
Speaker 5: standard could hold up. You couldn't have a situation where
1:53
Speaker 5: John McRoberts, when he was the Commissioner, was suspended on
1:56
Speaker 5: full pay when he'd been charged with the criminal offense
1:59
Speaker 5: of perverting the course of justice that he then went
2:01
Speaker 5: to jail for. And you know, we know that there's
2:03
Speaker 5: another case with Peter Bravos, who was charged with rape
2:08
Speaker 5: but later found not guilty by a jury. But of
2:10
Speaker 5: course he was suspended on full pay. And then you
2:13
Speaker 5: have a guy who's suspended without pay simply because he wrote,
2:17
Speaker 5: you know, an op ed in the Anti Independent that
2:20
Speaker 5: was critical of the police commissioner. I think that he
2:26
Speaker 5: probably would have expected for there to be discipline reaction
2:30
Speaker 5: when he chose to take those steps.
2:34
Speaker 2: He's a smart guy, he's experienced.
2:35
Speaker 5: Did not that that's right, But I think that also
2:38
Speaker 5: shows the level of disquiet there is within the Anti
2:40
Speaker 5: Police at the moment, and I think that's.
2:42
Speaker 6: A real issue.
2:42
Speaker 5: There's a real morale issue going on in the ant Police.
2:46
Speaker 5: There are a lot of reasons for that, but I
2:47
Speaker 5: think one of them, you know, and it can't be avoided,
2:50
Speaker 5: is the Zachary Rolph murder charge and the concerns that
2:55
Speaker 5: a lot of people within the Anti Police have about
2:57
Speaker 5: the process that was followed before that was laid. Now
3:00
Speaker 5: there's a lot of hyperbole around this whole issue. I
3:04
Speaker 5: know that people have been critical of the comments that
3:06
Speaker 5: the Chief Minister made when he went to Yundimou. To
3:09
Speaker 5: be honest, I don't think that those comments that he
3:12
Speaker 5: made are.
3:13
Speaker 6: Really what's at the heart of this.
3:15
Speaker 5: I think Michael Gunner was right when he said that
3:17
Speaker 5: he was talking about the coronial I think the way
3:19
Speaker 5: he handled it subsequently wasn't the best. I don't think
3:22
Speaker 5: it was a great idea to come on your radio
3:23
Speaker 5: show and call anyone who had concerns about that process
3:27
Speaker 5: conspiracy nutters. But I do think when he was in
3:30
Speaker 5: Yndamou he was actually talking about the coronial process. I
3:34
Speaker 5: think if you look at the full transcript you.
3:35
Speaker 6: Can see that.
3:36
Speaker 5: But I think where there is real concern in all
3:39
Speaker 5: of this is the haste with which that charge was laid,
3:42
Speaker 5: and that's born out in the police notes, the contemporaneous
3:45
Speaker 5: police notes of five detectives working on that case. That
3:49
Speaker 5: there are five detectives who were saying, hold up, we
3:52
Speaker 5: don't think there is enough evidence at this point to
3:54
Speaker 5: lay a charge of murder, and yet they're directed by
3:57
Speaker 5: the police executive to lay that charge. And I think
3:59
Speaker 5: that is what has caused a lot of the disquiet
4:01
Speaker 5: you're seeing, and there is.
4:02
Speaker 7: An IKAC investigation into that, which makes it very difficult.
4:05
Speaker 4: I think you're absolutely right, Matt.
4:07
Speaker 7: There's so much public commentary around so many edges here
4:11
Speaker 7: that we can sort of get bogged down in that.
4:14
Speaker 7: I think, you know, police are do an amazingly tough job.
4:18
Speaker 7: I was actually reflecting on it yesterday and thinking to myself,
4:21
Speaker 7: is it a job I would want to do? In fact,
4:23
Speaker 7: is it a job that you'd want your child to
4:25
Speaker 7: do or to take up that role, particularly in the
4:27
Speaker 7: northern terretary really tough conditions. We have some amazing police officers.
4:31
Speaker 7: I've got a good friend that's just you know, as
4:33
Speaker 7: an older person has just joined the police force.
4:36
Speaker 4: And is now working out of Darwin and into the regions.
4:40
Speaker 7: And I think to myself, what a choice to make
4:43
Speaker 7: people have their hearts in the right place, you know,
4:45
Speaker 7: to take that job on because they do know what's coming.
4:48
Speaker 4: And I think, and you.
4:49
Speaker 7: Listen as a lot of things being said on the
4:51
Speaker 7: radio by a lot of people around the things that
4:54
Speaker 7: police officers fire, you know, people in the fire services
4:57
Speaker 7: as well emergency services see on a day to day.
5:00
Speaker 4: Says, I think of that for myself, it's not a
5:02
Speaker 4: job I could do.
5:03
Speaker 7: And you do think about people's mental health and how
5:05
Speaker 7: they feel about things, and then you translate that to
5:08
Speaker 7: any workplace you need to feel supported, But I do
5:11
Speaker 7: think there are those things happening at the moment with
5:14
Speaker 7: the EYEKAC going on, I think they're appropriate. I think
5:17
Speaker 7: will that's the right place for it to be, and
5:21
Speaker 7: time will tell. But obviously the one, the matter that
5:24
Speaker 7: Katie's raised this morning is a matter full police operational
5:27
Speaker 7: and I guess from my perspective as a minister, that's
5:29
Speaker 7: what you've got a CEO to do. And the Commissioner
5:32
Speaker 7: is the CEO of Police, Fire and Emergency Service, and
5:34
Speaker 7: so I guess you can't sort of second guess why
5:37
Speaker 7: decisions are made, but I guess on the outside looking
5:41
Speaker 7: at the decision to reinstate his pay, that's been obviously
5:44
Speaker 7: a decision made by the CEO as well. So it'd
5:48
Speaker 7: be interesting just to see how these things pan out.
5:50
Speaker 4: And that continued.
5:51
Speaker 7: Unrest with you and the move it's really important that
5:55
Speaker 7: they have time to get to move forward now with
6:00
Speaker 7: those decisions made, but that won't come until after the coronial.
6:03
Speaker 4: As you said, Matt, Katie.
6:04
Speaker 8: A lot of this that it's been going on for
6:06
Speaker 8: a very long time, and what it really boils down
6:09
Speaker 8: to is it shows that our police force are broken.
6:12
Speaker 3: They really are.
6:13
Speaker 8: I mean we've seen some horrific things that they've had
6:16
Speaker 8: to go through, which they do go through every day,
6:18
Speaker 8: and Kate, you mentioned that, but what I find is
6:22
Speaker 8: when speaking to police officers, they know that that's the
6:25
Speaker 8: job they go to every day and they can deal
6:28
Speaker 8: with those situations they are trained to do so. But
6:31
Speaker 8: when they're not getting the support from the people that
6:33
Speaker 8: work with them, then that becomes really difficult and untenable.
6:37
Speaker 8: And we want to see some change there. We really
6:40
Speaker 8: want to hear from the Police Minister about what is
6:42
Speaker 8: going to be done about this, and unfortunately we just
6:45
Speaker 8: haven't seen that yet. And we have to support our police.
6:48
Speaker 8: They are the ones that protect everybody, and without that
6:51
Speaker 8: support there and for the police to start seeing that change,
6:55
Speaker 8: we're going to continue to see these people leaving the
6:58
Speaker 8: police force, leaving the territory, and that's just something that
7:00
Speaker 8: we can't afford.
7:01
Speaker 7: I do think there has been a review, and we
7:03
Speaker 7: have heard from the Police Minister say that there has
7:05
Speaker 7: been a review around those supporting mechanisms. I believe that that's
7:08
Speaker 7: finalized and all of those recommendations are going to be
7:10
Speaker 7: implementab we did speak to has said it and she
7:12
Speaker 7: said it publicly.
7:13
Speaker 1: To be fair, we spoke to her yesterday and we
7:16
Speaker 1: also spoke to the acting Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy yesterday
7:19
Speaker 1: about that review, but more so into mental health. Before
7:23
Speaker 1: we go down that path, I do just want to
7:25
Speaker 1: say that, you know, I think that at the moment,
7:27
Speaker 1: we have got this situation for a sergeant like Mark
7:30
Speaker 1: Casey to feel that he needed to pen an opinion
7:33
Speaker 1: piece in the NTI Independent, to feel as though he
7:37
Speaker 1: needed to go down that path which could ultimately and
7:39
Speaker 1: we don't know which could ultimately though see him lose
7:43
Speaker 1: his job. He obviously felt as though it was important
7:46
Speaker 1: enough for him to raise those concerns. And I know
7:49
Speaker 1: that Michael Murphy, who is you know, who's a very
7:52
Speaker 1: good police officer and a good man, said on the
7:55
Speaker 1: show yesterday there is the option there for officers to
7:59
Speaker 1: raise those concerns within the force. But my understanding upon
8:03
Speaker 1: speaking to officers off air is that they are feeling
8:06
Speaker 1: as though it gets to a certain level and then
8:08
Speaker 1: it doesn't go any further, and that if those concerns
8:11
Speaker 1: are raised, that they're then going to wind up in
8:13
Speaker 1: the same situation that Mark Casey's in right now.
8:16
Speaker 5: And my understanding, Katie, is that people have raised very
8:19
Speaker 5: senior people have raised a lot of those concerns internally,
8:22
Speaker 5: and some have left as a consequence of those issues
8:27
Speaker 5: not being dealt with in their minds appropriately when they
8:29
Speaker 5: have been raised. So I think that's why you're seeing
8:31
Speaker 5: this level of act. I think it's you know, I
8:34
Speaker 5: think it's wrong to say that people who who are
8:37
Speaker 5: saying there's an issue here are conspiracy nutters, or to
8:40
Speaker 5: say I think Philip Strickland s C, who was the
8:42
Speaker 5: prosecution's barrister, was quoted the Good Weekend in the Age
8:45
Speaker 5: last weekend as saying that all of the publicity around
8:49
Speaker 5: this sort of stuff was an example of propaganda at
8:52
Speaker 5: its worst. I don't think that is what's going on
8:54
Speaker 5: here at all. I think there are real concerns that
8:57
Speaker 5: exist within the Northern Territory Police Force. They're not being
8:59
Speaker 5: drummed up by forces outside. There are real concerns within
9:02
Speaker 5: the Northern Territory Police Force about the process that was
9:06
Speaker 5: followed in the charging of Constable Zach Rolf and I
9:09
Speaker 5: think that has created what I would call the morale
9:12
Speaker 5: crisis within the police at the moment now.
9:15
Speaker 6: Nicole Madison at a press comments yesterday.
9:17
Speaker 5: She outlined a whole heap of reasons why police are leaving,
9:20
Speaker 5: including you know, being poached from.
9:22
Speaker 6: Inter state and some of the others.
9:24
Speaker 4: That is true.
9:24
Speaker 5: That is true, but she did also acknowledge that the
9:27
Speaker 5: role matter had had also contributed to what we're seeing
9:31
Speaker 5: going on.
9:31
Speaker 1: I might take you to a piece of audio from
9:34
Speaker 1: an interview that i'd done with the Police Association President
9:37
Speaker 1: Paul mcewe a little bit earlier in the week when
9:39
Speaker 1: I did ask some questions about the state of the force.
9:42
Speaker 2: Take a listen, Are we in crisis point here?
9:45
Speaker 9: It's pretty difficult to tell, but certainly know the feedback
9:48
Speaker 9: we're getting is there. They're unwell. The police force is unwell.
9:53
Speaker 9: It's struggling to keep up with day to day requirements.
9:55
Speaker 9: The expectations put on them over the last couple of
9:59
Speaker 9: years has been more than than I've ever seen over
10:01
Speaker 9: thirty years. And I know we still hear the government
10:04
Speaker 9: say we've got more budget than ever before and more
10:06
Speaker 9: resources and ever before. That is simply not reflecting on
10:10
Speaker 9: the front line.
10:12
Speaker 1: That was the Police Association President Paul McHugh on the
10:14
Speaker 1: show earlier this week, and I think pretty strong words
10:17
Speaker 1: from him to say, you know, he didn't say that
10:20
Speaker 1: the police are in crisis point at the moment, but
10:22
Speaker 1: they are in a situation where the force is unwell.
10:26
Speaker 1: You know, I think we all understand that the demands
10:28
Speaker 1: on our police officers have grown greatly in the last
10:32
Speaker 1: couple of years. But in addition to that, Matt, like
10:34
Speaker 1: you pointed out, as had been said in that press
10:37
Speaker 1: conference and acknowledged by the sounds of it by the
10:40
Speaker 1: Police Minister, that there's no doubt that this recent court
10:43
Speaker 1: case has had a big impact.
10:45
Speaker 2: I don't know.
10:46
Speaker 1: Exactly how you rebuild that morale, but what I do
10:49
Speaker 1: know is that the community certainly appreciates the hard work
10:52
Speaker 1: that our Northern Territory police do. It is a bloody
10:56
Speaker 1: tough job, there is no doubt about that.
10:58
Speaker 2: Some of the things that they every day.
11:01
Speaker 1: You know, they're the first people we call when something
11:03
Speaker 1: goes wrong, and we need to have a police force
11:06
Speaker 1: that feels as though they're supported.
11:08
Speaker 7: So a couple of those things that we're mentioned, Katie,
11:11
Speaker 7: other things I think that will slowly put these things
11:13
Speaker 7: to bed, and one of them is the IKAC investigation.
11:16
Speaker 7: Matt quite rightly raises that, so Pet there's you know,
11:20
Speaker 7: some full transparency.
11:22
Speaker 4: That's what ikak.
11:22
Speaker 3: That's why we.
11:23
Speaker 7: Bought it in so it can get on and do
11:25
Speaker 7: that job. And also the review, and I mean I
11:29
Speaker 7: was listening this morning. I mean, and Paul, you know,
11:32
Speaker 7: he has some he has some good points. He is
11:34
Speaker 7: the sounding board I guess for members who are also
11:37
Speaker 7: hearing that. You know, the NTPO is the union for
11:40
Speaker 7: the police. They also have a role to play in
11:42
Speaker 7: there in order to you know, to raise all those
11:45
Speaker 7: concerns and that's a really legitimate role.
11:48
Speaker 4: But when it's just the same, we've.
11:50
Speaker 7: Got to look at working together to resolve those And
11:52
Speaker 7: I think there's some things out of the review around mental.
11:56
Speaker 4: Health and support for police.
11:58
Speaker 7: I believe that there's a new association that got started
12:01
Speaker 7: just this week for people outside of so there was
12:04
Speaker 7: some voices that sort are saying, well, yeah, when we
12:06
Speaker 7: go to the NDPA, that's fine, but.
12:07
Speaker 4: There's still the police.
12:09
Speaker 7: So there's some moves to an external group that's now
12:13
Speaker 7: coming forward to give external support to police so that
12:16
Speaker 7: they're outside of that system. That makes a lot of
12:19
Speaker 7: sense to me. Actually, it's something I hadn't thought about before.
12:22
Speaker 7: So police have got a lot of really good mechanisms inside.
12:24
Speaker 7: It's got psychologists, it's got all of those supports.
12:28
Speaker 4: But police are sort.
12:28
Speaker 7: Of saying, well, when we're talking inside, we continue to
12:31
Speaker 7: talk inside that bubble.
12:33
Speaker 8: I don't want to make the point too that was
12:35
Speaker 8: raised before about talking to the media, police and everyone.
12:39
Speaker 8: Really they don't just go to the media as the
12:41
Speaker 8: first point of call. These are situations that they have
12:44
Speaker 8: been feeling and experiencing for a very long time, and
12:46
Speaker 8: talking to people internally, and there's friends of circle of friends,
12:49
Speaker 8: all those things. The media is almost like the last resort.
12:52
Speaker 8: It is, so if we're hearing that this is the
12:55
Speaker 8: absolute last option that we have to go down the
12:57
Speaker 8: media line when it does become propaganda. If Matt says
13:01
Speaker 8: that the media has been accused of then this is
13:04
Speaker 8: where the real problem is and we can't just keep
13:07
Speaker 8: talking about it.
13:08
Speaker 3: There needs to be changed on.
13:09
Speaker 8: More money doesn't equal more results or better results.
13:12
Speaker 4: What it does by it does get more boots on
13:14
Speaker 4: the ground.
13:14
Speaker 7: And if it's a roster system and people are tired,
13:17
Speaker 7: that is exactly what you need. You need more boots
13:19
Speaker 7: on the ground, and that's what we're doing. So we
13:22
Speaker 7: are and I think the Police minister said this yesterday.
13:25
Speaker 7: Our attrition rate versus our recruitment rate, we recruit more
13:30
Speaker 7: than we lose. But of course then you do lose
13:32
Speaker 7: a bit of experience.
13:33
Speaker 8: I mean that everybody has to what about the discimplary
13:36
Speaker 8: part of this like that.
13:37
Speaker 3: That's so one of the things a very very long time.
13:41
Speaker 7: One of the things that you'll learn as and it's
13:44
Speaker 7: a start a really steep learning curve when you become
13:47
Speaker 7: a minister is that you've got a CEO that manages
13:49
Speaker 7: the operational parts.
13:50
Speaker 3: And those both supports to a minister.
13:52
Speaker 7: So you would never ever as a minister get involved
13:55
Speaker 7: in matters that relate directly to a staff member in
13:58
Speaker 7: your agency.
13:59
Speaker 4: Those matters, see.
14:00
Speaker 8: The specifics of it, but the legislation around it, which
14:02
Speaker 8: then helps control what happens and then where these people go,
14:05
Speaker 8: what's the process? How do they raise their genuine issues
14:08
Speaker 8: and then actually be heard and for it to be
14:10
Speaker 8: So there's.
14:11
Speaker 7: Been that review into that and those recommendations are now
14:13
Speaker 7: being put into.
14:15
Speaker 5: Places, and there was interestingly one part of that legislation
14:17
Speaker 5: that was changed last year. So when it comes to
14:19
Speaker 5: suspending an officer without pay, until last year, you needed
14:23
Speaker 5: basically to get approvable from the minister. So when he
14:26
Speaker 5: was suspended without pay, I actually asked the Minister whether
14:29
Speaker 5: she'd been involved, and she hadn't. But the legislation was
14:32
Speaker 5: changed last year, so the Minister is no longer involved
14:35
Speaker 5: in a decision to suspend a police officer without pay.
14:39
Speaker 5: That sits solely with the police commissioner or someone acting.
14:41
Speaker 2: On which I think is fair enough.
14:43
Speaker 4: I think so too.
14:43
Speaker 7: A minister should have nothing to do with the day
14:46
Speaker 7: to day operational HR management of an agency. You can
14:49
Speaker 7: get when there's bigger issues that flare up that might.
14:52
Speaker 3: Have These are very big issues that continue to flare up.
14:55
Speaker 7: The suspension of one officer in a very big police
14:57
Speaker 7: force would not come to the attention minister unless there
15:01
Speaker 7: was other things around it. So it's really important that
15:04
Speaker 7: we understand that the Minister does not have the day
15:06
Speaker 7: to day say about who gets pay and who gets
15:08
Speaker 7: suspended day.
15:09
Speaker 4: That is why you pay a commissioner, that is why
15:12
Speaker 4: you pay a CEO, and that's that all.
15:14
Speaker 1: The separation if you're about that funding and also these
15:17
Speaker 1: calls to defund the police in just a couple of moments.
15:20
Speaker 1: But before we get there, I do want to touch
15:24
Speaker 1: on the fact it look, this is a very serious
15:26
Speaker 1: part of the conversation and if you or anybody that
15:29
Speaker 1: you know is in need of help, you can get
15:31
Speaker 1: in contact with Lifeline on thirteen eleven fourteen. But we
15:35
Speaker 1: also know over the weekend we learned of that distressing
15:39
Speaker 1: news that a veteran officer had taken his life, much
15:43
Speaker 1: loved and well respected former officer. It is the third
15:49
Speaker 1: police officer in as many months. We spoke again to
15:53
Speaker 1: Michael Murphy, the Acting Police Commissioner, about this yesterday, and
15:57
Speaker 1: we know that that review is underway and think that,
16:00
Speaker 1: you know, we need to make sure that our police
16:02
Speaker 1: officers are supported. One of the questions I asked as
16:05
Speaker 1: well is can we have a situation here where the
16:07
Speaker 1: police aren't just supported if they leave for the first
16:10
Speaker 1: six months after they leave, but should we realistically be
16:13
Speaker 1: looking after our officers for longer than that? And that
16:15
Speaker 1: is something that the Acting Commissioners said that the force
16:19
Speaker 1: is certainly looking into. We've got to make sure, you
16:21
Speaker 1: know that if we're sending our police officers out to
16:24
Speaker 1: some you know, horrific horrific things and events and terrible
16:29
Speaker 1: situations remote places, making sure that they've got that support,
16:33
Speaker 1: you know, not just you know, not just for the
16:35
Speaker 1: period of time that their officers or for a couple
16:37
Speaker 1: of months after they finished, but I think making sure
16:40
Speaker 1: that there is support mechanisms for them after that as
16:42
Speaker 1: well well.
16:43
Speaker 5: I think there are some similarities with our war veterans,
16:47
Speaker 5: you know, and we've seen something of a crisis as
16:51
Speaker 5: well in the mental health and the suicides of people
16:54
Speaker 5: who've served our country overseas now. And I'm not saying
16:57
Speaker 5: that working in the Northern Territory as a police officer
16:59
Speaker 5: is as going to the war, but you do see
17:02
Speaker 5: some very confronting things. There is no doubt in that
17:05
Speaker 5: sort of job, and I think that's why you need
17:07
Speaker 5: the support. And I think you need it not just
17:09
Speaker 5: in an official capacity, but you need I think you
17:13
Speaker 5: need to feel as though the public has your back
17:16
Speaker 5: as well.
17:17
Speaker 4: You know.
17:17
Speaker 5: You look at what happened to Australians who served in Vietnam,
17:20
Speaker 5: and that was a very unpopular war. When they came back,
17:23
Speaker 5: they just felt like, you know, they put their life
17:26
Speaker 5: on the line to serve their country and there was
17:28
Speaker 5: really no gratification for them. In some cases, they were
17:31
Speaker 5: being spat out in the street, and I think there's
17:33
Speaker 5: an element of that going on with NT police when
17:35
Speaker 5: you think that they're doing a really tough, confronting job
17:39
Speaker 5: under really difficult circumstances, and then in some cases they
17:42
Speaker 5: feel like they're just getting a bucket of crap thrown
17:45
Speaker 5: at them at the same time. I mean, you're talking
17:47
Speaker 5: about this defund the police thing that you said you're
17:50
Speaker 5: going to mention.
17:51
Speaker 6: I mean, does anyone really sickly think we should defund the.
17:53
Speaker 8: Police out of the community. That's not what they're saying.
17:57
Speaker 8: They want us to have the police to have the
17:59
Speaker 8: right recon Yeah, right, support. I mean in other areas
18:02
Speaker 8: of the territory and the people that I speak to
18:03
Speaker 8: and the police officers I speak to, they do feel
18:06
Speaker 8: supported by the public, by the community, they absolutely do.
18:09
Speaker 8: And they feel supported by each other on the troops,
18:12
Speaker 8: you know, the troops that are in there. But where
18:14
Speaker 8: they don't feel the support is from the executive and
18:17
Speaker 8: that's that's really important.
18:18
Speaker 1: Look, I'm going to take a very short break and
18:20
Speaker 1: we will continue this discussion. But you are listening to
18:22
Speaker 1: Mix one oh four point nine's three sixty.
18:25
Speaker 2: It is the week that was.
18:26
Speaker 1: You are listening to the week that was and there
18:28
Speaker 1: has been a lot of discussion throughout the week about
18:31
Speaker 1: some of the issues that we're seeing within the police
18:33
Speaker 1: force at the moment. But we know that the Police Minister,
18:35
Speaker 1: Nicole Madison announce that the Territory government is investing an
18:39
Speaker 1: extra ten point one million dollars into remote and regional
18:42
Speaker 1: policing in next week's budget. So funding for the Northern
18:45
Speaker 1: Territory Police Force is set to increase by six point
18:48
Speaker 1: four million dollars in the twenty twenty two to twenty
18:51
Speaker 1: three financial year to five hundred and ten million dollars.
18:55
Speaker 2: The extra money is going to see.
18:57
Speaker 1: Extra remote police funding go towards twenty one additional police
19:01
Speaker 1: officers and another thirty Aboriginal liaison officers who will be
19:05
Speaker 1: established permanently within communities. There's going to be three million
19:08
Speaker 1: dollars to support school based policing, in a further one
19:11
Speaker 1: point two million to expand and maintain CCTV across the
19:15
Speaker 1: Northern Territory. But you know, while this announcement is happening,
19:19
Speaker 1: we then see on the front page of the paper
19:21
Speaker 1: today the community of slain Yun Damu teenager Kumenjai Walker
19:26
Speaker 1: is calling for the Northern Territory police to be defunded
19:29
Speaker 1: at large following the zach Roff acquittal over the nineteen
19:33
Speaker 1: year old's deaths. I've got to say, I know that
19:36
Speaker 1: they are a community that is hurting, but I think
19:38
Speaker 1: it is absolutely the wrong thing to do to defund
19:42
Speaker 1: the police in communities HATI.
19:45
Speaker 7: Non Territory police are funded I think well above most
19:49
Speaker 7: other jurisdictions around Australia. And there's a reason for that,
19:52
Speaker 7: and that is because we need more boots on the
19:54
Speaker 7: ground because we.
19:55
Speaker 4: Are such a vast place.
19:56
Speaker 7: The cost of policing in the Northern Territory compared to
19:59
Speaker 7: other places extraordinary, you know.
20:01
Speaker 4: And we do have a.
20:01
Speaker 7: Policy about wanting to increase that footprint, and it's around
20:05
Speaker 7: community safety. It's not necessarily about that pointy end which
20:08
Speaker 7: seems to get a lot of the attention you've mentioned.
20:10
Speaker 7: They're the police based the school based police program which
20:14
Speaker 7: was previously defunded, and the huge voices of the community
20:17
Speaker 7: coming back saying can we please have police officers back
20:19
Speaker 7: in our schools because they did so much good. In fact,
20:22
Speaker 7: my predecessor, Peter Styles, I think he was a police
20:25
Speaker 7: school based constable for something like thirty years. It's really
20:27
Speaker 7: well known by kids. I've been out with peterwek Adults
20:30
Speaker 7: now come up and they remember and they recall those
20:32
Speaker 7: stories of him when he was a police, a school
20:35
Speaker 7: based constable made a difference to some people, and that
20:37
Speaker 7: can be that early intervention catch up.
20:40
Speaker 1: Well, I think it means that the police are in
20:42
Speaker 1: the school and they're meeting people, you know, like they're
20:44
Speaker 1: meeting the kids in a friendly way. That's not sort
20:46
Speaker 1: of you know that it's not punitive, it's like a
20:49
Speaker 1: really friendly way. It's proactive. But so is that what
20:52
Speaker 1: that extra.
20:52
Speaker 2: Funding is going to see. Is there going to be
20:53
Speaker 2: more some of it?
20:54
Speaker 4: Yeah?
20:54
Speaker 7: Absolutely, but also we need so we need to expand
20:57
Speaker 7: that program back out to more schools because that the
21:00
Speaker 7: call for it and kids, you know, young kids that
21:03
Speaker 7: that first, if they're meeting those policemen in that first
21:06
Speaker 7: way at school, then there's that trust because that's that relationship,
21:10
Speaker 7: rebuilding that trust with your local commit you know, local
21:14
Speaker 7: police officers. But however, it's expensive, it's expensive to put
21:18
Speaker 7: people out into remote areas. It's expensive for those police officers,
21:22
Speaker 7: you know, to be out in those places and have
21:24
Speaker 7: the right tools and equipment. That's why the territory has
21:28
Speaker 7: to spend so much money in policing. We need a
21:30
Speaker 7: really well resourced police force. Everybody gets that and it
21:35
Speaker 7: contributes greatly to community safety.
21:37
Speaker 1: And it's really got to make sure they've got all
21:38
Speaker 1: the tools that they need to do the jobs.
21:40
Speaker 4: You know, they need to be safe.
21:42
Speaker 7: They need to be able to go about their jobs
21:44
Speaker 7: every day in a really safe and supported way.
21:47
Speaker 5: I think, you know, that's a really inflammatory statement that
21:50
Speaker 5: was put out and I don't think it helps the cause.
21:53
Speaker 5: I think the people the world for people in Yindamu
21:56
Speaker 5: have some reasonable questions that should be asked about what
21:59
Speaker 5: happened on the nights and twenty nineteen. But if you
22:03
Speaker 5: really drill down into it, and I sat through every
22:05
Speaker 5: day of that court case, Katie, and one of the
22:08
Speaker 5: issues right that led to the immediate response team from
22:13
Speaker 5: Alice Springs being sent to ynda Move was the lack
22:17
Speaker 5: of police resourcing in ynda Move.
22:19
Speaker 6: They had three officers there.
22:21
Speaker 5: At Yndamo, two of them who'd been chased out of
22:24
Speaker 5: a house with an axe three days prior.
22:27
Speaker 6: They'd been working around the clock.
22:28
Speaker 5: They were absolutely exhausted and so then the four irt
22:33
Speaker 5: officers from Alice Springs had to be sent out to
22:35
Speaker 5: Junda move because the police there were just.
22:40
Speaker 6: Out on their feet.
22:42
Speaker 5: So you know, if you want to reduce police funding
22:44
Speaker 5: or defund the police, you're only going to make the
22:46
Speaker 5: situation worse.
22:47
Speaker 6: I mean, you know if and I know.
22:49
Speaker 5: It's really difficult, it's really difficult to find the people
22:53
Speaker 5: to go and work out in these remote communities, and
22:55
Speaker 5: we were talking a bit about this off air, but
22:58
Speaker 5: I just think, I mean, I kind of think that
23:01
Speaker 5: it kills any of their reasonable arguments when you go
23:05
Speaker 5: and make such such an absurd statement like defund.
23:07
Speaker 6: I mean, that's just a nonsense activist.
23:10
Speaker 5: Term that's been borrowed from the United States, really, and
23:13
Speaker 5: I don't think any normal, sensible person in any even
23:17
Speaker 5: in remote communities would seriously be saying we should be
23:20
Speaker 5: from you.
23:20
Speaker 2: Think about it as well.
23:22
Speaker 1: You know, it's not just the it's not just police
23:24
Speaker 1: that you've got out in remote communities. You've got nurses,
23:26
Speaker 1: you've got teachers, you've got other support staff. And I
23:28
Speaker 1: think that if you're in a situation where you didn't
23:31
Speaker 1: have police funded, so you didn't have police out in
23:33
Speaker 1: those remote communities, you'd probably find that you're hard pressed
23:36
Speaker 1: to actually get some of those support staff out in
23:38
Speaker 1: the communities as well.
23:40
Speaker 8: Communities need to be a safe place for people to
23:41
Speaker 8: work in and provide those services. And I'm curious to know, like,
23:45
Speaker 8: is this movement that they are running with, is it
23:48
Speaker 8: just for the one community that they don't want those
23:49
Speaker 8: police officers there and they want to ban guns, or
23:51
Speaker 8: is it all of the territory, because we can't have
23:54
Speaker 8: one rule for one community and then another rule for everybody.
23:57
Speaker 7: Else, which you can also you know, as part of
23:59
Speaker 7: Cabinet Week around the territory a lot when we head
24:01
Speaker 7: out to remote communities, you go to some communities where
24:04
Speaker 7: police are an integral part of that community and actually
24:07
Speaker 7: considered as community members and actually seen as you know,
24:10
Speaker 7: their kids are.
24:10
Speaker 5: Absolutely they ever seriously said to you in a remote
24:16
Speaker 5: community we don't want the police.
24:17
Speaker 7: Absolutely never had that never, And that's what the point
24:20
Speaker 7: I'm making is, you know, they're on first name basis,
24:23
Speaker 7: they go to them in times of need, even when
24:25
Speaker 7: they're off shift.
24:26
Speaker 4: They're getting that knock at the door. Rather like nurses
24:28
Speaker 4: and school teachers.
24:30
Speaker 7: They're seen as a real strong part of what every community.
24:33
Speaker 3: I've been to thing that.
24:34
Speaker 1: The police have done, and I've spoken to them about this,
24:37
Speaker 1: is that they do have I may have the name wrong,
24:40
Speaker 1: but they're Aboriginal Community Police officers, not the appos, but
24:44
Speaker 1: then others that are actually based out in the community,
24:47
Speaker 1: the liaison officers that are members of the community that
24:50
Speaker 1: are then obviously trying to bridge that gap, which I
24:53
Speaker 1: think is a really good initiative, a good thing to
24:55
Speaker 1: be doing. It's you know, like I understand one hundred
24:59
Speaker 1: percent that you've got a community that is hurting right now.
25:02
Speaker 1: I know that they did issue a further public demand
25:05
Speaker 1: for the Northern Territory government to hold an urge a
25:08
Speaker 1: community cabinet meeting at you and the mood.
25:11
Speaker 4: So that's already been planned. I believe that there was
25:13
Speaker 4: a I just heard a.
25:14
Speaker 7: Couple of days ago that there was a date that
25:17
Speaker 7: had sort of been put forward, but actually it was
25:20
Speaker 7: a date that it was when something else was on
25:23
Speaker 7: that just wasn't possible. So at the moment, a couple
25:26
Speaker 7: of dates have been public meeting. No, it's for cabinet,
25:30
Speaker 7: So we do community cabinet meetings. We get around the
25:33
Speaker 7: Northern Territory as cabinet.
25:35
Speaker 3: Hold a public meeting as well, we hold a.
25:37
Speaker 7: Cabinet meeting with the local community members. Yes, so we would, yes,
25:40
Speaker 7: but we do events around it.
25:41
Speaker 4: So you'll go in, you'll.
25:42
Speaker 7: Have your cabinet meeting. Cabinet meetings, by the very nature
25:45
Speaker 7: are a closed meeting.
25:46
Speaker 3: Or you're having a public event specifically issue.
25:50
Speaker 7: Public events that happen after a community cabinet. So we
25:53
Speaker 7: actually go out hold the cabinet meeting, but then go
25:56
Speaker 7: and do a whole range of activities.
25:57
Speaker 4: So for me, as territory families, Minister.
26:00
Speaker 7: Go to the safe house and I'll meet there, meet
26:02
Speaker 7: all my staff because we've got staff in.
26:04
Speaker 4: The regions and we are on a regionalization way. That's
26:09
Speaker 4: the way we work these days.
26:10
Speaker 3: So are you going to do the same thing our springs?
26:12
Speaker 8: Because remember the chief ministers several times for a public
26:15
Speaker 8: crime meeting in other springs and that hasn't happened. So
26:19
Speaker 8: I'm just really curious as to why it's okay for
26:20
Speaker 8: one area of the arty.
26:22
Speaker 7: Our springs I think four or five to hold a
26:24
Speaker 7: public crime meeting. I always have meetings with stakeholders in
26:27
Speaker 7: our springs.
26:28
Speaker 8: There are lots of people in our springs that feel
26:30
Speaker 8: like they're not heard because they never get to see
26:31
Speaker 8: the ministers down there.
26:33
Speaker 4: Well, I think you'll find that they don't.
26:34
Speaker 3: Walk down the streets.
26:36
Speaker 7: Person in our springs, I walk down the streets and
26:38
Speaker 7: other springs, I'm always out meeting every stakeholder I can
26:41
Speaker 7: in other springs.
26:42
Speaker 1: Look, another community where people have got concerns at the
26:45
Speaker 1: moment is that of what Air. We know that they
26:47
Speaker 1: had really serious issues last week. There has been I
26:50
Speaker 1: believe ministers out there throughout the week. We had Melanderie
26:53
Speaker 1: McCarthy earlier in the week saying that there is a
26:56
Speaker 1: humanitarian crisis now in the community of what Air.
27:00
Speaker 2: We also had you know, I had just Senter Price.
27:02
Speaker 1: On the show earlier in the week saying that this,
27:05
Speaker 1: you know, it demonstrates the need to make sure that
27:07
Speaker 1: that police do have the tools that they need when
27:10
Speaker 1: they're out in communities and demonstrates the need for them
27:13
Speaker 1: to be armed and to make sure that they have
27:17
Speaker 1: the appropriate funding. The situation in what Air, kate those houses,
27:23
Speaker 1: what's going to happen with them? I know that you
27:25
Speaker 1: had staff going out there last week to give or
27:27
Speaker 1: to give you a bit of an upduct and we've.
27:28
Speaker 7: Had staff on the ground from the moment it was
27:30
Speaker 7: safe to do so, and we continue to have staff
27:32
Speaker 7: on the ground.
27:34
Speaker 4: Those assessments will start once it's safe to do so.
27:37
Speaker 7: But they've gone around. But you know, people see that
27:40
Speaker 7: I've got housing, but I've also got the welfare response
27:43
Speaker 7: within my agency, so we've also we.
27:47
Speaker 4: Know where all the people are.
27:49
Speaker 7: There's a concerted effort to get young the children back
27:52
Speaker 7: into school. There's you know, you've got to take care
27:54
Speaker 7: of food security, You've got to take care of shelter immediately.
27:58
Speaker 4: All those things are being done.
28:00
Speaker 2: Hubanitarian crisis, No.
28:02
Speaker 4: I wouldn't call it that.
28:03
Speaker 7: What's happened is a group of people have been displaced.
28:06
Speaker 7: There have been houses that are clearly beyond repair. Possibly
28:10
Speaker 7: you've got to have that proper assessment before you go forward.
28:13
Speaker 4: And there's a number of.
28:14
Speaker 7: Other houses that are that have been damaged but not
28:17
Speaker 7: necessarily uninhabitable, So that assessment is happening. But at the
28:20
Speaker 7: same time, you've got to do that welfare response.
28:22
Speaker 4: And that is being done. I had a briefing just yesterday.
28:24
Speaker 7: I am very very confident that there are boots on
28:28
Speaker 7: the ground the welfare response, whether it's you know, the
28:30
Speaker 7: people coming into town.
28:32
Speaker 4: From the daily response. So, for example, there are.
28:34
Speaker 7: A couple of families out there have chosen to come
28:36
Speaker 7: into town and I don't know the reasons for that,
28:38
Speaker 7: but I would guess it's something like medical access. We've
28:41
Speaker 7: got them into town and we've got the roof over
28:43
Speaker 7: their head and they're being supported. There are others that
28:46
Speaker 7: have chosen to go further afield where they feel safe.
28:49
Speaker 7: My understanding is that they are feeling very safe. The
28:51
Speaker 7: briefing I had that they've got roofs over their head.
28:54
Speaker 4: We are very fortunate.
28:56
Speaker 7: If we're in the dry would be very different situation.
28:58
Speaker 7: We'd be having a very different sponse if it was
29:00
Speaker 7: raining at the moment.
29:01
Speaker 4: But there is.
29:02
Speaker 7: The food has been taken care of, and we're looking
29:04
Speaker 7: at things like education and transport and supporting those people.
29:08
Speaker 7: Whilst all that work, you can't fix those houses within
29:12
Speaker 7: a week.
29:12
Speaker 4: That's just ridiculous.
29:14
Speaker 2: As an asstic court, I mean some of them are
29:17
Speaker 2: severely damaged.
29:19
Speaker 4: Thirty seven houses. Yeah, that's right, and that's the figure
29:22
Speaker 4: that we know at the moment. But that and that
29:25
Speaker 4: assessment has to happen.
29:26
Speaker 7: And as I heard other people say, you know that
29:28
Speaker 7: we also need to make sure that the people that
29:30
Speaker 7: have done that are held responsible, and that's why you've
29:32
Speaker 7: got police out there exactly, but that those I fully
29:36
Speaker 7: expect that people will be held responsible because that is
29:38
Speaker 7: will be such a damage and be done.
29:42
Speaker 8: That were shared in the media was just absolutely appalling
29:46
Speaker 8: and and I'm glad to hear you say that, Minister,
29:48
Speaker 8: because absolutely, you know, we cannot have a situation in
29:52
Speaker 8: anywhere in the territory where people go absolutely rogue like
29:55
Speaker 8: that and.
29:57
Speaker 4: The community you'd expect them to.
29:59
Speaker 8: They must be absolutely beside themselves over there, and that's
30:02
Speaker 8: you know, we just can't accept that. And I really
30:04
Speaker 8: hope that the proper process happens. And you know, I'm
30:07
Speaker 8: really curious to know as well where the local member is.
30:10
Speaker 3: Where's Darren Yart the flop.
30:11
Speaker 4: It's not a ground. He's been there since the.
30:13
Speaker 3: Beginning, he I hope, so because we haven't known, I hope.
30:16
Speaker 8: So.
30:16
Speaker 7: I'm telling you one hundred percent, we've had nothing but
30:18
Speaker 7: connection with Duran. He has been out there working from
30:21
Speaker 7: day one, and he has done nothing but work his
30:24
Speaker 7: butt off out there and he continues to do so.
30:27
Speaker 7: I'm actually amazed at his capacity and what he's doing
30:30
Speaker 7: out there. He's on the ground connecting with people. Can
30:32
Speaker 7: I say one thing to Katie.
30:33
Speaker 4: We'll have to make it one really quick thing. People
30:36
Speaker 4: out there, this is a small group of people.
30:39
Speaker 7: People out there are condemning this behavior of their own
30:41
Speaker 7: community members, and they're saying this has to stop because
30:43
Speaker 7: it's made other people displaced. It's actually taken away the
30:46
Speaker 7: livelihood of people because they can't go to work, because
30:48
Speaker 7: they haven't had somewhere to stay. This is disgraceful behavior.
30:51
Speaker 7: It's a very small group. What is a very big
30:53
Speaker 7: community with some amazing people, and that work will continue
30:56
Speaker 7: with those people to make sure and those other ones
30:58
Speaker 7: need to be helped.
30:59
Speaker 2: We are going to have to take a very short break.
31:01
Speaker 1: You are listening to mix one oh four point nine's
31:03
Speaker 1: three sixty. There's been a few things happen this week.
31:06
Speaker 1: We know that the well, the interest rates went up.
31:09
Speaker 1: The Reserve Bank increased interest rates for the first time
31:11
Speaker 1: in more than eleven years with a twenty five basis
31:14
Speaker 1: point hike, taking the cash rate target to zero point
31:18
Speaker 1: three five percent.
31:19
Speaker 2: We know that what it means is a rate rise.
31:20
Speaker 1: It's going to add about sixty five dollars a month
31:23
Speaker 1: to repayments on a five hundred thousand dollar mortgage and
31:26
Speaker 1: double that obviously on a million dollar mortgage. But what
31:29
Speaker 1: it also means is that it's made things quite interesting
31:33
Speaker 1: during the federal election campaign. I also reckon it makes
31:36
Speaker 1: things a little bit more interesting before the Northern Territory budgets.
31:38
Speaker 2: Handed down next week.
31:39
Speaker 1: With our wage freeze that's currently in place and the
31:42
Speaker 1: cost of living going up, what do you reckon?
31:47
Speaker 4: That's just smiling, you know.
31:48
Speaker 7: Obviously there's only there's a number of EBAs through a
31:52
Speaker 7: moving fest at the moment, and they will play out
31:54
Speaker 7: as they are. Langoland gave us a whole heap of
31:59
Speaker 7: recommendations that we needed to implement. We've been very strict
32:04
Speaker 7: about how we have implemented a whole range of those recommendations.
32:08
Speaker 4: And I'm going to leave more budget report.
32:11
Speaker 7: I'm going to leave the budget until the next few
32:14
Speaker 7: weeks because there's some things that will come out of
32:15
Speaker 7: the budget. Obviously, there's a few announcements that are coming out.
32:17
Speaker 1: So can you be any backflipping on these wages on
32:20
Speaker 1: the wage freeze?
32:21
Speaker 7: K They are all subject well out of my my perfume.
32:25
Speaker 6: Someone who knows something.
32:31
Speaker 7: That there's a number of negotiations on the way. It's
32:34
Speaker 7: not within my remit, so honestly I can't comment.
32:36
Speaker 1: Look, I've got to say that I'm certainly no finance expert,
32:39
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about that.
32:40
Speaker 2: Just us my husband.
32:42
Speaker 1: But what was up to me, Like I say, we'd
32:45
Speaker 1: have very nice clothes and live in the caravan.
32:50
Speaker 4: Ok, we are not responsible. I mean, you know, I
32:53
Speaker 4: think for the federal election, it's interesting.
32:56
Speaker 7: I don't know how Scott Morrison expects local people to
33:00
Speaker 7: pay for that rate rise.
33:01
Speaker 4: But I'll tell you one thing. I'm so great rise
33:04
Speaker 4: in rate, But do you know what.
33:06
Speaker 6: I think I was playing seventy percent?
33:12
Speaker 7: I'm not that old, but I didn't get into the
33:14
Speaker 7: housing market thirty. But it's going to give the pinch
33:17
Speaker 7: to people. And maybe if you borrowed a million dollars
33:19
Speaker 7: and you're in Sydney, well.
33:20
Speaker 1: And then you're a public servant who's got your wages
33:23
Speaker 1: frozen and everybody else is expected together in a massive
33:26
Speaker 1: out a place in the Northern Territory.
33:28
Speaker 7: If you're in Sydney and you've got a million dollar
33:29
Speaker 7: mortgage and you know people and you're only earning about
33:31
Speaker 7: you know, eighty one hundred thousand dollars a year.
33:33
Speaker 4: You've got a fifty year mortgage, you would be done.
33:35
Speaker 7: I heard figures today that some of those more you
33:37
Speaker 7: got extra six hundred you've said sixty five dollars a month,
33:41
Speaker 7: six hundred dollars a month.
33:42
Speaker 2: For Yeah, depending on how.
33:45
Speaker 4: He said.
33:46
Speaker 8: Interest rates hadn't been hasn't risen since eleven years, right,
33:49
Speaker 8: we all knew this was coming. It's been coming for
33:51
Speaker 8: a long time. I think yesterday the States America rose
33:54
Speaker 8: there's by one percent. Now is as much less than that.
33:56
Speaker 8: Of course, we can't control a lot of those things.
33:58
Speaker 8: But what we can control, as the labor government can,
34:02
Speaker 8: is what happens in the territory. And if we had
34:05
Speaker 8: a really robust, thriving economy and a private sector which
34:09
Speaker 8: was inviting new investment in and we had lots of
34:11
Speaker 8: new people coming to the.
34:12
Speaker 3: Territory, then maybe the cost of living wouldn't.
34:14
Speaker 2: Be population did go down. Our population has gone down.
34:19
Speaker 8: We are still last in the state of state reports.
34:21
Speaker 8: The concept for the thirteenth time.
34:23
Speaker 4: Fourteenth time pirs us to the high times of impacts.
34:26
Speaker 4: You need thoys need to get around.
34:28
Speaker 1: But you guys did actually do your quo that.
34:39
Speaker 7: I also weren't comparing it to a ten year higher
34:42
Speaker 7: around impact.
34:43
Speaker 1: You guys did have your own Deloitte report just recently
34:45
Speaker 1: as well that came out that did actually show that
34:48
Speaker 1: things that we weren't performing overly well this year also
34:51
Speaker 1: is my understanding.
34:52
Speaker 7: So I guess, Katie, from my perspective, I sit around
34:54
Speaker 7: a cabinet table, I see some really really exciting things
34:57
Speaker 7: having right the way across not territory, not just in Darwin.
35:00
Speaker 7: I think you know, in the times of impacts, a
35:02
Speaker 7: lot of activity was just going on dial when there's
35:04
Speaker 7: a huge agricultural sector emerging out of Catherine.
35:07
Speaker 4: There's some really really good things.
35:09
Speaker 7: The National Aboriginal Gullery and other springs is a massive
35:12
Speaker 7: game changer. Those of the things are happening right the way.
35:15
Speaker 7: I'm not crossing non territory. I think we all need
35:17
Speaker 7: to take a pause and take a whole hold your
35:19
Speaker 7: breath until next week for the budget.
35:21
Speaker 3: How many promises, how many major projects save poison project?
35:27
Speaker 7: There are so many projects getting off the ground, and
35:30
Speaker 7: I think you just need.
35:31
Speaker 3: Too many getting off the ground. How many have got.
35:34
Speaker 4: Those things take time and we have put in place I'm.
35:38
Speaker 1: Just going to take you back to the wages for
35:40
Speaker 1: a second, because I know that like if you if
35:42
Speaker 1: you're Matt and I, you probably don't get a wage
35:44
Speaker 1: increase for quite some time anyway, because you work for
35:46
Speaker 1: the in.
35:47
Speaker 2: The private sector.
35:48
Speaker 1: But for those public servants, again, I will go back
35:51
Speaker 1: to part of you know, what was discussed when the
35:53
Speaker 1: interest rates went up earlier in the week, is the
35:55
Speaker 1: fact that they are anticipating that wage growth is going
35:58
Speaker 1: like wages are going to grow. But again, I will
36:01
Speaker 1: say that if you're a public servant and you have
36:03
Speaker 1: got your wages frozen and for the next is it
36:05
Speaker 1: four years, Matt to the years just.
36:08
Speaker 7: Received four thousand dollars, And Marie Claire will agree with me,
36:11
Speaker 7: we're both on a wage freeze as well, so neither
36:13
Speaker 7: of us is.
36:14
Speaker 3: Getting I don't think people care about our wage fee.
36:18
Speaker 7: Is talking about the fact that they haven't had any extra,
36:21
Speaker 7: So we haven't had any extra either. A four thousand
36:23
Speaker 7: dollars the public servant's just got. I've been talking to
36:26
Speaker 7: quite a number of public servants who have told me
36:27
Speaker 7: what they've done with that four thousand dollars. Some have
36:30
Speaker 7: put it extra into their super some people have gone
36:32
Speaker 7: out and actually some people have just gone on.
36:34
Speaker 2: Holiday remains that we're actually going to see.
36:38
Speaker 1: You know, is it going to be more difficult in
36:40
Speaker 1: the coming years as the as the cost of living
36:43
Speaker 1: goes up to entice public servants, I teachers, you know,
36:47
Speaker 1: police officers, different professions into.
36:50
Speaker 2: The Northern Territory.
36:51
Speaker 1: Yet all the likes of teachers if they are competing
36:54
Speaker 1: with other states and the cost of living is high
36:56
Speaker 1: here in the territory.
36:57
Speaker 7: Disciplined, Katie, I think you'll see, let's just for the
37:00
Speaker 7: budget to come out, but we've had a lot of
37:02
Speaker 7: discipline around the budget.
37:04
Speaker 4: You will see one.
37:06
Speaker 3: Pet projects, there's no discipline there.
37:08
Speaker 7: Once those things turn, what we'll see is that there
37:11
Speaker 7: is an opportunity to pay people more money.
37:15
Speaker 6: What I'm looking forward to seeing a couple of things.
37:18
Speaker 5: One I reckon there'll be a boost of the budget
37:20
Speaker 5: through stamp duty because suddenly over the last twelve to
37:23
Speaker 5: eighty months, everyone else, everyone went out and bought houses here.
37:26
Speaker 5: The housing market started booming again, and so that money
37:30
Speaker 5: is that it is absolutely I think I think the
37:34
Speaker 5: biggest hit to the Northern Territory's economy was post impacts
37:38
Speaker 5: when we saw a massive fallen house prices and that
37:41
Speaker 5: meant that people lost their equity and their homes. People
37:43
Speaker 5: stopped spending money because they need it left exactly. I
37:47
Speaker 5: mean that was that was just a massive, massive issue
37:50
Speaker 5: here and it hurt the government coffers as well. The
37:52
Speaker 5: other interesting thing to see will be how much GST
37:55
Speaker 5: revenue we get because remember all the jumping up and down,
37:58
Speaker 5: the banging and moaning about.
37:59
Speaker 6: The to GST cuts to GST.
38:02
Speaker 5: Well, what has happened, I think is that we're going
38:05
Speaker 5: to get more GST because there's there was never a
38:07
Speaker 5: cut to the GST. The GST is relative to the
38:11
Speaker 5: amount of money that everyone around the country spends. So
38:13
Speaker 5: because people had all this money COVID money come in
38:16
Speaker 5: and whatever, and they spent more money in Victoria and
38:19
Speaker 5: New South Wales and Queensland and Western Australia, it means
38:22
Speaker 5: that we get more GST. And I really hope that
38:25
Speaker 5: when the Chief Minister and Treasurer delivers his budget speech
38:28
Speaker 5: next week he acknowledges that when he said that the
38:31
Speaker 5: norm the territory's GST had been cut, that was a
38:34
Speaker 5: massive porky.
38:36
Speaker 2: I go there.
38:37
Speaker 3: I never sent him agree with.
38:41
Speaker 4: That of course.
38:42
Speaker 2: I don't agree with you.
38:46
Speaker 5: That our relative our relativity, but also has gone up
38:50
Speaker 5: at the same period where you guys have been saying
38:53
Speaker 5: our GST.
38:54
Speaker 7: Australian wanting additional money makes the pool smaller. So I
38:57
Speaker 7: think it's all relative, but we do we got more money.
39:01
Speaker 5: They came out and said, oh, yeah, we're giving more
39:03
Speaker 5: to w A. But he's another three hundred million for
39:05
Speaker 5: the NT Treasurer.
39:07
Speaker 2: Yourself, you might.
39:09
Speaker 8: Government, the federal government spent fund the territory quite well,
39:14
Speaker 8: and that it has for a long long time.
39:16
Speaker 2: He went out of state.
39:19
Speaker 5: On plcliff stop the money very short break.
39:26
Speaker 2: You are listening to Mix one O four nine's.
39:28
Speaker 1: Three sixty and just about it for the week. That
39:31
Speaker 1: was for this morning. But the federal election race obviously
39:34
Speaker 1: rages on. Poor old alban Ezi. He's in a bit
39:37
Speaker 1: of trouble again today for not being able to remember
39:39
Speaker 1: his six point plan for the.
39:41
Speaker 2: Nd I s.
39:42
Speaker 1: I don't know was it was it journo's being a
39:44
Speaker 1: little bit mean, or was it a gotcha moment?
39:46
Speaker 2: Or do you think he should know?
39:47
Speaker 7: He's been on COVID, Katie, and I think I was
39:49
Speaker 7: speaking to someone yesterday they're saying, it's really difficult. You
39:52
Speaker 7: get a bit foggy after COVID and you can forget things.
39:55
Speaker 7: I know as a politician, I have stumped up and
39:57
Speaker 7: one what was I talking about? And it's really you
40:01
Speaker 7: can't sometimes all the time, one hundred percent of the time.
40:04
Speaker 7: And I think, you know he's a decent, decent man
40:07
Speaker 7: that's across a lot of things. Plus you also have
40:09
Speaker 7: experts at work with you. Bill Shorten is all over
40:12
Speaker 7: the nd I S stuff and I know that you
40:15
Speaker 7: know he would have had every bit of detail. And
40:18
Speaker 7: I suspect in a labor federal government, Bill Shorten will
40:21
Speaker 7: be the Minister for Disability, so he will have all
40:23
Speaker 7: of that.
40:24
Speaker 4: I think it's a little unfair Matt.
40:26
Speaker 6: Debt in next week's budget cut.
40:28
Speaker 2: I have no idea.
40:31
Speaker 4: That I got you. Thank you, mane.
40:36
Speaker 1: You've ever been doing a live cross and forgotten what
40:38
Speaker 1: you're saying.
40:41
Speaker 5: I was doing a live cross once with David Spears,
40:45
Speaker 5: very self.
40:46
Speaker 6: Professional and very good at his job, and he and
40:49
Speaker 6: I was talking.
40:50
Speaker 5: I was trying to say legislative Assembly and I had
40:55
Speaker 5: about four goes at it, and seriously a lot.
40:59
Speaker 6: Then I just went the past Eliament.
41:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I guess probably could have gotten away with it.
41:05
Speaker 1: But what did he forget the other day?
41:06
Speaker 2: The cash?
41:07
Speaker 6: Right, it was the unemployment.
41:09
Speaker 1: The unemployment finished one of his first step outs.
41:12
Speaker 7: You know, if we're going to get judged on forgetting
41:15
Speaker 7: one or two details about stuff, then I think I'm
41:17
Speaker 7: stuck pretty I think detailed.
41:19
Speaker 8: Thing is yeah, but what what is really important is
41:21
Speaker 8: that is who are the people locally that are out
41:23
Speaker 8: in the ground actually meeting people face to face because
41:26
Speaker 8: people want to know who their representatives are going to be,
41:29
Speaker 8: and so forgets what's happening on the news and then
41:32
Speaker 8: the other states. You know, if you've seen that your
41:34
Speaker 8: local representative out on the doors with you or on
41:36
Speaker 8: the side of the road so they're having a mobile office,
41:38
Speaker 8: that's who you want. And like I know that that
41:40
Speaker 8: Damien Ryan in the Gyari and Tina McFarland, I have
41:45
Speaker 8: been out and about like you wouldn't believe, like people
41:47
Speaker 8: say to me, absolutely everywhere, and you want local representatives
41:57
Speaker 8: who are there to listen to you.
42:01
Speaker 6: He's everywhere.
42:02
Speaker 3: He is with in every election. He's not every week.
42:06
Speaker 3: Lots of post there's a difference.
42:08
Speaker 1: Well, next week we are going to be meeting all
42:11
Speaker 1: of those candidates. We'll make sure that we've got them
42:13
Speaker 1: all on air and finding out a little bit more
42:14
Speaker 1: about all of them when we go through the candidates
42:17
Speaker 1: for Lingiari and also Solomon.
42:19
Speaker 2: But we are going to have to leave it there.
42:21
Speaker 2: That has been the week.
42:22
Speaker 1: That was.
42:22
Speaker 2: Kate Warden, thanks so much for your time this morning.
42:24
Speaker 4: Thank you for having us again.
42:25
Speaker 1: Katie, Matt Cunningham, thanks so much for your time today.
42:28
Speaker 1: No worries Katie and Mary Clare Boothby, Thank.
42:31
Speaker 8: You, Katie, thank you. And I just want to say
42:33
Speaker 8: to give a shout out to Tennis Palmerston. They are
42:35
Speaker 8: having a family Fun Night tomorrow night.
42:37
Speaker 3: It is going to be.
42:37
Speaker 8: Awesome, lots of activity, lots of kids running around, a
42:40
Speaker 8: bit of tennis as well.
42:41
Speaker 7: And can I also just give a quick plug out
42:43
Speaker 7: at your Nila Park tonight from about six o'clock one modes.
42:46
Speaker 7: We'll have free popcorn and we're running the movie Charlotte's
42:49
Speaker 7: Web this evening at at Ranula Park.
42:51
Speaker 6: Oh well going, why not?
42:53
Speaker 4: Well?
42:53
Speaker 5: I was at the Darwin Salties game last Sunday. Yes,
42:56
Speaker 5: I was amazing, and they're playing again this Saturday night
42:59
Speaker 5: and there are still a few general admission tickets left
43:02
Speaker 5: if you're get in quick.
43:03
Speaker 6: But it was the best.
43:05
Speaker 5: Atmosphere for the whole family and I would encourage anyone
43:08
Speaker 5: to get down there and get behind Darwin's own NBA one.
43:10
Speaker 7: And they're in again next week as well for a
43:12
Speaker 7: home game, so we've had an opportunity for three home games.
43:14
Speaker 1: Phenomenal good stuff. Well we'll take a break. Thank you
43:17
Speaker 1: all so much for joining us this morning.