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Katie Woolf spoke with Member for Brennan Marie-Clare Boothby · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Are we here at Mixed one O four point nine.
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  Speaker 1: We are starting a new segment on the show in
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  Speaker 1: an effort for you all to really get to know
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  Speaker 1: some of the new members of Parliament on all sides
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  Speaker 1: of the political fence of course, and we know that well,
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  Speaker 1: we know that we want to get to know those
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  Speaker 1: back benches, but it's not just about getting to know
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  Speaker 1: the back benches. It's also about getting to know what's
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: going on in the different electorates around the Northern territory.
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  Speaker 2: And to kick things.
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  Speaker 1: Off this morning, well it is the new COLP Member
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  Speaker 1: for Brennan, Maray Claire booth Be Good morning.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, and good morning to everyone tuning in.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us this morning and to
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  Speaker 1: big congratulations of course on becoming the Member for Brennan.
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  Speaker 2: How have the first few weeks been going?
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  Speaker 3: Really great? Yeah, really great.
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  Speaker 4: It's really just a flow on from the last twelve
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  Speaker 4: months and in terms of the campaigning that I undertook.
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  Speaker 4: So it's settling into the office and making sure people
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  Speaker 4: know that that's where I am sometimes, but to be honest,
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  Speaker 4: I've still been out and about quite a bit as well.
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  Speaker 4: Had my pizza in the park also recently designed our
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  Speaker 4: first newsletter to get out to the electorate to let
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  Speaker 4: people know what's going on. So it really has been
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  Speaker 4: a continuation of the last twelve months for me.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean, what have you been doing to
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  Speaker 1: sort of try to settle into the role because it
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  Speaker 1: must be I mean, like you said, some of it
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  Speaker 1: is a continuation, but it must be a little bit
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  Speaker 1: daunting as well, I guess, stepping into the role and
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  Speaker 1: try to get your head around everything.
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  Speaker 4: Yet not really, because it has actually been twelve months
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  Speaker 4: of almost being like a local member. The only difference
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  Speaker 4: is that I was in my car, being completely mobile,
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  Speaker 4: without any office space as such to be able to
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  Speaker 4: spread out, so it was all spread out in my
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  Speaker 4: kitchen table.
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  Speaker 3: So that's probably been the biggest difference.
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  Speaker 4: To be able to have a space that I can
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  Speaker 4: call home, like a base if you like, and that allows.
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  Speaker 3: For even more people to drop by.
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  Speaker 4: And because I'm in the Parmesan shopping center, I do
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  Speaker 4: get a lot of visitors, which is fabulous, and they
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  Speaker 4: continue to share with me all the things that are
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  Speaker 4: going on their lives.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, this is the main aim, I guess of
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  Speaker 1: this segment that we want to kick off each each
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  Speaker 1: and every week is not only finding out a bit
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  Speaker 1: more about some of our new members of Parliament, but
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  Speaker 1: really finding out about what some of the issues are
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  Speaker 1: in the electorate in which you represent. I mean, during
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  Speaker 1: the election campaign, no doubt you would have had a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people coming to you talking.
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  Speaker 2: To you about their various concerns.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm sure that that has continued on what are
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  Speaker 1: the big concerns in the electorate of Brennan and how
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  Speaker 1: do you think you'll get stuck into trying to tackle those?
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  Speaker 4: Sure then, Katie, well, yeah, as you said, it is
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  Speaker 4: a continuation and I did spend the twelve months out
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  Speaker 4: in the doors, door knocking over and over so to
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  Speaker 4: get to meet literally thousands of people, and the overwhelming
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  Speaker 4: common theme from those people was the problem with youth
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  Speaker 4: crime in the area. Definitely number one, because what they
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  Speaker 4: feel is that they don't feel safe in their own
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  Speaker 4: homes anymore, which is really sad. And you know, there
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  Speaker 4: are stories and things. I'll give you an example a
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  Speaker 4: story just to really hit at home is that one
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  Speaker 4: couple that I met who are still working but they're
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  Speaker 4: nearing retirement. They came home from work one day and
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  Speaker 4: they found their front window, smash glass everywhere, and as
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  Speaker 4: they walked through the door, they found their whole house
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  Speaker 4: completely upturned. Someone had been in there and destroyed everything.
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  Speaker 4: Not just that, but they'd also cut themselves on the
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  Speaker 4: way through the windows, so there was blood everywhere. And
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  Speaker 4: those same people they went through all their belongings and
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  Speaker 4: they had to throw out many of those items, which
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  Speaker 4: is just heartbreaking. And so then they had to go
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  Speaker 4: on and install a heap of security measures and all
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  Speaker 4: the burden was placed on the victim in that case,
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  Speaker 4: and they felt like nothing had happened and nothing was
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  Speaker 4: being done about the perpetrators.
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  Speaker 2: How long a though did that happen? Is that a
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  Speaker 2: recent one?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Well, this couple i'd met was that was actually
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  Speaker 4: the second time i'd met them, so it was only
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  Speaker 4: in the last six months, because I've met them about
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  Speaker 4: six months prior. And that's what actually said to me,
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  Speaker 4: you know, since the last time you were here, this
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  Speaker 4: is what's happened to us.
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  Speaker 1: Goodness may and you know, these are the types of
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  Speaker 1: stories that we hear. These are the types of issues
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  Speaker 1: that people are genuinely dealing with, and it's really tough,
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  Speaker 1: you know, Like you said, then if they're feeling as
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  Speaker 1: though they as victims, not really, you know, I suppose
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  Speaker 1: being looked after or treated in the way that they
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  Speaker 1: may hope. That's a real concern and no doubt something
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  Speaker 1: that you'll want to really get stuck into. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely, And what I find and have found the last
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  Speaker 4: twelve months is meeting these people. They feel like they
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  Speaker 4: don't have a voice, but they're also sometimes in a
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  Speaker 4: circumstance where they can't have a voice and they're quite
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  Speaker 4: fearful of speaking up. And so that's how I think
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  Speaker 4: that my role and other local members, that's our role,
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  Speaker 4: is to be that voice and to keep pushing for
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  Speaker 4: the change that we need so that those people do
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  Speaker 4: feel safe in their own homes.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, So what are the first steps going to be
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  Speaker 1: for you in terms of really trying to deal with
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  Speaker 1: that issue of youth crime and trying to help some
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  Speaker 1: of these families and individuals that you're talking to.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, definitely being the voice and being able to
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  Speaker 4: push on those issues, so to communicate frequently as those
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  Speaker 4: issues arise and people come to me with the ministers
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  Speaker 4: that are responsible for those those portfolios, and then of
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  Speaker 4: course always just bringing it up in parliament. As well,
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  Speaker 4: and it really is just keep fighting. I met sev
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  Speaker 4: people that would they had this sense of hopelessness, and
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  Speaker 4: they said, well, what can be done? What can you do?
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  Speaker 4: Surely there's nothing you can do? And I wanted to
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  Speaker 4: give them hope, and I said, we cannot give up.
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  Speaker 4: To keep trying, and we know that it's complex, but
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  Speaker 4: there are some simple things that really can happen, for example,
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  Speaker 4: changing the law so that there are some consequences for
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  Speaker 4: these people that break the law.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what shadow portfolios did you pick up?
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  Speaker 4: So I picked up tourism and hospitality yep, small business,
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  Speaker 4: jobs and training, racing, gaming and licensing on women.
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  Speaker 2: Excellent.
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  Speaker 1: And how are you feeling about tackling those portfolios?
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  Speaker 4: I am excited, genuinely. It is daunting, of course, because
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  Speaker 4: it's a big, a big mix of things there. For me,
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  Speaker 4: it is definitely my sphere of what I'm interested in
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  Speaker 4: and what I'm experienced in. Someone did joke to me
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  Speaker 4: saying said, oh, You've got the fun portfolios, but unfortunately
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  Speaker 4: at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: It doesn't feel that way.
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  Speaker 4: They're really tough right now, especially the tourism and jobs
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  Speaker 4: and training.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, yeah, they're very tough portfolios.
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  Speaker 1: I would say, and then when you look at business
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  Speaker 1: and you know some of the issues that businesses are
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  Speaker 1: struggling with at the moment, I think they'll be really
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  Speaker 1: tough ones to get into, but ones that are really important,
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  Speaker 1: and no doubt you'll be focusing and spending plenty of
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  Speaker 1: time trying to learn as much as you can about
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  Speaker 1: those portfolios and how you can get into it.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think the biggest thing is that people
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  Speaker 4: need to know they can talk to me about the
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  Speaker 4: issues that they're facing. And because of my background in
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  Speaker 4: small business and I was the chair of Territory Proud
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  Speaker 4: as well, which was four hundred local businesses, I do
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  Speaker 4: have a really good sense of what's going on because
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  Speaker 4: people four years have been telling me and sadly, the
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  Speaker 4: challenges that were happening four years ago with the making
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  Speaker 4: it really difficult to operate a business in the territory
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  Speaker 4: is no different today. And that's a really simple thing
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  Speaker 4: that can be fixed right away. So I'll be fighting
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  Speaker 4: for that.
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  Speaker 1: What would you say are the biggest challenges for small
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  Speaker 1: businesses right now?
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  Speaker 3: What they're telling me is it's the red tape.
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  Speaker 4: So these are smart business operators that know how to
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  Speaker 4: provide a great service and a great customer experience. Yet
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  Speaker 4: they need to continue to provide so many more details
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  Speaker 4: to different governments to be able to continue to operate well.
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  Speaker 1: Maury Claire Boothby, it has been great speaking to you
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  Speaker 1: this morning and great for us to get to know
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  Speaker 1: one of the new members of Parliament. I'm not sure
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  Speaker 1: which electorate will go to next week, but it's going
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  Speaker 1: to be fun getting to know everybody. We really appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning and appreciate you coming in. Do
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  Speaker 1: keep in contact with us whenever there's something going on
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  Speaker 1: in your electorate that you reckon, we need to know about.
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  Speaker 2: And we'll be doing the same.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That was Mary Claire Boothby there, who is of course
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  Speaker 1: the colp's well new member for Brennan, and as I said,
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  Speaker 1: we'll be catching up with the new with some of
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  Speaker 1: the new faces that we are going to see in
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory Parliament. I think it's incredibly important for us
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  Speaker 1: all to get to know all of our new members
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  Speaker 1: of Parliament and for some of you out there that
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  Speaker 1: you know, maybe aren't as interested in politics and don't
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  Speaker 1: know a huge amount about the people that have been
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  Speaker 1: elected in those different areas for you to find out
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  Speaker 1: more about them, their backgrounds and what they stand for.