Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Federal election candidates for the seat of Lingiari Blair McFarland, Marion Scrymgour and Thong Sum Lee tell us why you should vote for them on May 21

Transcript

Federal election candidates for the seat of Lingiari Blair McFarland, Marion Scrymgour and Thong Sum Lee tell us why you should vote for them on May 21 · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: I believe that we did have We do have Blair
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: McFarland on the show. Who is the Greens candidate? Good
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: morning to you, Blair, Good morning Blair. You are obviously
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  Speaker 2: running for the Greens. As I mentioned, now you've got
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  Speaker 2: five minutes to answer the questions and then you will
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  Speaker 2: hear that.
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  Speaker 1: Buzzer sound once your time is up. Are you ready?
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  Speaker 3: I'm ready.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get into it, Blair.
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  Speaker 2: Why did you decide to put your hand up to
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  Speaker 2: run in the seat of Lingiari?
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  Speaker 3: It's this, We're sort of approaching a climate crisis unless
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  Speaker 3: we take some serious steps as a nation. We're looking
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  Speaker 3: at at the temperature being up by an average of
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  Speaker 3: three degrees from what it was when I was young,
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  Speaker 3: and that's going to be catastrophic after people on the
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  Speaker 3: coast at the moment. That's all a consequence of the
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  Speaker 3: extra water that the atmosph circuit hold because it's so
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  Speaker 3: much hotter.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: So hello, hello, Yes, I'm still here, Blair.
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  Speaker 2: I'm letting letting you get through it.
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  Speaker 1: Yep.
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  Speaker 3: So, and so what did you do to stop it?
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  Speaker 4: So?
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  Speaker 3: Well? I ran for the Greens.
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  Speaker 2: Now, what do you see as being the biggest issues
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  Speaker 2: in the seat of LINGII right now.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the biggest issue is the federal government policies that
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  Speaker 3: keep a good portion of the population in extreme poverty
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  Speaker 3: and living in really substandard sort of conditions that you know,
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  Speaker 3: other citizens of Australia would not be expected to live in.
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  Speaker 3: There's been a huge failure of federal government policy in
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  Speaker 3: this region and it's got to be fixed.
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  Speaker 2: So that is one of the issues. Are there any
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  Speaker 2: others that you're concerned about.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we contend there's there's quite a few, actually, but
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  Speaker 3: just in relation to the fixing that fixing that federal
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  Speaker 3: government policy thing that will fix other things like that
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  Speaker 3: that poverty is the main spring of crime, and it's
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  Speaker 3: also the main spring of poor school attendance and poor
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  Speaker 3: workplace attendance. If you can solve that problem, then you
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  Speaker 3: will solve a lot of other problems, including a crime problem,
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  Speaker 3: which is another thing that sort of people are seeing
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  Speaker 3: down here. The crime problem we're seeing here is the
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  Speaker 3: consequence of federal government policies.
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  Speaker 2: It can be fixed, now, Blair, when you take all
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  Speaker 2: of all of those issues into account, why do you
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  Speaker 2: think that you and the party that you're part of
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  Speaker 2: will be the best place to deal with those issues.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it's beencome clear over the course of this election
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  Speaker 3: how incredibly profitable it is for an area like a
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  Speaker 3: territory to not be a safe seat, but to be
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  Speaker 3: an unsafe seat. And as a consequence, you've seen the
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  Speaker 3: amount of money that everybody's suddenly throwing at the Northern
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  Speaker 3: Territory because we're suddenly marginal, We're suddenly not in a
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  Speaker 3: safe seat. So it seems to me that the NT,
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  Speaker 3: if it was clever, it would not sign on to
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  Speaker 3: either party, but would run with a Green or an
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  Speaker 3: Independent and be marginal and have a negotiating power far more,
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  Speaker 3: far beyond what you'd have as part as probably the
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  Speaker 3: Labor or the CVP.
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  Speaker 1: Now, who are you going to be preferencing.
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  Speaker 3: We're preferencing preferencing Michael. Oh sorry, I'm just had a
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  Speaker 3: mental blank in his name, which is the Independent Grovener
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  Speaker 3: Michael Grovener, the Independent who lives out at Utopia because
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  Speaker 3: he is the only other one on the ticket who
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  Speaker 3: is anti fracking. Every other party is profracing except for
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  Speaker 3: Michael and USA to choose.
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  Speaker 2: Now, you've got about a bit over a minute to go.
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  Speaker 2: Why should people vote for you.
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  Speaker 3: Well, they should vote for me to send a message
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  Speaker 3: to the federal government that people here are paying attention
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  Speaker 3: to issues that are going to be affecting their kids.
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  Speaker 3: Those climate issues, there are long term consequence that the
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  Speaker 3: kids will be dealing with. So they should vote for
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  Speaker 3: me because we're going to send a message that there's
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  Speaker 3: more and more people who are keeping an eye on
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  Speaker 3: these issues. Neither of the big parties is in any
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  Speaker 3: way interest that they're both opening gas mines and coal mines.
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  Speaker 3: There are other ways of making money. Australia could be
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  Speaker 3: a renewable superpower with our solar like there's already plans
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  Speaker 3: to sort of sell three billion dollars a year worth
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  Speaker 3: of electricity to Singapore from a farm in orth of Tenet.
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  Speaker 3: The potential is here to really to make us the
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  Speaker 3: battery for Asia and the Switzerland of the Pacific if
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  Speaker 3: we went that way, and that's what that's why I
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  Speaker 3: should work.
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  Speaker 2: Agree well, Blair mcfarlom. We appreciate you having a chat
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  Speaker 2: with us this morning. Thank you so much and all
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  Speaker 2: the best. Let's head back.
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  Speaker 1: To Marion Scrimjaw.
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  Speaker 2: Marion, are you ready to answer these questions as the
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  Speaker 2: candidate for the Labor Party.
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  Speaker 5: Absolutely, Kadie.
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  Speaker 1: Bloody hell, what a morning, Marion. Let's get into it.
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to get this timer started and give you
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  Speaker 2: the fair opportunity that you obviously deserve.
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  Speaker 1: Are you ready, yep, let's go. Marian Scrimjaw.
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  Speaker 2: Why did you put your hand up to run in
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  Speaker 2: the seat of lingi Ai?
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  Speaker 5: I think I'm finished business, Katie. Not yet. In our
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  Speaker 5: remote Aboriginal community and our regions and our town towns
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  Speaker 5: like Catherine can in Greek Alice Springsen. We've recently seen
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  Speaker 5: Catherine in the media lately in terms of supported accommodation
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  Speaker 5: and the need for more housing on the ground in
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  Speaker 5: those regional towns. So it's not just our remote Aboriginal community,
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  Speaker 5: it's also our regional towns. But when we look at
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  Speaker 5: our remote communities, I think a better and more broader
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  Speaker 5: policy and someone who's been on the ground, I think
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  Speaker 5: Katie's working a long time. I think I've got a
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  Speaker 5: lot of policy grunt and experience to being able to
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  Speaker 5: add that to the First Nation's Caucus federally to inform
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  Speaker 5: a better policy framework for the Labor Party going forwards.
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  Speaker 1: Mariam, what do you.
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  Speaker 2: See as being the biggest issues in the seat of
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  Speaker 2: Lingiari right now.
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  Speaker 5: Look, I think housing is probably one of the biggest issues.
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  Speaker 5: I think and as I said, not just in our
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  Speaker 5: remote communities, but our homelands which have been starred for
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  Speaker 5: over ten years. There is no infrastructure. No one's been
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  Speaker 5: able to fund housing or infrastructure on our homeland. And
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  Speaker 5: then we've got a shortage, a critical shortage of housing
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  Speaker 5: in Capturine, Pena Crete and other springs. And that's that
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  Speaker 5: shortage is so that you can bring in you know,
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  Speaker 5: essential staff and workers working for organizations, but also you
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  Speaker 5: know for governments as well. There's there's very little housing shortage.
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  Speaker 5: And with the rental markets in each of these places,
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  Speaker 5: I think we've got to we've got to have a
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  Speaker 5: look at how do we get more affordable and accessible
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  Speaker 5: housing into these regions.
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  Speaker 2: And Marion, is is that the biggest issue? Are there
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  Speaker 2: others that are being raised with you at the moment.
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  Speaker 5: Yes, I think Katie, in places like Alice Springs, but
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  Speaker 5: we see it's right throughout the Northern Territory there are
• 8:02
  Speaker 5: real issues with youth, with unemployment, with just trying to
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  Speaker 5: deal with and making sure that we can do justice
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  Speaker 5: three investments get young people diverted in a better way
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  Speaker 5: than what we're seeing at the moment, you know, dealing
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  Speaker 5: with crime and places like Alice Springs, but being able
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  Speaker 5: to work with the Northern Territory Government, who are the
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  Speaker 5: provider of police services and family services to get a
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  Speaker 5: better outcome, particularly for faces like Alice Springs, but right
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  Speaker 5: across our remote communities. I think policing is a major
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  Speaker 5: issue and we need to make sure that we've got
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  Speaker 5: the resources and the support that we can deal with
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  Speaker 5: some of these really twenty issues that are impacting but
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  Speaker 5: paralyzing a lot of our community.
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  Speaker 2: Hadie now taking those issues into account, why do you
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  Speaker 2: think you and the party that you're all the best
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  Speaker 2: place to deal with them.
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  Speaker 5: Look, I think if you have a look at you know,
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  Speaker 5: I said to someone recently, I think it's great that
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  Speaker 5: for the first time in a long time, people are
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  Speaker 5: recognizing the investment that needs to be put into Lingiari.
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  Speaker 5: We've had ten years of a Morrison government where there
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  Speaker 5: hasn't been any investments at all on the ground. In
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  Speaker 5: some of these community tests, we've had a roll out
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  Speaker 5: of houses and there have been problems with the Northern
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  Speaker 5: Terity government and chance to some of that role out
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  Speaker 5: that's now changing and they're trying to get as many
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  Speaker 5: of this housing going. But we've got to get we've
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  Speaker 5: got to get greater accountability from the federal government. There's
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  Speaker 5: got to be greater leadership Katy, at the federal level
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  Speaker 5: to make sure that the money and the resources that
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  Speaker 5: given to the state government or the territory government is
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  Speaker 5: actually hitting the ground and is making a difference to
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  Speaker 5: people in those communities that it's not getting. You know,
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  Speaker 5: there isn't the bottleneck in the organizedas because there's a
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  Speaker 5: lot of organizations that get funded to deliver services. What's
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  Speaker 5: happening with that service delivery? So I think leadership from
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  Speaker 5: the federal government and greater accountability from the federal government
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  Speaker 5: to state government to make sure that the revenue and
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  Speaker 5: the resource that's been put into the Northern Territory is
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  Speaker 5: actually hitting the mark and making a difference.
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  Speaker 2: Katie Marion, you've only got about thirty seconds lefter, really
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  Speaker 2: quick one, who are you going to be preferencing?
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  Speaker 5: Look, we've done. There was a on my had a
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  Speaker 5: vote pard a preference for the Greens. Can I say
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  Speaker 5: that the Greens haven't preferenced the Labor Party and that's
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  Speaker 5: been disappointing. I heard Billy McFarland talking about that only
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  Speaker 5: Michael Grabner and the Greens have a very strong anti
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  Speaker 5: fracking policy, and that's not true. I think the Labor
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  Speaker 5: Party has a very strong policy unrenewable. Everyone's got to
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  Speaker 5: be realistic that gas needs to be a transition to renewable.
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  Speaker 5: We've got to have a look at you can't just
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  Speaker 5: stop and turn the switch off. Come they whoever becomes government,
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  Speaker 5: We've got to have a better policy in place in
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  Speaker 5: terms of growing the economy for the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Marian, we have run out of time. Thank you so
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  Speaker 2: much for your time this morning. Joining me on the
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  Speaker 2: line right now is Thong some Lee, the Australian Citizens
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  Speaker 2: Party candidate.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Thong.
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  Speaker 4: Good morning, thank you for having me.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, thanks so much for your time.
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  Speaker 2: I'm sorry that it's been delayed a little bit based
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: on that news this morning.
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  Speaker 1: But Thong, are you ready for your questions this morning?
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  Speaker 4: Yes? I am ready. Where you let's.
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  Speaker 1: Get into it. I'll get that time.
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  Speaker 2: As started, Thong, why did you put your hand up
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  Speaker 2: to run in the seat of Lingiari.
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  Speaker 4: I feel very frustrated, disappointed and very sad at the
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  Speaker 4: direction of the present government that is hating, that is
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  Speaker 4: not for the natural interest and security. I feel very
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  Speaker 4: passionate that I love Australia and I like to see
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  Speaker 4: Australia prosper and live in peace. I regards Australia as
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  Speaker 4: my father Lane and I'm very concerned that our present
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: ministers are drumming for war and according to our Defense Minister,
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: with the ducton that we should be prepaid for war,
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: presumably against China. I feel so sad that I thought
• 12:54
  Speaker 4: I must, as the Chinese of heritage, I must come
• 12:59
  Speaker 4: up and try to convince our people that war is evil,
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  Speaker 4: it has no winners and we will only suffer. Having
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: me suffered enough, I told my son, who lives in Melbourne,
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  Speaker 4: is thirty eight years old, that I'm going for politics again.
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  Speaker 4: The last time I did run for politics he was
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  Speaker 4: in twenty sixteen as an independent. My son told me
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  Speaker 4: a certain way that he does not agree to my
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: running politics, and I asked why. He told me I
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  Speaker 4: have retired, I should relax, I should not stress out.
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  Speaker 4: Politics is a dirty game, and so by his objections,
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  Speaker 4: I say no, oh, I love Australia. I cannot let
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: Australia go down the path of self destruction and not
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: for the welfare of the people. He said, leave the troubles,
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  Speaker 4: all these troubles to the young people who resolve to
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: solve it out, and you, being retired, you should just
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: relax in the farm. So against his wishes as he
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: started to go ahead and go for Liniari, so long, I've.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Got about three other questions to get through and we
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: do only have about two minutes left. But I want
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  Speaker 2: to ask you what do you see as being the
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: biggest issues in the seat of Lingillari.
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  Speaker 4: The main issues really is social injustices. Yeah, I feel
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  Speaker 4: that there's too much uncontrolled family and domestic violence, and
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  Speaker 4: there are mental health issues, and there's buyers and stereotyping,
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: and there's problems of homelessness and housing affordability. There's unemployment
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: and under employment, and also important is poverty and financial hardships.
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: And there's also alcohol and drug abuses besides gambling. So
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: all these social issues that need to be addressed not
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  Speaker 4: only in Lindiary but in the whole whole of Australia.
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  Speaker 4: We need to address all these people's problems.
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  Speaker 2: And so we've got just over a minute left. Why
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  Speaker 2: do you think that you and the party that you're
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: part of will be best place to deal with these issues.
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  Speaker 4: We are honest and we are accountable, and we also
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  Speaker 4: want their ruling party to be transparent and to runt
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  Speaker 4: the government competency, not under the influence of the foreign
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: powers such as the United States of America and also
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: the United Kingdom. I we believe that the principle of
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  Speaker 4: common good, putting the welfare and prosperity of the people
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  Speaker 4: a head of corruption, politicians and political vested interests are
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  Speaker 4: the main problems that make our people suffer in the
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: long run. We want accountable and competent government.
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  Speaker 1: Well, fine, we have.
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  Speaker 2: We have literally just run out of time on my buzzer.
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  Speaker 2: I don't have it lined up there properly, but we
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: have literally just run out of time. Now it's going
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  Speaker 2: off with that that far minutes. Thank you so much
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: for your time this morning.