Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NT Police Association President Paul McCue explains the key concerns raised at the member's annual conference

Transcript

NT Police Association President Paul McCue explains the key concerns raised at the member's annual conference · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We have been speaking at length about the morale within
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Police Force and the issues with confidence
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory Police Commissioner. Now on Friday, further
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  Speaker 1: insight was provided at the Northern Territory Police Association's annual conference.
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  Speaker 1: And joining me on the line is the Police Association
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  Speaker 1: President Paul mchughue. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Paul, wanting Catie here.
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  Speaker 1: You going not too bad now, Paul, these issues with
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  Speaker 1: confidence and morale having a big impact on the force.
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  Speaker 1: What was the main message to come out of the
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  Speaker 1: conference on Friday?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously there was plenty to speak about, and obviously
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  Speaker 2: the Commissioner and the deputy Commissioners came along to our
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  Speaker 2: conference on Thursday, and it was a really good opportunity
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  Speaker 2: behind closed doors for everyone that was there representing the
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  Speaker 2: members across the terriatory to really ask you some direct
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  Speaker 2: questions of the Commissioner and the deputies in relation to
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  Speaker 2: not just the survey results, but many other topical issues
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  Speaker 2: that are affecting them in the workplace. So we had
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  Speaker 2: some really good discussions of focusing a lot on you know,
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  Speaker 2: why they're feeling, so you know down out there, why
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  Speaker 2: is morale, So so why are they feeling like there's
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  Speaker 2: just not enough police to do the job day in
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  Speaker 2: and day out. And you know, it was a really
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  Speaker 2: important session for us to open up and speak to
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  Speaker 2: the commissioner quite frankly and.
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  Speaker 1: Paul, you know what, what were some of those messages
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  Speaker 1: that the rank and file had for the executive of
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  Speaker 1: the Police Force.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, obviously, you know, they made it quite clear
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  Speaker 2: that they are very upset that they feel there's just
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  Speaker 2: simply not enough police. Why when they turn up for
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  Speaker 2: work they feel like, you know, day in and day out,
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  Speaker 2: they're doing everything they can, and they are, they're doing
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  Speaker 2: an incredible job. But when you really go to rely
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  Speaker 2: on people doing over time every single day, you get
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  Speaker 2: burnt out, and of course that begins to affect your health,
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  Speaker 2: your well being, and then you know, obviously those discussions
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  Speaker 2: flowed from there about what supports are in place when
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  Speaker 2: that takes place. But you know that there there were
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  Speaker 2: many other, obviously topics discussed, including the discipline process people
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  Speaker 2: are being put through. I feel that's quite heavy handed
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  Speaker 2: and punitive. Obviously, there was discussions around assaults on police
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  Speaker 2: and how that's affecting people out there. Almost every day
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  Speaker 2: getting assaulted and how that has an impact of course,
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  Speaker 2: you know, on police and their morale and their well being.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, plenty to talk about, Paul.
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  Speaker 1: Was the zach Rolf trial a topic this was raised
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  Speaker 1: as well, and I'm interested to know to you know,
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  Speaker 1: following on from that trial and officer training and whether
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  Speaker 1: they feel that, you know, should something go wrong, whether
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  Speaker 1: they're concerned that they do or do not still have
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  Speaker 1: the support of the upper ranking officers.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it looks certainly. You know, we went through some
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  Speaker 2: of the survey results and when we talk about reasons
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  Speaker 2: behind why people feel they didn't have confidence in the commissioner,
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  Speaker 2: we went through some of the reasons behind that, and
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  Speaker 2: of course one of the in fact they made the
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  Speaker 2: number one reason was the management and communication relating to
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  Speaker 2: that you and the more critical incident. Of course that
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  Speaker 2: you can evolve into many different aspects of that incident,
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  Speaker 2: but certainly a lot of the feed back and this
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  Speaker 2: is not just from a conference, This is obviously since
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  Speaker 2: the incident itself. People you know, obviously concerned when they
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  Speaker 2: are out there making some really important spit second decisions,
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  Speaker 2: they want to know they've got support, and of course
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  Speaker 2: We've still got processes underway to flesh all that out now.
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  Speaker 1: I think, really, you know, the really big question that
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people are wondering at this point in
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  Speaker 1: time is it seems as though there is so much
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  Speaker 1: reform that needs to happen in order for that morale
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  Speaker 1: to be lifted, in order for officers to feel as
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  Speaker 1: though there is enough of them to be able to
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  Speaker 1: do their jobs. Do they believe that the Commissioner and
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  Speaker 1: the executive of the Police Force at the moment are
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  Speaker 1: able to lead them through that path.
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  Speaker 2: Well, obviously the result said no. What we heard from
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  Speaker 2: at conference was the Commissioner said he will listen. He
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  Speaker 2: will be meeting with the NTPA on a weekly basis
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  Speaker 2: to really understand, you know, the specific reasons behind that.
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  Speaker 2: The Minister also addressed conference and made it very clear
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  Speaker 2: to our delegates there and anyone else that was there,
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  Speaker 2: that she needs to listen. She's having a real look
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  Speaker 2: at some of these results in depth, and obviously having
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  Speaker 2: a look at the agency itself and how it operates,
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  Speaker 2: how people are deployed, where they're deployed. There's a whole
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  Speaker 2: lot of work being done now and the Minister's committed
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  Speaker 2: to making sure that happens, because, as we've rightly pointed
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  Speaker 2: out a conference and previously, you know, something has to change.
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  Speaker 2: You can't have a police force feeling so disenfranchised and
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  Speaker 2: so disappointed with the commissioner. We don't want to see that.
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  Speaker 2: We want to see people, you know, supported at work
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  Speaker 2: and feeling like they're supported. So something certainly has to change.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, But Paul, what is going to change because right now,
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  Speaker 1: you know, you guys have you've got a situation where
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  Speaker 1: obviously the Minister for Police is saying, you know, we
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  Speaker 1: are going to listen. We're going to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: we're listening. But you've got a force that is saying
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  Speaker 1: that they don't have confidence in the Police Commissioner and
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  Speaker 1: that you know, they've got all of these these large concerns,
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  Speaker 1: but there doesn't seem to be any change come out
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  Speaker 1: of the government.
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  Speaker 2: No, And obviously, you know, one of the main things
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  Speaker 2: we've got to do is stop people leaving. We've got
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  Speaker 2: to really invest heavily into that high attrition rate, which
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  Speaker 2: was one of the main reasons of low confidence, the
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  Speaker 2: failure to retain our experience police here, and we are
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  Speaker 2: looking at a very very competitive policing environment around the country,
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  Speaker 2: and if we're not really doing everything we can do
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  Speaker 2: to stop people leaving in the first place, then we're
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  Speaker 2: behind the eight ball to begin with. So, yes, you're right,
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  Speaker 2: something has to change, and we've made it clear of
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  Speaker 2: conference it's going to be actions, not words, that actually
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  Speaker 2: mean something to our members, and if they don't see
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  Speaker 2: something really really quickly, then of course the feeling isn't
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  Speaker 2: going to change. Now.
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  Speaker 1: I know that the opposition leader Leofanocchiiro last week had
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  Speaker 1: said on the show that she thinks there needs to
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  Speaker 1: be an independent inquiry conducted by a former judge over
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  Speaker 1: a thirty day period into the police force. Do you
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  Speaker 1: think something like that needs to happen, Paul.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was one at one of my comments in
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  Speaker 2: my address to delegates and conference was you know, it
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  Speaker 2: has been ten years since, you know, there was a
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  Speaker 2: really depth review of policing and what it looks like
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  Speaker 2: and what people have to do day to day while
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  Speaker 2: they're at work. That's far too long look at what's
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  Speaker 2: changed in that last decade, and certainly when we look
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  Speaker 2: at that very high statistic from our survey around ninety
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  Speaker 2: three percent saying there's not enough police. The main reason
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  Speaker 2: for that they listed was the requirements that they have
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  Speaker 2: to do each day at work. So clearly there is
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  Speaker 2: a need to really have a look at that and
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  Speaker 2: there needs to be some sort of review into what
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  Speaker 2: they have to do every day yet alone the feeling
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  Speaker 2: of a lack of numbers to actually do that job.
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  Speaker 1: We know that the Member for Blaine, Mark Turner, had
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  Speaker 1: said that he thinks there either needs to be a
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  Speaker 1: Royal commission or a review. So where do you think
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  Speaker 1: this should land, Paul.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, obviously you know, as I said, conference
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  Speaker 2: was Friday. We've got a meeting with the Commissioner this week.
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  Speaker 2: We've also got a meeting with the Minister this week
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  Speaker 2: and we will make it quite clear as we did
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  Speaker 2: on Friday and Thursday of last week. Something has to change.
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  Speaker 2: There needs to be a real, in depth review into
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  Speaker 2: what's going on in the Northern Territory Police Force. We
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  Speaker 2: want commitments, not just words, but actual actions to make
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  Speaker 2: our members feel like they do have that support each
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  Speaker 2: and every day. And right now they don't.
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  Speaker 1: Pull specifically from you, what do you what do the
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  Speaker 1: members think needs to change here?
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  Speaker 2: They need, first and foremost, they need a government that's
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  Speaker 2: willing to back them with a decent amount of investment
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  Speaker 2: into the actual reasons why people are leaving. So there
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  Speaker 2: needs to be that review first and foremost. Secondly, there
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  Speaker 2: needs to be an admission that things aren't right. There
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  Speaker 2: needs to be an actual admission that things are not right,
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  Speaker 2: and we want to look very very closely at why.
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  Speaker 2: And then thirdly, of course, as I said, we've got
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  Speaker 2: a very competitive market. You're not going to offer a
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  Speaker 2: decent pay able to stay here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: You're not going to offer the actual incentive to make
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  Speaker 2: sure you want to come to work every day, and
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  Speaker 2: that is support and that he's numbers which all reflect
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  Speaker 2: on morale and safety. Then we're in a world of
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  Speaker 2: pay but those are they're the things that need to change.
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  Speaker 1: Paul, Do you believe that the current Police commissioner is
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  Speaker 1: able to lead the Northern Territory Police Force through this change?
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  Speaker 1: Can he stay in that job?
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  Speaker 2: Well? Time will tell on that. We've made it very
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  Speaker 2: clear and I said it in my statement last week.
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  Speaker 2: If things don't change, his position may become untenable. Right now,
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  Speaker 2: he's committed to actually listening, he's committed to actually having
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  Speaker 2: a look at these results in depth, and we'll provide
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  Speaker 2: many reasons behind the eighty percent no confidence vote. And
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  Speaker 2: it's up to him only he can make that change.
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  Speaker 2: He's the leader of the organization and he knows loud
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  Speaker 2: and clear from the feedback from our delegates last week
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  Speaker 2: that it's up to him and he'll need to make
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  Speaker 2: that change.
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  Speaker 1: Well, what do you think is going to happen if
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  Speaker 1: there isn't some pretty immediate change, Like if we don't
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  Speaker 1: see the Police Minister come out and say, okay, we
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  Speaker 1: are going to have a review into the police force,
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  Speaker 1: or we're going to do those various things that you
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  Speaker 1: just outlined, what do you think is going to happen.
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  Speaker 1: Are we going to see a situation where our Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory police start to take industrial action, or what's going
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  Speaker 1: to happen here?
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  Speaker 2: Well, there was a very strong sentiment around the table
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  Speaker 2: last week that members have had enough and if they
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  Speaker 2: don't see some results, if they don't see some firm commitments,
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  Speaker 2: absolutely there will be discussions had about what that means
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  Speaker 2: in the coming months ahead. Because we've been going down
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  Speaker 2: this path for a long time. We've been raising a
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  Speaker 2: lot of these issues for over twelve eighteen months up
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  Speaker 2: to two years, and we know they've gone through a
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  Speaker 2: very difficult time. I've said that last week. It's been
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  Speaker 2: a tumultuous time over the last two or three years.
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  Speaker 2: But absolutely the message was key last week. The members
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  Speaker 2: have had enough and they're not going to stand for
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  Speaker 2: it anymore, and they've voice has to be heard. If
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  Speaker 2: you've got to ignore a thousand members of the police
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  Speaker 2: force who took the time to participate in our survey,
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  Speaker 2: you're ignoring the police force and that is the last
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  Speaker 2: thing the community need. We want police out in the
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  Speaker 2: community and right now they're feeling like this is simply
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  Speaker 2: not enough.
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  Speaker 1: Paul mcute, I really appreciate your time this morning. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you very much for having a chat with us, and
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  Speaker 1: thanks very much for talking us through what had happened
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  Speaker 1: at the conference last week.
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  Speaker 2: Good onion, Thanks Katie, thank you