Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Nicole Manison
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: You're listening to Mix one oh four point nine's three sixty. Now,
- 0:03Speaker 1: there have been quite a few issues that we've been
- 0:05Speaker 1: keen to cover off on with the police, Minister Nicole Manison,
- 0:09Speaker 1: and I'm joined I'm pleased to say that I'm joined
- 0:12Speaker 1: by her on the show this morning.
- 0:14Speaker 2: Good morning, Minister.
- 0:16Speaker 3: Good morning Katie.
- 0:17Speaker 2: Minister.
- 0:17Speaker 1: I might start with the topic which has been high
- 0:20Speaker 1: on the agenda for some time now, youth crime. Just
- 0:23Speaker 1: yesterday police revealed that they're on the hunt for two
- 0:26Speaker 1: teenagers who allegedly robbed and assaulted an employee at a
- 0:30Speaker 1: store in Catherine. On Monday, we heard of an eighty
- 0:33Speaker 1: year old woman having her bag stolen from inside Casarina
- 0:37Speaker 1: by a fifteen year old.
- 0:39Speaker 2: Last week in Alice Springs.
- 0:40Speaker 1: A man in his sixties had his wallet stolen before
- 0:43Speaker 1: being knocked to the ground, and two older women were
- 0:46Speaker 1: targeted by teens in Alice, one of those at an
- 0:49Speaker 1: eighty m Minister, is it as clear to you as
- 0:53Speaker 1: it seems to be two other Territorians that we've got
- 0:56Speaker 1: a real issue right now in the NT with some
- 0:59Speaker 1: young peace who've got no regard for others or the law.
- 1:04Speaker 3: So I think you've put it right there, how you
- 1:06Speaker 3: said some young people. We've got about two hundred and
- 1:09Speaker 3: fifty thousand people in the Northern Territory and we do
- 1:11Speaker 3: have youths that do absolutely the wrong thing. And in
- 1:14Speaker 3: this case, these youths have completely done the wrong thing.
- 1:17Speaker 3: I'm glad to say that police in most of these
- 1:20Speaker 3: cases have caught these offenders. They're dealing with these offenders,
- 1:25Speaker 3: but it is totally unacceptable what they have done. It's
- 1:28Speaker 3: important to remember there are a lot of good kids
- 1:30Speaker 3: out there. Most kids are good. However, those that do
- 1:33Speaker 3: fall into the pathway of crime, they're either got to
- 1:35Speaker 3: face consequences for their actions or if we think we
- 1:38Speaker 3: can turn them around, we're going to try to turn
- 1:39Speaker 3: them around.
- 1:40Speaker 1: Do you reckon some of these kids or some of
- 1:42Speaker 1: these young people at the moment are targeting our seniors.
- 1:47Speaker 3: I was not impressed over the last two weeks to
- 1:49Speaker 3: see that we've had a few incidents in our springs
- 1:52Speaker 3: and also to see the one that happened at Casarine
- 1:54Speaker 3: earlier this week, which was probably the most despicable act.
- 1:57Speaker 3: When young people target the vulnerable, olderly people. Again, they
- 2:02Speaker 3: are being dealt with, but you know, I think they're
- 2:04Speaker 3: just being very opportunistic. It's weak, it's pathetic. It is
- 2:08Speaker 3: a really low and scumming thing to do when you
- 2:11Speaker 3: go and target a vulnerable elderly person.
- 2:14Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't think of anything much worse, to be
- 2:16Speaker 1: honest with you, Like you said, it's low. It doesn't
- 2:19Speaker 1: get much lower. I don't think, Minister cletely agree.
- 2:22Speaker 3: It just makes my blood boil, Katie when I think
- 2:25Speaker 3: about my own grandparents, people that are older in my electorate,
- 2:29Speaker 3: and to think of people doing that, so you know,
- 2:31Speaker 3: they are dealt with through through the consequences that are
- 2:34Speaker 3: in place, but you know it's completely unacceptable.
- 2:37Speaker 2: Minister.
- 2:38Speaker 1: It's clear that this is a complex issue. I think
- 2:40Speaker 1: that we all understand that. And last night we know
- 2:43Speaker 1: that there was a fifteen year old who had to
- 2:45Speaker 1: be taken into custody intoxicated after spitting on police. The
- 2:49Speaker 1: police says she didn't have family to care for her.
- 2:53Speaker 1: In another incident, a seventeen year old was stabbed in
- 2:56Speaker 1: what's been described as a domestic dispute in Karama. Minister,
- 3:01Speaker 1: we've heard from the Chief Minister, the Attorney General and
- 3:04Speaker 1: others on your team that generational change is what is
- 3:07Speaker 1: needed in this space, but it's very clear that there
- 3:09Speaker 1: needs to be some kind of stop gap right now.
- 3:12Speaker 1: Is it a priority for you as a police minister
- 3:15Speaker 1: or do you think that people just need to be
- 3:17Speaker 1: confident with the changes that the government which you're part of,
- 3:20Speaker 1: are trying to implement.
- 3:23Speaker 3: Well, there are the short term measures in place, the
- 3:26Speaker 3: medium term and the long term. That's when you start
- 3:28Speaker 3: talking about generational change. That's fifteen year old story. I
- 3:31Speaker 3: haven't been briefed up on the full story there, but
- 3:34Speaker 3: from what I've seen in the media, I was quite
- 3:36Speaker 3: alarming to see that they couldn't find someone responsible to
- 3:38Speaker 3: take care of them. There's a lot about the situation
- 3:41Speaker 3: that they're in and seventeen year olds, you know, they're
- 3:44Speaker 3: practically adults. They can you know, to hear that they're
- 3:48Speaker 3: in a domestic dispute and weapons are involved, also very
- 3:51Speaker 3: very concerning. But make no mistake, Katie, the short term
- 3:55Speaker 3: work that we're doing is making sure we've got more
- 3:57Speaker 3: police resources out there to deal with those of thes,
- 4:00Speaker 3: just to catch them and make sure that they get
- 4:02Speaker 3: put through the system of consequences or if we think
- 4:05Speaker 3: that they can be turned around, like I said, go
- 4:07Speaker 3: through a process where we can get them on a
- 4:09Speaker 3: better pathway in life that we put them through some
- 4:12Speaker 3: of those programs too, if their offending does not require
- 4:16Speaker 3: some of those more serious ends or the consequences in
- 4:18Speaker 3: the system.
- 4:19Speaker 1: Minister, bail laws have been a topic that everyone wants
- 4:21Speaker 1: to talk about, and it seems to you know, it
- 4:23Speaker 1: seems as though most people think that it would make
- 4:25Speaker 1: a difference if there were changes in this space.
- 4:29Speaker 2: Why aren't you changing the bail laws.
- 4:32Speaker 3: I get people feel that way, but I think it's
- 4:34Speaker 3: important to recognize that if somebody's on bail, a crime
- 4:37Speaker 3: has already been committed. So we're trying to focus on
- 4:40Speaker 3: preventing the crime and making sure that we've got those
- 4:42Speaker 3: consequences in the system. But again, there are consequences in
- 4:47Speaker 3: place if people go and if they don't do the
- 4:50Speaker 3: right thing whilst they're on bail. So if they do
- 4:52Speaker 3: something serious whilst they're on bail, and some one to remember,
- 4:55Speaker 3: they committed a crime already in the first place, so
- 4:57Speaker 3: they're already in the system. But if they go on
- 4:59Speaker 3: committing a whilst on bail, or break their conditions and bail,
- 5:02Speaker 3: there are consequences for that too. There are consequences in
- 5:05Speaker 3: place in the system. We're improving electronic monitoring, We're doing
- 5:09Speaker 3: work around making sure that we've got better compliance in
- 5:11Speaker 3: place as well around those bail conditions. So there are
- 5:15Speaker 3: efforts there already cating as well.
- 5:17Speaker 2: With those electronic monitoring bracelets.
- 5:19Speaker 1: How many of those are being used at the moment
- 5:21Speaker 1: and why did it seem as though there were not
- 5:24Speaker 1: very many of them being used?
- 5:25Speaker 2: I think there was one last financial year.
- 5:28Speaker 3: I don't have the numbers in front of me at
- 5:30Speaker 3: the moment, Katie, but what I will say is that
- 5:32Speaker 3: technology changes. What we had in place five years ago,
- 5:36Speaker 3: ten years ago was very different to the technology that
- 5:39Speaker 3: we have today. And we've just put in place a
- 5:41Speaker 3: new contractor with small bracelets, better devices, and better monitoring
- 5:45Speaker 3: and tracking. So that's also going to go Somewhay, I.
- 5:48Speaker 1: Just want to go back to that bail legislation. The
- 5:51Speaker 1: police commissioner recently said that seventy five percent of offenders
- 5:54Speaker 1: in Alice and Tenant are recidivist defenders.
- 5:57Speaker 2: There is a presumption of bail.
- 6:00Speaker 1: Why do you think that it wouldn't work if we
- 6:02Speaker 1: were to make some changes in this space? So sort
- 6:04Speaker 1: of I guess I'm trying to wrap my head around,
- 6:06Speaker 1: and I know a lot of our listeners will be
- 6:07Speaker 1: as well. Why the government is so opposed to making
- 6:10Speaker 1: any change with this, you know, this legislation.
- 6:15Speaker 3: So again, if somebody's committed a crime serious enough, they're
- 6:18Speaker 3: not going to get bailed, Katie. They considered their prior
- 6:21Speaker 3: criminal history when they look at whether or not somebody
- 6:24Speaker 3: gets bail. It's not an automatic at all.
- 6:28Speaker 2: Okay.
- 6:28Speaker 1: I just want to take you to a message that
- 6:30Speaker 1: we received from a listener a little bit earlier today,
- 6:32Speaker 1: and it says that at seven point thirty last night
- 6:35Speaker 1: in Alice Springs in the hospital main car park, there
- 6:38Speaker 1: were multiple cars with damage, windows smashed, ransacked, white paint
- 6:43Speaker 1: thrown on cars and they were drawn on with black
- 6:46Speaker 1: markers as well. Apparently the damage has been done by
- 6:50Speaker 1: kids that look no older than twelve or.
- 6:52Speaker 2: Thirteen years old. It is being said.
- 6:55Speaker 1: That police caught two of them staff coming out of
- 6:59Speaker 1: hospital to this horrible scene and stuff that go out
- 7:02Speaker 1: of their way obviously to look after people. I mean,
- 7:07Speaker 1: it just I guess it really just demonstrates again you know,
- 7:11Speaker 1: why the heck have we got twelve and thirteen year
- 7:13Speaker 1: olds out on the street at night time?
- 7:16Speaker 2: And in a position where they can even do this.
- 7:19Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't. I think you answer that question as
- 7:22Speaker 3: well in clearly pointing to the families, like, you know,
- 7:26Speaker 3: a twelve and thirteen year old would not be out
- 7:28Speaker 3: of my sight as a parent. But clearly there's a
- 7:30Speaker 3: pevtive dysfunction in that family group if they think it's
- 7:33Speaker 3: okay to let kids go roving on a school night
- 7:36Speaker 3: and for kids to think it's okay to go and
- 7:39Speaker 3: do these things. So I haven't been briefed up on
- 7:41Speaker 3: this event as well, Katie, So I'll certainly get some
- 7:45Speaker 3: more information on it. But there to say, we've got
- 7:48Speaker 3: stripefu fiper down there who will be, without a doubt
- 7:51Speaker 3: making sure that they're dealing with those offenders. And again
- 7:55Speaker 3: whatever CCTV, we can go build them. But you know,
- 7:57Speaker 3: twelve or thirteen they know why from wrong when it
- 8:01Speaker 3: comes to that type of vandalism. They know that's completely wrong.
- 8:03Speaker 2: Minister.
- 8:04Speaker 1: Are you getting as frustrated with this type of thing?
- 8:06Speaker 1: Is what the rest of the community are, Because I mean,
- 8:08Speaker 1: at the end of the day, the police are doing
- 8:10Speaker 1: a phenomenal job.
- 8:11Speaker 2: They always do.
- 8:12Speaker 1: They're out there, they obviously make sure that they know
- 8:15Speaker 1: that they catch people when they're doing the wrong thing,
- 8:17Speaker 1: they arrest them, but somehow this cycle just continues on.
- 8:22Speaker 3: Well, I've grown up in the Northern Territory all my life,
- 8:25Speaker 3: through going to school out here in the Northern Suburbs,
- 8:27Speaker 3: I certainly saw some pretty bloody, tough and bad youth
- 8:31Speaker 3: offenders when I went to school that used to do
- 8:33Speaker 3: some pretty horrendous thing. Crime has always been an issue,
- 8:37Speaker 3: you know, it's always a challenge. We've got people living
- 8:40Speaker 3: in poverty. But your job in government is to try
- 8:43Speaker 3: to do everything you can to turn around some of
- 8:45Speaker 3: those kids and put them on a better pathway where
- 8:47Speaker 3: you can, and that's what we are doing. But if
- 8:51Speaker 3: there are consequences in place if they do the wrong thing,
- 8:53Speaker 3: even our youth justice and our attention systems have changed rapidly.
- 8:56Speaker 3: When I was a kid that they used to ten thing.
- 8:58Speaker 3: You used to be around the corner from me, and
- 9:01Speaker 3: then it's changed location a few times. In Derriman. Now
- 9:04Speaker 3: we're building a new detention center which we think is
- 9:07Speaker 3: going to be able to give a far better rehabilitation
- 9:10Speaker 3: program for extent. But it's not an issue just unique
- 9:12Speaker 3: to the territory. It is an issue that we face everywhere,
- 9:15Speaker 3: but I get it. I live and briefing stuff every day, Kadi,
- 9:18Speaker 3: he as a local member, and now it's a policemit
- 9:20Speaker 3: of stuff. If you're a victim of crime, it is
- 9:22Speaker 3: a horrendous experience and you want to see justice in
- 9:24Speaker 3: the system. And we're trying to do things that will
- 9:27Speaker 3: prevent the crime, but also making sure that if people
- 9:30Speaker 3: are victims are crime, they feel that there's some justice
- 9:32Speaker 3: in the system and the right consequences there too.
- 9:34Speaker 1: Minister, I want to just take you to a pressure
- 9:36Speaker 1: release that came through on Monday morning. Now, the Territory
- 9:39Speaker 1: Police charged a seventeen year old man in relation to
- 9:42Speaker 1: an aggravated assault in Gray last month. Now, it is
- 9:46Speaker 1: alleged that this youth approached to Indigenous males aged forty
- 9:50Speaker 1: four and forty six and assaulted them. The youth then
- 9:53Speaker 1: posted this incident on social media. Now, I'm not sure
- 9:56Speaker 1: if you've seen the vision, but it is absolutely a
- 9:59Speaker 1: tro It makes you blood boil and it honestly makes
- 10:03Speaker 1: you feel pretty sick to the guts. Now, this youth
- 10:06Speaker 1: has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault. As
- 10:09Speaker 1: I say, the vision is appalling. He's been bailed to
- 10:12Speaker 1: appear in court on the sixteenth of.
- 10:14Speaker 2: March this year.
- 10:16Speaker 1: I guess this really exemplifies for a lot of people
- 10:20Speaker 1: those questions that they've got about how is somebody then
- 10:24Speaker 1: bailed after committing allegedly committing a crime like that?
- 10:29Speaker 3: So clearly they have a look through the different ins
- 10:32Speaker 3: and outs of what's happened there. There are a few
- 10:35Speaker 3: pathways to decision making about those bail calls. But last
- 10:38Speaker 3: number count I had was about we've got forty people,
- 10:41Speaker 3: forty young people that were in the tension, and many
- 10:46Speaker 3: of those people were on romance, so they weren't granted
- 10:48Speaker 3: bail before they went to court. So they consider a
- 10:50Speaker 3: rafter of different things in doing that, not across the
- 10:53Speaker 3: full criminal history there. Now, what I do find concerning
- 10:57Speaker 3: is that young people who think that it is to
- 11:00Speaker 3: commit crime. But the thing that really always gets me
- 11:03Speaker 3: is when people decide to post their criminal acts on Facebook,
- 11:07Speaker 3: Instagram or TikTok. It is seriously a phenomenon that I
- 11:11Speaker 3: do not understand of why people think it is intelligence
- 11:16Speaker 3: to commit crime in the first place, let alone to
- 11:18Speaker 3: post it for everybody to see on those social media
- 11:20Speaker 3: forms that certainly make the job of policing a little
- 11:24Speaker 3: bit easier.
- 11:25Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it's I don't understand it. I think it's
- 11:28Speaker 1: absolutely appalling. And like I say, that incident was absolutely appalling.
- 11:33Speaker 1: When I saw the vision, like I said, I felt
- 11:35Speaker 1: sick to the guts. And then when you see that
- 11:37Speaker 1: that young person's been bailed, I don't know what the
- 11:40Speaker 1: you know, I don't know what the process is in
- 11:42Speaker 1: determining whether somebody should be bailed or not. But I
- 11:45Speaker 1: tell you what, I'd be pretty bloody devastated if I
- 11:47Speaker 1: was a family member of either of those men who'd
- 11:50Speaker 1: been assaulted. Minister, Let's move along because I want to
- 11:53Speaker 1: talk about police numbers and resourcing. We know that COVID
- 11:57Speaker 1: management has had a big impact and meant that lows
- 12:00Speaker 1: like the watchouse in Darwin had to be closed.
- 12:03Speaker 2: When is that going to reopen.
- 12:06Speaker 3: That's a decision that is in the hands of police. Clearly,
- 12:10Speaker 3: I'd like to see it opened as soon as possible.
- 12:13Speaker 3: From operations from time to time, they are able to
- 12:15Speaker 3: run the watchhouse from peak hours, but that is something
- 12:18Speaker 3: where we're still going through backlogs of leave. We're still
- 12:23Speaker 3: dealing with the COVID nineteen response and other members doing
- 12:26Speaker 3: things related to that. But that is a decision there
- 12:29Speaker 3: with police. But you know, I've had several conversations with
- 12:31Speaker 3: the Commissioner. I respect that he has to make the
- 12:34Speaker 3: best operational decisions for the resources he's got on any
- 12:37Speaker 3: day and where the current's life or police. So looking
- 12:40Speaker 3: good to seeing it opened sooner rather than later.
- 12:42Speaker 1: So are you concerned that we don't have a watchhouse
- 12:44Speaker 1: in the city at this point in time?
- 12:47Speaker 2: That's operation I've got a watchhouse.
- 12:49Speaker 3: No, We've got a watchhouse in the dun region out
- 12:52Speaker 3: there in Palmerston, so we've got a very good watchhouse there.
- 12:55Speaker 3: But from time to time when they've run operations, we'll
- 12:58Speaker 3: know that they're going to have peak time they have
- 13:00Speaker 3: opened it. So it's about making sure it's open on
- 13:03Speaker 3: a no on going basis. That's where we're working forward.
- 13:06Speaker 1: So you're not concerned at all about some of those
- 13:08Speaker 1: response times given the fact that we you know, we
- 13:11Speaker 1: obviously don't have the operational watchhouse here in the city
- 13:14Speaker 1: at the moment.
- 13:16Speaker 3: Clearly, like I said, I would like to see the
- 13:19Speaker 3: watchhouse opened, but we need to make sure that they've
- 13:22Speaker 3: got all the resourcing to do it. Watchhouses aren't as
- 13:24Speaker 3: simple as having a few police officers there. You've got
- 13:27Speaker 3: to have several layers of police in the system there,
- 13:31Speaker 3: auxiliaries and nurse and so forth. So it is the
- 13:33Speaker 3: resource in tents. So the commissioners advising me as soon
- 13:37Speaker 3: as you can get it over, going to get it open.
- 13:39Speaker 2: All right, So do we have enough police?
- 13:40Speaker 1: I mean, if we're in a situation where we can't
- 13:42Speaker 1: actually have the watchhouse operational at this point in time,
- 13:44Speaker 1: it sounds like we don't.
- 13:47Speaker 3: We've got police doing a rafter different jobs, Katie and
- 13:50Speaker 3: Micah said, some jobs that we traditionally don't do. College.
- 13:53Speaker 3: I've got a god graduating this month and next month,
- 13:56Speaker 3: and I think we've got another one coming out in May.
- 13:59Speaker 3: We're putting record numbers of police on so we're working
- 14:03Speaker 3: as hard as we can towards it. Like I said,
- 14:06Speaker 3: it's been a really unusual twelve months. Police have had
- 14:09Speaker 3: to go serve in all different parts of the territory
- 14:11Speaker 3: doing all sorts of different things. And we also had
- 14:14Speaker 3: our police sacrificing not going on leave. Sometimes it's even
- 14:16Speaker 3: be able to get catch up with some of their leads.
- 14:18Speaker 1: Then, all right, talking school based constables. How many are
- 14:21Speaker 1: back in schools at the moment.
- 14:24Speaker 3: Last advice I had was four, So we brought back
- 14:27Speaker 3: to school based policing after the CLP has scrapped it,
- 14:30Speaker 3: so we had ten going out to schools across the territory.
- 14:33Speaker 3: We're back at four term two. We're looking to have
- 14:36Speaker 3: that model certainly pretty much so back to where it was,
- 14:40Speaker 3: but also we're looking to expand it. We're going to
- 14:43Speaker 3: be including auxiliaries into the model. And the reason why
- 14:46Speaker 3: we're going to include axilliaries is because I want personally
- 14:48Speaker 3: a more numbers, because it's a really popular initiative with schools.
- 14:52Speaker 3: The schools absolutely love having school based policing in there
- 14:55Speaker 3: to have that extra support and dealing with some of
- 14:57Speaker 3: their complex behaviors young people. But also when operational demands call,
- 15:04Speaker 3: for example COVID nineteen where we needed place on the
- 15:06Speaker 3: borders and that took a certain strain on some of
- 15:10Speaker 3: those resources, that an auxiliary will not be called back
- 15:13Speaker 3: out to the frontline in the same way.
- 15:14Speaker 1: So we'll have ten constables in the schools eventually, and
- 15:19Speaker 1: then there's going to be additional axilliary So it's not
- 15:22Speaker 1: a situation here because we did talk to the Police
- 15:25Speaker 1: Association earlier in the week and they were worried that
- 15:28Speaker 1: it could mean that we weren't going to have the
- 15:31Speaker 1: same volume of constables in our schools and that they
- 15:33Speaker 1: were going to be replaced by auxiliaries.
- 15:35Speaker 2: But that's not the case.
- 15:37Speaker 1: We're just expanding it so that it includes auxiliaries.
- 15:40Speaker 3: And I can't commit to ten exactly because we're working
- 15:43Speaker 3: through the model of what that looks like. But it's
- 15:45Speaker 3: fair to say we want to see expanded to be
- 15:47Speaker 3: beyond ten resources. Some of those will be fully formed
- 15:50Speaker 3: police officers, some of those will be xillaries. I think
- 15:52Speaker 3: it's important to have a mixed model. That way, we
- 15:55Speaker 3: know that we won't have those resources pulled out a
- 15:58Speaker 3: school of operational demands requiring the hilliaries are fantastic. We're
- 16:01Speaker 3: going to be recruiting people who love working with young people.
- 16:04Speaker 1: So what that mean though, Minister, what's that going to
- 16:07Speaker 1: mean though? For the constables who are in those jobs
- 16:10Speaker 1: right now, or that you know that they'd won those jobs,
- 16:13Speaker 1: will they continue to have those jobs?
- 16:16Speaker 2: Because there was ten previously, wasn't there?
- 16:19Speaker 3: Yeah, there were, so I'd say most of them will,
- 16:22Speaker 3: But over time we're looking at what that model looks like.
- 16:24Speaker 3: So that's something that police are working through. That's something
- 16:27Speaker 3: that they work through as the members. But I've got
- 16:29Speaker 3: to say this, the school based police officers that I
- 16:34Speaker 3: certainly know are just amazing. They're outstanding. They love working
- 16:37Speaker 3: with young people, and I love seeing them in the schools.
- 16:39Speaker 3: They do a great job.
- 16:40Speaker 2: Well yeah, and I guess spare the program.
- 16:42Speaker 3: And we want to have more people in it because
- 16:44Speaker 3: it is a great program.
- 16:45Speaker 1: And I guess taking that into account, like you've said,
- 16:47Speaker 1: you know, they do a great job and they're wonderful
- 16:50Speaker 1: at USh, I guess there'll be people listening now wondering
- 16:53Speaker 1: then why we would change it, why they're big auxiliaries
- 16:56Speaker 1: rather than those constables.
- 16:58Speaker 3: Again, I think that lines a few times, which is
- 17:02Speaker 3: making sure that I can firstly a boost the numbers
- 17:06Speaker 3: and be ensuring that when it comes to frontline demands
- 17:11Speaker 3: and when people have to go out and do the
- 17:13Speaker 3: duties that there fully trained force in the police force,
- 17:15Speaker 3: that I don't need those resources out of the school.
- 17:18Speaker 2: Okay, I'm going to move along.
- 17:19Speaker 1: I've just got a couple of things I still want
- 17:21Speaker 1: to ask you about, but we are pressed for time.
- 17:23Speaker 1: I want to talk about drug testing. We know that
- 17:26Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Police Association did speak to us last week.
- 17:30Speaker 1: They had said that it's disappointing that the Northern Territory
- 17:34Speaker 1: government supports random drug testing for Territory police officers but
- 17:38Speaker 1: not politicians. Paul McHugh said, if it's good enough to
- 17:41Speaker 1: ask police to do that, and the country liberal parties
- 17:46Speaker 1: support testing elected officials, then it should be good enough
- 17:49Speaker 1: for the Northern Territory Labor government as well. Minister, why
- 17:54Speaker 1: is the government resisting this so much?
- 17:59Speaker 3: Well, what I will say is a firstly, A we
- 18:02Speaker 3: don't believe that there is a drug issue within the government.
- 18:06Speaker 3: And B it's also just recognition that policing work is
- 18:11Speaker 3: very different. You know, we've got firearms, it's like dealing
- 18:15Speaker 3: with heavy vehicles and so forth. The Anti Police Force
- 18:18Speaker 3: is the only police force in the country that doesn't
- 18:22Speaker 3: deal with that type of testing. Certainly, we've seen some
- 18:25Speaker 3: matters before the court recently that we're very concerning and
- 18:29Speaker 3: it's something that the Commissioner wanted to progress, and so
- 18:33Speaker 3: clearly conversations happening between the NTPA, you know, they certainly
- 18:37Speaker 3: raise it with myself and the Commissioner and it's something
- 18:40Speaker 3: that they're looking to progress.
- 18:41Speaker 2: Minister.
- 18:41Speaker 1: I've said it a few times over the last couple
- 18:43Speaker 1: of weeks because the argument keeps coming up that you
- 18:46Speaker 1: know that our politicians and those who work inside Parliament House,
- 18:49Speaker 1: no matter what side of politics you're on, that you
- 18:52Speaker 1: know they're not using They're obviously not using firearms or
- 18:55Speaker 1: driving heavy machinery. But at the end of the day,
- 18:57Speaker 1: you guys are making the legislation that impacts every single
- 19:01Speaker 1: territory in many would argue that that is just as important,
- 19:05Speaker 1: if not more important.
- 19:08Speaker 3: Yeah. So, I mean, I think we've been on the
- 19:10Speaker 3: record a few times about it, Katie, but you know
- 19:13Speaker 3: there is absolutely no drug issues there. And again this
- 19:16Speaker 3: is making sure that NT police are in line with
- 19:19Speaker 3: the rest of the nation.
- 19:20Speaker 1: So are the police investigating anything, you know, any of
- 19:23Speaker 1: those reports that came through last week.
- 19:26Speaker 3: So there's nothing that I am aware of. So there
- 19:32Speaker 3: is nothing I more here of Katie, all.
- 19:34Speaker 2: Right, Minister.
- 19:34Speaker 1: Just finally this morning, earlier in the week, one of
- 19:37Speaker 1: our deputy police commissioners, Michael Hebb, resigned from the position
- 19:42Speaker 1: with the Northern Territory Police.
- 19:44Speaker 2: Are you aware of why he's resigned.
- 19:47Speaker 3: I understand that he's chosen to resign to go pursue
- 19:50Speaker 3: other work opportunities than I thank him for a service.
- 19:53Speaker 1: The NT News is reporting that it's because of a
- 19:56Speaker 1: relationship with a female staff member.
- 19:59Speaker 2: Is that the case?
- 20:01Speaker 3: So I'm not aware of the issues within his resignation
- 20:05Speaker 3: or the reasons why he's determined except for to go
- 20:07Speaker 3: pursue another career opportunity. And again I thank him for
- 20:10Speaker 3: his service, done a lot of work with him, and
- 20:12Speaker 3: thank him for the services given the territory.
- 20:14Speaker 1: All right, Minister for Police Nicole Madison, we better leave
- 20:17Speaker 1: it there. Good to speak with you this morning. We
- 20:18Speaker 1: appreciate your time.
- 20:20Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, Thank you well.
- 20:23Speaker 1: You are listening to mix one oh four point nine
- 20:25Speaker 1: is three sixty if you would like to get in
- 20:27Speaker 1: contact with us this morning eight nine four one one
- 20:29Speaker 1: oh four nine. I'm sure plenty of you well wondering,
- 20:33Speaker 1: you know, when we're ever going to sort of see
- 20:35Speaker 1: any change I think in this youth space when it
- 20:38Speaker 1: comes to youth crime. I think every time we talk
- 20:40Speaker 1: about this and every time we talk about it at
- 20:42Speaker 1: the moment with a minister, the answers are very much
- 20:45Speaker 1: the same. It is that there's going to be generational change,
- 20:48Speaker 1: and it is that you know that they've got.
- 20:50Speaker 2: More police resources, but I've got to feel for the.
- 20:52Speaker 1: Police, and I pointed to one of those examples which
- 20:56Speaker 1: I gave throughout that interview of the young man that
- 21:00Speaker 1: was bailed, obviously after that terrible assault that we plenty
- 21:03Speaker 1: of us saw the vision of on social media. Eight
- 21:06Speaker 1: nine four one one O four nine is the number
- 21:08Speaker 1: if you'd like to call through