Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley says the NT Government’s $16 million to expand the Alice Springs prison speaks for itself

Transcript

Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley says the NT Government’s $16 million to expand the Alice Springs prison speaks for itself · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now on the national budget as well, we know that
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  Speaker 1: the federal government indeed announced that they would be investing
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty million dollars into Central Australia. Now
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  Speaker 1: going through that money and adding it all up, it's
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  Speaker 1: about one hundred and fifty five million that's been earmarked
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  Speaker 1: at this point in time for various programs in Central Australia.
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  Speaker 1: A further ninety four million dollars is well. That ninety
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  Speaker 1: four million dollars is apparently going into a contingency fund.
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  Speaker 1: Now Evil Aula, the Treasurer, saying that there's going to
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  Speaker 1: be some further looking into how that money is going
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  Speaker 1: to be invested. But some people scratching their heads wondering
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  Speaker 1: why is there a ninety four million dollar contingency Why
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  Speaker 1: hasn't that money been earmarked to go towards the ever
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  Speaker 1: concerning issues that they've got in Central Australia. Now joining
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  Speaker 1: me on the line to talk a little bit more
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  Speaker 1: about this is the Member for Our Lun, the Independent
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  Speaker 1: Member for Our Lun, Robin Lamley.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Robin, Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Robin. Firstly, what was your take on the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: budget yesterday?
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  Speaker 2: Well, from a Central Australian perspective, Katie, it was a
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  Speaker 2: bit of a dud. Most of the funding commitments were revoted,
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  Speaker 2: and that means that they were announced years ago, some
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  Speaker 2: of them going back as far as seven years, eg.
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  Speaker 2: The National Aboriginal Art Gallery and Cultural Center. So there
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  Speaker 2: really wasn't much new money in this budget for the
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  Speaker 2: people of Central Australia. But from a more general perspective,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, apparently we have to look forward to ten
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  Speaker 2: billion dollars worth of debt in two years time. Don't
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  Speaker 2: forget when Labor came to government, the debt was under
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  Speaker 2: two billion dollars. So they've managed to times at by
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  Speaker 2: five in six and a half years, and we're meant
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  Speaker 2: to get excited about a surplus that may or may
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  Speaker 2: not eventuate in four years time. Economically, I think that
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory is not doing particularly well at all,
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  Speaker 2: despite what the Treasurer might tell you. Growth state product
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  Speaker 2: is down and will be down by five point one
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  Speaker 2: percent in this financial Exports this year down by sixteen percent,
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  Speaker 2: and population growth is below one percent. So I think
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  Speaker 2: you can put as much lipstick on a pig as
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  Speaker 2: what you want, but it will still be a pig
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  Speaker 2: and this is a very ordinary budget.
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  Speaker 1: So what do you make of that infrastructure spend? By
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  Speaker 1: the sounds of things, I mean, they are obviously sprewking
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  Speaker 1: that it is a massive infrastructure spent, a lot of
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  Speaker 1: money going towards roads and that kind of thing. But
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  Speaker 1: from what I can gather based on what you're saying,
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  Speaker 1: some of that money that's going towards various infrastructure sounds
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  Speaker 1: like it's money that's being re announced.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty much all of it from what I can work
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  Speaker 2: out from a central Australian perspective. The only thing new
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  Speaker 2: which I asked Minister Chancey Paig about today in Parliament,
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  Speaker 2: the biggest news spend that I can see for Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 2: There's an extension of the jail. And of course, when
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  Speaker 2: you've got crime rocketing through the roof like we've never
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  Speaker 2: seen before, and you've got incarceration rates doing the same,
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  Speaker 2: you need more beds. And they've allocated sixty million dollars
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  Speaker 2: to expand the Alice Springs Springs President and of course
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  Speaker 2: Minister Pig didn't want to talk about that. He wanted
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  Speaker 2: to talk about all the other initiatives that he's more
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  Speaker 2: excited about. Involved with the Aboriginal Justice Agreement. But the
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  Speaker 2: reality is the crime is crippling our economy. And when
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  Speaker 2: you've got the biggest new spend in Central Australia being
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  Speaker 2: an extension to the jail, I think that really sums
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  Speaker 2: it up quite neatly.
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  Speaker 1: It's sort of confirms, doesn't it the concerns that we've
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  Speaker 1: all had. And you know, you hear a lot from
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  Speaker 1: the Attorney General that jailing is failing. But the fact is,
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  Speaker 1: I think that people are probably going to be positive
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  Speaker 1: towards the fact that there is going to be more
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  Speaker 1: doomidation at the prison because, as you've pointed out, it's
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  Speaker 1: actually needed.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, if that's what he's saying, jarling is failing.
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  Speaker 2: This government has failed incredibly monuments badly. I mean there's
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  Speaker 2: no other Northern Territory government in history that fail in
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  Speaker 2: terms of jailing and crime and the fact that we're
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  Speaker 2: having to this government and this budget really is about
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  Speaker 2: fixing up the problems that they have created over the
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  Speaker 2: last six and a half years. All this Justice three
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  Speaker 2: investment and spending on jails and domestic violence. It's about
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  Speaker 2: fixing up their mess that they created since they've been
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  Speaker 2: in government, and there's no there can be no finger
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  Speaker 2: pointing here. I mean, they've been in government so long
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  Speaker 2: they can't blame anyone else but themselves. So this is
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  Speaker 2: really an incredibly ordinary budget, I think, and I don't
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  Speaker 2: know from that top end perspective from where we're sitting
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  Speaker 2: down in Alice Springs, there ain't nothing to get excited about.
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  Speaker 1: Here, Robin. Let's talk about the federal budget because two
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  Speaker 1: hundred and fifty million dollars had been earmarked by the
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi earlier in the year when Alice
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  Speaker 1: Springs was going through what can only be described and
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  Speaker 1: it is a continuing crime crisis, Robin. Going through those initiatives,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you've had much of an opportunity
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  Speaker 1: to look at it, but fifty million dollars for community
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  Speaker 1: and regional infrastructure, forty million for on country learning to
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  Speaker 1: improve school engagement, twenty three point five for improving First
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  Speaker 1: Nations health outcomes, ten million to enhance digital connectivity, ten
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  Speaker 1: million for justice reinvestment meant nine point two million for
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  Speaker 1: strengthening community safety, three point nine for a Youth Services
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  Speaker 1: Action Plan, one point two million for five new junior
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  Speaker 1: ranger sites in Central Australia and seven point five million
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  Speaker 1: for effective governance to ensure success delivery. Now, I know
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  Speaker 1: you've been the Treasurer before, but I'm not going to
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  Speaker 1: ask you to add all those numbers up. It comes
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  Speaker 1: to around one hundred and fifty five million dollars over
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  Speaker 1: five years. So ninety four million apparently going into a
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  Speaker 1: contingency What do you make of that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, what the hell does that mean? I mean, people
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  Speaker 2: are so cynical and so skeptical in Alice Springs. We
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  Speaker 2: are bracing ourselves to be dudded ripped off in this deal.
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  Speaker 2: And that says to me, if ninety four million has
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  Speaker 2: gone into a contingency fund, that's the first sign of concern.
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  Speaker 2: Look that list that you just read. To a lot
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  Speaker 2: of people I've spoken to, it sounds like business as usual.
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  Speaker 2: It sounds like these things should be already allocated money
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  Speaker 2: to that it's an extension of the business of education,
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  Speaker 2: it's extension of the business of justice. But look, what
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  Speaker 2: is interesting for me is that the federal government are
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  Speaker 2: keeping a very tight hold on this money. And even
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  Speaker 2: though I just heard the treasurers say that she's been
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  Speaker 2: included in discussions around the allocation of money in education.
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  Speaker 2: It's the minister, the Federal Minister for Education that's holding
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  Speaker 2: this money and Marion Scrimjaw, the Member for Lingiari down South,
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  Speaker 2: she's the one holding strings locally. They don't want the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory government clearly to get their hands on this money.
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  Speaker 2: They don't have confidence in the Northern Territory government. Remember
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  Speaker 2: in January the Prime Minister flew into Aliphair and basically
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  Speaker 2: told the Chief Minister, Natasha Pile, to pull a finger out,
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  Speaker 2: wake up to herself and put all those alcohol restrictions
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  Speaker 2: back in place that were causing absolute havoc. I'm sensing
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  Speaker 2: a complete standoff, in a sense of distrust by the
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  Speaker 2: Federal government of the Northern Territory government, and I can
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  Speaker 2: completely understand why.
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  Speaker 1: So, Robin, it sounds like you're saying that you don't
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  Speaker 1: think the federal government believes the Northern Territory government's capable
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  Speaker 1: of managing this. Oh.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's very very clear. And if you're listening
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  Speaker 2: to the interviews and the stories coming out of Central
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  Speaker 2: Australia and the media and just on the streets, I
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  Speaker 2: think it's very clear that the federal government is not
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  Speaker 2: going to allow this completely incompetent Northern Territory Labor government
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  Speaker 2: to have anything much to do with how this money
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  Speaker 2: is allocated. You've got the Central Australia Controller, Darrell Anderson.
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  Speaker 2: She's working very closely with the National niAA, the Indigenous
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  Speaker 2: Federal Indigenous Organization on the ground and it's very much
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  Speaker 2: in the house. Marion Scrimjaw has communicated very clearly her
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  Speaker 2: lack of confidence and in the Northern Territory government. She's
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  Speaker 2: been very critical of how they've managed a lot of things,
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  Speaker 2: and I think she's telling her federal government colleagues, including
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  Speaker 2: Linda Bernie, to not let these idiots in anything. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: there's been lots of meetings in Central Australia held by
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  Speaker 2: Marion and Linda Bernie and Jason Clem more recently, in
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  Speaker 2: which the Northern Territory Government ministers I think were invited
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  Speaker 2: that they were not big players or instrumental in any way,
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  Speaker 2: shape or form.
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  Speaker 1: Very interesting stuff. Well, Robin Lanley, before I let you go,
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  Speaker 1: Parliament sits again today. I understand that you've got some
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  Speaker 1: parliamentary business. Are you able to tell us what's on
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  Speaker 1: the agenda for you?
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  Speaker 2: In Parliament of course that after question time we go
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  Speaker 2: into general business and I've got a motion up to
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  Speaker 2: talk about the crime crisis, not just in Alice Springs
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  Speaker 2: but right across the Northern Territory, calling on the government
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  Speaker 2: to act good, do something.
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  Speaker 1: Robin, I think a lot of people will be pleased
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  Speaker 1: to hear that. Do you anticipate that it's sort of
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  Speaker 1: going to make them sit up and listen because people
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  Speaker 1: are feeling really disillusioned at this point.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I really don't know what's going on between the
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  Speaker 2: years of the Chief Minister and the Police Minister and
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  Speaker 2: others that are responsible for keeping us safe in the community.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think they're capable of listening to anyone. I
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  Speaker 2: think they've got a very narrow ideological perspective on what
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  Speaker 2: they're doing and how they're doing it. And I think
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  Speaker 2: we can all see that they're failing miserably, that nothing's working.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, we come to Parliament in good faith
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  Speaker 2: to represent the people of the Northern Territory right across
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  Speaker 2: the length and breadth of this big jurisdiction, and regardless
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  Speaker 2: of whether the government listens, I have to keep yelling
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  Speaker 2: as as loud as I can.
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  Speaker 1: I feel the same, Robin. I feel like it's the
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  Speaker 1: only thing that I talk about each day. But do
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  Speaker 1: you know what the community club? Yep, and do you
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  Speaker 1: know what the community everybody listening right across the board.
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  Speaker 1: You know, no matter where you live, people are fed
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  Speaker 1: up about it. They've had enough of the issues that
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  Speaker 1: we're experiencing with crime. But they're also you know, they're sad,
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  Speaker 1: they're really sad at the state of some of those
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  Speaker 1: issues that we're dealing with, and we've got to continue
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  Speaker 1: to make sure that it stays on the agenda because
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  Speaker 1: there needs to be some serious change in this space.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's deeply, deeply personal for all of us and
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  Speaker 2: that's the bit I don't think that the government truly
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  Speaker 2: gets well.
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  Speaker 1: Robin Lamley, the Independent Member for Aura lun I always
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  Speaker 1: appreciate your time. Thank you very much for having a
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  Speaker 1: chat with me this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Many thanks, Katie, thank you