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Katie Woolf spoke with the creator of the Class Action against NT Government Ben Kitson · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, as plenty of you will be aware, a petition
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: has been launched on change dot org. It's a class
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: action against the Northern Territory government for lack of action
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: and results in addressing youth crime. Is what the creators
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: have said. And joining me on the line right now
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  Speaker 1: is the person behind the petition. Ben Kitsen, Good morning
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: to you.
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  Speaker 2: Ben, Good morning. How are we today?
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Very well. Now, Ben, you're based in Alice Springs? Is
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: that correct?
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  Speaker 2: That is correct?
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  Speaker 1: Now?
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  Speaker 3: What made you decide to get this petition going?
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  Speaker 2: Look, we had obviously that crime spat's not last weekend,
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  Speaker 2: but the weekend before. We're twenty five businesses over the weekend. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's not an ass.
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  Speaker 4: Of that incident.
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  Speaker 2: Its something that appears to be happening more and more frequently,
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  Speaker 2: and we go through the endless sleep of something to
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  Speaker 2: be happens like what happened on that weekend. The government
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: suddenly makes an appearance, show some interest, disappears and doesn't
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: really want to address the issue, or well they say
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: they do. They do it in their way, but not
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  Speaker 2: in a way that makes us victims here feel like
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  Speaker 2: we're actually having justice there for us.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Ben, how many people have signed it now.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, So at the time before we went on air,
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  Speaker 2: we were at eighty four and thirty nine signatures.
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  Speaker 1: All right, well, I know that those numbers continue to
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  Speaker 1: rise in terms of people signing.
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  Speaker 3: What are what are people saying to you?
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  Speaker 2: The overall messaging is the same here where we want
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  Speaker 2: action yesterday or enough is enough.
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  Speaker 4: We've all been victims here and the over ending results
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  Speaker 4: from it is you know, somebody needs to be something
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  Speaker 4: done about this may well you know I'm not going
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  Speaker 4: to sugarcoat it youth offending because that's what it is.
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  Speaker 4: And the overall, the overall feedback on receiving back from
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  Speaker 4: comments and replies on this petition is generally.
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  Speaker 2: On the same vibe, and that enough that the government
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  Speaker 2: doesn't want to do anything about it. We've got a
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  Speaker 2: revolving door policy where yes, you had we had the
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  Speaker 2: commissioner on before, and yes they are getting arrested by
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  Speaker 2: the police and the police are doing a fantastic job
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  Speaker 2: and I will never one second say otherwise. However, the
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  Speaker 2: police are being let down because then these are centers
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  Speaker 2: are going to court and they're out by smoker.
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  Speaker 1: That's the real sentiment from territories at the moment. It's
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  Speaker 1: certainly something that I hear time and time again, Ben,
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  Speaker 1: what do you reckon? So with the with the petition, now,
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  Speaker 1: obviously by the look of it, about eighty four hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty people have signed. How many are you hoping
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  Speaker 1: to get to and what's the plan of action?
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  Speaker 4: So we've actually.
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  Speaker 2: Already implemented our plan of action in it. So I
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  Speaker 2: was obly frank, I was an extremely surprised how many
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: were getting. Look, I was anticipating as soon as we
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: hit twenty five hundred that we'd start getting legally quiet
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: start inquiring legally. We actually already have commenced those inquiries.
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  Speaker 2: We commenced them last week. It would have been just
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  Speaker 2: before I believe it was just before the Nine Years
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  Speaker 2: story was broadcast. And so far I've had feedback from
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  Speaker 2: two of those legal organizations for a class action. But
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  Speaker 2: at the very the way I'm seeing it, and this
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  Speaker 2: is either one we will get a class action against
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  Speaker 2: the antique government or to the anti government might wake
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  Speaker 2: up to itself and realize that this isn't just constricted
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: tatl Of Springs and Turning Creek. So I've got people
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  Speaker 2: signing from Parmesan Darwin Hell, even in the more even
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  Speaker 2: in the land areas of the Northern Territory. So this
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  Speaker 2: is not just an issue isolated table springs. Obviously being
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  Speaker 2: me being an Ale Springs minentile off of you know,
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  Speaker 2: that's what I'm exposed to daily, but it's not necessarily
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  Speaker 2: just restricted just out of springs. Like if we're going
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  Speaker 2: to do is look over to crime stats. In the
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  Speaker 2: last year, the territory wide crime stats anti crime against
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  Speaker 2: against the person up to sixteen point eleven percent, and
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  Speaker 2: that's for the entire NTI you've got in Katherine crime
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  Speaker 2: against a person went up to twenty six point in
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  Speaker 2: the last year and that was after we had a
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  Speaker 2: bizone lockdown in the middle of Cope and Ben.
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  Speaker 1: Look, I'm not surprised at the at the support that
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  Speaker 1: you've received. I mean, we continuously get calls about crime.
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  Speaker 1: It's something that is such a regular topic for us.
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  Speaker 1: You know, at different times it flares up more than
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  Speaker 1: other times. But I'll tell you what I've really felt
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  Speaker 1: for you guys in Alice Springs in recent times. It
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  Speaker 1: seems as though it's been a nightmare.
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  Speaker 2: It has been an absolute nightmare. Like we've I've been
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  Speaker 2: realistically these, you know a permission. Chalk was correct in that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the crime here have always been going on.
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  Speaker 2: And but I will say one thing, bet in nineteen
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  Speaker 2: ninety five, it's a lot worse than it was in
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  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety five. So my parent, my my father left
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  Speaker 2: the NT back in nineteen ninety six when he saw
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  Speaker 2: it was getting bad and he wouldn't even dream of
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  Speaker 2: coming back here for a visit to see our family.
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  Speaker 2: Our family has been here for us generations. So it's
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  Speaker 2: it's definitely not a light hard decision to leave our
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  Speaker 2: the springs orfill ABNT for that matter. But when you've
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  Speaker 2: got this nightmare that's occurring, where we've been on watch
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  Speaker 2: and been watching and avoiding town and being a bit
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  Speaker 2: careful since you know, since two thousand and six. He's
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  Speaker 2: got the way I said, we've been being vigilant since
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  Speaker 2: the end of the noughties, and now we've just basically
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  Speaker 2: been playing for when am I getting broken into? So
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  Speaker 2: we've like, on myself, I'm putting I'm getting prim safe
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  Speaker 2: and all that stuff done to still my property. But
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  Speaker 2: by the looks of a crime that even just happened
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  Speaker 2: last night, that doesn't detur. We had a case here
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  Speaker 2: at one of the supermarkets the overnight where they were
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  Speaker 2: remrated for a brick walk. How do you stop that? Wow?
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  Speaker 2: And even once these people are caught, nothing's going to
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  Speaker 2: happen to me, to them. Then, to adds ault to
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  Speaker 2: the wound, we had the Chief Minister come up here
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  Speaker 2: on I've come down here on Friday and it was
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  Speaker 2: like an episode of words Woldo. You know, no one
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  Speaker 2: could find him and he was fighting. He's definitely the
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  Speaker 2: world hide and Seek champion when it comes down here,
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  Speaker 2: and it just is across that message that he doesn't care.
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  Speaker 2: He doesn't care, he doesn't give a hoot unless it
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  Speaker 2: affects his neighborhood and his own electorate. We won't see
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  Speaker 2: anything happening here. It's not just it's Parmerston. We were
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  Speaker 2: all suffering here. I think the only thing that looking
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  Speaker 2: at the stats, I think the only thing that we
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  Speaker 2: beat that Alice Strings was up on competitive rest of
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  Speaker 2: the state was property crime went up two point five sixcent.
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  Speaker 2: And again this is during COVID lockdown, whereas the rest
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  Speaker 2: of it, charity went down. Springs is always going to
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  Speaker 2: be unproportionunately high for our population. That's what comes with
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  Speaker 2: being the main service hubs of the region. But it
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  Speaker 2: doesn't mean that you can just accept that as acceptable
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  Speaker 2: and it's not.
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  Speaker 3: Now, Ben, what are you going to do?
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  Speaker 1: So if the government, you know it doesn't sort of
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  Speaker 1: make some changes that the community feels are appropriate, and
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  Speaker 1: if they dig their heels in, what are you going
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  Speaker 1: to do?
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  Speaker 3: Legal wise?
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  Speaker 1: I know that you said that you've made some legal
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  Speaker 1: in quo worries. What's the plan of attack in that sense?
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  Speaker 2: Look, what we would be seeking to do would be
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  Speaker 2: financial compensation or the emotional distress that we've been suffering. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: the signatuies for that would be different than what's on
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  Speaker 2: the petition because it would affect primarily to it would afect
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  Speaker 2: primarily anti residents. But the fact that we are constantly yes,
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: all right, use your insurance. We have to pay for that.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: And insurance is great, and it's fine when you only
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  Speaker 2: have to use it once every seven years, it's not
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  Speaker 2: really great at all. That's a period. But when you're
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  Speaker 2: using it, say three times in a weekend, that's not feasible,
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  Speaker 2: especially when you're looking at sometimes the damage isn't enough
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  Speaker 2: to cover excess, but the damage happens, so frequently that
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  Speaker 2: it would be an insurance claim over a month if
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  Speaker 2: it was done once a month.
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  Speaker 1: Ben On that note, you did mention that some of
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  Speaker 1: the signatories may not be based in the territory. Are
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  Speaker 1: you able to tell like other majority actually from the
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  Speaker 1: territory that have signed this petition?
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  Speaker 2: Look so far from what I can see, it appears so.
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  Speaker 2: But obviously that have come down to me printing it
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  Speaker 2: off being a change lot or petition and being a
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  Speaker 2: public petition. It is technically said it can be signed
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  Speaker 2: from anybody in Australia or anybody worldwide, but it would
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  Speaker 2: be a case of going through and manually putting those
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  Speaker 2: names down verifying that there actually are legitimate people. Basically,
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  Speaker 2: the way I work, the way I'm running off of
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  Speaker 2: it is I think that at least at least over
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  Speaker 2: fifty percent of the sigaretaries are legitimate from Northern from
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, I think even going on and having
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  Speaker 1: a look myself, you can see I can see names
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  Speaker 1: that are recognizable that are people that I know. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure that you feel exactly the same.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. No, look I've seen I've seen hips the names
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  Speaker 2: down there and I'll see I've got everyone now, I can.
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  Speaker 2: I can see colleagues of mind that are up there
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  Speaker 2: as as well, and people that have known my whole
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  Speaker 2: life as well as family. And some of these family
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  Speaker 2: aren't even if somebody's been. We're like, we've got family
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  Speaker 2: from out in Utopia, but are signing up.
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  Speaker 3: There? You go, Well, Ben, we are going to have
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  Speaker 3: to leave it there, mate.
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  Speaker 1: Please keep in contact with this, let us know how
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: things are going, and let us know how it all progresses.
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  Speaker 1: But we really appreciate your time this morning and having
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  Speaker 1: a chat with us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Katie, thank you.
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  Speaker 3: That's Ben Kitson there.
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  Speaker 1: He is the creator of that petition, the class action
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  Speaker 1: against the Northern Territory Government, which was created, or they
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  Speaker 1: say on that page, for the lack of action and
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  Speaker 1: results in addressing youth crime.
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  Speaker 3: So really interesting to hear.
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  Speaker 1: So more than eight four hundred and forty people have
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  Speaker 1: now signed that petition, and he's saying that the majority
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  Speaker 1: of those, or certainly more than fifty percent from what
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  Speaker 1: he can see, are definitely Territorians.
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  Speaker 3: So I'll let you
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  Speaker 1: Guys make of that what you will, but I know
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  Speaker 1: that it is certainly a topic that gets raised with
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  Speaker 1: us very often,