Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley will go to Parliament this week asking a Select Committee of Parliament be created to undertake a full inquiry into Crime in Alice Springs

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Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley will go to Parliament this week asking a Select Committee of Parliament be created to undertake a full inquiry into Crime in Alice Springs · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, obviously we just caught up with the Commander of
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  Speaker 1: Darwin and Road Policing and spoke more about some of
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  Speaker 1: those most recent crime statistics for the Darwin area, and
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  Speaker 1: we're just we know that in Alice Springs there's been
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  Speaker 1: some issues for quite a long period of time, I
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  Speaker 1: think you'd have to say. And this week in Parliament,
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  Speaker 1: Robin Lamley, the Independent Member for Aara Luhn, is going
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  Speaker 1: to be a moving emotion that a select Committee of
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  Speaker 1: Parliament be created to undertake a full inquiry into crime
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  Speaker 1: in Alice Springs. Now joining me on the line right
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  Speaker 1: now is the Independent Member for Ora lun Robin Lamley.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Robin.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, thanks for having me now.
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  Speaker 1: Robin, I've just been going through the crime statistics with
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  Speaker 1: Commander Danny Bacon for the Darwin region. But it would
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  Speaker 1: be remiss of me not to mention those stats for
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  Speaker 1: Alice Springs, which I did read out a bit earlier
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  Speaker 1: on the show as well. And I tell you what
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  Speaker 1: in Alice, you know we saw commercial break ins up
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  Speaker 1: sixty point two three percent, motor vehicle theft up six
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  Speaker 1: point six four percent, property damage twenty three point one
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  Speaker 1: four percent, house break ins forty six point four three percent.
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  Speaker 1: I guess really, you know, it does just demonstrate an
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  Speaker 1: issue that you've been speaking about for an awfully long time.
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  Speaker 2: Robin. I have Katie, and we've seen these staggering increases
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  Speaker 2: in crime month on month, year on year for at
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  Speaker 2: least the last two to three years. So nothing's nothing's improved.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, I would argue things are declining, and they
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  Speaker 2: certainly have been declining over the last three years, and
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  Speaker 2: the stats back it up. It's not a perceptual thing,
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  Speaker 2: it's not a political thing. The facts, the figures speak
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  Speaker 2: to themselves.
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  Speaker 1: So Robin, what is the plan from your perspective tomorrow
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  Speaker 1: when Parliament resumes.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm moving emotion that will come up first thing
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  Speaker 2: tomorrow morning. I'm told although the lead of Opposition, the
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  Speaker 2: Leader of Government Business might have a different take on it,
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  Speaker 2: but I'm moving a motion that a select committee be
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  Speaker 2: created to undertake a full inquiry into crime in Central Australia,
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  Speaker 2: essentially looking at what is working and what is not
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  Speaker 2: working right across the spectrum policing, looking at alcohol, looking
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  Speaker 2: at funding that's going all over the place to non
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  Speaker 2: government organizations, community participation. I think that this is the
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  Speaker 2: only way that we can entice government to really play
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  Speaker 2: a more active role in addressing all the problems that
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  Speaker 2: we're experiencing down in ala screens in central Australia.
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  Speaker 1: So, Robin, for those out there listening this morning who
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  Speaker 1: are thinking, what exactly is a select committee of Parliament,
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  Speaker 1: what is this going to do? Just explain it for us.
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  Speaker 2: So the Northern Charritory Parliament, just like every other parliament
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  Speaker 2: in Australia and throughout the Commonwealth, has a committee structure.
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  Speaker 2: We have committees made up of members of Parliament that
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  Speaker 2: look into certain issues and at the moment we have
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  Speaker 2: the standard committees, but there's only one other committee that's
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  Speaker 2: actually looking into the performance or the operation of government,
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  Speaker 2: and that's the Public Accounts Committee. So it's not unusual.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, it's really really common. The Federal Parliament has
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  Speaker 2: dozens of these select committees that look into particular issues
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  Speaker 2: affecting Australian So at the moment we have no select
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  Speaker 2: committees at all inquiring into any issue in the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 2: which is highly unusual. Over the last couple of years,
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  Speaker 2: the Gunner government have dismantled the committee structure because it
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  Speaker 2: puts pressure on them, it provides scrutiny of them. Ironically,
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  Speaker 2: they built it up in seventeen and eighteen to nineteen
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  Speaker 2: and then they just mantled at all pretty much in
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty because they realized that it was putting a
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  Speaker 2: microscope over a lot of the problems that they were
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  Speaker 2: providing over and not necessarily delivering on. So this Select
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  Speaker 2: Committee will be the only Select committee undertaking an inquiry
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  Speaker 2: into an issue in the Northern Territory if it gets
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  Speaker 2: up tomorrow, Robert.
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  Speaker 1: That's probably quite surprising for a lot of people to
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  Speaker 1: hear this morning that there are not Select committees looking
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  Speaker 1: into anything else. Because crime is you know, is something
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  Speaker 1: that obviously we talk about regularly on this show. It's
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  Speaker 1: something that concerns a lot of people, but it's really
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  Speaker 1: not the only issue that you would think that there
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  Speaker 1: is some further sort of digging into.
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  Speaker 2: Look, this is a fascinating topic on its own, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: The Parliament of the Northern Territory only it's called a
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  Speaker 2: unicameral system. There's only one assembly in all other parliaments
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  Speaker 2: in Australia parts from Queensland. In the Northern Territory, you
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  Speaker 2: have an upper House and a lower House essentially, so
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  Speaker 2: we need these committees to provide almost like the role
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  Speaker 2: of a Senate or an upper House. And when you
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  Speaker 2: look at what's happening in the Parliament at the moment,
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  Speaker 2: the fact that there are no Select committees operating, it's
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  Speaker 2: really a very very sad indictment of the Gunma government
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  Speaker 2: and the state of democracy in the Northern Territory. So
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  Speaker 2: tomorrow me suggesting that a Select committee, which isn't an
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  Speaker 2: extraordinary thing anywhere else in Australia, be set up to
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  Speaker 2: look at crime in Alice Springs or indeed any other
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  Speaker 2: topic as you say, should be embraced by the Parliament
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  Speaker 2: and all the backbenches like myself and all the Labor
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  Speaker 2: backbenches and the COLP backbenches who form these committees should
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  Speaker 2: be touring around the territory and looking at these issues.
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  Speaker 2: They should be looking at crime in Palmerston, or health
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  Speaker 2: services in you or you know, like there's so many
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  Speaker 2: things that the Parliament should be doing, but the government
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  Speaker 2: doesn't want them to do it because it puts pressure
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  Speaker 2: on them and it means that they've got to sharpen
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  Speaker 2: their acts.
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  Speaker 1: Well, but you know, I reckon this is imperative. Whether
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  Speaker 1: you're talking about Alice Springs or whether you're talking about
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  Speaker 1: the Top End or any other part of the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it's not about sort of pointing blame at anybody.
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  Speaker 1: They're being a Select committee looking into this. It's actually
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  Speaker 1: also about making sure that all the different organizations that
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  Speaker 1: are government funded as well, that they are all working
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  Speaker 1: together and as cohesively as possible to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: the services that have sort of been identified are being
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  Speaker 1: delivered in such a way that we're reducing crime and
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  Speaker 1: that we're reducing some of the other issues that then
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  Speaker 1: lead to crimes being committed.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Katie, democracy in the Northern Territory is not alive
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  Speaker 2: and well. At a very minimum, we should have at
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  Speaker 2: least a couple of Select committees operating at any given
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  Speaker 2: point in time looking at anything, I mean anything and everything.
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  Speaker 2: You know, in the past, the Select Committee that comes
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  Speaker 2: to mind, Jeff Collins headed up a Select committee looking at,
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  Speaker 2: you know, basically legalizing marijuana in the Northern Territory. You
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  Speaker 2: could have a Select committee looking at euthanasia, the future
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  Speaker 2: for euthanasia in the Northern Territory. You could do you
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  Speaker 2: have them on absolutely anything and everything. If you go
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  Speaker 2: on to the House of Representative site for the Federal
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  Speaker 2: Parliament of Australia, they've got an extensive list of all
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  Speaker 2: the committees that are functioning looking at all sorts of
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  Speaker 2: different issues, including regional newspapers, which I recently wrote a
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  Speaker 2: submission to look what I'm proposing tomorrow. It will probably
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  Speaker 2: be hailed down by the government because they won't want
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  Speaker 2: to look into this very sensitive issue of crime in
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  Speaker 2: Central Australia in our springs, but indeed they should. They
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  Speaker 2: should be open to democracy and allowing people to participate
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  Speaker 2: and talk to other members of Parliament, not ministers, and
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  Speaker 2: come up with some recommendations that really might make a difference.
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  Speaker 2: But I've written to all the members of all my
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  Speaker 2: colleagues or the members of Parliament that I work with,
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  Speaker 2: the twenty four others. I've asked them to come on
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  Speaker 2: board in a bipartisan manner for the people of Central Australia.
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  Speaker 2: I just hope that they are able to open their
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  Speaker 2: minds and hearts and allow this to happen in the
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  Speaker 2: name of democracy and in the name of goodwill and
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  Speaker 2: improving things, improving the lives of territory and Robin.
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  Speaker 1: What will need to happen? Are you going to need
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  Speaker 1: the government to actually support this for this to happen,
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  Speaker 1: because otherwise you simply won't have the numbers even if
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  Speaker 1: the opposition and the other independence do support you.
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  Speaker 2: That's correct. Without the support of government members, this will
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  Speaker 2: not get up. And what we've seen multiple times over
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  Speaker 2: the last eighteen months two years is the government shut
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  Speaker 2: down debate. So I could literally stand up tomorrow and
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  Speaker 2: give my speech and one of them could say, okay,
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  Speaker 2: well I move the motion and gag the debate, which
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  Speaker 2: I fear could be the tactic of the government. They've
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  Speaker 2: done it so many times, and I've never seen this
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  Speaker 2: happen before. I've been in Parliament for almost twelve years.
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  Speaker 2: I have never seen a government gag debate as much
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  Speaker 2: as I have. This guner government. The Leader of Government Business,
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  Speaker 2: Natasha File, thinks nothing of shutting down a debate on anything,
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  Speaker 2: no matter how important it is for groups of Territorians.
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  Speaker 2: So I hope they don't do that. I'll ask them
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  Speaker 2: publicly on the radio stage and please don't do that.
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  Speaker 2: We need to talk about this and we need to
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  Speaker 2: consider setting up this very very important parliamentary inquiry and
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  Speaker 2: indeed more parliamentary inquiries into the future looking at other
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  Speaker 2: things that matter to territorians.
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  Speaker 1: Well and Robin, it's going to be a dicey game
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  Speaker 1: for them, I think tomorrow because between you asking for
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  Speaker 1: this obviously the Opposition calling for an inquiry following on
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  Speaker 1: from the court case last week. Also they are calling
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  Speaker 1: for greater scrutiny and for more reporting from the Chief
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  Speaker 1: Health Officer when it comes to the decisions around COVID.
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  Speaker 1: I think that they've got to be really careful here.
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  Speaker 1: You cannot shut everything down and you cannot shut down
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  Speaker 1: debate inside Parliament House.
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  Speaker 2: Well, they have been, Katie. They literally have been doing
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  Speaker 2: it consistently every day of Parliament at least since they've
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  Speaker 2: come back been returned to government in August twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 2: They have gagged and debate time and time again. In fact,
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  Speaker 2: it would be interesting to look at them how many
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  Speaker 2: times it's happened. I'd say at least a dozen times
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  Speaker 2: in the last eighteen months two years. So don't be
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  Speaker 2: surprised that they will try to do that, or that
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  Speaker 2: they will just do it because they've got the numbers.
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  Speaker 2: It's not good and people need to know more clearly
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  Speaker 2: what's going on in Parliament because it's very unimpressive and
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  Speaker 2: all the allegations of the former Celp government being arrogant,
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  Speaker 2: I truly believe that the Gunner government is more arrogant
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  Speaker 2: in many ways than the former Felpea government. A big call.
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  Speaker 2: But I'm seeing it and I'm feeling it, and it's arrogant.
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  Speaker 2: It looks different that it's still arrogant and probably in
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  Speaker 2: a bigger dose in some ways.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Robin, please let us know how things progress tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: I know that our listeners will be very keen to
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  Speaker 1: find out whether this you know, whether they do agree
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  Speaker 1: to this select committee. The only thing I do want
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  Speaker 1: to ask as well, Robin, is you know if I
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  Speaker 1: agreed to it and there was a possibility of it
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  Speaker 1: also including some of the crime issues that we've got
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  Speaker 1: in other parts of the territory, would you be open
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  Speaker 1: to that?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, Katie. What I see this as being I
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  Speaker 2: see it as being the start of a chain reaction.
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  Speaker 2: A select Committee looks at crime in central Australia, then
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  Speaker 2: they move up up the Stuart Highway to Tenant Creek,
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  Speaker 2: then Catherine, then Palmerston, then Darwin, then Milan Boy. It
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  Speaker 2: should trigger a chain reaction of Select committees looking at
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  Speaker 2: crime right across the Northern Territory and I'll be speaking
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  Speaker 2: about that point tomorrow. This is just the start of
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  Speaker 2: the work that should be done by parliamentary committees in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Robin Lamley, I always appreciate your time. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with me this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks Katie, thank you