Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finochiarro discusses the resignation of Senator Sam McMahon from the CLP, and addresses if there are issues within the party

Transcript

Opposition Leader Lia Finochiarro discusses the resignation of Senator Sam McMahon from the CLP, and addresses if there are issues within the party · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, there seems to be some real issues within the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: COLP right now, if the comments made by the Senator
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: for the Northern Territory, Sam McMahon or anything to go
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: by yesterday saying on the show that she does not
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: feel safe at central Council meetings. Now joining me on
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the line is the Opposition leader Leah Finocchiaro. Good morning, Lea,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and welcome to the show for the first time in
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty two.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. Yes, it's exciting to have you know,
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: three P sixty back and we're all rare in to
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: go for another big year, no doubt.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Now, Leah, some pretty concerning claims by the now independent
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Senator Sam McMahon that she does not feel safe in
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: central Council meetings. Is the COLP a safe place for women? Oh?
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Without question? And you know, of course Senator has expressed
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: some concerns for her safety, which is the underlying, underlying
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: reason for her tendering her resignation to the party. And
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: you know that's entirely a matter for her and people
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: have to make those personal decisions for themselves. But this
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: is not a CLP problem, of course. I'm speaking to
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: you as the female leader of the parliamentary wing. I've
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: got female members of Parliament, of course, We've got female
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Senate candidates and federal member candidates. We've got plenty of
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: women in our party and in management at high levels
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: as well. So you know, this is certainly not an
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: issue with the CLP. But of course the senator's grievances
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: have to be dealt with appropriately and seriously, and as
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: party President Jamie de Brenny has stated, they are following
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: that grievance policy.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, do you think it's appropriate though, that
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: the senator made complaints about the issue to the party
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and received no response.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: Well, I can't comment on that because I just don't
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: know anything about it, Katie. But what I do know
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: is this is a matter for the party president and
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: of course following our proper procedures, and he has made
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: a statement saying that those procedures are being followed. So
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: I imagine that is all in hand, and you know it
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: needs to go through the process.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: You are on the management committee, though, aren't you, Yes.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: I am in the management committee of the party. Of course,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: there are various parts of party matters that elected members
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: aren't involved in, and so this is clearly something that
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: is being dealt with at a level I've not been
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: involved in. But ultimately party president has said they are
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: following the procedure. The senators made her case and now
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: that needs to go through the proper process, and it should.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: It should go through the proper process.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Do you think, though, that it's appropriate that it's gone
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: so long and it reached the point where she's then
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: resigned from the party.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Oh look, Katie, I really can't comment, And ultimately, this
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: is not an issue that's pressing in the minds of
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: territories at the moment.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: I know it is because a lot of people are
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: wondering if the COLP is going to be able to
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: continue to operate.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Well, of course it can continue to operate. We've had
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: a senator resign for a personal matter that even she
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: doesn't want to talk about, and the party response saying
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: that they are dealing with that matter seriously and it
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: should be dealt with seriously. I'm not diminishing it, of course,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: and I have great support for Senator McMahon, But ultimately,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: we've got a federal election coming up with some very
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: pressing issues that need to be put forward. We've got
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: extremely capable candidates in that space, and of course my
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: parliamentary team we're in full swing preparations for sittings coming
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: up in two weeks and there's plenty of things going
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: wrong in the territory right now that needs our attention.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Do you think that it is just a matter of
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: sour grapes from the Senator for not being pre selected.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: No, and she's made that position very clear yesterday. She
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: clearly articulated that she's got some concerns that haven't been
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: dealt with. She felt she had no choice. I can't
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: comment on that. That is entirely a matter for her.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: She's made that decision and as a result, we have
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: to deal with it and move on. It doesn't stop
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: us from running three fantastic candidates at the next federal election,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: and of course we will be putting ourselves out there
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: as the best team for the federal Parliament to make
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: sure that we're part of a strong Morrison led government
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: that takes the big issues here in the territory to Canberra.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: In your opinion, what does her resignation from the CLP mean.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Well, it means exactly what she said yesterday, and that
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: is that she's got concerns that haven't been dealt with
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: and that she felt she had no choice. That is
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: what that means. But ultimately, as a party, of course,
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: the management now need to deal with that grievance in
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: accordance with all of the proper processes, and it must
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: be done absolutely, and again I'm not diminishing that, but
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: you know, certainly, as a parliamentary team, we've got to
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: focus on holding the Gunner government to account and our
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: federal candidates have got to focus on connecting with territorians
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: right across the territory to make sure we're putting the
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: big issues front and center and making sure Camber here
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: loud and clear what needs to be happening.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Well, look, we're certainly getting a number of text messages
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: from CLP members on this topic, some very much supporting
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: Senator Sam mcmahones, some not at all, and I will
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: read some of those out a little bit later on
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the show. I do want to say, though, it's not
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the only issue that the CLP's battling right now.
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: I know that the.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Labor Party is calling on you really to distance yourself
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: from some of the comments that have been made by
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: the party's vice president at a rally. The Deputy Chief Minister,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Nicole Madison said in the paper we've had a vice
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: president of the CLP come out and say that the
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: CLP don't really mean what they say about supporting mandatory
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: vaccination and keeping people safe, and that anti vaxers should
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: run for the COLP.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: I watched that vision. He did say that.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: If he runs again, if he.
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: Runs again, this is Jed Hansen.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that he would make his position very clear that
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: he doesn't support that mandatory vaccination. Leah, does the COLP
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: support the mandatory vaccine or not?
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Of course we do. And this is just a typical
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: labor beat up because they are in full blown crisis.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: We've got food shortages, COVID out of control, crime out
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: of control, our economy of free fall, and the only
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: thing they can think of to say is try and
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: you know, make a big issue. It's like a storm
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: in a teacup. Katie. Honestly, mister Hanson's comments are his own.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: We live in a free country where people are allowed
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: to have their own beliefs. But when you boil it
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: all down, the CLP policy is very clear. We follow
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: the best health advice from the chow. The CLP parliamentary
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: team has been explicitly clear in our position around the
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: minitary vaccination. It is a deeply divisive issue in our community.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: I am not hiding away from that. But ultimately our
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: position has been very clear. Nothing has changed, and mister
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Hanson has made his comments as any individual is entitled
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: to do.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I guess the difference is so that he's the vice
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: president of the SALP, so it's not as if he's
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: just a member of the CLP. He is the vice
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: president and he was a candidate at the last Northern
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Territory election.
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Yep, that doesn't stop anyone from having their own personal views.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: Mister Hanson's comments aren't matter for him.
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: Is the party divided on it?
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: No, of course there are people within the party who
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: have varying views. There's a whole spectrum of you on
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: a spectrum of topics, much like in labor, much like
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: amongst the territory community. I'm sure that people listening today
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: have had a range of conversations with friends and family
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: about this issue. It is just one of those topics
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: that people are very you know, people have very strong
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: views on. But ultimately our position is very clear. Territorians
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: nowhere we stand and mister Hanson's comments are a matter for.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: Him all right.
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: One of the other issues that is certainly impacting people
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: around the Northern Territory at the moment is crime. We've
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: spoken at length about this over the years. We know
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: though in Alice Springs really it's reached boiling point. We
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: heard from the Assistant Commissioner a bit earlier that they
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: have deployed further resources down to Alice. But there's no
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: doubt that COVID is having an impact on the police
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: force and on officers being able to do their jobs. Obviously,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: the Police Association had raised that in an opinion piece
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: in the Sunday Territorian. When we were speaking to Travis Wis,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: the Assistant Commissioner of earlier, he did say that there
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: are over one hundred officers at the moment that are
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: involved in managing different things around COVID.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: Leah, there's no doubt.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: It's having an impact in a lot of different ways.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Oh, without question, Katie and our hard working police have
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: been just dealt the toughest hand by the Gunner government.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Right from the start. We saw this government water down
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: bower laws, wateredown youth justice, legislation failed to recruit adequate
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: numbers of police to support the front line. Our attrition
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: rate is over eight percent. We've got huge numbers of
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: police being diverted from keeping territories safe from crime such
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: as domestic violence, break and enter assault, to then being
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: diverted to keeping us safe from COVID, and of course
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: our police are being asked to do more with less
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: and it's just not possible. They are at breaking point
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: and my heart absolutely goes out to each and every
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: one of them. But the Gunner government have a big
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: decision to make here. They've got to understand that people
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: are at breaking point over crime and in Alice Springs
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: people are really seriously questioning whether or not they want
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: to live there anymore. And that is heartbreaking for the town.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: It's heartbreaking for the businesses who've spent two years surviving
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: through COVID to only get to now and be further punished.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: You know, this is a really untenable situation.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: What do you reckon needs to be done differently? Like
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: what would you do differently? Because I guess it's something
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: that we've spoken about for such a long period of time.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: You know, we raise it with the Chief finister very often.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: But what do you think needs to be done differently?
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Without question, we have to flip everythink. We have to
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: flip everything on its head. This government puts the rights
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: of offenders above the rights of territorians. We as COLP
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: would do the opposite. We need to be put in
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: the rights of victims and territorians first. So instead of
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: giving thirty five million dollars to use criminals as a
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: compo payout, that money should be going into victims of crime.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: It should be going into rehabilitation for youth who are incarcerated.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: We need to be reversing the presumption against bail. We
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: need to make sure that if people are bailed and
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: then stuff up again, they're not bailed a further time.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: We need to make sure breach of bowel condition becomes
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: an offense. There are a whole range of matters that
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: need to be done. We need to review our alcohol laws,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: the band drinker register. We need to be spending more
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: money where it works and less money where it doesn't.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: But this is a huge undertaking, but it starts that
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: it's very core with putting the rights of territories above
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: the rights of criminals. Lea.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: We are going to have to get ready to wrap up.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: But another thing that we've been talking about all throughout
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: the week and spoke to Hospitality and t CEO Alex
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Bruce about earlier in the week is the real downturn
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: for our hospitality industry and also tourism, but particularly hospitality.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: They say that since New Years their downturn has been
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: between forty percent and ninety percent for some of those businesses. Yesterday,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: obviously the government and the Council came out with the
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Mai Darwin announcement.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: It's a good ann but it's not enough.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: It's absolutely not enough. And this has been the most
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: heartbreaking time for many retailers and hospitality businesses in the
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: whole two year pandemic, and so the Gunner government moved
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: to an open up position without a plan to deal
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: with it, and this is having a catastrophic impact right
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: across the territory, particularly in Central Australia, but also up
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: here in the Darwin area. We stand side by side
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: with those businesses. We want to see the relief packages
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: flowing through. The ones that were opened up at the
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: start of this pandemic need to be re released. The
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: vouchers that the government announced yesterday. Sure they're great, but
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: they're not going to help any business in Central Australia.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: We've seen that time and time again that it just
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: hasn't packed the punch it needed to. And so we're
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: calling very strongly for government to start to put its
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: hand in its pocket. Instead of getting thirty five million
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: into criminals, let's start digging that up about monks businesses
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: so they don't close their doors.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Well, and you're going to be meeting with those businesses
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: in just a couple of minutes time, as I understand it.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: Really calling for that is distance and calling for labor
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: to reinstate business.
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: Support for those crippled.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Those crippled businesses, a number of them are going to
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: that media event with you to really call upon the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: government to step up and help out.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: We stand shoulder to shoulder with business who are struggling
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: more than ever before, and if we don't help them now,
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: they might close their doors forever. They might leave the territory.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: And what kind of territory do we want after this
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: COVID pandemic. We've got to stand with them now. They're
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: the employers, they're the people putting food on tables, and
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: we've got to back them in and we stand shoulder
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: to shoulder with them, and this morning we're showing government
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: just how strong that resolve is.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Well, Lea Finocchio, the opposition leaders, thank you very much
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: for your time this morning. And I see that the
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: COLP has got a team in the Step Challenge and
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: doing quite well at the moment.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: We sure do. We did the Step Challenge last year
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: and this year we are even more invigorated. We are
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: ready to rock and roll. Those steps are happening. We're
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: blugging them in. Or we're going to take on the
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: mixed team, take on the hot one hundred tea.
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: Try your best.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: We're in front at the moment. I'm trying to bully
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: Labor into having a team as well.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: Good on, Ylena, thanks for your time.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: They're not up for it.
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: Thank you,