Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Police Association President Paul McCue says a survey will be conducted soon on police satisfaction with the NT Executive after 9 branches voiced their concerns

Transcript

Police Association President Paul McCue says a survey will be conducted soon on police satisfaction with the NT Executive after 9 branches voiced their concerns · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is the Northern Territory
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Police Association President Paul mchughue. Good morning to you, Paul,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Good morning Katie. Paul. A terrible incident there on our
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: roads overnight and really, you know, another example of the
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: various incidents that our police attend and you know, front
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: and center each and every day.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, really tragic circumstances and you know, sadly every day,
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: I mean police officers go to work, they don't know
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: what potentially they're going to walk into that day, and
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: a very sad events taken place there and of course
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  Speaker 2: it was our police along with other frontline workers that
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: are out there twenty four to seven dealing with that
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: very sad incident and the aftermath of that, and of
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: course that takes its toll over many many years. But
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the Blue Shirts out there again and
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: they're keeping us safe and we're very proud of.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Them, absolutely, Paul. We do know that there was some
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: revelations yesterday or the day before I should say an estimates,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: no sorry, yesterday that the government and has got plans
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: to now implement some tougher sentences for those who assault
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: frontline workers. Now spinning on emergency workers could attract tougher
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: penalties under these new laws being drafted by the Northern
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Territory government. It is something which you and I have
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: spoken about on numerous occasions. I know that the opposition
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: had proposed some legislation a few weeks back in this space, Paul,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: there does seem to be a high volume of assaults
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: on our police in recent months. Firstly, how are things
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: going when you talk about, you know, the assaults that
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: we've seen on our frontline workers.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they look that continues almost daily, Cadie to be
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: some pretty vile, disgusting attacks on our officers out there.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: And you know, spitting, of course is one of those
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: horrible acts that can have lifelong effects for members if
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: they pick up a terrible communicable disease. And you know,
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: we have long advocated and you know that for tougher
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: penalties on this very issue, and you know we're very supportive.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Obviously the c ORP previously put up some proposals. We
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: know that Labor have been focusing on some tougher penalties
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: as well. We haven't seen the detail and what they're
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: proposing at this stage, but you know, any increase in
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: penalties and a tougher message to those in the community
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: you think it's okay to or sold. Our offices will
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: be very supportive of there's no doubt so.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Has the association been consulted with at this point on
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: this new legislation that was flagged yesterday by Chancey Paig.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: No, not at all. I mean it's very disappointing, I
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: guess when you hear these announcements. Very supportive of the announcements.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: But of course we were part of a working group
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  Speaker 2: which has only ever met once, you know, since September
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: of last year around this very issue from government, and
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: so we have no idea really what they're proposing of
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: this stage. They're saying tougher penalties, but until we really
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: see the detail, we can't comment too much about what
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: that looks like.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, ideally, what do you want to see.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Obviously the community want to see a message. We want
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: to be a message delivered on behalf of our members
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: that you know, if you're going to sold a police
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  Speaker 2: officer and no matter what the circumstances, and you think
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  Speaker 2: it's okay, Remember some of these assaults are horrific. Katie
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: as Katie not just spitting. We're talking about you know,
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  Speaker 2: some serious harm incidents against their officers. They've been attacked
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: with edge weapons before they get punch, They've had hair
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  Speaker 2: ripped out, they've had broken ribs. You know, these are
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: very serious assaults that have lifelong impacts, and the message
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: has to be quite clear that if you do that,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: you're going to spend some time in jail and you
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  Speaker 2: can have a good think about your consequences around that. Yeah.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, like you said, some of what we
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: have seen and certainly reported in recent months has been
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  Speaker 1: pretty horrific, and I think if there are different things
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: that can be done to try to deter people from
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  Speaker 1: assaulting our frontline workers, well hopefully it does have an
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: impact in terms of that being reduced, those numbers being reduced.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: You know, I guess time will tell Paul, the devil
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  Speaker 1: will be in the detail.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look at the devil will be in the d
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: But obviously, you know, there's obviously some messages at times
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  Speaker 2: people say, well, you know, just putting people in jail
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  Speaker 2: is and going to stop assaults on police. But we
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  Speaker 2: do know there are repeat offenders out there. We know
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  Speaker 2: there are quite a few times our officers have been
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  Speaker 2: assaulted by people who've been released on bail after previously
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  Speaker 2: assaulting police. So we know if we can at least
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  Speaker 2: interject somewhere and reduce just one assault, that's one less
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  Speaker 2: we have to deal with and one less impact on
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: an officer.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Paul. Earlier in the week, I know that the
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  Speaker 1: opposition did attempt to ask questions in the estimates process
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: about branches of the association wanting to see a vote
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  Speaker 1: of no confidence take place when it comes to the
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Police commissioner. The Minister didn't answer the questions on this.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: The Police Commissioner did hit back at critics, saying that
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  Speaker 1: some of the commentary has been nothing short of disgusting. Paul,
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  Speaker 1: can we clear this situation up a little bit when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to the branches, How many of them do
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: want this vote to happen?
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Obviously there is a lot of media common tree
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: and a lot of it is quite inaccurate. But we've
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  Speaker 2: had sort of nine of our twelve branches thus far
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  Speaker 2: meet and discuss this issue. Now, this is obviously driven
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: from the membership. They're run by elected officials these branches,
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  Speaker 2: and our responsibility as the NTPA executive is to take
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: those minutes on board when we receive them. Of course,
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  Speaker 2: we have to wait for them to come to us,
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  Speaker 2: and then you know, we make a decision from there.
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  Speaker 2: But quite clearly, you know, nine of the twelve have
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  Speaker 2: asked for this to take place, and you know I've
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  Speaker 2: been quite upfront with the Commissioner about this, and we're
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  Speaker 2: directed by those regions. And ultimately, this is about a survey.
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  Speaker 2: It's not about necessarily a vote of no confidence. It's
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: about undertaking a survey to see how the members are feeling.
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  Speaker 2: And no doubt that will take place.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so it's not actually so it's not an actual
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  Speaker 1: vote of no confidence in the commissioner. It would be
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  Speaker 1: a survey where presumably they would be asked if they
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  Speaker 1: still have confidence in the commissioner.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, and no doubt that would be one of
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: the questions. But I guess more importantly, almost from our perspective,
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  Speaker 2: and we could sit here and debate all day about,
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  Speaker 2: you know, whether we have confidence in the commissioner or not.
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  Speaker 2: It won't affect the way I manage relationships with the
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  Speaker 2: Commissioner and the senior police executive. But what I'm almost
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  Speaker 2: more importantly worried about is what are the reasons for
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  Speaker 2: this what are the reasons that so many members are
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  Speaker 2: coming to us at regional meetings. I've been doing this
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  Speaker 2: for ten years now with the Association and this is
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  Speaker 2: by far one of the strongest pushes from the rank
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  Speaker 2: and file in terms of the feelings towards the senior
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: executive and obviously the commissioner. But what are some of
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  Speaker 2: those reasons? And that's something we will be diving into.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, just to simply say we don't have
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  Speaker 2: the commissioner that really that's all well and good. We
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: could say that today and really it doesn't mean much.
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  Speaker 2: But ultimately what we want to know is why is
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  Speaker 2: it the attrition rate? Is it the role for matter?
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  Speaker 2: Is it discipline? Is it resources? Is it they're feeling
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  Speaker 2: a lack of support? I mean, there's a whole bunch
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  Speaker 2: of reasons, you know, why why people might be feeling
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  Speaker 2: this way, and we certainly want to know.
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  Speaker 1: So, Paul, what is the process going to be in
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  Speaker 1: this space? You know, if you've got nine of the twelve,
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  Speaker 1: you know, asking for this survey to take place and
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  Speaker 1: you know, speaking quite openly about this, passing that information
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  Speaker 1: on to the association, what is the process then in
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  Speaker 1: terms of this survey.
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  Speaker 2: It's very simple really. I mean, ultimately, you know, we
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: have a responsibility to allow all our regions to meet.
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  Speaker 2: Whether it comes up at the meetings or not is
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  Speaker 2: totally up to them. And then ultimately, once we've received
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  Speaker 2: all that information, it'll be a very short, sharp process
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  Speaker 2: in terms of a survey. And then when we get
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  Speaker 2: the survey results back, we'll provide that information of course
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  Speaker 2: to the Commissioner, the Minister and of course importantly the
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: membership who have been asking for it. But as I said,
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  Speaker 2: we will also want to know what the reasons are
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  Speaker 2: behind simply saying we don't have confidence in the Commissioner.
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  Speaker 2: That's well and good, and I understand people are frustrated that.
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  Speaker 2: The message we've been delivering to the members is you
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  Speaker 2: need to tell us why, You need to tell us
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  Speaker 2: what are the key reasons for that, and we need
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  Speaker 2: to use it as a positive to make some change
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  Speaker 2: because clearly they're upset at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: Will yeah, well, so when is that going to happen?
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  Speaker 2: I can't give you a timeframe on that. It'll it'll
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  Speaker 2: be sooner rather than later. I mean annual conferences in
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  Speaker 2: August of this year. And you know there's every chance
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  Speaker 2: we'll we'll take we'll take that to the conference, or
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  Speaker 2: you know, if we receive all the other minutes from
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  Speaker 2: from the meetings prior to, then we'll undertake that prior
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  Speaker 2: to the prior to the annual conference.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So either August this year or it could
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  Speaker 1: potentially happen prior prior to that. Paul, I know that,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I know that there have been some within
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  Speaker 1: the force at the moment who have been critical of
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  Speaker 1: you that something hasn't happened sooner is the fact here
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  Speaker 1: though that you know that realistically you do need to
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  Speaker 1: actually listen to those branches before before you're able to
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  Speaker 1: do anything.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, you know, I know people have been critical,
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  Speaker 2: but we have responsibility to the membership and the association
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: to make sure everyone's had an opportunity to have their say.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we won't steer from that process. It's the
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: way we've always done the business. It doesn't matter what
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  Speaker 2: people on social media and those sorts of things that
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  Speaker 2: publicly criticize us, saw the police executive or whoever. We
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: will continue the process as we're doing it. We're responsible
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  Speaker 2: about it, and as I said, this is about really
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: understanding the reasons behind it, and making sure that both
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: the government and the Commissioner, who have been quite upfront
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  Speaker 2: with about this, really understand the reasons.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Why are you worried that we've got a police force
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  Speaker 1: that is divided in some ways.
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  Speaker 2: Look quite potentially, I mean, obviously, as I said, we've
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: had large amounts of people turn up to our meetings.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: There's equally been quite a few members offer support for
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: the commission and a lot of the work that's been
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: implemented since he's come in, such as additional resourcing in
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: remote stations, bringing back the duty soupers, all those sorts
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: of things. You know. Equally, there's been some comments around
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: the positives. So and obviously in we're now looking at
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: trying to improve our support and well being. We want
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: to work with the Commissioner and the Senior Executive on that.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: It's very very important to us. So, yes, there is
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: obviously the risk there's division out there. If we don't
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: understand why, we'll never be able to fix it. And
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: that's one of the key drivers behind these motions, no doubt, Paul.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: On that support and well being. It was revealed as
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: well throughout the estimates process that that report is now complete.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: It is understood that there's going to be some changes
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: made in this space pretty swiftly and fairly soon, is
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: my understanding. You know, how important is it that we
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: get this right.
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: It's extremely important. I mean, it was the NTPA that
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: lobbied hard for government to commit to this review. It
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: was undertaken as a promise to us at one of
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: our annual conferences. It took place late last year. Quite simply,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: we recognize for many, many years that the support and
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: well being branch of the police force is well and
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: truly underfunded and understaffed. You know, we've known that for
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: a long time. It shouldn't have taken us to force
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: a review to take place for this to come up.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Now it has, the conversation's begun. There can be no
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: going back from this. The government cannot commit to a
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: survey and now not follow through with sufficient funding for
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: the commissioner to put in place additional resources in this
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: very important area, because this is sadly, very sadly a
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: growing business in certain terms of the amount of support
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: and well being we need to offer police and the
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: government cannot walk away from this. Now we've got the
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: review and some results. They need to put their hand
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: in their pocket and give some funding to the Commissioner
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: to make sure we've got sufficient resource.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Do you reckon it is going to be a situation
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: where there is going to need to be additional funding
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: provided here, Paul, no doubt.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: I mean the one point six million or thereabouts that's
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: been provided now is clearly insufficient. We do not have
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: enough full time sits. Internally, we don't have enough investment
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: into our peer support program. We really struggle to get
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: full time professionals down in Alice Springs, a very important
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: part of the territory, the Central Australia and southern part,
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: and we know there's been obviously some tragedies down there
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: of recent times and we really need to make sure
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: we've got sufficient resources in place, and right now we
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: don't and that can only come with reinvesting some additional
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: money from government. It's as simple as that.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Well, Police Association President Paul mckew, we are going to
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: have to leave it there. We've run out of time.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time this morning though.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: No thanks Katie, thank you