Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Matt Hepworth spoke with Chief Minister Michael Gunner

Transcript

Matt Hepworth spoke with Chief Minister Michael Gunner · 360 with Katie Woolf

0:00
Speaker 1: The government was grilled in estimates last week and despite
0:02
Speaker 1: some bombshells around budget blowouts being revealed the opposition and
0:06
Speaker 1: cross benches so they were left disappointed and with our
0:09
Speaker 1: answers in many key areas. For a recap of estimates
0:12
Speaker 1: and plenty of other issues. Is Chief Minister Michael Gunn,
0:15
Speaker 1: Chief Minister, Good morning, good morning, how are you going well?
0:17
Speaker 2: Thanks?
0:17
Speaker 3: Chief?
0:18
Speaker 1: Can we first start with the estimates process in parliament
0:23
Speaker 1: last week? Were you happy with how it went? And
0:26
Speaker 1: do you believe your government did a good enough job
0:28
Speaker 1: in answering questions from opposition, So.
0:31
Speaker 3: Sixty hours of being grilled and I think all my
0:33
Speaker 3: ministers and the public service who came along to answer
0:36
Speaker 3: those questions from the opposition. Obviously it's a two way
0:39
Speaker 3: thing opposition to have to ask good questions and we
0:41
Speaker 3: will always do the best to give answers.
0:43
Speaker 2: It's not the only opportunity for question and answer.
0:45
Speaker 3: There's obviously question time in Parliament, debates of bills, interviews
0:48
Speaker 3: like this, etc. So it's not the one and only
0:52
Speaker 3: time we get a chance to talk about issues that
0:54
Speaker 3: matter the Territorians. But I do things a really important
0:57
Speaker 3: chance to do grill into why we're they're budgeting what
1:00
Speaker 3: we are budgeting, like where the money is going in
1:03
Speaker 3: the future across this year. And obviously for me, the
1:04
Speaker 3: priority is coronavirus, saving lives and right now saving as
1:08
Speaker 3: many jobs as we possibly can.
1:10
Speaker 2: And I think that became clear. Drough the Question Answer.
1:12
Speaker 1: Opposition letter Leah Finocchio says the government failed to provide
1:16
Speaker 1: answers in estimates despite repeated warnings about the questions that
1:20
Speaker 1: were coming. Why wasn't the government able to answer some
1:23
Speaker 1: of those questions, particularly around policing and some that did
1:27
Speaker 1: come with a fair bit of notice.
1:29
Speaker 3: So I know, for example, in Myra, I felt we
1:31
Speaker 3: answered all the questions that come. But there's always a
1:33
Speaker 3: degree to which you take something on notice. So it
1:36
Speaker 3: depends the way the question is worded. It might be
1:37
Speaker 3: a slightly different date range or time range, and you've
1:40
Speaker 3: got to take that on notice to get the information back.
1:42
Speaker 3: So we have this is built into the process. So
1:44
Speaker 3: every question that's asked will be answered by January twenty two,
1:49
Speaker 3: So we will answer every question. Sometimes you just want
1:52
Speaker 3: to go away and get more detail. There's a lot
1:54
Speaker 3: that happens in government. You can't have everything in front
1:56
Speaker 3: of you.
1:56
Speaker 2: In a brief.
1:58
Speaker 3: I do find the usually the most often times when
2:01
Speaker 3: you have information that's close to what they're asking, but
2:03
Speaker 3: it doesn't quite fit the date range or the definition,
2:06
Speaker 3: so you go, actually, I need to I need to
2:08
Speaker 3: go away and tweak it to the answer that you
2:10
Speaker 3: so you actually want, which is fair to them. You know,
2:12
Speaker 3: you've got to answer the question accurately. So I find
2:14
Speaker 3: that's usually the most common experience.
2:16
Speaker 1: One of the biggest revelations to come from estimates was
2:19
Speaker 1: a seven million dollar budget blowout of the State Square
2:22
Speaker 1: car Park.
2:24
Speaker 2: Why did this blow out so much? So?
2:25
Speaker 3: I think this is how you look at the project.
2:27
Speaker 3: We originally budgeted thirty, it came in at ten to
2:30
Speaker 3: at nineteen, and the more things happened on site than
2:33
Speaker 3: were expected, so there was more apestos, for example, so
2:37
Speaker 3: that put the costs up, and there were a couple
2:38
Speaker 3: of other different projects, so the gardening on top got
2:41
Speaker 3: rolled into the contract, which wasn't there at the starts, mindstanding, so.
2:44
Speaker 2: It took the cost up to twenty seven.
2:45
Speaker 3: So it still came in under what our original estimate was,
2:48
Speaker 3: and we've got more for the dollar that we spent.
2:50
Speaker 3: I think it's also important to Remember this is part
2:52
Speaker 3: of the bigger dal and City deal, So it's not
2:53
Speaker 3: just project in isolation, just about taking car parks hot
2:57
Speaker 3: car parks, turning them into parkland, yet still create more
3:00
Speaker 3: car parking spaces in the CBD. This is how you
3:03
Speaker 3: make the CBD of dal On a job creator and
3:06
Speaker 3: essentially revitalized Darwin. This is part of those bigger plans.
3:09
Speaker 3: So that's the deal that we signed with the Prime Minister.
3:11
Speaker 1: As you mentioned, one of those costs blow out. One
3:13
Speaker 1: of the reasons was that unexpected asbestos removal. But according
3:17
Speaker 1: to a report on ABC, that only costs two point
3:19
Speaker 1: seven million dollars. Where did the other four million dollar
3:22
Speaker 1: blowout come from?
3:22
Speaker 3: So mindstanding it was the parkland on top wasn't built
3:26
Speaker 3: to the dirigional contract that was originally going to happen Separately,
3:28
Speaker 3: I double checked out the linemester, that's my minderstanding. And
3:31
Speaker 3: there was an elevator on site as well. I think,
3:33
Speaker 3: so a couple of different things like that that weren't
3:34
Speaker 3: part of the original quote. That's my understanding. I'm sure
3:37
Speaker 3: either'd be more than happy to give you more information.
3:39
Speaker 1: Why were those design plans changed so many times? I
3:42
Speaker 1: think I saw three different images from when this project
3:46
Speaker 1: was initially announced to what the final project was. Why
3:49
Speaker 1: did that change so much during that process?
3:51
Speaker 3: So my understanding change of designs is that can happen
3:55
Speaker 3: in infrastructure projects as they go. I'm not sure in
3:58
Speaker 3: this instance what those reasons were, but there can often
4:00
Speaker 3: be whether it's a road or something else, design tweaks
4:03
Speaker 3: as people go about the land, or what they find
4:05
Speaker 3: when they dig it up, So those things can occur
4:08
Speaker 3: as you go through the projects. So variations, unfortunately, are
4:11
Speaker 3: not uncommon when it comes to infrastructure projects.
4:14
Speaker 1: One of the other issues to come from estimates was
4:17
Speaker 1: confusion from Police Commissioner Jamie chalker around police resources in
4:21
Speaker 1: Our Springs Now. Commissioner Chalkas said the town had been
4:24
Speaker 1: without a dedicated property crime unit for some time.
4:28
Speaker 3: Is that the case, I've double checked the commissioner mindsettings
4:31
Speaker 3: are definitely working on property crime in Our Springs.
4:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, yes, one of the things that keeps us very
4:36
Speaker 2: busy down there.
4:37
Speaker 3: So operationally, the police commissioner might describe things in certain
4:40
Speaker 3: ways and that's what that.
4:42
Speaker 2: Makes sense to the troops.
4:43
Speaker 3: But my understanding has always been that they investigate property
4:46
Speaker 3: crime in Our Springs and they're a police they're based
4:48
Speaker 3: there permanently who do that and strikeforce vipers having consumable
4:52
Speaker 3: success at the moment. That's a slight variation that's property
4:55
Speaker 3: crime and youth crime. But my min understanding is that
4:58
Speaker 3: there are definitely police in Alice investigate popular.
5:00
Speaker 2: Crime and just goes to the way Ocean.
5:02
Speaker 3: The Police Commission of views how he allocates his troops
5:04
Speaker 3: as opposed to what the outcome is for someone living
5:06
Speaker 3: in ol Springs.
5:07
Speaker 1: Do you think there are enough police resources in Alice
5:10
Speaker 1: Springs at the moment?
5:11
Speaker 3: Are there a significant resources in Alison? We've actually sent
5:13
Speaker 3: more down. This is true for the territory at large,
5:17
Speaker 3: but obviously we're talking about Alice now. The police have
5:20
Speaker 3: to move resources constantly to where the need is. We're
5:23
Speaker 3: very mobile population. This became evidence during coronavirus when we
5:28
Speaker 3: start looking at mobility data. So people might move around
5:30
Speaker 3: a lot within Sydney, but in terms of movement between
5:33
Speaker 3: Sydney and other places within this a Whales the territory.
5:35
Speaker 3: Trump's all that we have significant people movements from are
5:39
Speaker 3: you and the move or a wad Air or a
5:41
Speaker 3: man in Grida a Dale and Alice tennant and Catherine.
5:43
Speaker 3: We move around a lot, and so police have to
5:45
Speaker 3: adjust resources against where the need is. You can't just
5:48
Speaker 3: set and forget when it comes to police, You've got
5:50
Speaker 3: to move resources around.
5:51
Speaker 1: You were down in Alice Springs last week. What is
5:54
Speaker 1: the mood like down there at the moment, because the
5:56
Speaker 1: feeling that we're getting I guess on this program with
5:58
Speaker 1: Katie's callers and on social or media, is that things
6:01
Speaker 1: are at boiling point? Did you get that perception when
6:04
Speaker 1: you were there?
6:05
Speaker 3: So I met with a range of different businesses and
6:08
Speaker 3: business reps, locals essentially who loved the place that they live.
6:15
Speaker 3: What I got was a sense of perspective. So absolute
6:18
Speaker 3: frustration with crime. But this has been on off issue
6:22
Speaker 3: for al Springs for a while, so you know it
6:24
Speaker 3: doesn't stay helt this.
6:26
Speaker 2: I'll put this in the right way.
6:27
Speaker 3: So crimes occurring in our springs as it is around
6:29
Speaker 3: the territory all the time, and then the peaks and troughs,
6:32
Speaker 3: and it's just an absolute frustration to see the peak coming.
6:35
Speaker 3: We know school holidays is often a very hot time.
6:37
Speaker 3: We're planning for that. We thought when the biosecurity regions
6:41
Speaker 3: dropped and people moved around a lot, there'd be a
6:42
Speaker 3: hot time.
6:43
Speaker 2: It wasn't.
6:44
Speaker 3: It ended up being in this weird period during semester,
6:47
Speaker 3: so they peaked probably out of cycle our season, if
6:50
Speaker 3: that makes sense. So I absolutely get the frustration. Everyone
6:53
Speaker 3: should feel safe. It's just you want people that our
6:57
Speaker 3: springs to know that there are police there, there are church,
7:00
Speaker 3: your families, workers there, We're busting a gart, We're doing
7:02
Speaker 3: our best, and there is an absolute frustration. I think
7:05
Speaker 3: we've seen crime repeat this cycle that goes on and on.
7:08
Speaker 2: I get it.
7:09
Speaker 3: That's one reason why we're vesiting kids. We've got to
7:10
Speaker 3: break this cycle that's been going. So you go on
7:13
Speaker 3: for decades now in the normal territory, and I absolutely get
7:15
Speaker 3: the frustration of crime.
7:16
Speaker 1: Did you meet with members of the public or victims
7:19
Speaker 1: of crime while you were in Alice Springs?
7:21
Speaker 3: I met with members of the public and unfortunately victims
7:24
Speaker 3: of crime were in every group that I met with,
7:26
Speaker 3: so you know, they don't discriminate. You know, you meet
7:29
Speaker 3: the Chamber of Commerce, you meet true in Central Australia,
7:32
Speaker 3: met Social Australia Reconstruction Commission. I met with a bunch
7:35
Speaker 3: of health, police, general community people who came along to
7:40
Speaker 3: the Chris function I organized day. They unfortunately have experienced crime.
7:45
Speaker 3: You know, El Springs is a small place. If you
7:47
Speaker 3: have experienced crime, you probably know someone who's experienced crime,
7:50
Speaker 3: and so top it was a topic of conversation every
7:53
Speaker 3: single meeting I had, we put on the table. I
7:55
Speaker 3: did a lot with the police minister who was there.
7:57
Speaker 3: So you might be talking budget or corona, but in
8:00
Speaker 3: every meeting we also put crime on the table and
8:01
Speaker 3: said let's talk about crime and what's going on where
8:04
Speaker 3: you are. Went down to meet the viper, I meet
8:06
Speaker 3: Luna's and another operations running as well. A there's two
8:08
Speaker 3: operations going we Strikeforce in operation going in our springs
8:11
Speaker 3: at the moment.
8:12
Speaker 1: One is your message to residents of Alice Springs who
8:14
Speaker 1: are obviously already worried about youth crime in the town
8:17
Speaker 1: and now with school holidays just around the corner, those
8:21
Speaker 1: who might be worried about seeing an increase as you're
8:23
Speaker 1: talking about before those peaks and trots, and traditionally we
8:26
Speaker 1: see peaks within the school holiday Christmas period. What is
8:30
Speaker 1: your message to residents of Alice Springs who are worried,
8:32
Speaker 1: g If it's bad now, what could it be like?
8:34
Speaker 3: Over the next few months. So we've been doing a
8:36
Speaker 3: lot of work trying to get ahead of this. So
8:38
Speaker 3: Strikeface Viper Operational Moon has been trying to get on
8:41
Speaker 3: top of the peak that we had, the early peak
8:43
Speaker 3: that we had, and trying to make sure that we
8:44
Speaker 3: smooth out the rough over the Christmas period. We also
8:48
Speaker 3: always have plans for the Christmas piod because we know
8:50
Speaker 3: it's going to be a busy period, and so part
8:52
Speaker 3: of my meetings in Al Springs was to meet the
8:54
Speaker 3: people doing the plane, get the people working on the plane,
8:56
Speaker 3: look at it, make sure we've got things happening every day,
8:59
Speaker 3: different times a day, sometimes of the night. So I
9:02
Speaker 3: guess basically you've run down there is we are absolutely
9:04
Speaker 3: busting a guard that there are public servants and the
9:07
Speaker 3: not for profit sector and.
9:09
Speaker 2: Order remembers, the community, to be honest, who are all working.
9:11
Speaker 3: Really hard to make sure that Christmas is as safe
9:13
Speaker 3: as possible for everybody.
9:16
Speaker 2: So yeah, we're just doing our best.
9:19
Speaker 1: Coming back to Darwin this week, the Director of Liquor
9:23
Speaker 1: Licensing will hand down a final decision on a Dan
9:26
Speaker 1: Murphy store in Darwin. Do you support this proposal?
9:30
Speaker 2: So for me, we need an answer it's been going
9:33
Speaker 2: for four years now.
9:34
Speaker 3: Businesses prefer a quick decision. They prefer a yes to no,
9:38
Speaker 3: but they prefer a quick note to a slow no.
9:39
Speaker 3: We simply need a decision right now. I've been of
9:42
Speaker 3: the opinion since we brought in the Riley review which
9:46
Speaker 3: said that a floor price is the important way through this.
9:48
Speaker 3: So Riley didn't make commentary or any repredations around floor
9:52
Speaker 3: size or anything like you know, big or small. Didn't
9:54
Speaker 3: make commentary around that, but he made commentary around making
9:57
Speaker 3: sure there was a floor price in place. So for
9:58
Speaker 3: Dan's was to come to town, they couldn't undercut or
10:02
Speaker 3: go below that floor price. So everyone has to sell
10:04
Speaker 3: the same floor price, if that makes sense. So once
10:06
Speaker 3: that came in, it took away the pressure around floor
10:09
Speaker 3: sizes as an issue. So here we need a yes
10:12
Speaker 3: or a no. I respect the director of last seeing
10:13
Speaker 3: the decision that he will make. I don't know if
10:15
Speaker 3: he'll be yes, and I don't know if he'll be
10:16
Speaker 3: a no, but we'll certainly know which I think is
10:18
Speaker 3: the important thing.
10:19
Speaker 2: It's been going for four years, so for me.
10:22
Speaker 3: I think you've got to have laws or reforms or
10:25
Speaker 3: policies targeted problem drinking harm caused by alcohol and go
10:30
Speaker 3: accept that actually drinking itself is a legal thing in
10:33
Speaker 3: the normal territory. You know, darl was not a dry
10:35
Speaker 3: town and so responsible drinkers also need to be considered
10:38
Speaker 3: as well. So it's important that we get the bundles right.
10:40
Speaker 3: I think we have got that, and now we simply
10:42
Speaker 3: need a decision about yes or no on the Don Danes.
10:45
Speaker 1: So providing that they can obviously operate within those regulations
10:48
Speaker 1: around the BDR and the floor price, you would be
10:51
Speaker 1: happy to see a Dan Murphy's in Darwin was.
10:53
Speaker 2: A quality right.
10:54
Speaker 3: So every person who is a takeaway looker outlet in
10:57
Speaker 3: normal territory must apply with.
10:58
Speaker 2: Those rules absolutely across the board.
11:01
Speaker 3: And I think that's the important thing we've done that
11:04
Speaker 3: gives the ability to make decisions like this. Now, it
11:05
Speaker 3: doesn't mean that Dan's gets a yes, right, There's other
11:08
Speaker 3: things that will be considered. There's all the community sbmissions
11:10
Speaker 3: and some one that also must be considered by the
11:12
Speaker 3: Director of Licensing relation to the original location and may
11:15
Speaker 3: be considered in relation to the new location if he
11:17
Speaker 3: needs more information.
11:18
Speaker 2: So for me, let's just get a quick answer.
11:21
Speaker 1: Staying on this topic and two Palmeston liquor licenses have
11:24
Speaker 1: also been fast tracked for approval. That's been criticized by
11:27
Speaker 1: Palmeston Marathena Pasco Bell, who in an op ed piece
11:30
Speaker 1: in the paper yesterday said, how will the government cope
11:34
Speaker 1: with the damage and harm that would come from these
11:36
Speaker 1: overturned decisions of the Liquor Commission? How do you expect
11:39
Speaker 1: the stakeholders that have worked with you talking about the
11:41
Speaker 1: government in good faith to trust your legislation and decision
11:45
Speaker 1: making moving forward. It was a very critical piece of
11:48
Speaker 1: the government. What is your response to that?
11:50
Speaker 3: Well, I think this goes to a couple of things
11:52
Speaker 3: I have been missing. The stood there's not a fast
11:53
Speaker 3: tracking dance resempts we made for four years. This is
11:56
Speaker 3: just bringing it to a conclusion. All the things that
11:59
Speaker 3: we got in place, the new Liquor Aic, the Liquor
12:01
Speaker 3: Comission all remains. So we've actually touched any of our
12:03
Speaker 3: alcohol policy and settings. So therefore no more harm can
12:07
Speaker 3: come from because we're handling alcohol the exact same way,
12:10
Speaker 3: no matter who sells it. So for me, this goes
12:12
Speaker 3: a misunderstanding about what decisions been made here about trying
12:16
Speaker 3: to get there to be a decision so we can
12:17
Speaker 3: all move on. So none of the alcohol policy scenings
12:20
Speaker 3: we have in place that target alcohol harm have been touched.
12:23
Speaker 3: The Liquor Commission and the New liqu Commission Act haven't
12:25
Speaker 3: been touched. The floor proces hasn't been touched. Ban Driggs
12:28
Speaker 3: Register hasn't been touched. All the things that we do
12:30
Speaker 3: to make sure we're targeting alcohol related harm have not
12:32
Speaker 3: been touched. This is about getting a decision on four
12:36
Speaker 3: applications that are historical. They all came in before the
12:39
Speaker 3: new Act all and so we just simply want those
12:42
Speaker 3: processes to come to an end. It's about cutting red
12:44
Speaker 3: tape and that's why we need a decision.
12:46
Speaker 1: To a different topic, and last week the government revealed
12:49
Speaker 1: legislation giving renters assumed rights to a pet in a
12:51
Speaker 1: rental property. The government revealed they will come into effect
12:55
Speaker 1: on January first. This is another issue that's been incredibly divisive.
13:00
Speaker 1: Why did the government choose to introduce this legislation.
13:02
Speaker 2: So just a clarification on process.
13:05
Speaker 3: So it was introduced and passed and hadn't been as
13:07
Speaker 3: centered so the technicality so it's all been done, So
13:11
Speaker 3: had already been law that about pets and dogs in
13:16
Speaker 3: a unit or a house. What we simply did was
13:19
Speaker 3: finally put them into place. So what we're saying here
13:22
Speaker 3: is that tenants may have a cat or a dog,
13:26
Speaker 3: but landlords can still say no. We'll just refined the
13:29
Speaker 3: process so it's easier for a tenant essentially to ask.
13:32
Speaker 2: And I get it.
13:32
Speaker 3: Look I at the moment have a baby rather than
13:36
Speaker 3: a pet. I don't think I could manage a pet,
13:40
Speaker 3: so hurry they've run out there, Barnstad.
13:42
Speaker 2: Pets are like family. I get it. I get that,
13:45
Speaker 2: But landlords still have to have the right to say no.
13:47
Speaker 1: Attorney General and Minister for Justice so letting you Bo says,
13:50
Speaker 1: this legislation is about balancing the rights between tenants and landlords.
13:54
Speaker 1: But the ari I n T say, Well, this legislation
13:57
Speaker 1: tips that too far in favor of the ten and
14:00
Speaker 1: they've been very critical of this.
14:02
Speaker 2: What's your response to those at ARII n T.
14:04
Speaker 3: Well, there was an argument from RSPCA, for example, that
14:06
Speaker 3: went too far in favor of landlords before. So I
14:08
Speaker 3: don't know if you'll ever get it right, but I
14:10
Speaker 3: do think this allowed I do believe allows a fair
14:12
Speaker 3: rebalance between landlord and tenant and the landlord can still
14:16
Speaker 3: say no. I get it if you want you want
14:18
Speaker 3: to say no to having a pet in your place,
14:21
Speaker 3: but this gives you a great ability for a tenant
14:23
Speaker 3: to ask.
14:24
Speaker 1: Just quickly, Chief before you go. You raised a lot
14:26
Speaker 1: of eyebrows last week when you revealed that you'll be
14:29
Speaker 1: heading away for Christmas. That's after telling Territorians to cancel
14:34
Speaker 1: their Christmas travel plans earlier this year. Do you now
14:37
Speaker 1: regret saying that.
14:39
Speaker 2: Well in July.
14:40
Speaker 3: I think it was coming with late July or early August.
14:42
Speaker 3: But nowhere in the world has done what Victoria has done.
14:46
Speaker 3: So they hit seven hundred cases a day. Everywhere else
14:50
Speaker 3: has hit that has spiraled out of control. I think
14:54
Speaker 3: it's an extraordinary effort. And none of us thought was
14:57
Speaker 3: going to happen that Victoria hit donuts. Doughnuts don't ut
15:00
Speaker 3: by now it's just incredible. So my advice to all
15:03
Speaker 3: the Territorians is be safe, Territory safe. If you want
15:08
Speaker 3: to get away and spend time a family, that's what
15:09
Speaker 3: we'll be doing. If you want to get tom Wave
15:11
Speaker 3: family in a year like this, I get it, I understand,
15:14
Speaker 3: but you've got pack twenty five hundred dollars and fourteen
15:17
Speaker 3: days I'll be doing that. I really hope I don't
15:19
Speaker 3: need to do that, but so travel safe, travel carefully,
15:22
Speaker 3: travel of caution. But if you need to be a
15:24
Speaker 3: family like I think we can all get it right.
15:26
Speaker 3: This has been a horrible year. People of miss funerals,
15:29
Speaker 3: people miss weddings, people haven't got to see their grandkids,
15:32
Speaker 3: so it's been tough on families. So I think we
15:34
Speaker 3: can all undertand people who spend time of family this year.
15:36
Speaker 1: Chief Minister Michael Gunner, we will leave it there. I
15:38
Speaker 1: don't know if you'll catch up with Katie before Christmas,
15:40
Speaker 1: but if we don't, thank you for your time this year,
15:42
Speaker 1: and I hope you and the family have a very wonderful,
15:45
Speaker 1: safe and merry Christmas.
15:46
Speaker 3: Same to all of you. Say to Woolf, you, you, to Ronnie,
15:48
Speaker 3: to the whole team. Make sure everyone has a great, safe,
15:51
Speaker 3: happy Christmas.
15:52
Speaker 1: Absolutely it's Chief Minister Michael Gunner.