Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro says the Chief Minister did not deserve to be harassed by anti-fracking protesters while taking part in a run on the weekend

Transcript

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro says the Chief Minister did not deserve to be harassed by anti-fracking protesters while taking part in a run on the weekend · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Now, as I mentioned a couple of moments ago, we
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  Speaker 1: know that that vision has emerged of the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 1: being followed and heckled as she competed in the West
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  Speaker 1: Max Monster on the weekend. Protesters followed her around the course,
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  Speaker 1: actually waiting for her, setting up those different social media
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  Speaker 1: opportunities for themselves. Now joining me on the line right
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  Speaker 1: now is the Opposition leader Leah Finocchiaro.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Leah.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie into your listeners, live from Tenant Creek.
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  Speaker 1: Oh good to have you on the show, live from
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  Speaker 1: Tenant Leah. Firstly, though, what did you make of the
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  Speaker 1: situation with the Chief Minister over the weekend being followed
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  Speaker 1: by protesters while on the course taking part in the
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  Speaker 1: West Max Monster.
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  Speaker 2: Is she fair game or is it a bridge too far?
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  Speaker 3: No, I certainly don't condone that behavior. People, of course,
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  Speaker 3: in our democratic society have the right and the ability
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  Speaker 3: to protest, to raise their concerns, and there's many many
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  Speaker 3: ways in which people can do that, But to harass
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  Speaker 3: someone in the way that she was, nobody deserves that
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  Speaker 3: and I certainly don't condone that behavior.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I thought it was a bridge too far
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  Speaker 1: as well. I just think that there's an element there
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  Speaker 1: of a security issue given the fact that you're on
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  Speaker 1: a course and being followed essentially by a group of
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  Speaker 1: people to set up media opportunities. I can understand at
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  Speaker 1: the end of that race having that protest and if
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  Speaker 1: you want to have your voice heard then, but I
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  Speaker 1: just thought it was a bridge too far in terms
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  Speaker 1: of following her around and doing that.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, the level of harassment, but also, you know, not
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  Speaker 3: just too Natasha Fars but also for the organizers and
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  Speaker 3: the entire all of the participants of that race. You know,
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  Speaker 3: it's not an appropriate time to bring down a wonderful
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  Speaker 3: tourism event like that when you can raise your concerns
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  Speaker 3: in other ways, and like you said, it could have
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  Speaker 3: been done at the end of the race or you know,
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  Speaker 3: a million other ways, Kate, how it was done is
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  Speaker 3: certainly not appropriate.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Leah on to another topic.
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  Speaker 1: We spoke to Jerry Wood yesterday about what's see seems
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  Speaker 1: to be a motion put to the Parliament last week
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  Speaker 1: for an int voice to Parliament. I know that it's
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  Speaker 1: the committee's basically going to be considering whether the body
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  Speaker 1: to conduct these reviews is made up of Indigenous territorians
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  Speaker 1: or an Assembly committee advised by First Nation people. LEA
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  Speaker 1: talk us through your understanding of this and whether the
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  Speaker 1: COLP supports it.
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  Speaker 3: So all it is at the moment is that one
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  Speaker 3: of the subcommittees of the Parliament, one of the scrutiny committees,
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  Speaker 3: is going to be looking at what models could take
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  Speaker 3: place to I guess have greater engagement of Aboriginal people
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  Speaker 3: and how laws affect Aboriginal people. Now we have two
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  Speaker 3: members on that committee and it's already an existing committee,
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  Speaker 3: so they can look at a number of things, and
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  Speaker 3: this is now something it will look at because the
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  Speaker 3: Member of Malka has successfully got that motion through the
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  Speaker 3: Parliament to look at it. So when I'm going to
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  Speaker 3: prejudice the outcome, We're going to participate in good faith
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  Speaker 3: like we do in all work of the Parliament. It's
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  Speaker 3: a really important part of our democracy. And importantly, what
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  Speaker 3: I want listeners to know is that you have an
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to engage. And that's what's great about these committees
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  Speaker 3: is that they will I'm sure, go out to public submission,
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  Speaker 3: public consultation, whole public hearings and so that gives everyone
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  Speaker 3: interested in this not only an opportunity to have your say,
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  Speaker 3: but an opportunity to listen and really openly engage in
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  Speaker 3: the process. If it's something you're keen on or not
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  Speaker 3: keen on, but want to know about it, you'll be
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  Speaker 3: able to keep a close eye and be involved.
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  Speaker 1: Leah, when we spoke to Jerry Wood on the show yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: I like to have a catch up with Jerry because
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  Speaker 1: he's got a wealth of experience, you know, nineteen years
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  Speaker 1: in parliament. He told us we should just reintroduce those
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  Speaker 1: scrutiny committees. Do you think that that would be a
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  Speaker 1: better option.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we know that Labor came to power and promise
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  Speaker 3: to be open and transparent, and of course we sort
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  Speaker 3: of abolish the Legislative Scrutiny Committee, which is very disappointing
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  Speaker 3: because it looked at I think it made about thirty
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  Speaker 3: three reports to the Parliament on various pieces of legislation,
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  Speaker 3: and I had the privilege of being on one of
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  Speaker 3: those committees and it was certainly a really good process
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  Speaker 3: for members of the public. But like I said, we're
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  Speaker 3: not going to prejudice the outcome. This committee is now
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  Speaker 3: looking at it. We will participate in that fully and
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  Speaker 3: look at the recommendations and ultimately, once that committee has
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  Speaker 3: formed its recommendations, really either support them or will do
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  Speaker 3: a dissenting report and explain why we don't support them,
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  Speaker 3: so people will understand really clearly where we stand when
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  Speaker 3: that time comes.
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  Speaker 2: Around, Lea.
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  Speaker 1: If it does get to the point where the COLP
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  Speaker 1: does support this going forward, do you think it will
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  Speaker 1: cause issues within the party given that you have got
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  Speaker 1: some elements within the CLP at the moment, some that
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  Speaker 1: have voted to oppose the Federal Voice to Parliament.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think the Federal Voice to Parliament is quite
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  Speaker 3: different to this, But again none of the detail has
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  Speaker 3: sort of been gone through. But all really as a
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  Speaker 3: territory that we're focusing on is that better level of
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  Speaker 3: engagement and understanding of impact. But again I don't know
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  Speaker 3: what the committee is going to look at. I don't
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  Speaker 3: know what the recommendations are going to be, but when
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  Speaker 3: that time comes around, will certainly make sure people understand
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  Speaker 3: what our position is, which includes the party.
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  Speaker 2: All right, we'll keep an eye on things now, Lea.
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  Speaker 1: Last week I spoke to the Prime Minister and questioned
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  Speaker 1: him about the issues that we're facing in the Northern.
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  Speaker 2: Territory around crime.
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  Speaker 1: Anthony Albinizi said, we don't need federal police called into
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory to assist local police.
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  Speaker 2: LEA, do you think the federal.
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  Speaker 1: Government's doing enough to assist with the issues around crime
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  Speaker 1: in the territory?
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  Speaker 3: No, I don't. I really thought his comments were extraordinary.
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  Speaker 3: He also couldn't bring himself to say there was a
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  Speaker 3: police crisis, despite the fact that one of his own
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  Speaker 3: labor colleagues have said that there is a crime crisis
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  Speaker 3: which we all know about. The Australian Federal Police could
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  Speaker 3: have a really key role in supporting Territory police. It's
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  Speaker 3: something we've called for for many many months now, Katie.
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  Speaker 3: We see there'd be great opportunities, particularly in places like
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  Speaker 3: Alice Springs, where the Fed Police could possibly be the
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  Speaker 3: in the city, allowing Territory police to be out in
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  Speaker 3: the suburbs and out in the regions providing different levels
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  Speaker 3: of support. There's so many things that could be done.
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  Speaker 3: But what we know that the Prime Minister did say
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  Speaker 3: is that there's been no request from the territory to
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  Speaker 3: have a stand So it comes back to Natasha Files
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  Speaker 3: not asking for the support that we need for our police,
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  Speaker 3: who we know, are overworked and under resourced.
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  Speaker 2: Do you feel us those things are?
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  Speaker 1: You know, I hardly want to say it because I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to sort of jinx this, but do you
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  Speaker 1: feel us those things are a little bit quieter at
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  Speaker 1: the moment on the crime front, No.
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  Speaker 3: I definitely don't. I'm down here in Tenant Creek speaking
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  Speaker 3: with people. But of course we've had, you know, seven
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  Speaker 3: stabbings in eight weeks up in you know, across the territory,
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  Speaker 3: and stuff in Nallae Springs is happening every single day
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  Speaker 3: that people are just horrifying over We know people are
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  Speaker 3: leaving town. I was speaking to someone yesterday, I wanted
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  Speaker 3: a business owner here and they had a friend who
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  Speaker 3: had woke up and there were four or five people
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  Speaker 3: in here house. And he's a long term territory and
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  Speaker 3: he said, that's it, that's enough for me. I'm gone.
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  Speaker 3: And so he's leaving the territory. And that's an all
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  Speaker 3: too common story. Unfortunately. Until we strengthen the laws and
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  Speaker 3: support our police like the CLPS tried to do seven
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  Speaker 3: times in Parliament, this crime severity is going to continue
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  Speaker 3: to escalate and how many more people have to lose
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  Speaker 3: their lives? Before this government does something about it.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Leir, I know you are intenant, as you've just mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: and I understand that well. The government did recently announce
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  Speaker 1: eleven million dollars for the fieries, including another position there.
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  Speaker 1: Have you spoken to the fireries how things going.
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  Speaker 3: Well, Certainly we're really concerned about fireries right across the
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  Speaker 3: territory because what we're hearing pretty clearly, especially on the
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  Speaker 3: ground here in Tenant Creek, is that the positions aren't filled.
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  Speaker 3: So my understanding, Katie, is that here in Tenant Creek
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  Speaker 3: there are supposed to be three full time fire positions.
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  Speaker 3: All of them are currently being filled as fly and
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  Speaker 3: fly out of Darwin.
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  Speaker 1: So there's no full time there's no full time firies
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  Speaker 1: based in Tenant Creek right now.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right, And my understanding is that there is
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  Speaker 3: a lot of that right across the territory and that
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  Speaker 3: possibly only the norm Boys station is the only station
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  Speaker 3: that has its full complement of fireries, which clearly puts
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  Speaker 3: life and property at risk. It shows that this government
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  Speaker 3: hasn't been recruiting and again resourcing our fire services, much
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  Speaker 3: like it hasn't been keeping up with what we need
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  Speaker 3: for policing. So this is a real failure on emergency
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  Speaker 3: response by the files government to address the very basic
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  Speaker 3: needs of a community, which is a strong police force
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  Speaker 3: and a strong fire service.
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  Speaker 1: So what needs to happen here if we don't if
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  Speaker 1: we've got a five fo.
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  Speaker 2: Fierries into Tenant Creek, what needs to.
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  Speaker 3: Happen, Well, we need to be recruiting more fire firemen
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  Speaker 3: and women. We need to also settle their pay deal.
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  Speaker 3: I mean that is still outstanding for the fieries that
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  Speaker 3: this government has not been able to negotiate with them,
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  Speaker 3: you know, following the disastrous public service pay frees, and
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  Speaker 3: so that still hangs in limbo, which is I'm sure
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  Speaker 3: a great deterrent for people. And I've got no doubt
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  Speaker 3: that people are leaving the fire service because of it.
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  Speaker 3: And ultimately, until this government does that deal, starts to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that it can provide the right resourcing by
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  Speaker 3: having enough recruits and making sure that the territory is
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  Speaker 3: a great place to live, because don't forget, fires and
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  Speaker 3: police are like everybody else. They don't like crime. They
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  Speaker 3: want to live somewhere safe with their family and have
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  Speaker 3: a good career and a good opportunity and If this
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  Speaker 3: government can't address all of those issues, including cost of living,
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  Speaker 3: we'll continue to see people leave and that will continue
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  Speaker 3: to put strain on our fire services.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Leah, before I let you go, a Facebook post
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  Speaker 1: over the weekend from you certainly well got tongues wagging.
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  Speaker 1: People were talking about the fact that this post had
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  Speaker 1: gone up from the Police Auxiliary recruit graduation on Friday.
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  Speaker 1: You'd post a group photos but had blurred out the
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  Speaker 1: Police Minister Kate Warden and said in that post that
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  Speaker 1: she didn't agree to being part of those posts.
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  Speaker 2: What's going on.
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  Speaker 3: Oh Katie, It's really reached a new level of low
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  Speaker 3: when it comes to this government. I've attended many police
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  Speaker 3: graduations with the Police Minister, gosh, tons of them, and
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  Speaker 3: there's always a group photo. There's always the Police Minister,
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  Speaker 3: always presents an award to the best recruit, and there's
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  Speaker 3: always family and friends there taking photos, just like I'm
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  Speaker 3: there with my staff taking photos as well, so that
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  Speaker 3: we can congratulate and honor people who've just reached one
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  Speaker 3: of the most important days in their life, getting their
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  Speaker 3: badge of service to serve and protect as part of
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  Speaker 3: the police force. And the Police Minister after the service,
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  Speaker 3: didn't come and speak to me, she bailed up one
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  Speaker 3: of my staff, which is highly inappropriate for a government
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  Speaker 3: minister to do that, and said that she did not
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  Speaker 3: consent to any photos of her being on Facebook. Now
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  Speaker 3: I really wanted to highlight, of course, the graduating squad,
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  Speaker 3: as I do every single time, so I had no
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  Speaker 3: choice but to blow her out and of course then
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  Speaker 3: make comment expressing her design not to be in the photo.
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  Speaker 2: How's it childish of you to put that post up?
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  Speaker 1: Well?
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  Speaker 3: No, because how can we not honor and reward and
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  Speaker 3: congratulate our hard working recruits who've just graduated and gotten
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  Speaker 3: their badge to serve and protect. So it doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: Detract though, I guess so if that's the aim, you know,
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  Speaker 1: post putting that post up, and I understand it, and
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  Speaker 1: I understand what you're saying. But putting that post up
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  Speaker 1: doesn't it detract from those recruits? Well?
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  Speaker 3: I think what it does is show you just how
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  Speaker 3: pathetic the police minister is, and that the person detracting
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  Speaker 3: from the recruits is her, because she's more worried about
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  Speaker 3: where her photo may or may not end up than
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  Speaker 3: she is about congratulating the squad. I mean how extraordinary
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  Speaker 3: for a police minister not to want to appear in
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  Speaker 3: the graduating squad photo. I mean, this photo will be
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  Speaker 3: on everyone's mantle pieces on the walls of the Police College,
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  Speaker 3: and she doesn't want to be part of it.
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  Speaker 1: But so was it just the photo that your photographer
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  Speaker 1: had taken, all the photos that everybody had taken.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I only know that she barrowed up to one
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  Speaker 3: of my staff and expressed to them that she didn't
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  Speaker 3: consent to it being on my Facebook page. But you know,
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  Speaker 3: this is a public celebration of people who've just spent
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  Speaker 3: weeks and weeks and weeks at the training college, and
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  Speaker 3: I wasn't not going to put a photo up of
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  Speaker 3: the graduating squad.
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  Speaker 1: Look, I get that, and I can understand it from
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  Speaker 1: your perspective. I guess, you know, from her perspective. She said,
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  Speaker 1: I saw the reply on your Facebook page where she'd said,
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  Speaker 1: you know that she didn't consent to your photographer sort
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  Speaker 1: of being up in her face. I don't know whether
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  Speaker 1: that was or wasn't the case, but I guess for
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  Speaker 1: me what it demonstrated is I thought to myself, if
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  Speaker 1: you two can't sort of have a discussion about this
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  Speaker 1: photo and about this post, you know, on the side
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  Speaker 1: rather than on social media. Can we expect our leaders,
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  Speaker 1: you know you and the Minister for Police to be
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  Speaker 1: able to have some of those more difficult discussions with
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  Speaker 1: each other about things like crime.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I was very disappointed she didn't raise it with me,
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  Speaker 3: but please let me clarify that my young staff member
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  Speaker 3: was nowhere near the police minister. In fact, he was
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  Speaker 3: meeters away from the official photographer who was meeters away
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  Speaker 3: from the police minister. There is no up in her
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  Speaker 3: face whatsoever, and ultimately she's something she should have raised
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  Speaker 3: with me. But either way, to not want to appear
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  Speaker 3: in a photo on Facebook for a police graduation, I
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  Speaker 3: think is all new low for this government.
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  Speaker 1: Well, opposition leader Leah Fanocchiaro, I know plenty of people
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  Speaker 1: have opinions about that, as they do about the situation
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  Speaker 1: with well with the what somemer seeing as that second
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  Speaker 1: tier of a voice here in the Northern territory, and
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  Speaker 1: also about the situation involving the Chief Minister on the
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  Speaker 1: West Max Monster. As always, I appreciate your time. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you very much for joining us this morning. From Tenant Craig.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you everyone, Take care, thank you,