Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson expects alcohol restrictions in the town will be extended and says the cap on transactions needs remain in place

Transcript

Alice Springs Mayor Matt Paterson expects alcohol restrictions in the town will be extended and says the cap on transactions needs remain in place · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: On Friday, we spoke about Alice Springs assault data demonstrating
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: evidence of effectiveness of alcohol restrictions. That was according to
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: doctor John Boffer. Now those restrictions are due to end
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: well this week end. And joining me on the line
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  Speaker 1: is the mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Patterson. Good morning, Matt.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Well then, Katie, thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, thank you so much for your time that firstly,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: how are things going in Alice right now since those
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: alcohol restrictions were introduced?
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Look, God, those things have calmed down. Certainly have calmed down.
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  Speaker 2: I think obviously stats have gone down. It's because we
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: were at the ceiling in the summer. So I think
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: what also we need to remember is this time of year,
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  Speaker 2: our crime always dips because of the weather, and we
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: just need to take that into consideration. However, in saying that,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: the level of public drunkenness and just obstructiveness from members
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: of the public is certainly lower, and I think that
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  Speaker 2: that is greatly appreciated by other members of the community
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: doing the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon it would be. I mean, you had
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  Speaker 1: such a tough time that honestly everyone was thinking to themselves, Look,
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  Speaker 1: can I only get better. I'm glad that it's gotten better,
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  Speaker 1: but as you said, you know, you were looking at
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  Speaker 1: stats that were sky high, so the only way really
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  Speaker 1: to go was down.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. And remembering it is it's pretty cold
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  Speaker 2: at the moment, Katie, and we always know that this
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  Speaker 2: time of year we get a bit of a breather
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  Speaker 2: as a town, and so we just, you know, we
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  Speaker 2: just want to make sure that the government are putting
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: things in place for the summer school holidays now so
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  Speaker 2: that that ball is rolling by the time summer comes
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  Speaker 2: around and we're not caught flat footed again. Because I said,
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  Speaker 2: we do appreciate the breather. The restrictions are obviously making
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  Speaker 2: somewhat of a difference, and we'll just see how it
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  Speaker 2: goes from here.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Matt, my understanding is that the date of eden
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: of those restrictions is the first of July. What do
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  Speaker 1: you think is going to happen and what do you
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  Speaker 1: want to happen?
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  Speaker 2: My gut tells and catered that they will be extended.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: But I say that with you know, I say that
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  Speaker 2: there's an uneducated opinion on this medicaid. I think that
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  Speaker 2: they'll extend it through it's hard to understand, because if
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: this a raft of changes, it's hard to know which
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  Speaker 2: one works. And I've said to you many times that
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  Speaker 2: they can't take away the one transaction per person per
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  Speaker 2: day that needs to stay in regardless of other changes
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  Speaker 2: they make. They need to keep that one in, regardless
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  Speaker 2: of any other restrictions that they wish to remove. Whenever
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: they do that, they need to keep one transaction per
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: person per day.
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  Speaker 1: What do you think though, Like, do you reckon that? Realistically?
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  Speaker 1: You do need to continue to have those couple of
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  Speaker 1: days a week where alcohol can't be accessed. It does
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  Speaker 1: seem to be creating a bit of a repeat, a
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  Speaker 1: reprieve for the police, you know, for everybody at this
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  Speaker 1: point in time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, but I think at some stage it will go
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: back to normality. I mean, probably doesn't work. We know that.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: And I think if it was working then, and with
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: all due respect, Tenant Creek would be, you know, the
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: the Golden Arching have. Look, this works, it's not working there.
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  Speaker 2: I think it was the immediate circuit backer that we
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: all needed, But I don't think that it's going to
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: be the answer to all things moving forward.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Matt, talk me through some of the changes which you've seen,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: which you do think are having a great impact.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: In regards to the Ocho re sytem.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, no knowing in regards to everything, I guess
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  Speaker 1: it's been happening. We've spoken before about the Lura Tipper
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  Speaker 1: patrols and also spoken about that surge in place too.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I think that that is such a low hanging
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  Speaker 2: fruit that's been really well received by the public. Is
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: just the passive surveillance of people in uniform, whether that
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: is police I'm now doing proactive patrolling or static patrolling,
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  Speaker 2: and as well as Lura tip of being out and
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  Speaker 2: I think that when people see someone in uniform, there
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  Speaker 2: is a sense of safety and I think that that's
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  Speaker 2: having a very positive impact. And I think if you
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  Speaker 2: speak to CBD traders in the Todd Mole, they also
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: are seeing the impact. And I mean that's first hand.
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  Speaker 2: People live in the Todd Mall. They're also seeing the
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  Speaker 2: impact of it. So we need to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: that continues on. I think the other pieces. We're seeing
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: less DV and that can be down to the alcohol restrictions.
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  Speaker 2: It means that we're seeing more police as well on
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  Speaker 2: the street, and I think that that's a positive impact.
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  Speaker 2: We're not having place off the street with DV cases.
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  Speaker 1: Now, what are your plans sort of this week? Are
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  Speaker 1: you going to be speaking to the government. Are you
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  Speaker 1: going to be having meetings to sort of work out
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  Speaker 1: where to in terms of those restrictions as they do
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  Speaker 1: look like they're well, you know, hopefully going to be extended,
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  Speaker 1: I guess is what many people are looking at or
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  Speaker 1: hoping for. But what's the plan this week?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we'll reach I'll reach out to the
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  Speaker 2: government and you know, obviously met with the government through
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  Speaker 2: the game last week. We'll keep those those lines open
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  Speaker 2: as we always always do as a council, and just
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  Speaker 2: you know, I try to understand they're thinking and moving forward.
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  Speaker 2: But look, I think that it's just a balance, you know,
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  Speaker 2: let's not remove them all at the same time. Let's
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  Speaker 2: just make sure we remove the ones that we think
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  Speaker 2: are working, that keep the ones in that are working.
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  Speaker 1: Matt, Before I let you go, we are due to
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: catch up with Daniel Rochford in Alice Springs as well.
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  Speaker 1: But a little earlier on the show, we were talking
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  Speaker 1: about these revelations by the Quanta's boss or these discussions.
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  Speaker 1: I guess you would say that he's had over the weekend,
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  Speaker 1: saying that you know that top end flights had returned
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  Speaker 1: to pre COVID levels, but Alice Springs was lagging because
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: of crime. It's in contrast to what we've sort of
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  Speaker 1: heard from the government at this point. We know that
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  Speaker 1: crime has had an impact in Alice Springs, but just
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  Speaker 1: how big an impact do you think it is having
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to people traveling from other locations.
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that is. You know, people have read
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  Speaker 2: about Alice Springs on the front page of the paper
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  Speaker 2: and have been used as a political football, and perception
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  Speaker 2: in turn becomes reality for many people. I urge listeners,
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  Speaker 2: you know, from across the country to come to our springs.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: I don't think that it's very beneficial for the CEO
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  Speaker 2: of a organization such as Quantas to sort of throw
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  Speaker 2: us under the bus. But we'll have those I'll have
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  Speaker 2: those conversations privately with Quantus and I won't air Dirtyandrey
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  Speaker 2: with Quantus, you know, on radio. But I think that
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  Speaker 2: you know, obviously, we need assistance, We need a systems
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  Speaker 2: from the government to rebound. We've had a tough time
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  Speaker 2: of it. We just need all the help we can get.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't think it's beneficial when Alan Joyce is
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  Speaker 2: saying that it's all everyone else's fault because in fact
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  Speaker 2: that you know, we know how expensive prices are to
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  Speaker 2: fly into our springs and that's been around long, long,
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  Speaker 2: long before this crime crisis was on the front page
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  Speaker 2: of every newspaper in the country.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this is the thing. And I mean every time
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: that you guys in Alice Springs have spoken out is
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  Speaker 1: because you've actually needed that help. You've actually needed you know,
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  Speaker 1: the government to step up, the federal government to step up.
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  Speaker 1: You've needed that assistance to make sure that Alice Springs
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  Speaker 1: is the bus place that it deserves to be.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right, Katie. I don't wake up on Monday
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  Speaker 2: morning and go who can I upset this week and
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  Speaker 2: I'm feeling a bit bored. I want to talk about this.
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  Speaker 2: It's just the reality that people were you know, people
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  Speaker 2: felt unsafe and we needed help. But we also need
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: help with promoting our tourism market in Central Australia because
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: we are a tourism destination. So it's just one of
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: the things that we all sort of need to work
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  Speaker 2: together for Alic Springs's future to make sure we can
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  Speaker 2: address it. And I look forward to working with QUANTAS
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  Speaker 2: to address those concerns.
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  Speaker 1: Well Mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Patterson. Always good to
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  Speaker 1: catch up with you. Thanks so much for your time today.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: Good don you, Katie, Thanks, thank you,