Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Treasurer Eva Lawler says the Territory budget strikes a balance between social and economic investment

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Treasurer Eva Lawler says the Territory budget strikes a balance between social and economic investment · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that Eva Laula yesterday handed down her first budget,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: significant money invested on infrastructure and cost of living. The
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory budget sees a record two point one one
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: billion spend on infrastructure this fiscal year. It is up
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: from one point seventy nine billion last year. There's going
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: to be upgrades for schools, for hospitals and various other things.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Now the governments also say that they are set on
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: their deadline to create that forty billion dollar economy by
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: twenty thirty. Now joining me on the line this morning
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  Speaker 1: is the Northern Territory Treasurer Eva Lawla. Good morning to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: your treasurer.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: Morning Katie.
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  Speaker 3: Now, how would you describe your first ever budget?
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: I said it was a rock solid budget, I think,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: and that's a good description. Is a really strong balance
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: between the social and economic which is always difficult in
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory. But there was some really good news
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: around infrastructure, the biggest infrastructure spend in Northern Territory history basically,
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: so two billion dollars of cash will go out. But
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: then on the other side, it's had some really good,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: really solid announcements around social things, so you know, modular
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: accommodation for a big modular accommodation unit to go into RDH.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: We know we have those code yellows, so that's a
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: really good news story. Nineteen million for a police station
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: at pep Manarti. Again we've seen, you know, an escalation
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: of crime in that sort of area with daily over there,
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  Speaker 2: so that's a really good one to have a permanent
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  Speaker 2: police presence. Catherine High School nine point seven million, really
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: nice one around the stem. So it's you know, the budget.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: We worked hard to make sure it was the length
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: and the breadth of the territory that you know, everybody,
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: there was something in it for everybody.
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  Speaker 1: Basically, Minister that record two point one one billion on infrastructure.
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  Speaker 1: What kind of infrastructure are we going to see? I
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  Speaker 1: know there's been a lot of talk about roads.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, most of it is roads. You know that that's
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: one that we have to do in the territory. And
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  Speaker 2: you've heard me say many times Katie, seventy percent of
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: our roads is still do it, so it know it Again,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: it's the length and the breath. So it's a Paru
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  Speaker 2: road on the Tiwi Islands, there are times where people
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: just can't get across the Island because of you know,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: logged of water logged, boggy, dirty areas. So we need
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: to have bitchman there. The Tannami. We're determined to get
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: that bitchumen from the Stuart Highway turn off all the
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  Speaker 2: way to the WA border. The Santa Teresa Road. Same story,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: people getting out to their community. The road at times
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: is impassable or dangerous. So that's being done. More roads
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  Speaker 2: in the Beatloo area because of the industry going in there.
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  Speaker 2: The Carpenterrea Highway Central anam road that's that will be bitchamized.
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  Speaker 2: There's a progressive work to bitchamize. That will be amazing
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  Speaker 2: to be able to drive all the way to Nulamboy
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  Speaker 2: on Bitchamen one day, you know, and hopefully in the
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: not too distant future. So the road's money is the
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  Speaker 2: big money. And you know Tiger Brennan Drive, there's another
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  Speaker 2: one hundred and eight million to do probably hopefully to
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: finish that Tiger Brenn and Drive overpass. But yeah, nice
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  Speaker 2: roads money. But there's also roads maintenance money. That's one
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  Speaker 2: that I always don't forget because there's about two hundred
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: million for repairs and maintenance.
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  Speaker 1: Well and given the weather that we experience here and
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the issues that we have here. It is money that
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  Speaker 1: does need to be invested.
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  Speaker 2: Oh I know, and you know, I mean I get
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  Speaker 2: reports all the time around potholes. Yeah, people let me know,
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  Speaker 2: and you know they do need to be repaired. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we do know that water gets underneath it, the cars
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: traveling over makes a pothole, and so there's some good
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: money in there for repairs and maintenance and upgrades as well.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Minister, we know as well that there is going to
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  Speaker 1: be quite a significant spend on corrections.
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  Speaker 3: Can you talk me through that?
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  Speaker 2: So yes, again, it was about making sure the budget
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: hit the mark around some of the areas where we
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: have you know, stress points in it. And so with
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: the corrections, it was about first and foremost around additional accommodation,
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: additional prison cells and so there's modular accommodation that will
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: go in in Alice Springs. First of all, we've had
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  Speaker 2: people looking at similar setups in New South Wales for example,
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  Speaker 2: So that will be and I think there's a between
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  Speaker 2: fifty or eighty just off the top of my head,
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  Speaker 2: you know cells that will go in there. So to
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  Speaker 2: provide extra accommodation there's also more money for correctional officers,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: so we know we need more prison officers. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we've had those EBA discussions with the union. They have
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  Speaker 2: told us loudly and clearly they need more prison officers,
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  Speaker 2: more correctional officers. So there's more money that goes into
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  Speaker 2: there as well.
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  Speaker 1: Does that go against, you know, the line from the
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  Speaker 1: Attorney General? You know that jailing is failing if we
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  Speaker 1: are going to be spending such a significant amount on corrections.
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  Speaker 1: I think in fine the community is probably thinking this
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  Speaker 1: isn't a bad announcement because we know that there are
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  Speaker 1: unfortunately lots of issues with crime at the moment. But
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  Speaker 1: does it go against that real jailing spailing line that
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  Speaker 1: the Attorney General users?
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  Speaker 2: That's right, so that that's the work you do is
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  Speaker 2: the treasure you you know, because I'm the one that runs,
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  Speaker 2: you know, the ruler over it basically, And so when
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  Speaker 2: you have you know, your ministers and the agencies coming
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  Speaker 2: to the you you you actually have these strong conversations
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  Speaker 2: with them around this. You know, are you fair thinking
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  Speaker 2: about this? Tell me about that you know all those
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  Speaker 2: But the other side of the coin is yes, you know,
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  Speaker 2: yes we do need to have those things because there
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: are those pressure points. But we have also invested twenty
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: million dollars more into domestic, family and sexual violence. So
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  Speaker 2: again you've probably heard Michael Murphy the Acting Commission. You've
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  Speaker 2: heard that our you know, eighty percent of the people
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  Speaker 2: in our jails are there because of domestic and family violence,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: you know, and I mean, I don't know it's total,
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  Speaker 2: right figure, but it's the large percentage of people in
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  Speaker 2: our jails because of devastation violence. So you put more
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: money into that and hopefully then it's you know that
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  Speaker 2: upstream you can you know, cut off some of those
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  Speaker 2: problems before they start. That's really important as well. The
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  Speaker 2: Aboriginal Justice Agreement, there's about forty million over three years there.
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  Speaker 2: So again that's around what do we do to prevent
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  Speaker 2: people getting to that, you know, about to go over
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  Speaker 2: the cliff, to get into into jail, into trouble. So Minister,
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  Speaker 2: you do as a treasure balance.
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  Speaker 3: Those or treasure.
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  Speaker 1: There is a lot of spending, there's no doubt about that,
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  Speaker 1: and a lot of ways, you know, it is spending
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  Speaker 1: that we need. But how are we going to get
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: back into the black by twenty twenty six, twenty seven.
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  Speaker 2: So two things on that one, Katie, first of all,
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  Speaker 2: and own it is always complex, but we've got an
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  Speaker 2: operating well we're predicting an operating surplus in twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 2: So the operating surplus is the money that the public
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: service spend to keep the place going, so you know, wages,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: leases on buildings, vehicles, all of that. So we'll have
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: an operating surplus we you know, all going well, and
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  Speaker 2: I'll talk more about that by twenty twenty four. But
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  Speaker 2: then there's a fiscal balance surplus. When you put the
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: fiscal word in that is in that in includes the infrastructure. Then,
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: so we've got a big spend of infrastructure. Yes, we
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: have a big spend of infrastructure because you need to
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: keep the economy ticking over. You can't shut shop like
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  Speaker 2: I could not spend any money on infrastructure and our
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: budget position would improve greatly. But you can't do that.
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  Speaker 2: We need the civil contractors, we need people in jobs.
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  Speaker 2: So that fiscal balance surplus that's by twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 2: That will see because we've got this, as I said,
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  Speaker 2: big spend because there's a lot of projects like ship Lift,
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  Speaker 2: Tiger Brenn and drive State Square, the roads funding. Some
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: of that road's funding. All of it is eighty twenty
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  Speaker 2: from the federal government pretty much, so you know, we
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: have to match the twenty percent that the Fed's put
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  Speaker 2: eighty percent in. So we've got this big amount road
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  Speaker 2: of infrastructure. As some of that gets completed, that's when
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  Speaker 2: the fiscal balance deficit comes through. So that's an and
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  Speaker 2: you know that's going to be in twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 2: and it's about I think sixty seven minute and in
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  Speaker 2: the black will be once that happens.
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  Speaker 3: Minister.
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  Speaker 1: One of the questions that a lot of people are
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  Speaker 1: asking this morning as well, we know that that obviously
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  Speaker 1: there are concerns that there isn't enough investment when it
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: comes to community safety. I know that Leofanocchiaro, the opposition leader,
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  Speaker 1: has claimed that you and the Chief Minister are tone
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  Speaker 1: deaf when it comes to crime. With the release of
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: this budget, I've got to say that, you know, we
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: asked the Chief Minister a lot of questions about this
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  Speaker 1: yesterday and a lot of listeners were incredibly frustrated that
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't seem as though those real concerns around community
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  Speaker 1: safety are getting through to the government. Is the government
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  Speaker 1: tone deaf? On this issue of public safety.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, absolutely not. And I will say you there are
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  Speaker 2: fact sheep budget nt dot gov, dot dot gov, dot
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  Speaker 2: AU so you can go and have a look. So
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  Speaker 2: it's all spelled out very carefully there. So, yes, the
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: police have a record police budget. But besides that, there's
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  Speaker 2: been as I said, twenty million that's gone into domestican
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  Speaker 2: family violence, forty million into the Aboriginal Justice Agreement. There's
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  Speaker 2: about twenty five million over three years that have gone
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  Speaker 2: into the youth justice reform areas. There's money that's gone
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  Speaker 2: into correction. So just because the dollars don't necessarily go
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  Speaker 2: into straight into the police budget, and that is a
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  Speaker 2: very blunt instrument, and that's you know, I mean, it's
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  Speaker 2: politics one oh one that Lee is playing, but it
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  Speaker 2: is a blunt instrument. We have put money into other
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  Speaker 2: areas that will impact then the overall picture of how
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  Speaker 2: we keep territory in safe. The other really good news
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  Speaker 2: is the federal government, and we have to work closely
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  Speaker 2: with the federal government. Doesn't matter what color they are
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: and what color their stripes, we work closely with them.
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  Speaker 2: There was an announcement on the weekend of fourteen million
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: dollars going into Central Australia for policing and that's thirty
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: extra police. So combined with what we're doing and the
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: federal government is doing, there's a large amount of money,
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  Speaker 2: probably over a billion dollar that's going into the safety
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  Speaker 2: for territories. There's a fact sheet on the website. Have
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: a look at that so you can get all the details.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, nineteen million dollars for a new police station in
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  Speaker 1: pepper Manati. Some questioning why we're investing such a massive
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: amount of dollars on that for not a real large population.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Well, again you work with the agencies around that. I
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: think anybody that would have looked at very closely some
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: of the social issues that we've got. We have seen
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: in that West Ahnam sorry West Daily area, considerable issues
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: around crime. So you know, I'm not going to go
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: into the details. I'm not the police minister, but we
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: have seen vehicles being stolen from Darwin being driven out
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: into those areas. We've seen we know the ongoing issues
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: with what EI. There have been long term issues. There
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: was someone murdered in pep Manati. It is an area
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: same Daily River. It's an area where we have had
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: substantial crime. We need to have a ongoing permanent police
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  Speaker 2: presence there. Nineteen million dollars for the pep Manati that
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: is also around voq. It's around accommodation also for police there,
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  Speaker 2: and that's the difficulty in the territory. It's like, you know,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: the same with schools. If you have a school in
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: a remote community, you then have to have housing. We
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: know how expensive it is to build housing. So in
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Peppy that nineteen million dollars is for a new police station.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: It's the detention facilities, but it is also a VOQ
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: and it is also housing.
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  Speaker 1: So it sounds like it's a situation where it's sort
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: of trying to deal.
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  Speaker 3: With the issue that's out there.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: So that investment, I'm assuming it is hoped that it
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: will mean that some of those issues that we've seen
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: spill over into the likes of Darwin and other areas.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: People out there feel safer that there are good people.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: It's the same the world over, and it's the same
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: in all our communities. There are very good people who
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: live in these communities, but there are some people in
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: our communities who aren't good, and so we also need
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: to make sure that we're looking after the good people,
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: the people who send their kids to school every day.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: When I look at the attendance figures in our communities,
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: they're not good, but they're inside those figures. There are
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: some really good kids who go to school every single day,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: and their families always do the right thing. They have
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: them up, they have them fed, they're doing the right thing.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: They also need to feel safe in those communities.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: I don't think anyone's disputing that.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: I don't think anyone's disputing that, but I think people
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: sort of get a bit offended when the accusation, you know,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: when people ask these kind of questions that the government
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: sort of reverts back to, you know, to if the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: community asks those questions, almost like making out that we're racist.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: No, Katie, it is about making sure that, yes, we
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: do want to make sure all territories are safe. But
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: I just need to remind people that the people who
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: live in Peppinati, who don't have a police a presence there,
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: a permanent police presence there, they also need to be
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: able to feel safe. So nineteen million dollars is a
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: broad spend, as I said, includes accommodation, but it is
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: also about making sure that you can turn that community around.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: If there's a full time police presence there, you can
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: have police in the schools. You can have the police
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: in the community. They're on the ground, they're hearing, you
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: know what's going on. They can address issues.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: Treasurer, we are going to have to move along. There
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: has been a lot said about the Northern Territory government
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: reaching the forty billion dollar economy by twenty thirty. However,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: the Budget four cast that this is to be about
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: thirteen billion dollars shy of the target by twenty twenty seven.
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: How are you going to reach that forty billion dollars,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: So it.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Was always absolutely a stretch target. But there is lots
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: of things that aren't in the budget. So we've heard
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: recently the spend. So from the Defense review there's about
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: three point eight billion dollars that will for the North
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: of Australia, so a large amount of money from defense,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: and that's solid money that we know that the federal
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: government will spend. There's two point six billion dollars for
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: infrastructure from the federal government, so that's that's the middle arm.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: That's also arrows that money isn't in the budget as well.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: There's also arrofurer resources that's up and running about. They're
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: doing their civil works. There's also the ento oil and
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: gas industry. So there are lots of projects that you
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: know that we haven't included in the budget, and that
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: always happens. Until we get FID or until we get
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: that sign sealed and delivered with the federal government, it's
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: not included. So we're very optimistic about that. That's our
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: target and where I think we'll hit that target. There's
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: lots of good things happening in the territory, Minister. People
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: are feeling positive about the economy.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Let's talk about Alice Springs.
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: I know that we were promised two hundred and fifty
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: million dollars, but it's looking I'm having a look through
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: that breakdown. It's one hundred and fifty five million dollars
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: over five years, and then there's ninety four million dollars.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: It's a contingent in a contingent fund.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Are you disappointed that that's not all being invested immediately?
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: A couple of things on that. So, first and foremost,
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: it was about making sure that you know the consultation,
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: and there's consultation that's happened with government agencies. There's also
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: consultation that's happening with the community. Some of that consultation
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: with the community is ongoing that will nail down that
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: next ninety million dollars. I've had a lot of input
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: obviously into the forty million dollars for education, and that's
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: a really good news story. That will go to the
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: schools and that will bring the schools up to their
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: full resource allocation. So a really positive news for education.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: But there are ongoing discussions around how all of that
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: money should be spent and that once it's done, that
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: money will roll out.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: But it is correct that there's ninety four million dollars
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: in a contingency.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's one hundred and fifty that's been really
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: clearly in marked forty million. As I said, I've had
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: strong discussions with Jason Claire. The other agencies as well
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: have mutual discussions. So forty million has been nailed down
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: around education some of the other dollars and you can
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: see that on the list where they will be spent.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: But there's ninety million dollars where there's still some ongoing
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: discussions around where that's what that should be focused on.
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: You know, So there's things like boarding facilities, have been
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: talked about a lot. We do need to do some
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: more conversations around that to make sure it's money well spent.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: So that's still consultation happening.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: But so it is going to happen that ninety four
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: or ninety million order is going to be spent.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: Is that what you're saying?
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: I reckon, Marion scrimdaw will be making sure of that.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: I really want to argue with Marion scrimdaw me.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: Minister before I let you go.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Another arm told up last night that follows a sixty
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: one year old man being stabbed in his home yesterday
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: during the day. Territorians are feeling really sad and I
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: think pretty deflated at the moment that they feel in
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: a lot of ways, particularly after hearing from the Chief
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: Minister yesterday that they're know for the plans to try
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: to fix their very serious concerns around public safety. What
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: would you say to Territorians to give them some hope
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that the government does understand those concerns and that they're
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: going to see some change.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, Katie is absolutely shocking. Nobody wants to see
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: any crime at all in the territory. As I said,
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: it is a terrible thing. And you know, every time
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: I hear a story around crime in the Northern Territory, yeah,
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: it breaks your heart to hear that. I was born
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: and bred territory. You know, we all remember the days
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: where we didn't hear about crime, so it is absolutely
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: shocking to hear that. But I can assure territories that,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: like in our budget, there's a lot of money that's
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: going in to actually address these issues. But it is
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: everybody having to do their job in a firm focused
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: way and that includes ngngos as well as government agencies
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: and government ministers. So you know, more money into education,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: well that means getting every single kid to school so
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: that you can make sure that a kid that's going
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: to school is doing the right thing, they're learning right
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: and wrong, all of those sorts of things. So you know,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: but again, you put in legislation, you work with the police.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: It's a constant work to keep ahead of the issues
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: around crime, and the Territory.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Minister just finally a couple of messages coming through people
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: saying Katie, it's great to build a police station out
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: in the remote community, but are we going to have
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: enough police to be able to man it.
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so that was one of the good things that
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: is in the budget as well. There's three million dollars
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: for the health and wellbeing of police and I think
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: that's a really important one. We hear the story that
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: there are police that are on sickly, that there are
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: police that are feeling undervalued, that their families are feeling
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: the stresses as well. So there's some good money there
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: for police to work on the health and wellbeing of
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: the police force. And I think I see that as
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: a preventative measure method as well as a measure to
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: get people back into the workforce. That's some good money
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: there into the police. But as I said, the federal
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: government also have put more police into Central Australia. We've
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: given police a really solid budget. Again, then that's up
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: to the Acting Commissioner to make sure that's used judiciously,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: that it hits the mark around that well.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Treasurer for the Northern Territory, Eva Laula really appreciate your
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: time this morning.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: Thank you for speaking with us.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Katie, thank you