Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Member for Katherine Jo Hersey says residents and business owners are being terrorised by youth with an elderly woman targeted while gardening

Transcript

Member for Katherine Jo Hersey says residents and business owners are being terrorised by youth with an elderly woman targeted while gardening · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well. On Friday we spoke about that spike in crime
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: in Catherine. It is being attributed to an increase in
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: transient youth. There has been eight break ins and thirteen
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: properties damage this week from my understanding, most of which
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: most of.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Which were businesses.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Now the acting Deputy Commissioner, Michael White has said that
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: a number of youth had been arrested over these incidents.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: But there is no doubt that the crime is having
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: a massive impact on the very close knit town. And
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: joining me on the show is the Member for Catherine,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Joe Hersey, Hi, Joe, good.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Night and Katie and good morning listeners now Joe.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Fifteen businesses on Thursday night Friday morning last week?
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Were they more over the weekend?
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: There was more over the weekend and we saw the
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: one of the tool shops into and graffiti FTP graffited
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: all over the floor, the benches, and my understanding is
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: that it happened again last night as well as some
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: seniors in the community terrified. One got broken into the
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: other night. She's now at her son's place, she will
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: not go back to her house. And another woman without
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: doing gardening, and the youth of come in and stolen
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: stuff from her place as well in daylight. You know
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: this is it's not go to the shops, Katie. It's
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: not safe to be clearly guarding in your own house.
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: It's safe to drive home. My daughter had rocks thrown
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: towards her car when she was traveling home. The other
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: night a weekend. There were fans and cards having rocks
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: thrown at them. You know, this is totally unumittable.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: It's totally unacceptable.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: And Joe, to hear that more has happened this week
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: alone is terrible.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: What are locals telling you right now?
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: Well, locals me and I was in Davors to the weekends,
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: so I came back on Saturday. I went and saw
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: all the businesses and smash windows or people that are
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: tress us in their shops, and obviously I put together
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: a video and it was just it was really heartfelt
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: and hard to listen to those businesses.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: That time are.
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: And you know, I heard Carrie again last night from
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: the saying, you know, her lease is up in October. Now, Katie,
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: this is what we're dealing with here. Businesses that have
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: their leases coming up potentially are looking at leaving town.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: These are the backbone of our community, and we have a.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Joe, we just seemed to be having some issues with
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: your phone line, so I might just I'm just gonna
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: try and sort this issue out with the phone line.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: She's just cutting out a little bit there, so we
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: will try to get that sorted. Just having those issues,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: so we'll try and sort that phone line out and
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: get back to Joe.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: But look, if you haven't actually seen that.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Video that she's put together, Joe Hersey, it's pretty heartbreaking
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: stuff actually to see.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: And the member for Catherine.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Moved to tears overnight on a report on nine News Darwin.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: I'm clearly very upset about the situation and what is
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: going on in what is an incredibly close knit town.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: And the worry here is she says that there's not
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: enough police in Catherine. But I believe we've got Joe
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: back on the line now. I think we've got her
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: online too. Joe, hopefully we've got you there now.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: Can you hear me?
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I can hear you. Just so the listeners know,
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: I'm actually out at seven Emys station today looking into
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: some of the early intervention and prevention programs that you
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: know are being run. And I have to tell you Katie,
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: what a magnificent spot it is out here, but they
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: have not had any children here all year. This is
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: a place where children can come, youth can come and
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: do a ten day program or a three month program.
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: And I know right from north to south of the
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: territory there are youth that need to go into early
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: prevention and intervention programs, and clearly it is not.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: Why is it not being used out there, Joe? Why
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: are they not using seven EMU station?
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: Well, that's a very good question, Katie, and I will
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: be asking the government lots of questions on that. It's
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: a magnificent place for you know, great mentoring from Frank
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Shadford out here and all the stuff, and you know,
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: to work with cattle, to just be out away from
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: all the trappings of town and be mentored by great
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: people doing great things. And as I say it is,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: to arrive here this morning and to find that they
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: have not had one youth all year, I'm lost for words. John,
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: we have such a youth crime in the territory as
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: a whole.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I just want to I want to go back to
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: what's going on in Catherine right now. Now you say
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: that kids are literally running a mark through the day
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: they're throwing rocks at cars. You have written to the
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Police Minister, you've written to the Chief Minister. Are police
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: coming out to speak to these youths or to you know,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: to respond when they are throwing rocks at cars?
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Well, my understanding is that there was a senior officer
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: that went to Catherine yesterday and the Police Minister told
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: me that. But like I said to her, we don't
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: want a senior officer. We need more support. The police
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: need more support, business community need more support. You know
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: if you are the businesses that I spoke to that
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: had broken windows or broken into have not had a
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: follow up from government officials. My office gave somebody from
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: government all those businesses and there were fifteen that we
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: spoke to and had been in contact with and no
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: one has contact contacted them as yet because I checked
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: in with them yesterday.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Joe, Are there enough policing Catherine right now?
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: My understanding is no, there's not. Katie and the police
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: do a great job. They are overwork. There is you know,
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: a lot of domestic violence cases and we all know
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: that a domestic violence case takes the officer and the
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: crew off the road for four hours. So if there
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: are you know, many domestic violence happening, then there needs
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: to be more support and more police in there. I
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: mean talking to the police on the ground, you know
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: there does need to be more police there. But you know,
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: this is this is a failing of the government and
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: the police Minister. I've had many conversations with her, and
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: to her credit, she does get back to me. But
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: we want to see action, and actions speak louder than words,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: and our business community and the community as a whole
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: in Catherine are not feeling that there is action happening
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: from the government.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Joe, what needs to happen here? What do you think
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: needs to go on?
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: Well, I think, for a start, the fact that there are,
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: as I said, places like seven EMUs Station that take
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: in youth. Now, these youth that I've spoken to are
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: ten and eleven years of age. I don't want to
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: see children that age go to jail. But what I
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: do want to see is some early intervention and prevention
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: programs happening. And if there's programs like seven EMUs Station,
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: why have they not got children out here? Why are
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: those youth not coming out here and being mentored.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I think it's a really good question. Look, I don't know,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: you know what the answer is. I thought, but it
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: was still operating out their seven EMUs station. But is
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: it a situation where it's then you know, when a
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: young person goes through that court process, that it's not
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: actually being.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Like it's not an option.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: Is it something that they're able to sort of to
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: be referred to?
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: Well, my understanding is there is a list of and
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: just as we pulled up here this morning, apparently there
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: is a list of children from Catherine that they are
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: aware of, but they just haven't got here yet. So
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: I will be asking questions on why they are not here?
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: How long have they been on that list? For this
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: place shuts down in the wet season, so I know,
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: government doesn't shut down in the wet season. They could
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: be getting all those youths names, and there should be
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: a rolling a lot of programs, you know, with potentially
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: a week or two weeks you know, lay down, you know,
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: in between each different lot of youth that are coming in.
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  Speaker 3: So why isn't there just a continual rotation of youth
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: coming to a facility like seven EMUs.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: So the concern always is, and this is something that
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: gets raised quite a bit is that even when you
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: do have a young person go through what could be
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a fantastic program like at seven EMU station, that then
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: when it finishes that they don't have those support networks
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: around them to not re engage in bad behavior.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, what do you sort of make of that.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: And what do you think could be done differently to
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: avoid that from happening. If you have got kids who
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: go through some programs and do a really good job
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: when they're in those programs, but then you know once
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: they get back into that normal environment, they're back into
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: bad behavior.
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's correct, Katie. And when I went to even
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: don Dale, I think it was late last year last
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: year sometime, that was a problem that they had too.
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  Speaker 3: The youth had been through don Dale and the programs
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: and the support mechanisms once they got out, we're not happying.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: So in Catherine we have over thirty five NGOs and
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: they all receive funding, and you know, maybe there needs
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: to be an order of these funding bodies that provide
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: these services because maybe you know there clearly their support
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: is not happening, and there's a range of reasons why.
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: You know, it's hard to get staff in Catherine. I
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: know that even talking out here, you know, the change
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: of people through territory families, that's part of the problem.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: But you know, there does need to be some kind
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: of system where it is just picked up, So.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: There has to be some kind of change.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Joe.
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  Speaker 1: The thing that struck me as well in the letter
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: that you'd sent to the Chief Minister and also to
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: the Minister for Police is that you had like you'd
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: made it sound as if there were kids like running
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: them up throughout the day through the street and that
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: it was just kind of like having a blind eye
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: turned on it. Is that what's happening in Catherine right now.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: Well, I don't know whether it's a blind eye, but yes,
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: goes to show that potentially we don't have enough police
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: to deal with those problems, and because they are used.
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: They are ten and eleven year old. When I was
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: home on Saturday, I could not believe they were just
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: blatantly graffiting on walls of buildings. They were running through
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Walworth throwing things off shells, they were running through the
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: shopping center. There was a massive big fight there.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Yep. It's bloody scary.
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: Not have to put up with that. And you know
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: there were many sceniors that I ran into on Saturday
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: when I was home. They are scared to go and
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: do their groceries. It's totally unacceptable.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that is a terrible situation, Joe.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Can you just tell me with those sceniors that were
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: targeted over the weekend, with the person who was doing
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: their gardening, how are they going?
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: Only just happened yesterday afternoon, Katie, and as I'm not home,
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: you know, I just found that out from a close friend.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: And I've known that woman. She was a client of
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: mine in the head dressing salon. So I will absolutely
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: be checking on her tomorrow when I get home. Yeah,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: just before I finish off, Say, Katie, I really do
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: want to We do have a great community and I
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: want to finish on a positive.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: Well, Joe, let me pull you up quickly.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: Let me just pull you up quickly then, because unfortunately
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: there's a couple of other things that I want to
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: ask you about. A call has just come through telling
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: us that he's made an international tourist was just on
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: a Kakadoo Arnham Lamb bus tour and the bus was
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: pelted with rocks, meaning everybody had to stay in Catherine
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: overnight until a new bus was sourced from Darwin. Not
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: a good experience for international guests who've paid a fortune
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: to travel there. That's a message that we've literally just received.
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: I don't know whether you've heard anything about that at
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: this point.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: No, I haven't, Katie, And you know, I really feel
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: for the tourists and I know traveling up and down
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: the highway. That is certainly one thing that I have seen,
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: the lack of caravans. I actually had somebody from Melbourne
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: get in contact with me and say they normally come
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: up every year, they will not be coming up this year.
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: And you know, our tourism businesses need to be supported.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: There's plenty of people out bush camping, yeah, but as
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: for in the towns, it's not happening. And that's really
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: sad that that's happened to that bus load of tourists.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: Look, we'll try and follow it up, but if you
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: hear anything, if you're able to keep in contact, please
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: do let us know. Joe another message that's come through, Katie,
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: can you please ask Joe And I don't know about this,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: so please feel free to tell me. Ask Joe why
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: she posted a photo of herself with the kids who've
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: been running a mark throughout the town. The photo was
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: taken down after community backlash, but people just didn't understand
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: why it was posted in the first place.
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: Okay, it wasn't a photo of me with the kids.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: That was a photo of the kids. So I spoken
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: to those children. None of those children are with territory families.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: They were well aware of what they were doing, and
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: they were well aware that it was going on social media.
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: And I suppose my frustration from being a business person
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: previously and a long standing member of the community, is
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: these kids didn't care. I saw those kids, you know,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: the next day at the football they were still up
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: to no good there. I did take that photo down
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: in reflection, you know, with everything that's going on. Yeah,
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: I took the photo down. It was recommended that I did.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: I had thought about it later, you know that maybe
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: I shouldn't have the photo of those kids. But I'm
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: telling you, Katie, if those kids were any other kids
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: in the community and I wasn't talking about crime, no
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: one would be talking.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: About that pot of jo I didn't see us.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: I was of three children that I spoke to that
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: had been throwing rocks and carrying on. I'd seen them
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: doing bad behavior in town, and as a local member,
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: I will talk to anybody, and the most interesting conversations
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: I have when I'm walking around town talking to locals.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: And so I just went up and I spoke to
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: those children and they told me exactly what they were doing,
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: and they just said, people might as well leave town
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: because we're not going to effing.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: Stop bloody hell.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: You know, I mean edw. Yeah, it's unacceptable.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, in retrospect, do you regret posting the photo?
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: No, because you know, I mean, I took it down anyway.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: So it's a meat point, really, Joe.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I'm going to have to
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: wrap up, but can I ask you I understand that
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: there are some more events in Catherine this week for
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: fey Miller. I think that there's something happening at the
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Catherine out Back Experience.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: They night at Catherine Outback Experience. Yes, from five point thirty.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: I think it is, and there will be a celebration
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: of life. And I do expect Katie that there will
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: be a large amount of people there because because it
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: was the event in Katherine and Darwin, a lot of
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: those Catherine people wouldn't have traveled up to Darwin four
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: state faith state funeral, and so it'll be great to
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: catch up with all those people and celebrate faith life
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: in Catherine.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: Just a very quick one, Joe, I know you're going
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: to mention it a moment ago at the Hospitality Excellence
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: Awards last night, there was that some wonderful Catherine businesses recognized.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: Wasn't there?
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Absolutely Catherine Club, Best Draft Beer, Catherine Hotel, best retail outlet,
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: conto A, Best mid Range Accommodation nit Ma Loook, Best
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: Tourism Initiative. How good is Catherine On the back of
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: everything that happens there, we are still a positive, good,
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: tight knit community. So on that note, Katie, thanks for
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: your time and thank you