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Katie Woolf spoke with Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining us live on the line, I believe from Central Australia.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Actually is the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker. Good morning to you, Commissioner.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time. I know you're
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: very busy today. There was a big announcement as we
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: all know yesterday. It gave us a bit more of
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: an idea exactly how things are going to look once
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  Speaker 1: we reach that eighty percent vaccination rate around the territory.
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  Speaker 1: I guess some of the big things now that we're
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: all sort of wondering how they're going to work, is
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  Speaker 1: how it's going to be managed. And firstly I might
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  Speaker 1: just ask you if you're able to let us know
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  Speaker 1: what is going to be the difference between a lockdown,
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  Speaker 1: I think and a lockout.
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  Speaker 2: Pretty simply with the lockdown, of course, we try and
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  Speaker 2: mitigate movement across the relevant lockdown location. So that's certainly
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  Speaker 2: designed to ensure that the spread is completely nutterly minimized.
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  Speaker 2: The posture towards a lockout will a game be based
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  Speaker 2: on what the prevalent clinical advice is as to what
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  Speaker 2: presence of the positive there is in the territory. So
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  Speaker 2: it may allow our early days, for example, that a
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  Speaker 2: lockout occurs, and what that means is those that are
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  Speaker 2: vaccinated we would preclude from moving around primarily because they
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  Speaker 2: haven't had the vaccination that would be able to significantly
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  Speaker 2: prevent the likelihood of them becoming critically unwell and then
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  Speaker 2: becoming a burden on our health system. So those who
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  Speaker 2: are double vaccinated would be able to continue to move around.
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  Speaker 2: It may still be a case that we have to
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  Speaker 2: have mars and light, but for those that are not
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  Speaker 2: being vaccinated, the public health risk and their potential burden
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  Speaker 2: on the system is the thing we're trying to mitigate.
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  Speaker 1: Commissioner, is it going to be hard to police.
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  Speaker 2: Well? Policing in it of itself is clearly a challenging
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: operating environment. But again, the reason we've tried to adopt
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  Speaker 2: an education further process throughout Chisela's in relatively good stead
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  Speaker 2: is certainly encouraging for me. I think the general public
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  Speaker 2: of the Northern territory've understood the approach we've tried to
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  Speaker 2: take and hear the messaging and understand that what we're
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  Speaker 2: trying to make sure is that we don't need to
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  Speaker 2: move to an awesome model for those who are unvaccinated
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  Speaker 2: to who are going to try and create that border
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  Speaker 2: issue and make some selfish choices. We're going to be
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  Speaker 2: on the front foot with them.
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  Speaker 1: Now. We know that the travel categories are an interesting
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  Speaker 1: and interesting thing to largely they seem as though it's
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  Speaker 1: sort of fairly similar to what we're doing right now,
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  Speaker 1: but it certainly gives people a bit of a clearer understanding.
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  Speaker 1: Those green zones are the orange and then the red.
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  Speaker 1: How are they going to be managed? Though? On the borders.
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  Speaker 1: I imagine that when you arrive on a plane, it's
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  Speaker 1: quite an easy process at the airport, but how things
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  Speaker 1: go on the roads.
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  Speaker 2: So similarly, we're going to have to maintain a point
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  Speaker 2: of entry and we'll be on our primary roadways as
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  Speaker 2: an entry point. That the obligation to complete and arrival
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  Speaker 2: form has not changed, and we've got relatively good compliance
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  Speaker 2: in that respect. The imperative of the arrival form is
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  Speaker 2: it gives us the opportunity to be able to make
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  Speaker 2: contact with people who have traveled from known locations that
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  Speaker 2: may be on the precipice being declared a hotspot, or
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  Speaker 2: in the subsequent days following their entry into the territory
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  Speaker 2: who have been declared hotspots. So that we can get
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  Speaker 2: in contact with them them to immediately isolate and get tested.
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  Speaker 2: So again, it's just a further mitigation of containing any
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  Speaker 2: spread that may be imported into the territory unknowingly.
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  Speaker 1: And so will it be police on the borders or
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  Speaker 1: will it be that technology?
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  Speaker 2: All part of the challenge at the moment, of course
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  Speaker 2: is that it is likely to be police, because we
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  Speaker 2: need to make sure that anyone who's aiming to enter
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  Speaker 2: without approval that is the breach of a chief of
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  Speaker 2: opposite direction, and we're the ones primarily charged with doing
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  Speaker 2: the enforcement for that. Let alone the fact, as you'd
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  Speaker 2: be critically aware of CADED, all of our key border
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  Speaker 2: entry points are one hundred and thirty klometer in our
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  Speaker 2: speed zones, there's road trains moving, They're quite dynamic and
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  Speaker 2: active spaces, and it's probably our people that are best
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  Speaker 2: trained to be able to deal with that and maintain
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  Speaker 2: a high level of safety.
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  Speaker 1: And so at this point in time, do we have
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  Speaker 1: police on the borders, like physically on the borders or
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  Speaker 1: are we using some of that technology in some spots?
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  Speaker 1: So how will these changes impact you when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to sort of managing where your resources go?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's highly likely we're going to have to maintain
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  Speaker 2: a presence on our main Bitchmen Highway entries, which of
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  Speaker 2: course is where we're currently postured just inside the Queensline
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  Speaker 2: int bordered outside of Camerwheel and then also just below
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  Speaker 2: Colgra at the SAT border. Because WA remains a green
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  Speaker 2: zone for us, we've not had any physical presence here.
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  Speaker 2: We maintain an AMPR capability, which we'll also maintain across
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  Speaker 2: most of our back roads, which are more high use roads,
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  Speaker 2: so along the UNDATA track, that pathway that comes in
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  Speaker 2: through I think, for example table More coming in from
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  Speaker 2: the Queensline country. So we've got a number of other
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  Speaker 2: extrediction points where we can monitor travel frequency and we
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  Speaker 2: are able to then link in, which is why you
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  Speaker 2: would have seen two infringements issued earlier this week for
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  Speaker 2: some people we picked up that mechanism.
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  Speaker 1: So Commissioner, you know, it sounds as though obviously with
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  Speaker 1: the roads, it's much of it is going to go
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  Speaker 1: back to or stayed the same in terms of the management.
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  Speaker 1: From the police perspective, I guess the difficult thing that's
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  Speaker 1: going to come into plays the vaccination passes or that
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  Speaker 1: proof of vaccination is going to be a huge part
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  Speaker 1: of this plan. How do you have any idea at
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  Speaker 1: this stage how will people be able to prove that
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  Speaker 1: they've been vaccinated.
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  Speaker 2: So a key part of the messaging that the chief
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  Speaker 2: foot forward yesterday is that we're fifty days out of
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  Speaker 2: where we're hoping to be, So we're working towards a
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  Speaker 2: modeling of fifty days of planning to really try and
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  Speaker 2: firm up a lot of these things. What I do
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  Speaker 2: not is the Australian government. They're clearly working on how
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  Speaker 2: they have that linkage with my GUV into a passport
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  Speaker 2: the Perth can us that will not only allow them
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  Speaker 2: to move into using a check in app, but that
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  Speaker 2: will also double as having the repository for your double
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  Speaker 2: vaccination certificate of the like and or your exemption appropriate
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  Speaker 2: approval in the event that you're unable to be vaccinated
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  Speaker 2: due to multitude of medical underlying conditions. So there is
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  Speaker 2: a lot of planning to be done. We know that
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  Speaker 2: the destination we're trying to land to now we've got
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  Speaker 2: to do the final practice of putting things in place.
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  Speaker 2: But equally, every business, every entity that's operating and or
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  Speaker 2: trading in an order territory We're trying to give them
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  Speaker 2: some sense of what that future looks like so that
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  Speaker 2: they continue to refine and reform their work. We all
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  Speaker 2: know if we can prevent the spread, those businesses have
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  Speaker 2: a high light of survival. Hence the reason we know
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  Speaker 2: the pathways via vaccination and vaccination is something we should
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  Speaker 2: strongly encourage and everyone will have a keen interest, be
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  Speaker 2: it somebody they know who has a job to go to.
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  Speaker 2: We want to collectively put our sholder the wheel, which
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  Speaker 2: means getting the jam.
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  Speaker 1: And commissioner, presumably everybody within the police force needs to
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  Speaker 1: be vaccinated, that's correct, and so what steps are you
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  Speaker 1: sort of taking as the commissioner to make sure that
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  Speaker 1: the whole force is vaccinated? And are you worried that
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: there's going to be any kind of pushback.
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  Speaker 2: So a couple of weeks ago, a foreshadow to my
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  Speaker 2: whole workforce, including my firefighters and public sector and emergency services,
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  Speaker 2: that I was to be moving towards a posture of
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  Speaker 2: if you were not vaccinated, the obligation to wear a
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  Speaker 2: mask in the workplace. I've written to the relevant unions
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  Speaker 2: involved and also met with them so far, including the
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  Speaker 2: Anti Police Association. So I'm seeking their support for this
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  Speaker 2: very very significant issue that people will see the common
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  Speaker 2: sense about getting the job and be compliant, but in
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  Speaker 2: the event they choose not to, a mask will have
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  Speaker 2: to be worn. I am aware that other police jurisdictions
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  Speaker 2: have now made it mandatory for the job, so I'm
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  Speaker 2: just waiting on assessing their legal advice to see if
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  Speaker 2: that has the same level of relevance here. But I'm
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  Speaker 2: very bored by the fact that a large proportion, if
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  Speaker 2: not all, of my police officers and employees and the
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  Speaker 2: police buyer and mancher services know that their whole manager
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  Speaker 2: is to serve and protect and the clear way they
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  Speaker 2: can do that is to get the job.
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  Speaker 1: But not ruling out obviously taking or going forward with
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  Speaker 1: that legal action to make it mandatory.
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  Speaker 2: No, not ruling it out at all.
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  Speaker 1: And if somebody chooses to not get vaccinated, they may
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  Speaker 1: indeed find them selves having to change jobs or change
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  Speaker 1: change roles within the force, or having to leave.
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  Speaker 2: Potentially at the end of the day. The current advice
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  Speaker 2: I have is that it's considered to be a lawful direction.
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  Speaker 2: I obviously also have, as do all employers, occupational health
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  Speaker 2: and safety obligation, but they oh, and is obligation also
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  Speaker 2: falls as a duty on all employees. It is not
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  Speaker 2: just a one way pathway, so it's a lawful direction.
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  Speaker 2: It's reasonable in the circumstances. Unless someone has an underlying
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  Speaker 2: medical reason why they can't get the job, then it's
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  Speaker 2: more than reasonable to make their request. And then in
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  Speaker 2: the event if you choose not to, there may well
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  Speaker 2: be actions that need to be taken.
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  Speaker 1: Commissioner, just a couple of quick ones, because I know
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  Speaker 1: that you are pressed for time this morning with the
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  Speaker 1: checking app and with sort of showing our vaccination passport.
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  Speaker 1: I know that this is certainly still technology which is
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  Speaker 1: being worked through, but some people have already been asking
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  Speaker 1: what happens for those that are signing in manually and
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  Speaker 1: doing things manually.
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  Speaker 2: At the mind mates, there a products we're looking at,
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  Speaker 2: not just similar to an over eighteen identification card where
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  Speaker 2: someone doesn't have a driver's license. We're looking at potentially
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  Speaker 2: a card that may be able to be issued to
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  Speaker 2: people that can act as the device, so it can
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  Speaker 2: have a chip, for example, that they can use as
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  Speaker 2: their check in methodology as opposed to the requirement to
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  Speaker 2: have a smartphone. Again, there's various things that we're looking at,
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  Speaker 2: which as I understand it, are appearing across all other
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  Speaker 2: jurisdictions as well. So I think you're pretty well seeing
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  Speaker 2: the message that collectively Australia wants to come forward in
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  Speaker 2: advance towards that eighty percent and above. So there's a
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  Speaker 2: lot of effort going here and a lot of cross
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  Speaker 2: collaborate collaboration all the jurisdictions to realize that.
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  Speaker 1: Now, like I touched on before, we know that obviously
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  Speaker 1: we're all aiming to get to that eighty percent vaccination, right,
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  Speaker 1: we are having some real issues at the moment in
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  Speaker 1: some of our remote indigenous communities and even some of
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  Speaker 1: our more remote areas in terms of ensuring that we
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  Speaker 1: get to that eighty percent rate. Will police potentially have
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  Speaker 1: to manage those biosecurity zones.
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  Speaker 2: Again, it's not beyond the realms. That will certainly continue
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  Speaker 2: to form part of our response for any remote community outbreak.
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  Speaker 2: What we need to do is to be able to
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  Speaker 2: contain and minimize in the movement there of course, so
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: that we can contain the spread. So we've got our
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: planning in place. It's been been worked through pretty well
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  Speaker 2: consistently since March last year, so there's still very much
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  Speaker 2: in his potential obligation. At any given point in time,
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  Speaker 2: we may be moving back into lockdown areas, whether it's
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  Speaker 2: the Greater day In Area, whether it's Catherine, whether it's
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: one of our remote communities. But we're ready and prepared
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  Speaker 2: for that. Again, none of these things operate without having
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  Speaker 2: a detrimental impact on our business as usual environment. We've
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: got a balance high I needed the preservation of life
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: over those things.
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  Speaker 1: Commissioner, just very quickly, we know that the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: Police yesterday issued seven women, as I understand it, with
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: notices to appear for providing misleading information. Are the seven
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  Speaker 1: women all in their twenties and all traveling from Victoria. Well,
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  Speaker 1: we're initially granted approval to enter the territory and undertake
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: quarantine before taking up employment office. It offers, how did
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  Speaker 1: you become aware that these women were doing the wrong thing?
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  Speaker 2: Well, instinct invariably leased police officers to start doing deeper
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: inquiry when they feel that certain things don't present as
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  Speaker 2: they should. And that's abefully the pathway that we managed
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: to work through with our health colleagues who went through
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  Speaker 2: these they hastened to add people are trying to act
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  Speaker 2: in good faith here, particularly from the response of allowing
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: people to come in for bona fide reasons, but we
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  Speaker 2: certainly need to act very quickly and also to be
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: very clear that if you try and bend the rules,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: if you choose to goot forward things that are inaccurate
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: and make false representations, then you should face sanction as
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: a result, because we're about protecting Northern Territory and that
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: has to be paramount to all what we do.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Well. Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker, we appreciate your time this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having a chat with us.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: You welcome, Katie, have a good day.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Thank you. You two