Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Matt Hepworth spoke with Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro

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Matt Hepworth spoke with Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf. Join the conversation with Katie Wolf.
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  Speaker 1: You are our eyes and ears in the Territory Mixed
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  Speaker 1: one oh four point nine Matt Hepworth filling in for
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  Speaker 1: Katie Wolf this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Yesterday we saw the Northern Territory Government unveil their proposed
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  Speaker 2: changes to the Northern Territories youth justice laws. Well Leader
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  Speaker 2: of the Opposition Lea fanochi Aro says the overwhelming and
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  Speaker 2: sustained pressure on the Chief Minister from the public, police
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  Speaker 2: and opposition has forced them to face its gross failures,
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  Speaker 2: weak laws and incompetence on bail and youth crime, and
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  Speaker 2: claims yesterday's announcement is a farce. To talk more about
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  Speaker 2: it is the Opposition leader Leah finochi Are.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, good morning, Lea, Good morning Maddie and to your listeners.
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  Speaker 2: Lea, these were some big announcements made by the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory Government yesterday. Some would argue it comes after that
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  Speaker 2: a current affair report highlighting the issues in Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 2: You yourself have called for similar reforms, but the announcement
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  Speaker 2: from the government yesterday you've called a farce. Why that?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I don't think yesterday's announcement from the government was
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  Speaker 3: major reform at all. In fact, what we saw was
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  Speaker 3: a government over the period of a week, cobbled together
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  Speaker 3: something to save political face. It is nothing more than
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  Speaker 3: humiliating political spin. There was no detail provided. Their government
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  Speaker 3: have no legislation ready to go. They've put no real
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  Speaker 3: genuine thought into this issue. They've only just come to
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  Speaker 3: the table and have been dragged their kicking and screaming.
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  Speaker 3: Unfortunately for territories under the Gunner governments. You know, and
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  Speaker 3: I use the word planned very in inverted commas, very loosely,
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  Speaker 3: they won't have any legislation in the Parliament until May,
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  Speaker 3: which means it's very sketchy on detail. No one really
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  Speaker 3: knows what this is going to look like, and arguably
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  Speaker 3: we might not even pass whatever these supposed law reforms
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  Speaker 3: are going to be until August this year. In start
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  Speaker 3: contract crust to us, Maddie, we have been working on
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  Speaker 3: BAO reform legislation for months. Our legislation is in the parliament,
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  Speaker 3: it is ready to go. We are moving it on
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  Speaker 3: urgency today so that it can be debated and hopefully
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  Speaker 3: passed today. And our legislation is very simple and very clear.
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  Speaker 3: We want repeat offenders to start with a position of
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  Speaker 3: no bail. We want to bring that breach of bowel
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  Speaker 3: condition as an offense, and we want every repeat offender,
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  Speaker 3: if they are still bowed despite that position of no BAO,
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  Speaker 3: we want them to be electronic monitored. So there's no contrast,
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  Speaker 3: there's no similarities between us. We're putting our money where
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  Speaker 3: our mouth is. We're getting this done and we call
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  Speaker 3: on Territorians to contact your local labor MLA and get
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  Speaker 3: them to back our bill today and deal with this
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  Speaker 3: revolving door of bail.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously, bail was one of the areas that the government
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  Speaker 2: flagged yesterday and obviously you've gone into a greater detail
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  Speaker 2: of what yours would have provided. But the Government say
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  Speaker 2: they had six areas as part of this legislation that
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  Speaker 2: they want to introduce, BAO being one, expanding the list
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  Speaker 2: of prescribed defense, expansion of electronic monitoring, ability to record
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  Speaker 2: breach of bail, tough in the Traffic Act nineteen eighty
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  Speaker 2: from nineteen eighty seven to hold young people accountable, and
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  Speaker 2: changes to the Youth Justice Act. The Chief Minister have
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  Speaker 2: said that his legislation that they're proposing.
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  Speaker 1: Is more broad.
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  Speaker 2: Is that to say that yours is too narrow, then
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  Speaker 2: that it just focuses on bail and not these other areas.
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  Speaker 3: The Chief Minister is just absolutely talking garbage. How can
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  Speaker 3: something be the Chief minister's own words, His reform is
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  Speaker 3: more broad and more targeted. Well, they can't be both.
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  Speaker 3: Which one are they? Chief Minister? And this is the
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  Speaker 3: same man who last week said that there is no
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  Speaker 3: presumption in favor of bail, even though it was his
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  Speaker 3: legislation that gave use a presumption in favor of bail,
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  Speaker 3: and two weeks ago he said BAO was not our problem.
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  Speaker 3: And yet now all of a sudden we've even got
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  Speaker 3: the Police Commissioner saying that police believe there aren't enough
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  Speaker 3: consequences for youth offenders. So I think territories need to
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  Speaker 3: tread very carefully in what type of garbage is stewing
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  Speaker 3: out of the Gunner government at the moment. And let's
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  Speaker 3: not forget their bow reform, or their alleged bow reform,
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  Speaker 3: because we haven't seen it, it's not drafted, No one
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  Speaker 3: knows what it actually is going to bring. Talks about
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  Speaker 3: moving some additional offenses into the prescribed defence's lips now
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  Speaker 3: for listeners, they need to understand that people who commit
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  Speaker 3: a prescribed defense still have a neutral presumption in favor
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  Speaker 3: of bail. What we're saying is people should start with
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  Speaker 3: a position of no bail. So there is a lot
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  Speaker 3: of talk, a lot of bluff and bluster coming out
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  Speaker 3: of the Gunner government. There's some obscure components to their
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  Speaker 3: reform when it comes to alcohol testing of use and
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  Speaker 3: other things, which is already something police can do. So look,
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  Speaker 3: I'm not saying we're not going to work with the
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  Speaker 3: government to look at their reform. What I am saying
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  Speaker 3: is they have been dragged, kicking and screaming to the table.
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  Speaker 3: Ours is ready to go. Ours is in Parliament today.
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  Speaker 3: Ours is a very specific piece of legislation as a
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  Speaker 3: first step to deal with the revolving door of bourt
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  Speaker 3: and to specifically deal with repeat offending, and the government
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  Speaker 3: has the power to change that today. The law could
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  Speaker 3: be made immediately, we could deal with that issue and
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  Speaker 3: then in May take a look at what it is
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  Speaker 3: they're proposing. But Territorians can't wait any longer and the
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  Speaker 3: ball is in the Gunner Government's court to back our
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  Speaker 3: bill today.
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  Speaker 2: Katie did ask the Police Minister Nicole Manison yesterday whether
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  Speaker 2: they would look at supporting your legislation.
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  Speaker 1: Didn't really get a clear answer.
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  Speaker 2: I would imagine give it that they've got their own
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  Speaker 2: in the works now that the answer will probably be no.
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  Speaker 2: I guess that's going to be your greatest hurdle in
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  Speaker 2: Parliament this week because you don't have the numbers at
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  Speaker 2: the moment to get it over the line.
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  Speaker 3: That's exactly right. But what we do have is a
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  Speaker 3: commitment to raise this issue fearlessly in front of the
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  Speaker 3: Gunner Government on behalf of Territorians, and the Gunner Government
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  Speaker 3: if they vote it down today then this is on them.
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  Speaker 3: It means that every single Territorian who is victimized by
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  Speaker 3: a repeat offender or an offender out on bail sits
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  Speaker 3: at their feet. They could have made a difference to
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  Speaker 3: stop that from happening if they pass our legislation. So
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  Speaker 3: the ball sits squarely with them. They can take a
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  Speaker 3: partisan approach and just not support our legislation because we're
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  Speaker 3: the country Liberal party and if they do well, that's
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  Speaker 3: on them. What we're saying is ours is ready to go.
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  Speaker 3: We want to have the debate, We want to make
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  Speaker 3: a difference on that revolving door of fail and we're
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  Speaker 3: willing to work with the government as we always are,
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  Speaker 3: to look at what their reform is. But make no mistake,
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  Speaker 3: their reform doesn't exist. They have issued a press release
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  Speaker 3: on an aspiration that they'd like to achieve. There is
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  Speaker 3: no legislation has yet been drafted. We will only see
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  Speaker 3: that legislation sometime in May, bearing in mind that is
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  Speaker 3: budget week, and then we might not be able to
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  Speaker 3: debate it until August. So there is a long road
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  Speaker 3: to go in the development and refining of whatever it is.
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  Speaker 3: The Gunna government seem to be promising territories whereas ours
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  Speaker 3: is done. It's ready, Let's have the debate, Let's have
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  Speaker 3: the conversation. Let's stop the revolving door about balls in
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  Speaker 3: your court? Gunna government, what are you going to do?
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  Speaker 3: Are you genuinely serious about tackling this issue? And if
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  Speaker 3: you are back our bill?
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  Speaker 2: Do you think they made this announcement yesterday so they've
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  Speaker 2: got a leg to stand on if they knock yours
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  Speaker 2: back this week to go on, well you know we've
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  Speaker 2: got our own in the works.
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  Speaker 3: Oh absolutely. This has just come as a result of
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  Speaker 3: sustained pressure I mean we've got, of course, a current
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  Speaker 3: affair in Alice Springs. The people in Alice Springs have
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  Speaker 3: been screaming for support, for action, for the government to
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  Speaker 3: come down and listen to them. There has been sustained
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  Speaker 3: pressure from the community on this issue, all manner of
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  Speaker 3: petitions and vocal business people, people just crying out for
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  Speaker 3: something to be done over years, over years, Maddie, and
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  Speaker 3: you guys know that better than anyone, with your listeners
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  Speaker 3: always phoning in about these issues. It comes after police.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, we've had the Police Association, who represent ninety
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  Speaker 3: nine percent of police say that the Bower laws are
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  Speaker 3: week and now that's been confirmed by the Police Commissioner
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  Speaker 3: that police do think that they're there aren't consequences for
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  Speaker 3: youth defenders. Of course, it's something we talk about to
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  Speaker 3: know when we try and raise it in the Parliament
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  Speaker 3: and just get shut down by the Gunner government at
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  Speaker 3: every chance they get to stop any debate on this issue.
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  Speaker 3: It is the single biggest issue facing Territorians and the
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  Speaker 3: Gunner government have lost all control of it. They're trying
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  Speaker 3: to save faith and clawback a position that seems respectable
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  Speaker 3: in the eyes of Territorians, but no one is buying
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  Speaker 3: the press release from yesterday, Leah.
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  Speaker 2: There is already critics of the government's announcement yesterday, Not
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  Speaker 2: so much around the criticism that you're throwing, but I
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  Speaker 2: know legal and human rights groups have criticized it, calling
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  Speaker 2: a step backwards and removing some of the recommendations from
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  Speaker 2: the Royal Commission. I saw Amnesty International describe some of
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  Speaker 2: the proposers the proposals as racist. What would you say
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  Speaker 2: to those critics of both your legislation that you're proposing
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  Speaker 2: in the governments as well.
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  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think we've received any criticism that's come across
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  Speaker 3: my desk, happy to receive it. We obviously want as
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  Speaker 3: much feedback as possible. The Gunner government can deal with
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  Speaker 3: people criticizing them. That's their job. Ultimately, what I'm concerned
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  Speaker 3: about is keeping territory in safe. The legislation the Gunner
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  Speaker 3: government brought in in twenty nineteen is too far focused
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  Speaker 3: on the offender and not the victim. We've got to
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  Speaker 3: do something. The Gunner government, thank goodness, have finally start
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  Speaker 3: to talk about this issue. I mean, the Chief Minister,
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  Speaker 3: astonishingly yesterday in question time said that he takes full responsibility,
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  Speaker 3: which I found just unbelievable because I thought to myself,
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  Speaker 3: if you acknowledge that this is your fault, and you
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  Speaker 3: acknowledge that you have the power to change this and
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  Speaker 3: you have done nothing, then shame on you. Shame on you,
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  Speaker 3: because you just sat idly by and let people be
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  Speaker 3: victimized every single day. And that is not what leadership
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  Speaker 3: is about. If he genuinely knew this was an issue
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  Speaker 3: and knew he was the person who could fix it,
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  Speaker 3: then he should have done something a long time ago.
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  Speaker 3: So whatever this announce and reforms going to look like,
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  Speaker 3: we welcome it. It's too little, too late. Ours is
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  Speaker 3: ready to go back our bill, Gunner government, Let's make
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  Speaker 3: real change from tomorrow.
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  Speaker 2: Just finally, Leah, if the government don't back your bill,
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  Speaker 2: will you back theirs.
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  Speaker 3: We'll certainly look at it. We welcome any conversation around
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  Speaker 3: law and order. We will be there combing over it.
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  Speaker 3: But like I said, maybe there is absolutely no deal
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  Speaker 3: detail so far. This is just a press release and
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  Speaker 3: a statement to the Parliament. There is no legislation, there
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  Speaker 3: is no framework around it. All we can do is
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  Speaker 3: take the Gunner government's word for it, and I think
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  Speaker 3: Territorians know that the Gunner government's word doesn't mean much.
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  Speaker 1: Leah. We know you've got a busy day ahead in Parliament.
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  Speaker 1: So just one more quick question.
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  Speaker 2: I understand you're introducing another bill today.
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  Speaker 1: Is that right? There's two pieces that you're introducing.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, there's two pieces of legislation, so we should have
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  Speaker 3: the debate on the Territory Coordinator Legislation, which of course
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  Speaker 3: we introduce last sittings. This is to create major reform
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  Speaker 3: to the major project system. It's something that Langolant and
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  Speaker 3: the Territory Economic recon Instruction Commission talked about their needing
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  Speaker 3: to be reform in it fast tracks and facilitates all
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  Speaker 3: size investments across the territory and will be a really
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  Speaker 3: positive thing for our economy, where of course calling on
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  Speaker 3: the government to support that. I note Dave Malone from
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  Speaker 3: Master Builders indicated we were moving in the right direction
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  Speaker 3: in today's paper and we've had widespread engagement with the
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  Speaker 3: community and stakeholders about our reform and received very positive feedback.
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  Speaker 3: So we're certainly hoping again leading from Opposition Maddie, that
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  Speaker 3: the Government will come in and support our Territory Coordinator legislation.
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  Speaker 3: So that we can have a real focus on private
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  Speaker 3: sector investment.
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  Speaker 1: You've got a busy day ahead.
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  Speaker 2: Opposition leader Leah Finocchiaro, thank you so much for your
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  Speaker 2: time this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, Take care,