Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finochiarro says there needs to be more clarity around what powers that CHO will have under new legislation for handling the pandemic

Transcript

Opposition Leader Lia Finochiarro says there needs to be more clarity around what powers that CHO will have under new legislation for handling the pandemic · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, as we have obviously been discussing the situation, we
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: know the KAC Commissioner is considering whether he should inquire
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  Speaker 1: into the circumstances of the investigation and arrest of Zach Roff.
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  Speaker 1: He issued that statement yesterday, saying that I am aware
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  Speaker 1: of previous statements by this office relating to the iqaq's
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  Speaker 1: involvement in the anti police investigation and ultimate arrest of
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  Speaker 1: mister Rolf. He went on to say, I'm not aware
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  Speaker 1: of any investigative steps taken by the office of the
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  Speaker 1: IKAK between the fifteenth of November twenty nineteen and my
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  Speaker 1: commencement on the sixth of July twenty twenty one. Given
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  Speaker 1: the prosecution was already well underway when I started, I
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  Speaker 1: did not consider it appropriate to conduct inquiries at that time. Now,
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  Speaker 1: it follows the Chief Minister's interview on the show yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: which the Opposition leader Leofanocchiairo says raised more questions about
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  Speaker 1: the appearance of political interference in the days following the
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  Speaker 1: un Demuse shooting, after he said that he'd held multiple
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  Speaker 1: meetings with police before charges were laid. Now joining me
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  Speaker 1: in the studio is the opposition leader Leah Fanocchiarro.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Leah, Good morning Katie, and to
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  Speaker 2: your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Leah Firsley, we know that the eykak he is
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  Speaker 1: looking at whether he should inquire into the circumstances of
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  Speaker 1: the investigation and arrest of zach Rolf. He issued that
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  Speaker 1: statement yesterday saying, while I appreciate it is public interest
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  Speaker 1: or there is public interest in the matter, I'll not
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  Speaker 1: be rushed to the side whether or not I will investigate.
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  Speaker 2: Is this enough?
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  Speaker 1: Well, do you still want to see a full independent inquiry?
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  Speaker 3: No, we want to see a full independent inquiry for
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  Speaker 3: a number of reasons. We think the commissioner or commissioners
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  Speaker 3: should be completely removed from the Northern Territory from interstate.
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  Speaker 3: We think the administrative team that would support any inquiry
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  Speaker 3: needs to be completely impartial, and so we'd like to
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  Speaker 3: see that take place. Of course, the inquiry, we think
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  Speaker 3: that will clear the air and restore confidence in the community,
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  Speaker 3: needs to examine everything that took place, from when those
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  Speaker 3: shots were fired to of course when and how Zachary
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  Speaker 3: Rolf was a resident charge.
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  Speaker 1: Leiah, Look, there'll be some people listening going, why do
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  Speaker 1: we need to do this? When there has been this
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  Speaker 1: court process and there is going to be a coronial
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  Speaker 1: as well. So why is this something that's entirely separate.
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  Speaker 1: Why is it needed?
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  Speaker 3: Because I think territories have a lot of unanswered questions,
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  Speaker 3: and of course this has been possibly the biggest murder
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  Speaker 3: trial in our nation for some time now. The charging
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  Speaker 3: of a police officer is a very serious and unusual
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  Speaker 3: thing to take place. What we know is that a
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  Speaker 3: coronial usually and you know, not being a coroner myself,
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  Speaker 3: but from my understanding, the coronial process usually explores the
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  Speaker 3: lead up to and how a person passed away and
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  Speaker 3: the events surrounding that. It's to provide responses and recommendations
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  Speaker 3: to government about what went wrong, what could have avoided
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  Speaker 3: the circumstance from happening, and what improvements can be made.
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  Speaker 2: To systems going forward.
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  Speaker 3: Our inquiry is everything after that, and I shouldn't say
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  Speaker 3: our inquiry and inquiry is everything after that. And of
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  Speaker 3: course huge concerns by the Police Association and others and
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  Speaker 3: the community and police have been raised around why was
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  Speaker 3: he charged. Investigators were reportedly expressing a concern about the
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  Speaker 3: haste and the lack of evidence around the charge.
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  Speaker 2: The police Association.
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  Speaker 3: Have said the Assistant Commissioner took no notes of the
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  Speaker 3: decision to charge. Of course, we had the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 3: Innuendo Moose famously saying that consequences will flow. So these
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  Speaker 3: are all things that need to be examined, and they
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  Speaker 3: are all things that happened after and in the lead
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  Speaker 3: up to the charge.
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  Speaker 1: Well, look, I asked the Chief Minister, Michael Gullller about
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  Speaker 1: this on the show yesterday.
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  Speaker 2: Take a listen to what he had to say.
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  Speaker 1: So you're totally ruling out any other independent look at
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  Speaker 1: this and any independent look into whether there's been any
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  Speaker 1: kind of political interference. You're asking for conspiracy that and
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  Speaker 1: I'm saying, no, I'm not, No, I'm not asking if
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  Speaker 1: you're a conspiracy No, you're actually no.
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  Speaker 2: Actually, I'm representing the committity.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's actually, I think that's a bit of
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  Speaker 1: a ridiculous statement to make you know, I'm representing views
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  Speaker 1: of the community that like that. People are out there
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  Speaker 1: saying right now, and if you want to call them
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  Speaker 1: conspiracy nuts, it's a bit disrespectful towards them. If I'm honest, okay,
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  Speaker 1: towards members of the public, people who voted for you
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  Speaker 1: there is an Eykak.
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  Speaker 2: They're independent, they can look at anything, and the coroner's independent.
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  Speaker 1: We're also looking at this.
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  Speaker 2: Lea Finocchio. Are you a conspiracy nuts, I'm certainly.
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  Speaker 3: Not, Katie, and I think it just shows how crazed
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  Speaker 3: and out of touch the Chief Minister is on this issue.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, we also heard not only was that incredibly
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  Speaker 3: offensive and dismissive of genuine concerns being raised by the
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  Speaker 3: Police Association and the community, but you know, we also
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  Speaker 3: heard a desperate chief minister offering up new information. I
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  Speaker 3: mean the comments he said to you around the reason
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  Speaker 3: he was in Neuen Demu is because he wanted to
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  Speaker 3: deal with the closure of the Hell's Clinic. It's certainly
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  Speaker 3: new news to me, Katie, and I don't think many
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  Speaker 3: of your listeners have heard the Chief ever say that before.
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  Speaker 2: And it just begs the question.
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  Speaker 3: Well, why did you get on a plane with the
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  Speaker 3: police commissioner days after a police shoe go to a
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  Speaker 3: community with the police minister when you're allegedly down there
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  Speaker 3: to talk about health issues. Why didn't he take Natasha
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  Speaker 3: Files with him instead of Nicole Madison. Why wasn't he
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  Speaker 3: on a separate plane from the Police Commissioner to avoid
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  Speaker 3: the appearance that there would be any discussions around an
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  Speaker 3: upcoming criminal investigation trial or otherwise. You know, there's just
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  Speaker 3: a lot of concern around this issue, and my focus
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  Speaker 3: is about clearing the air.
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  Speaker 2: My focus is about ensuring.
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  Speaker 3: That people, particularly our police, who for two and a
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  Speaker 3: half years have you know, their morale has been decimated,
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  Speaker 3: their confidence in their ability to do their job has
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  Speaker 3: been put under under tremendous pressure. We've had a huge
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  Speaker 3: amounts of police attrition. We need a process that shed's light,
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  Speaker 3: clears the air and allows the territory community and our
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  Speaker 3: police to heal and move forward.
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  Speaker 1: Leah, there will be some people listening this morning though,
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  Speaker 1: thinking to themselves, isn't a Supreme Court trial a coronial
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  Speaker 1: and potentially an IKAC investigation enough so.
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  Speaker 3: The trial deals with whether or not Constable Rolf was
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  Speaker 3: guilty of murder and the other charges.
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  Speaker 2: A jury found he was not guilty.
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  Speaker 3: That only deals with that criminal element that is done
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  Speaker 3: the coronial. A normal coronial process deals with how a
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  Speaker 3: person died. We're talking about why was Constable Rolf charged
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  Speaker 3: in the first place. How did we get to the
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  Speaker 3: point where an officer was charged exercising his duty in
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  Speaker 3: the course of his employment with the Northern Territory, defending
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  Speaker 3: himself and others.
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  Speaker 2: You know, how did we get to.
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  Speaker 3: The point where we took the extraordinary step to charge
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  Speaker 3: a police officer when that is something that I think
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  Speaker 3: it's barely happened in our entire history as a nation, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: So was there, you know, this appearance of political interference
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  Speaker 3: due to the Chief minister's comments and again you know
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  Speaker 3: he's tried to clarify by saying that what he meant
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  Speaker 3: when he said consequences would flow was it was talking
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  Speaker 3: about the coronial, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: That doesn't make it any better.
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  Speaker 3: And in fact, we had the police Commissioner just a
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  Speaker 3: couple of days ago put a statement out saying, and
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  Speaker 3: I quote, until that inquest is held, I'm constrained in
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  Speaker 3: what I can say.
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  Speaker 2: So if the police commissioner is constrained in what.
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  Speaker 3: He can say and the lead up to a coronial, Now,
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  Speaker 3: how on ers was a chief minister two days after
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  Speaker 3: a shooting able to stand in front of a crowd
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  Speaker 3: and effectively impugne that there was wrongdoing by police and
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  Speaker 3: that something negative would come out of it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Leah, Look, I think that there are still a
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  Speaker 1: lot of questions here that remain unanswered. I do think that,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I've no doubt there's going to be questions
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  Speaker 1: asked in Parliament when Parliament resumes next week as well.
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  Speaker 1: But something that I do want to move on to
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  Speaker 1: is very much breaking news this morning, and the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory Government is extending its public health emergency for an
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  Speaker 1: additional ninety days under the Public and Environmental Health Act
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  Speaker 1: of twenty eleven. Now, as we know, obviously over the
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  Speaker 1: last two years, this declarations enabled the Chief Health Officer
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  Speaker 1: to issue directions, in their words, to slow the spread
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  Speaker 1: of COVID nineteen and keep Territory and saved from the virus.
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  Speaker 1: This statement goes on to say that in this month's sittings,
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  Speaker 1: so next week, the government is going to introduce a
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  Speaker 1: bill to make amendments to the Act which will provide
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  Speaker 1: transitional powers to the Chief Health Officer to manage a
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  Speaker 1: pandemic emergency for a period of up to two years
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  Speaker 1: following the revocation of the emergency declaration. Now, I think
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  Speaker 1: there'll be a lot of people listening this morning wondering
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  Speaker 1: exactly what this is going to mean, I think even
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  Speaker 1: the extension for ninety days of the public health emergency
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  Speaker 1: is much greater than what a lot of other states
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  Speaker 1: are doing at this point.
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  Speaker 2: And I know that some people out there.
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  Speaker 1: Will be wondering whether this is all part of the
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  Speaker 1: vaccine mandate discussion. But from your perspective, what do these
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  Speaker 1: changes mean?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it came as news to us this morning, and
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  Speaker 3: of course a government who isn't politicizing COVID would certainly
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  Speaker 3: be briefing members of Parliament around legislation coming forward that's
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  Speaker 3: allegedly to keep our community safe. So we're very surprised
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  Speaker 3: by the lack of consultation. What I'm concerned about, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: is we have an Emergency Act that originally was designed
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  Speaker 3: to allow government to give power to the Chief Health
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  Speaker 3: Officer for five days only and there were reporting requirements
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  Speaker 3: around that of course due to COVID, and we supported
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  Speaker 3: government to extend that to ninety days, so that it
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  Speaker 3: means every ninety days a government minister has to rock up,
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  Speaker 3: has to front the community and explain why there is
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  Speaker 3: a state of emergency. There a legislative criteria that government
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  Speaker 3: have to meet to be able to give that power
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  Speaker 3: to the Chow, and of course then there is transparency
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  Speaker 3: and scrutiny in that process. What the government are essentially
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  Speaker 3: saying is that they don't want to keep going with
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  Speaker 3: the state of emergency, which I think a lot of
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  Speaker 3: people would agree with. But the clincher is, and this
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  Speaker 3: is where they're being very cute, what government are doing
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  Speaker 3: is still giving all of the power bestowed to the
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  Speaker 3: Chief Health Officer in that legislation. They're still giving the
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  Speaker 3: CHOW that power for two years, an unfettered period of time,
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  Speaker 3: without any of the scrutiny. So currently the CHOW only
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  Speaker 3: gets that power because every ninety days a government minister
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  Speaker 3: has to front up and explain why it's justified. Under
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  Speaker 3: this legislation, what they're saying is the cho can just
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  Speaker 3: have the power for two years and we can then
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  Speaker 3: turn around as state of the community.
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  Speaker 2: There's no state of emotion, so you reckon that once.
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  Speaker 1: If this legislation passes through parliament next week, what it's
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  Speaker 1: going to mean is that the CHOE can make any
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  Speaker 1: of those declarations like around let's say a vaccine mandate,
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  Speaker 1: around masks, any of that kind of thing without there
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  Speaker 1: then every ninety days having to be sort of what
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  Speaker 1: would you say, justification.
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  Speaker 2: That's why it's happened exactly.
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  Speaker 3: So the government is saying, we're going to renew the
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  Speaker 3: ninety day period for another ninety days.
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  Speaker 2: After that, we want it to go away.
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  Speaker 3: So what we're doing is amending the legislation to give
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  Speaker 3: the Choe all the power which is only there for
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  Speaker 3: emergencies which have to be justified every ninety days. It
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  Speaker 3: also means of because we've got our legislation which is
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  Speaker 3: actually demanding that the Choe provide reports to the Parliament
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  Speaker 3: and the community around the advice he's giving, it also
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  Speaker 3: means that a report would not be given by the
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  Speaker 3: Choe until three months after this next two year period,
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  Speaker 3: so that would be after four years of a pandemic.
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  Speaker 3: It would be the first time the community he's from
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  Speaker 3: the Chow in a formal direct way, as required by
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  Speaker 3: the legislation. So I don't disagree with chose powers necessarily,
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  Speaker 3: So don't get me wrong, but I can't understand why
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  Speaker 3: the government shouldn't have to front up at a minimum
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  Speaker 3: every ninety days to justify why the Chow or all
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  Speaker 3: six of them need to have the extent of the
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  Speaker 3: powers provided in the Emergency Act.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds quite extraordinary to me. And obviously I'm hearing
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  Speaker 1: this from the first time for the first time, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm very aware that i'm hearing it. You know, you
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  Speaker 1: are the Opposition leader.
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  Speaker 2: And that's just my take from what we've been told
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  Speaker 2: so far.
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  Speaker 1: But look, this is something that we're going to have
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  Speaker 1: to take a much closer look into. I think there'll
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  Speaker 1: be people listening this morning who are really quite concerned
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  Speaker 1: by this. Leah, I'm assuming from the artset that the
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  Speaker 1: Opposition's not going to support this legislation.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we certainly need to look at the details, So
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  Speaker 3: Health Minister, Chief Minister, are you know where to find us.
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  Speaker 3: We'd love to have a look at the bill where
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  Speaker 3: members of Parliament, we have a responsibility to the community
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  Speaker 3: and I certainly wouldn't want to see this shove through
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  Speaker 3: on urgency next week where there's not the ability for
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  Speaker 3: the community to engage and talk about this. This needs
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  Speaker 3: to be consulted on. And you know you've got my email,
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: send me a copy.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Opposition Leader Leaf and Occio, we are going to
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  Speaker 1: have to leave it there. We appreciate you being on
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  Speaker 1: the show twice this week. I know it's been a
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: very busy week, and Wednesdays your usual spot, but given
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  Speaker 1: the extraordinary events that have unfolded this week, we've certainly
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  Speaker 1: needed you on a couple of times, so we appreciate that.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for your time, Thank you every much.