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

Transcript

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

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us on the line right now is the Opposition
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: leader Leah fanokiiro Good morning.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: To you, Good morning Katie, and good morning to your
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: listen it now, Lea.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: We spoke extensively yesterday on the show about these speeding fines.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: We know that thousands of being withdrawn because of an
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: error in the way that those speed detectors were calibrated.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: This is what the Northern Territory Police Commissioner confirmed in
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: estimates earlier in the week. It is something that you
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: guys asked the Police Minister about in Parliament earlier this year.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: But there's certainly still some questions which remain unanswered, Leah.
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: From your perspective, does.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: It look as though those twelve thousand people who've already
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: paid those fines are going to be refunded.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: No, so, of course there was a big bungle with
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: calibration and as a result, about twelve thousand people who
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: paid speeding fines won't be getting reimbursed by the Gunner government.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: But about eighty two hundred from memory, Katie, are in
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: the process of being withdrawn I suppose, so there's two
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: hundred territories are going to end up lucky in twelve
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: thousand unlucky. But what's most staggering is that going into
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: budget estimates, I mean, this is a moment in time
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: for government ministers to actually be across their brief and
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: have the figures ready for the public to be able
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: to see, and they had to take or notice what
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: the actual total dollar figure of those finds that are
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: going to represent lost revenue to the territory government at
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: the end of the day. They don't even know. I
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: didn't have on them what that those eighty two hundred
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: fines amount to. So that's going to impact their bottom
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: line at the end of the day were it's well broken,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: they don't know how much it will be.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Well, I guess you know right now it's impacting the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: hip pockets, or it has impacted the hip pockets of
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: thousands of Territorians who are pretty worried. But do you
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: know the main thing that people were contacting us yesterday
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: that they were concerned about is what this will mean
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to their demerit points.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's a really good question, Katie, And there
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: was no discussion around that during the estimates process. But
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: it feels a lot like the government had just slowly
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: bobbing along on this issue. I mean, you think as
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: soon as that judgment came down we were very quick
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: to ask those questions in Parliament. That was a long
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: time ago. And to still be sort of fumbling through
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: how they deal with this issue really shows that they're
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: just not putting enough emphasis on it. I mean, it
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: really genuinely has practical implications for people, but certainly how
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: the police commissioner spoke about it, and I'm not trying
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: to verbal him, but he made a comment along the
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: lines of if you pay the fine, then you accept
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: responsibility or liability. So I imagine there probably won't be
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: a refund of demerit points for those twelve thousand territories,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: but I imagine for the eight thousand whose fines are going
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: to be ripped up, you're off the hook.
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: Leah.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Again, we had somebody contact us yesterday who said this,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: they were a few kilometers over the speed limit. They
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: paid that fine immediately, assuming that it was correc and
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: you know, wanting to make a means and I think
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: that in some cases that will be the situation for territories.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: For some you know, if they've gone well and truly
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: over the speed limit, then you know you deserve a fine.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: But for others, if you're talking about a very small
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: amount in terms of that speed and it's not correct,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: it has a big impact and people are pretty upset.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and again I don't know how many of the
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: twelve thousand that that situation applies to. Of course, we
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: don't want anyone speeding on our roads. We know that
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: road trauma is way too high in the Northern Territory,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: so it's critically important. And those police who are out
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: there manning those speed camera vans, you know, everyone's out
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: there doing an excellent job. And at the end of
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: the day, all of this is designed to keep everyone
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: safe and to keep people going to the speed limit.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: But of course there has been a big error here
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: and has impacted them twenty thousand Territorians, which is an
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: enormous amount given our population and so and just the
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: speed of which the government had coming to terms on this,
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: and of course they've been drag kicking and screaming at
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: every turn. It's not like the judgment came down and
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: they came out with a plan and said this is
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: what we're going to do. Sorry to you mob, Well
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: done to you mob. They just haven't done anything, you know,
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: every single tiny dribble of information we get, we have
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: to claw out of them through an official parliamentary process.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: The government really should have front footed this, decided what
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: they were going to do, made that known to everyone immediately,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: and then everyone would at least know where they're sit
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: But yes, so many questions are still festering on this world.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Government just won't run.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Up and one of you know, one of the questions
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: again that we keep asking, I'm not sure whether there
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: was any light shed on this throughout the estimates process,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: l but do we know exactly what locations or what
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: period of time this relates to.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: No, I'm not aware of that detail, Katie, but you know,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: needless to say, twenty odd thousand fines is a yeah,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: a lot of people.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Well, and look, we have certainly we have asked whether
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: we can get some further information on this. We will
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: continue to ask those questions. We've put in a request
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to speak to the police about this as there are
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: so many territorians asking questions. We understand that the Commissioner
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: isn't available this week as he's traveling, but I'm hopeful
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: we can get some information sooner rather than later. We'll
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: also see whether we can maybe get the Police Minister
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: on the show tomorrow, so we'll stick on to it now, Leah,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: I do want to talk about police numbers, some really
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: interesting information around police retention and you know those attrition rates.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Ninety five officers left the force in the space of
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: a year. Are the Police Minister Nicole Madison told estimates
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: ninety five officers had left the force in the year
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: to May, including seventy seven resignations, twelve retirements and six dismissals.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: What do you make of these numbers? Is it a
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: storm in a teacup or is this a concern?
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: No? I think this is an enormous concern. Ninety five
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: officers that is an enormous amount of stuff and governments
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: certainly tried to play police attrition down, but we know
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: it's something that's really having a big impact on morale
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: and of course an impact on the capability.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Of the force.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's always wonderful to attract new police in
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: and have those people coming through the Police College, but
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: it's also putting serious strain on our remote stations. Now
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: not a single police graduate has been posted to Darwin
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: or Parmesan since twenty nineteen, which means every single squad
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: are all being sent Catherine ten and Alice Springs and
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: other places around the territory. Now that's great. We need
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: to be ensuring that our regions have got adequate numbers
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: of police and there's big, big deficiencies there over a
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: long period of time. So I'm not saying they don't
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: deserve it, but what it does mean is that places
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: like Catherine have got enormous proportions of probationary constables and
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: that means we don't have that mix of experienced officers
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: because they're the ones who are leaving. And in the meantime,
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the Gunner government are desperately pumping out hundreds of recruits
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: through the college, you know, as fast as they possible can,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: because ultimately they're playing catch up now. So we're very
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: seriously concerned, and I think police assaults have got to
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: have play a part in that. I mean, it was
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: horrific that there were one hundred and sixty nine police
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: assaults for that reporting period. It's just it's just unbelievable.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: We've just got to get tougher on this and back
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: our police in and let the community know that if
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: you assault, spit, punch, kick try and steal the weapon
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: off a police officer will be you will feel the
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: full force of the law.
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: Leah, I do want to ask you.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Overnight or actually late yesterday afternoon ten to six yesterday afternoon,
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: a child will manage to escape when the car that
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: he was waiting him while his mum was inside the
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: chemist at the shops at the Bakewell shopping complex as
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: someone came over and will try to steal it. So
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: essentially the mum had gone into the chemist is what
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: the watch commander has told us. That youth offender then
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: got into the car to steal it. The offender then
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: stole the vehicle and drove Palmerston picked up another offender
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: in a car. The police then searched for that vehicle,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: which was found in the car park at the Palmeston
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: golf Course. Both offenders, aged twelve and thirteen, were in
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: the car sniffing deodorant cans and then they were both
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: apprehended by the police. There is a lot to unpack
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: from this story. Firstly, I'm mortified that a seven year
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: old well could have ended up in a very dangerous situation.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: But then I'm pretty mortified by the fact that it's
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: a twelve and thirteen year old who've then stolen the
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: car and then been found sniffing deodorant in it at
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: the golf course.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: How horrific is that? I mean, what an absolute just
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: as a parent, you know, it just makes your gut churn,
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: you know, that is just such a horrific story, Katie.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: And you know, a twelve and thirteen year old. I
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: think it just reinforces for all those people out there
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: who think we should be raising the age of criminal
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: responsibility to fourteen, Well, how does that story see with you?
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: It's just not good enough. Youth crime continues to be
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: a major major issue and the Gunner government are just
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: failing territories at every step. I mean, we ask questions
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: about their new youth justice laws, which of course just
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: failed to meet the mark after they watered them down
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: a few years ago, and we still know that repeat
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: offending is well and truly alive and well in the territory,
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: and that there's very little capturing of important data to
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: see whether these laws are doing anything different. But just horrific.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: And this is you know, our police are out there
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: spending their time dealing with this type of stuff, which
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: just should not be happening, should not be happening.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: We'll say, I agree with you, you know, I just
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: think it's pretty it is, it's actually, you know, it's
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: sad on a number of levels that story. And we
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: will talk further about it throughout the morning and certainly
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: keep people up to date with any developments. Crystall, our
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: news director is well and truly onto it. But Leah,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: we know that Territory Families Minister Kate Warden was in
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: the whole seated estimate yesterday, no doubt, quite a few
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: questions to ask around some of those issues that we've
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: seen with kids out on the streets late at night.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: What did you learn, Well, I'll start by saying, what
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: we learned during police was that one hundred and seventeen
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: youths were on bail at the time of their arrest
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: during that reporting period. So that's a really bad indicator
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: of what's going on with bail. Then we moved to
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Territory Families. Of course, in the ministry is responsible for
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: youth justice, and the information we received just reinforced once
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: again that youth justice needs to be taken out of
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Territory Families and put back in corrections. Of course, the
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: data they provided the public on assaults on youth justice
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: offices was wrong. Fortunately it was less than the original
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: data they gave us, but it just shows how badly
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: this information is being captured and handled. And of course
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: any assault on a worker or anybody is completely unacceptable.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: But the fact that territory families are now providing all
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: time types of I think they call them turtle suits
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: and riot gear and all of this type of personal
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: protective reinforcement like fluid suits and puncture proofvess. I mean,
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: it just shows you the caliber of the criminal that
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: people in our youth justice facility are having to deal with,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: and I just think it's incredibly shocking. Of course, no
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: movement on some of the promises they made prior to
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: the election. Surprise, surprise, A desperate government comes out, makes
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: a list of promises it can't possibly fulfill and as
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: a result, you know, a year later, we've made no
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: progress on it whatsoever. No work camps coming out in
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: Alice Springs as were promised to the community. So just again,
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: just people are being left in the dark by the
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: Gunner government. They've been forgotten, a banded. This government is
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: on its own trajectory it's all on its own, like
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: an island, doing what it wants to do, and it
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: has left the people of the Northern Territory behind, and
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: that has become glaringly obvious in our examinations of government
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: ministers over the life last week and a half.
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: Well, Leah, we are going to have to get ready
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: to wrap up.
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: I know some people will disagree with what you're saying,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and look, we're always happy to hear from them. But
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: on Barnaby Joyce, we know that the new Deputy Prime Minister,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: well he's back in there, the new old Deputy Prime minister.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Is this a good thing for the Northern Territory, Oh
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: for sure.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: And look, I have to put on the record my
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: greatest of thanks to former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: He was a huge champion of the territory. He spent
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: so much time here and did so much in terms
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: of roads and infrastructure funding and so we can't thank
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: him enough for his service to the community and to
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: the territory. And equally, Barnaby is a long term, a
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: passionate person who has a real fighting spirit for the
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: territory and I think Barnaby will continue on from the
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: legacy that Michael leaves and ensuring that the Territory's voice
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: is heard in Cambridge, which is something both of them
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: have done very very successfully. So I've contacted Barnaby, sent
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: him my congratulations and looking forward to see him on
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: the weekend and working with him going forward. But I
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: think what we had in both Michael and Barnaby is
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: storage advocates for the NT and that's a really good thing.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Well, he's going to be joining us on the show
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: in a couple of minutes time, Leah, just very quickly.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Is it the Central Council meeting? It's this weekend, isn't it?
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Where you are going to be The COLP is going
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: to be determining who feels so senate spots and also
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: those other well the seed of Solomon and Lingiari.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: That's right. So this weekend the party membership will meet.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: It's not something that the Territory Parliamentary Wing are involved in.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: We're excluded from that entire process, which is appropriate. It's
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: a matter for the membership and so we'll be having
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: a wonderful contest for who's going to fill our senate positions.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Who are candidates for Solomon and Lingiari are going to
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: be and then from Sunday onwards we will be on
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: the march towards ensuring that we return the Morrison government
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: to power. When the federal election's on and ultimately, Territorians
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: have it to make you want to have someone on
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: Scott's team and to do that you've got to vote CLP.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: That Senate seat is heating up.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Does Barnaby's visit to the territory demonstrate that he is
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: supporting Senator Sam mcmahont oh.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Look, that's entirely a question for the Deputy Prime Minister, Katie.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: I think what it shows though, is that we have
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: a strong connection at the very highest of levels in
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: Canberra and that's really important. Sam's done a great job
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: as a Senator. The other candidates all are strong capable
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: Territorians and I just think it's a wonderful thing for
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: democracy to have such a fierce contest for what is
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: a really critically important role in delivering services, infrastructure, roads
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: and money of course into the Northern Territory. So it
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: should be it should be hotly contestant, and it's wonderful
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: that people are coming out of the woodworks to want
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: to run for the CLP.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Opposition, Lady Leah Finocchiara, we are going to have to
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: leave it there. We'll hopefully see you Friday for the
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: week that was.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you.