Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / United Workers Union NT Secretary Erina Early has welcomed funding in the NT budget to address overcrowding and staff shortages in Territory prisons

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United Workers Union NT Secretary Erina Early has welcomed funding in the NT budget to address overcrowding and staff shortages in Territory prisons · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We are breaking down the budget and working out exactly
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: what some of this spending is going to mean for Territorians.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: And joining me on the line right now from the
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: United Workers Union, the secretary Erina Early. Good morning to you.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Morning, Katie. How are you very well? Now?
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Erin a number of big announcements obviously when it comes
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to the budget, but one that certainly sparked my attention
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: is quite an investment when it comes to correctional services.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Can you talk us through exactly what we're going to
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: see when it comes to corrections and what it's going
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: to mean for an area that you and I have
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: spoken about on numerous occasions it was needing some serious
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: sort of investment.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Katie. I think Corrections have done quite well out
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: of this budget. Significant amount of money is going to
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: be provided to them, as you would know that they're
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: going to be putting nearly up to ninety five million
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: strengthen the corrections budget. It's been under budget for a
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: long time and we've seen that with a short staffing,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: with the officers walking off the job to send that
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: message for government. So I really really hope the government
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: have listened and stuff with prowarding this money. Forward and
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: eron are.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Thirty million dollars to ease that overcrowding as well, because
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: the overcrowding. Again, you and I have spoken on a
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: number of occasions where you've told me that those prison
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: officers are really concerned about the volume of people that
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: they've got in there and the staff to prisoner ratio.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, and you know, yes, putting this additional money
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: in too address the over crowding and stuff like that
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: is fantastic. But the way that we need to do
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: that is we need to ensure that we've got enough
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: correction officers as well to maintain the security for the prison.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, So how do we make sure we've got enough
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: of those correctional officers and where are those numbers out
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: at the moment.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: Well, we're still quite significantly short with officers, as you know.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Alice Springs is still the big one. Darwin still has
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: their staffing issues as well. But Corrections are rigorously trying
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: to recruit new officers. So hopefully we're going to start
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: actually studying to see some of these long standing positions
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: being filled.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: So, Erina, from your perspective, was the Northern Territory budget
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: a good one?
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  Speaker 2: From Corrections? I would say if we're going in the
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: right step, definitely with corrections. We just need to ensure,
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: for example, the seventeen million that's going to Alice Springs
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: with this rapid modular cell accommodation, which I think the
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: fancy words for a donner. Yeah, I'd wondered that there
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: that they actually need to make sure they're actually making
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: sure they've got enough officers to accommodate these new fancy
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: doggars that are coming.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I have wondered, you know what the modular I can't
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: even think of the words now what that meant. So
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: you're you're thinking it's from your fancy dogga.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I reckon, it's a fancy empty dogger.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Erina, tell me where did you think that the budget
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: fell short or were there any areas where you thought
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: it fell short?
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Well, from our unit perspective, we're seeing the fire Service
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: got some additional funding. I just I don't I think
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: it's great they're actually looking at the training side of
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: the Fire Service, but I feel still that they're not
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: really addressing the real issues with the fire Service. You've
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: still got a hostile EA negotiation. We've got a really
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: big attraction of retention issue. In the fire service and
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: there's a real toxic workplace at the moment and stuff there,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: so a lot needs to be put into fire service
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: and I still don't think it was recognized in the B.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: And so where are things that with those EBAs at
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: this point? Not only with the fireies, but how have
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: we sorted Have most of them now been sorted out?
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: We're getting there, Katie. So the fieries, they're a complete mpath.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: It's very hostile negotiations. Power and water and TGen are
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: going out to vote, so they've got some great improvements there.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: The dentists and the doctors are stilling negotiations and so
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: are the nurses, but are there coming to the end.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: So we're looking hopefully getting some resolution there. And the
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Aboriginal health practitioners got voted up the other week, so
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: now that's an a fair work commission for.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Approval, all right, So it is I mean, it's good
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: to hear that the majority of those EBA negotiations are
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: now moving along and going through hopefully in a positive way.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: But hopefully you're able to see some movements soon when
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: it comes to the firies. Yes, folks, yeah, well erin
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: early I always appreciate your time. Thank you very much
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: for having a chat with us this morning.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Always my pleasure. Catie, have a great day you too.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you