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Katie spoke with Opposition Leader Lia Finochiarro · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Let's get into it, because on Sunday, we know, some
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: pretty confronting vision emerged of the opposition leader Leathanocchiaro and
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the Lord Mayor Convat Scala's being yelled at outside the
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Greek Church. Lord Mayor Convat Scalas joined us on the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: show on Monday and confirmed that it was a small
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  Speaker 1: group of people, certainly not everybody in attendance. Joining me
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  Speaker 1: in the studio this morning is the opposition leader Leaf
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  Speaker 1: and Occhiaro.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to.
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  Speaker 3: You, Leah, Good morning Katie to your listeners, Leah, how.
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  Speaker 2: Did that situation unfold on Sunday.
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  Speaker 4: Look, we had a beautiful service to commemorate Ohi Day,
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  Speaker 4: which is a really important day in the Greek calendar.
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  Speaker 4: And I went to pay my respects and laya wreath
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  Speaker 4: to show the Greek community how important and how much
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  Speaker 4: we value their days of special and national significance. And
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  Speaker 4: then after the ceremony, you know, people, some people were
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  Speaker 4: very frustrated, and I stayed. I listened to the concerns
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  Speaker 4: of those who wanted to raise them with me, and
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  Speaker 4: I think that's an important thing that we have to do.
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  Speaker 4: I think a lot of the frustrations being borne by
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  Speaker 4: people at the moment around the meditary. Vak's position is
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  Speaker 4: because they feel like they're being ignored. They feel like
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  Speaker 4: the Gunner government are in hiding and they've got no
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  Speaker 4: one to sort of turn to to be able to
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  Speaker 4: express their concerns, and I think that's part of the
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  Speaker 4: reason why people were feeling the way they did.
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  Speaker 1: You have questioned this morning why no members of the
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  Speaker 1: government were at that service, Why do you think that
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  Speaker 1: they should have been there?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think what's prompted me to make that comment,
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  Speaker 4: Katie is the fact that we've seen the Gunner government.
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  Speaker 4: We've seen Michael Gunner and Natasha Files come out I
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  Speaker 4: think on Monday and Tuesday with platitudes about the Greek
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  Speaker 4: community and professing how important No He Day is.
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  Speaker 3: But that sort of made me think, well, why weren't
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  Speaker 3: you there?
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  Speaker 4: If you think the Greek community is so important in
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  Speaker 4: Ohi Day is so important, why was not a single
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  Speaker 4: member of the Northern Territory government there. I mean, they
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  Speaker 4: have thirteen members of parliament this side of the Behrama Ligne,
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  Speaker 4: They've got any number of hundreds of staff and yet
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  Speaker 4: they didn't come. And so I wanted to call out
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  Speaker 4: the hypocrisy really, Katie, because it is an important day
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  Speaker 4: and I think people can only conclude that the government,
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  Speaker 4: Gunna government were in hiding.
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  Speaker 1: I guess so from seeing what had happened obviously then
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  Speaker 1: to you and the Lord mayor Combat Scaralis, you could
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  Speaker 1: probably understand why some people might not have wanted to attend.
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  Speaker 3: No, I can't understand that, Katie.
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  Speaker 4: The service was a beautiful and very special and ultimately
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  Speaker 4: this is a small group of people. But what we're
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  Speaker 4: seeing right across the territory is people with really high
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  Speaker 4: frustration levels. And I think it's because the Gunner government
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  Speaker 4: have of course come out with the mandate then provided
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  Speaker 4: no support to people on how to implement it, and
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  Speaker 4: that is a major issue, particularly for business. Of course,
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  Speaker 4: you've had the Chief Minister, in implementing his mandate used
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  Speaker 4: really divisive language. He's called people idiots, he's called people
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  Speaker 4: anti vaxes, and people have taken great exception to that,
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  Speaker 4: even double vax people who've got no issue with the.
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  Speaker 3: Mandate, you know.
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  Speaker 4: And so now we've got a government basically in hiding,
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  Speaker 4: picking and choosing their time to be in public because
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  Speaker 4: they're afraid of the feedback they're going to receive and
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  Speaker 4: that is creating a lot of tension out in the community,
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  Speaker 4: broad based anger in the community.
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  Speaker 1: So the twelfth of November is obviously the date. We're
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  Speaker 1: Territorians who are in those outward facing jobs need to
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  Speaker 1: make sure that they've got that first vaccine. Do you
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  Speaker 1: agree with this approach that the government has taken with
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  Speaker 1: the vaccine mandate or do you think they should have
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  Speaker 1: gone more down the path of a positive incentive style approach.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we certainly had to wait three weeks to get
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  Speaker 4: any advice on any health advice on the mandate. The
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  Speaker 4: Gunner government flagged it. We sort of briefing. It took
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  Speaker 4: them three weeks. At that briefing, the Deputy Chief Health
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  Speaker 4: Officer told us that this is the best medical advice
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  Speaker 4: and we've always said we'll put Territorians first and follow
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  Speaker 4: the best health advice. So to that extent, we do
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  Speaker 4: support the mandate because but we want it to be successful.
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  Speaker 4: We don't think the government should be you know, polarizing people,
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  Speaker 4: name calling people. We absolutely thought, Katie, and this is
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  Speaker 4: what's a really big issue at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: We really thought within that first.
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  Speaker 4: Week of the announcement there would be industry specific support
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  Speaker 4: packages to business, and that has not been forthcoming. We
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  Speaker 4: then sought another briefing from government around what support was
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  Speaker 4: going to be provided to business. I asked a question
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  Speaker 4: in Parliament last week on this very issue, and instead
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  Speaker 4: of answering it, the Chief Minister use the opportunity to
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  Speaker 4: pedal lies. And here we are with ten days to
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  Speaker 4: go and still no support packages on implementation have been
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  Speaker 4: provided by government. Now, if they want a successful mandate
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  Speaker 4: and a successful vax rollout, they're going to have to
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  Speaker 4: provide the tools they need to business because they're the
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  Speaker 4: ones bearing the brunt of implementing this.
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  Speaker 1: And so what you think obviously that they need to
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  Speaker 1: come out with is some support for those different industries
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  Speaker 1: that are being impacted here right.
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  Speaker 3: Now without question.
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  Speaker 4: You know, people have huge questions around the HR support
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  Speaker 4: advice around fair work, of course, the legalities around how
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  Speaker 4: they deal with their staff, what rights people have. On
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  Speaker 4: the flip side, then there's the you know the rights
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  Speaker 4: of the employees. So we're hearing a lot of people
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  Speaker 4: who have reactions to vaccines. They're trying to go through
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  Speaker 4: processes to see if they're eligible for exemptions, and that
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  Speaker 4: process from the feedback I've received is not straightforward whatsoever.
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  Speaker 1: Where do you think this is all going to land
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  Speaker 1: then come next week?
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  Speaker 4: I really don't know, Katie, but what I do know
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  Speaker 4: is that the Gunner government have not provided the support
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  Speaker 4: to Territorians around this mandate to be able to make
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  Speaker 4: it successful. And ultimately, you know, Michael Gunner can stand
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  Speaker 4: there and call people names and say things like business
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  Speaker 4: know what to do, but that's not going to help
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  Speaker 4: the situation. That's not going to help lift our vax raids.
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  Speaker 4: And he needs to start taking a different approach, start
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  Speaker 4: meeting with business, start listening to industry about their concerns,
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  Speaker 4: and start providing that information so that we can successfully
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  Speaker 4: reach the high vax rates that we so desperately look to.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you obviously have been on the record on
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  Speaker 1: numerous occasions saying that you support that vaccine mandate, but
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  Speaker 1: by the sounds of it, while you support it, you
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  Speaker 1: do feel as though they need it's to be more
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  Speaker 1: work happening in terms of supporting businesses.
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  Speaker 3: That's right, and I think that's a distinction.
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  Speaker 4: You know, we do support the mandate, but we don't
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  Speaker 4: support how the Gunner government have gone about it, and
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  Speaker 4: I think the days of that divisive language have to
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  Speaker 4: be over. The Chief Minister's got to start being more
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  Speaker 4: conciliatory with people, start talking to people, start providing the seducation.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that that divisive language is what's caused
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  Speaker 1: that confrontation on Sundaylight? Do you think that that has
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  Speaker 1: meant that there's more aanks within the community.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, look, I don't know whether it contributed to Sunday
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  Speaker 4: or not, but it certainly is causing ANNGS. You know,
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  Speaker 4: we're getting a lot of feedback and we're meeting with
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  Speaker 4: a lot of people that they just take serious objection
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  Speaker 4: to being spoken to like that. I had one gentleman,
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  Speaker 4: he would have been in his sixties at a community
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  Speaker 4: barbecue and he was very, very upset and he basically said,
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  Speaker 4: I'm double jab but I will not have the Chief
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  Speaker 4: Minister of the Northern Territory call my family idiots, you know,
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  Speaker 4: like he's crossed a line and that's causing very negative
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  Speaker 4: outcomes in the community. And so he's got to come
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  Speaker 4: to the table. He's got to be providing the support,
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  Speaker 4: providing the leadership, and he's got to start using better
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  Speaker 4: word choices to bring people on this journey.
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  Speaker 3: Does he want it to be successful or not?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, lell let's move along because we've spoken for a
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  Speaker 1: few days now about the home quarantine trial.
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  Speaker 2: We spoke to the Health minister about it yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure you just took that audio that we'd played,
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  Speaker 1: asking questions about the number of people involved, the number
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  Speaker 1: of tests which have been conducted. Is it good enough
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  Speaker 1: that we don't have those numbers at this point in
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  Speaker 1: time or do we need to see some real numbers
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  Speaker 1: and get an actual idea of how this is working.
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  Speaker 4: Again, this comes down to transparency and bringing people on
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  Speaker 4: the journey. We've had a lot of big announcements around
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  Speaker 4: COVID and the last month or so that have confused
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  Speaker 4: people and vastly changed the position of the government government
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  Speaker 4: going forward. Now we need to take territories. The government
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  Speaker 4: needs to take territories on that journey. And so by
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  Speaker 4: not providing the numbers of people who are participating in
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  Speaker 4: home quarantine just again reads a concern in people around well,
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  Speaker 4: why aren't they telling us?
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  Speaker 3: What have they got to hide? What's the problem? What
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  Speaker 3: you know?
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  Speaker 4: And people start asking questions if government front footed things
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  Speaker 4: and started to just stop treating territories with contempt and
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  Speaker 4: start providing them with the information they deserve. You'll start
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  Speaker 4: to see people's cooperation levels and understanding increase. But I
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  Speaker 4: think the government is creating this high and tense environment
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  Speaker 4: because they're just not cooperating with the community they were
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  Speaker 4: elected by.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think those that it's going to delay the
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  Speaker 1: opening of the borders in any way by not having
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  Speaker 1: those numbers or are you confident that the work that's
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  Speaker 1: going on behind the scenes is still happening and obviously
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  Speaker 1: come January aging we're still going to go to that
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  Speaker 1: model where we're not having to home quarantine.
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  Speaker 4: I think that's anyone's guest, Katie, and I'm much like
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  Speaker 4: the territorians who are concerned. If the government aren't talking numbers,
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  Speaker 4: then that puts a big question mark in my mind
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  Speaker 4: around has anyone even gone through this program? Are there
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  Speaker 4: people in Alice Springs? Do we have people in Darwin?
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  Speaker 4: It questions the whole validity of the process. Now the
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  Speaker 4: government can talk about, oh, by the end of the month,
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  Speaker 4: we'll have one hundred and Darwin and thirty in our springs,
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  Speaker 4: but that's not the question being asked. The question is
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  Speaker 4: how many are currently going through this stem.
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  Speaker 1: Well, he's apparently revealed or he's apparently seed I think
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  Speaker 1: to the ABC that it's between forty and fifty people
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  Speaker 1: currently participating in the NT's home quarantine trial, after obviously
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  Speaker 1: weeks of not answering those basic questions around the trial.
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  Speaker 2: Does that give you confidence?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I didn't hear him say that on radio this morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 4: That's not the information I have. But you know, forty
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  Speaker 4: or fifty in the first week and they only need
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  Speaker 4: one hundred over the month. I think those figures sound
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  Speaker 4: pretty rubbery to me.
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  Speaker 2: So it doesn't give you confidence.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think so at all.
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  Speaker 4: In any event, why has it taken three days of
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  Speaker 4: people banging on their doors to say what's the numbers?
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  Speaker 4: I mean for the Health Minister and the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 4: to not know the single biggest, you know, one of
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  Speaker 4: the biggest policy changes around COVID. It just shows how
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  Speaker 4: little energy and time they actually put into this.
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  Speaker 1: Leah. Just finally this morning, obviously the Aboriginal Justice Agreement
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  Speaker 1: is something which has come back into the spotlight. Leah
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  Speaker 1: and Little was awarded the Australian of the Year. We
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  Speaker 1: know that there is seven years of funding that's required.
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  Speaker 1: At the moment, it only has about a year of funding.
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  Speaker 1: As I understand that next budget cycle the government has
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  Speaker 1: told the ABC that they'll give the funding certainty at
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  Speaker 1: that next budget.
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  Speaker 2: For the next four years.
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  Speaker 1: It does need bipartisan support, as I understand, Have you
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  Speaker 1: signed that agreement or do you support it?
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  Speaker 4: We do support the Aboriginal Justice Agreement and the government
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  Speaker 4: at playing petty politics with something that's a really important issue,
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  Speaker 4: and i'd like to congratulate Lean Little. She's done a
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  Speaker 4: wonderful job and deserves the accolades that she's received this week.
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  Speaker 4: You know, ultimately we were ready to sign that agreement,
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  Speaker 4: we were meant to be out at Calcarinji. Then we
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  Speaker 4: had the lockdown and so things have happened, you know,
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  Speaker 4: But the governments certainly have not gone out of their
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  Speaker 4: way to have some sort of bipartisan signing ceremony. If
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  Speaker 4: the Chief Minister wants to sit next to me and
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  Speaker 4: sign the Aboriginal Justice Agreement together, then Michael Gunner, if
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  Speaker 4: you're listening, I'm looking forward to receiving your call this afternoon.
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  Speaker 1: But does it need to be done like that with
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  Speaker 1: both of you together, or is it something that you
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  Speaker 1: can do independent.
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  Speaker 4: People are looking for the symbolism going forward. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: ultimately we saw them release it without the right budget allocation.
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  Speaker 4: I mean they're talking about doing that this budget that
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  Speaker 4: will remain to be seen and I've got absolutely no
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  Speaker 4: confidence to take their word for what will or will
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  Speaker 4: not be in the budget. And so we'll wait to
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  Speaker 4: look forward to that. But they're just running around saying
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  Speaker 4: the colp won't sign it, it's politically convenient for them.
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  Speaker 4: I challenge the Labor government. Let's do a proper bipartisan
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  Speaker 4: signing together. Michael Gunner sit next to me and will
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  Speaker 4: sign it together.
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  Speaker 1: Right, So you'd be prepared to go down that path.
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  Speaker 1: See if it's a bipartisan thing, and you do it.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, if it's truly bipartisan, let's do it together.
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  Speaker 1: Lea for those some of those people out there listening
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  Speaker 1: this morning, they might be thinking, what exactly is this
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Original Justice Agreement and what's it going to mean to
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  Speaker 1: our everyday lives? What would you say to those people listening?
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  Speaker 4: So it's been a really comprehensive piece of work. There's
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  Speaker 4: been mass consultation over a number of years. Essentially it's
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  Speaker 4: looking at how do we reduce the incarceration of Aboriginal
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  Speaker 4: people across the Northern Territory. One big issue, well, the
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  Speaker 4: only issue I have with the Aboriginal Justice Agreement, Katie,
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  Speaker 4: is the fact that it only mentions victims once and
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  Speaker 4: it doesn't look to review. There's two pieces of legislation
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  Speaker 4: that support victims and it excludes that from the Aboriginal
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  Speaker 4: Justice Agreement. And so certainly, if I was to be
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  Speaker 4: Chief Minister in a couple of years time, Katie, we
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  Speaker 4: would be looking at strengthening the Aboriginal Justice Agreement by
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  Speaker 4: putting the focus of victims back in there as well,
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  Speaker 4: because of course we know that Aboriginal people are victimized
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  Speaker 4: at hideous rates, particularly when it comes to domestic violence.
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  Speaker 4: And so I can't understand why the Gunna government made
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  Speaker 4: such a glaring omission in what is such an important document.
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  Speaker 4: But that's something we would certainly fix if we were
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  Speaker 4: elected in twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 2: But despite that, you'd still be prepared to sign it.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, all right.
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  Speaker 2: Leaf and Occuiaro the opposition leader. We'll leave it there.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for your time today.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, Tak