Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro responds to youth crime and the new arrangement with Thoroughbred Racing NT

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Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro responds to youth crime and the new arrangement with Thoroughbred Racing NT · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is Leah Fanocchiaro, the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: opposition leader.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
• 0:05
  Speaker 3: Leah, Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Now, Leah, it is understood that that fifteen year old
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: was in the care of Territory Families. Leah, what was
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: your reaction upon hearing about this crash yesterday.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Well, it's clearly a terrible tragedy and loss of life, Katie,
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: and of course we've got four other young people in
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: serious conditions in hospital and it's a disaster. And unfortunately,
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: if we can't get young people on a better pathway,
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  Speaker 3: if we can't deal with us offending and use crime,
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: then we're going to see more of these accidents. And
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: all I can say is thank God, really that a family,
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: you know, an innocent family, wasn't collected at the same time,
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: you know, this could have been an absolute disaster and
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: ultimately a stolen vehicle with miners driving it not wearing
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: seat belts. It's is just a terrible situation.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: It is an incredibly, incredibly terrible situation. We've since learned
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: that the Adelaide River service station, as I understand it,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: was allegedly robbed, and witnesses say that it's understood that
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the boys were involved. Leah, you and I have spoken
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: on numerous occasions about kids as young as eight on
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: the streets and engaged in behavior which just isn't acceptable.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: To now learn that at least one of these kids
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: who's in the care of territory families is terrible.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Do you think that the systems let these kids down?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think a number of things have let these
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  Speaker 3: kids down, including the kids letting themselves down. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: this is just you know, where does it start and
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: where does it end? Well, we know where it ands,
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: at least for one young man, Katie. And this is
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  Speaker 3: it is just a huge, huge problem. Now We've got
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: children in the care of the state out committing crimes.
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  Speaker 3: We've got people being bailed only to go on and
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: commit crime, and we're emboldening the behavior. We're seeing the
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: severity of the offending increasing it. And that is the problem.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: If someone does something minor and you're like, Okay, well,
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: don't do that again next time, and then the next
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  Speaker 3: time they do something worse and you say, well that
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: was very naughty, you shouldn't do that. Don't do it
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  Speaker 3: again next, I mean, where does it stop. If the
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: behavior continues to increase. We continue to bail kids at
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: a risk to themselves and to the community. I mean, ultimately,
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: what we have is a bailed youth, a stolen vehicle,
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: and our fatality on our roads. And who wins out
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: of that, absolutely no one, not the community, not the
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: individuals involved, not the morning families, not the people who
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: are lucky to still be alive, you know. So the
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: government needs to have a really good look at itself
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: and its policies and what it's doing. We've had a
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: stolen car in our springs, kill an innocent man at
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: an intersection with mister Powell, and now we've got a
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: death of a young person. What is it going to
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: take for this government to do something differently?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, I actually don't know how many times I've
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: said on the show over the last few years that
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: somebody is going to die.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: There is going to be a life lost.
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  Speaker 1: When you're talking about young people behind the wheel of vehicles.
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  Speaker 2: There was just a few.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Weeks ago when one of our beautiful listeners called through
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and she'd said that her vehicle had been stolen. We
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: since learned that it was allegedly at the hands of
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  Speaker 1: a twelve year old you know, behind the wheel of
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  Speaker 1: a vehicle like it ultimately is a weapon. It's an
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  Speaker 1: incredibly dangerous situation to.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Be in a weapon.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is what we have seen in this case. Leah,
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  Speaker 1: we spoke to the Chief Minister about these issues with
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: crime yesterday before we had the details of what had
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: happened with this latest crash. She said that that announcement
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: last week was the first step when it comes to
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: crime and anti social behavior. What do you think needs
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: to happen here, Well, I.
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: Don't think last week's announcement was anything but a re
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: announcement and the ability for the Farles government to try
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: and seem like they're doing something. We've been calling for skills,
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: sophisticated skills training where there's long term sentencings for those fifteen, sixteen,
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  Speaker 3: seventeen year olds that have had severe interaction with the
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: justice system who are heading to the big House if
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  Speaker 3: something desperate doesn't change and that hasn't taken place, of course,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we need to ensure that there's consequences for
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  Speaker 3: offending and to us that means mandatory community service. So
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  Speaker 3: when they you know, when a young person, when that
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  Speaker 3: twelve year old er, that eight year old does the
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  Speaker 3: first wrong thing, we're actually saying, hey, the community doesn't
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  Speaker 3: accept that, We don't accept that, and this is what
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  Speaker 3: you're going to do as an outcome for it. And
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  Speaker 3: then there's all of the steps in terms of things
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  Speaker 3: we need to be doing on the territory family side
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: with the care and protection of children. When is this
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: experiment of having used justice in territory families going to end?
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  Speaker 3: We think that should be re separated off so that
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  Speaker 3: corrections is dealt with by corrections and care and protection
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  Speaker 3: is dealt by territory families. And ultimately, Katie, it's it's
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  Speaker 3: you know, people don't want to send children to jail,
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  Speaker 3: but if they are danger to themselves and their community,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: and then the absence of anything else, in the absence of
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: a family or another place that is going to care
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  Speaker 3: for this child, where else can they go? And ultimately,
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  Speaker 3: you know, if that child was in prison, they might
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: not have been in that car accident. And so we
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  Speaker 3: really need to be looking at the system and saying,
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  Speaker 3: hang on a second, what's worse letting someone who is
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  Speaker 3: young and risky have it engaging in highly risky behavior,
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  Speaker 3: continuing to be a threat to themselves and to the community,
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  Speaker 3: or do we need to do something much more constructive
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  Speaker 3: with them.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Look, you know, I don't know what all the
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: answers are here, but what I do know is that
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  Speaker 1: we you know, we've spoken on so many occasions about
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: there being issues with youth crime, with kids doing the
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: wrong thing on our streets.
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  Speaker 2: Now, ultimately, what.
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  Speaker 1: We've seen yesterday is just absolutely terrible. You know, no
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: matter how you look at it, there's a letdown in
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: so many different areas. I don't know what the answers
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: are here, but I know that what we're doing right
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: now is working.
• 6:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no question. But you know, you just have
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: to look at this crime stats that come out every month.
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  Speaker 3: You know that all of these numbers are going through
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  Speaker 3: the roof seventy percent increases, one hundred percent increases, and
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  Speaker 3: the government doesn't even blink an eyelid. We've got a
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  Speaker 3: man mowed down while on his motorbike sitting in an intersection,
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  Speaker 3: and Alice Springs killed at the hands of a stolen vehicle.
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  Speaker 3: We've got children killing themselves from stealing vehicles. We've got
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: countless break in, countless robberies, countless assaults. Violent offending is
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: going through the roof. I mean, I just don't know
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  Speaker 3: what it's going to take to shock this government into
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  Speaker 3: doing something different.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I need to tell you Wash if what happened
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  Speaker 1: yesterday isn't enough, then, honestly, I don't know what is.
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  Speaker 1: The tragedy that we saw in Alice Spring should have
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: been enough, But what happened yesterday, I really don't know
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  Speaker 1: what else can happen to shock them into realizing that
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  Speaker 1: we've got a serious problem. Leah, let's move along because
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  Speaker 1: there is also another big issue that we need to discuss,
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  Speaker 1: and that is that twelve million.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Dollars for the Darwin Turf Club.
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  Speaker 1: We saw some change yesterday a new funding agreement with
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Thoroughbred Racing NTEA for the next ten years. No words
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: yet from Thoroughbred Racing nt but as part of this
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  Speaker 1: new agreement, they will be required to direct six million
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: dollars to upgrade infrastructure at regional racetracks in Alice Springs,
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  Speaker 1: Tenant Creek, Catherine and Adelaide River Lea. Is this a
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  Speaker 1: good move or do you think that you know that
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  Speaker 1: the government's sort of having their cake and eating it too. Oh?
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  Speaker 3: Nothing. This government loves more Katie than having its cake
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  Speaker 3: and eating it too. I can assure you they need
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  Speaker 3: a giant government died, I think at that rate. But
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  Speaker 3: you know this is just such a joke. Of course,
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  Speaker 3: we have a government give away twelve million dollars through
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  Speaker 3: an improper process where Michael Gunner takes a flimsy document
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  Speaker 3: into cabinet with no scrutiny by government. Everyone in that
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  Speaker 3: room complicit. Natasha files our new chief minister, the racing minister,
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  Speaker 3: she agreed to get giving away that money. The money's
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: given away, the grand stands built, and now you've got
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  Speaker 3: the same people saying, hang on a second, you shouldn't
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  Speaker 3: have done that. We want our money back. Now. This
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  Speaker 3: sort of halfway position where the government want to draw
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  Speaker 3: a line in the sand seems to be a one
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  Speaker 3: way line, Katie. And ultimately what they're doing is cutting
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  Speaker 3: six million dollars out of the turf club fine redirecting
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  Speaker 3: that to the regions. But if the government wanted to
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  Speaker 3: support regional racing, they should have funded it in the
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  Speaker 3: first place. I mean this freaks of two things to me.
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  Speaker 3: One is that they haven't properly funded regional racing. And
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  Speaker 3: I think Adelaide River is a classic example, having to
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  Speaker 3: move that fantastic race to Darwin this year, and two
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  Speaker 3: it's an emission that they completely got it wrong with
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  Speaker 3: the grandstand Fiusco. So this is a desperate government again
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  Speaker 3: trying to rewrite history, eating way too much cake. They
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  Speaker 3: need to start focusing on the real issues and stop
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  Speaker 3: blaming everyone else for them.
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  Speaker 2: At stakes lea, what do you reckon should have happened
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  Speaker 2: to you?
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  Speaker 1: Then?
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  Speaker 3: Well?
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  Speaker 2: Nothing?
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  Speaker 3: I mean they gave away the money. I mean this
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: is imagine if you were the Red Cross, or if
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: you were an organization providing disability support, or literally a
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  Speaker 3: sporting club, you know, the netball, and government gives you
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  Speaker 3: a one thousand dollar grant, a one hundred thousand dollars grant,
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  Speaker 3: and one million dollar grant, and you go yet, great,
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  Speaker 3: we spend the money and what we said we would,
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: you go away. You equit that money with the department.
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  Speaker 3: You've built your new facility or you've delivered your services.
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  Speaker 3: The end, right, you think that's the end. Then something happens.
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  Speaker 3: It becomes politically unpalatable for reasons out of your control,
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  Speaker 3: and government turns around and says, hey, Red Cross, hey
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: disability support servers, give us, give us our money, back.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it just defines logic in any possible way.
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  Speaker 3: It's unsustainable, it's not appropriate, and it's not the entity's fault.
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  Speaker 3: This is a government's fault. The only person paying back
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  Speaker 3: that should be paying back to a million dollars is
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  Speaker 3: every member of the cabinet who knowingly and willingly gave
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: that money away through an improper process.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Suddenly ad just with that thunder for the regions, you
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: do think that those regions should be funded, but you
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: also you know, I don't think that the government or
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: that the Turf Club should pay that money back. So
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: do you think that the funding the annual funding of
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: agreements for Thoroughbred Racing NT should be increased? Oh?
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: I think that the government can't pretend to be not
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: punishing the Turf Club for its own mistakes by then
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: trying to sweeten the deal by saying, but look, we're
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: going to be redirecting that money to the regions. There's
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: regional racing, and there's the Darwin Cup Festival and all
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: of the racing that comes around that. What I think
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: government should be doing is leaving this one alone. If
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: they additionally need to fund the regional races, then find
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: it's entirely a matter for them. We have a budget
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: that's there to be used for all of those types
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: of things. But ultimately this is just a final exercise
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: in them trying to dress something up to make it
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: look like something it isn't. Ultimately, they gave away twelve million.
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: They now I want it back. They clearly can't get
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: it back, so they're trying to say, well, we'll split
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: the different six million egs and everyone walks away happy. Well,
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: we haven't hurt from Thoroughbred Racing yet, and I feel
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: very interested to know that I think is an alarm
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: bell in and of itself.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: Well, I certainly am keen to hear from them. We
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: put in a request yesterday to speak to Thoroughbred Racing
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: INTA and also the Darwin Turf Club, but to no avail.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: At this point in time, Leaf and Okiaro, we are
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: going to have to leave it there. Now.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Do you have COVID at the moment.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Yeah, So I've been at home for a week. I
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: come out, I think it's tomorrow lunchtime, but I'll make
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: sure I count the days properly. And yeah, so we've
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: been doing a lot of family bonding. It's lovely.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Well, Leah, I'm sure that you'll be glad to get
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: back out and about and back into the community. We
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: always appreciate your time, particularly having a chat with us
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: when you are crooks, so thanks very much for speaking
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: this morning.
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: No crooked so good.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: Wait now my days excellent. Thank you very much