Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Obviously I mentioned in the opener this morning this tragic
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: situation in Queensland, as many of you would have heard about,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: where we've seen a couple their lives taken allegedly killed
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: by a seventeen year old who was out on bail.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Now he has since been charged with two counts of murder.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: The discussion in Queensland's now turned to strengthening bail laws.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: The Queensland Premier said the government would consider changing the
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: law further if needed. She said, the first thing is
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: there will be a full coronial inquiry and of course
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: too this young man is now on murder charges and
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: there'll be a full court case. There will be a
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: thorough police investigation. That's what the Premier, Anastasia Palichet said.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: In Queensland. Now, we put the question yesterday without knowing
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: that this had happened, just with our own issues with
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: youth crime here in the territory, to the Chief Minister
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: whether he would change the bail laws around the presumption
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: of well, the presumption of bail, but so basically unlike
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: in the Northern well, unlike here in the Northern Territory,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Queensland has a presumption against bail, but somehow this person,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: obviously on bail, has still taken the lives of two
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: innocent people. Now, I think the tragedy really does open
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: up that discussion around Australia about whether we need to
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: change the way that we deal with these bail laws
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: when we're talking about youths. Now joining me on the
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: line to talk further about this is Robin Lamley, the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: member for our lun Good morning to you, Robin.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie wolf Aom congratulations.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Robin. That's very kind.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Now, I tell you what it looks as though you
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and I were thinking the same thing this morning. I
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: know that you've just issued a press release saying that
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the horrific and tragic killing of two innocent pedestrians in
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Queensland yesterday, allegedly by a juvenile in a stolen car,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: should be a major wake up call for the Northern
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Territory government and our seriously escalating problem of youth crime
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: across the Northern Territory.
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: Robin, tell me what you think needs to happen here.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Well. A few months ago, Katie, we had a similar
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: incident in Alice Springs. A man was writing his bike
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: home from work at night and he was killed by
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: a juvenile in a car. His name was Shane Powell.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: And I guess part of the media release I put
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: out this morning was to compare the response of Anastasia Palichet,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: who immediately provided leadership and said we will consider changing
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: laws so this sort of thing doesn't happen. Comparing her
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: response to the response of our Chief Minister, who pretty
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: much said it was a very sad and tragic incident and.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: That was it.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: This should be a major wake up call. What happened
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: in Queensland should be a major wake up call for
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: the Northern Miritory government. Things are completely out of control
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: in Alice Springs. We've had the most horrific crime stats
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: delivered to us last week. I think it was over
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: the proceeding twelve months, and crime is just escalating out
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: of control. So I guess my point is, can it
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: get any worse before this government actually starts to take
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: the approach that Anastagia paliche described, and that is to
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: look at what's happening here and to strengthen our laws.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: She said, we absolutely will, she said, strengthen our laws.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: We've heard nothing like that from Gunner at all.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: And Robin yesterday, before I even had any detail of
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: this terrible tragedy in Queenslight, we had the Chief Minister
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: on the show. I actually asked him about about our
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: bail laws figures and whether he'd look.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: At changing anything.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I asked for a yes no answer, and he said no,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: nothing will be changed now. That followed on, of course,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: from the news over the weekend in Alice that twenty
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: five unlawful entries I believe had occurred.
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: I just don't know what else.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: We can do as a community to really get the
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: message through to the government at the moment that we're
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: really concerned about this and enough's enough.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Well, I think mister Gunner is he's shut down. He's
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: not a very smart individual to begin with. But when
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: you see things like this happen, when you see crime
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: escalating not just in Alice Springs but right across the
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Northern Territory and people losing their lives and people packing
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: up and leaving the territory in droves because of it,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: you can't just put your head in the sand, and
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: that's what he's doing. I think he's wedded to the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: recommendations of the Royal Commission into Child Protection and Juvenile Justice.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: I think he thinks that if he follows that to
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: the letter, then in the long term things will come good.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: But in the meantime the place is falling apart. You
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: just can't take that narrow, black and white approach. You
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: have to, like Atastasia Palachet has done, you have to
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: be realistic. You have to look at what's not working,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: and there's plenty that's not working in the Northern Territory well.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: And you know, I think the point really well worth
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: making this morning is we both know that Anastasia Palichet
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: is obviously a labor leader. You know, she's with the
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Australian Labor Party. She stepped out, she's obviously done exactly
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: what needed to be done in this case in Queensland
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: and said that they need to take a really close
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: look at this following on from the tragedy. And I
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: think that realistically across Australia we need to be taking
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: a closer look at the way that we're doing things
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: when it comes to to use bail laws.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. A man lost his life in Alice Springs on
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the twenty second of October last year, just a few
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: months ago, under virtually the same circumstances. We need to
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: take action. The Northern Territory government, the Attorney General, Selina Ubo,
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: the Health Minister, the Police Minister, Manison and Gunner. They
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: need to take action. We cannot tolerate this any longer.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: We have all had enough, Katie. It's things are falling
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: apart down here and I just feel so badly for
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: the police that are subjected to this legislation that allows
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: these kids back on the street within a couple of
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: hours of them being apprehended. It must be completely and
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: utterly demoralizing. Things are so broken in the Northern Territory.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Like most of us, just feel completely gutted to sit
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: back and watch things the way they are and the
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: prospect of them getting even worse.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: Robin.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: We did actually, just a little while ago heard from
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Daniel Rochford, the CEO of Tourism Central Australia, and he
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: spoke about his concerns around tourism and also spoke about
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: the issues that you've got in Central Australia with crime, Robin.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: I know that the NT News is reporting today that
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister has written to the Allice Springstown Council
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: encouraging them to provide activities for youths to address the
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: art of controlled crime problem in the town. Obviously, well,
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: I'm certainly guessing that you do not feel that this
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: is the right response.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Look, I think that's just petty politics. Ganna has had
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: a problem with the Alice Springs Council for years now
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: because of this deadlock they've found themselves in over this
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: gallery that we probably will never ever see. Are wasting
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: his time writing a bloody letter, useless letter to the
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Alice Springs Council to that effect, really just epitomizes how
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: useless this bloke is. You know, use your time, Michael
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Gunner to look at the legislation. We are there. We
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: are members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. Our job
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: is to legislate to the benefit of Territorians. Don't waste
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: your bloody time. I'm sorry, but I'm so wild about this.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: So I just think it's, you know, it's he's tried
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: to deflect attention and responsibility away from himself when in
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: fact he is the Chief Minister. He presides over all
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: the mechanisms we have pretty much to keep people safe
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory, and he's wasting his time playing
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: petty politics with the mayor of Alice Springs will get
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: over it and start doing things that will make a
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: real difference changing the legislation. So these kids kind of
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: immediately get out on bail and reascend and potentially kill
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: people and kill themselves or harm themselves. I mean, we're
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: in such a mess, Katie. It really is quite a
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: desperate and horrific situation that we're facing in Alice Springs
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: that I suspect more broadly across the Northern Territory.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Robin, look, I can understand your absolute disappointment at
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: this point in time. You and I have spoken about
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: this issue on so many occasions. Look, the phone lines
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: have lit up, so I am going to have to
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: get ready to wrap up.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: But Robin, just.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Very quickly, can I just say one thing. Sure, congratulations
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: for getting this award, Katie. You hold each and every
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: one of us in that Northern Territory Legislative Assembly accountable,
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: give us a hard time and get the best possible
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: results from us. Katie, that's why people like you. And
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: keep up the good work thanking me on that list.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Thank you very much, And I know that you and
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: I have certainly had some you know.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: Some barbed exchanges.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Exactly it does, and I really, you know, I try
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: my best to hold everybody to account. I know that
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: sometimes it can be tough for you guys coming on
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: this show, especially if you know I'm going to give
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: you a touch up for it.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, and you hold us to account and
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: give us a hard time, Katie, thank.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: You, Robin. I appreciate your call.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Robin. We'll talk to you again soon. And well,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: look the phone lines have lit up. A lot of
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you are wondering this morning exactly what the differentiation is
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: between the Queensland bail laws and the Northern Territory bail
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: laws when it comes to youths.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Maddie, Hepwork's going to be.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: In just after ten o'clock, so we might go through
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: that a little bit more with him.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: I need to take a closer look.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: But my understanding at this point in time is that
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory, obviously we spoke about this
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: yesterday with the Chief Minister Michael Gunner. Understanding is that
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory there is the presumption of
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: bail unless you've committed a prescribed offense. That's my understanding
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: that there is the presumption of bail. Now following on
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: from an interview that I heard with the Premiere of Queensland,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Anastasia Palichet, earlier this morning. The difference with them is
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: that there isn't the presumption of bail. But tragically this
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: incident in Queensland still happen. So their laws, as I understand,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: are actually tougher than ouse.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: But like I said, I am going.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: To double check that because they did actually so, the
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Queensland government, they did strengthen their laws recently to obviously
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: go against that presumption of bail for youths, to not
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: have that presumption of bail unlike us.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: Here in the territory. I think that this is really
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: opened up a.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Discussion that we need to be having all around Australia
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: at the moment.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Is it appropriate that.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: A use if they break the law, and if they're
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: continuing to break the law, are allowed and they have
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: that presumption of bail. Is that appropriate? So many of
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: you are saying to us that no, it's not