Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Member for Goyder Kezia Purick claims the NT Government doesn’t want to do an inquiry into the police force because the findings will be damning ahead of the election

Transcript

Member for Goyder Kezia Purick claims the NT Government doesn’t want to do an inquiry into the police force because the findings will be damning ahead of the election · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We've just been speaking about with the opposition leader and
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Ash heard on the show yesterday. We did indeed have
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister Attasha Files on the show talking a
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: little bit more about well, a review of police resources.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: If you miss that interview yesterday, here's a bit of
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: what she had to say. Now the information that I've seen,
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Police Association said that they understand this
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: would not occur prior to the general election of government
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: in August twenty twenty four.
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  Speaker 2: Why would it not happen before the election.
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we've got a new electronic rostering system which
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  Speaker 3: is a huge part of that review, so that will
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  Speaker 3: show us exactly where people are and where people need
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  Speaker 3: to be in terms of that workforce. That should be
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  Speaker 3: commenced by June this year. I think that once you've
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  Speaker 3: got about six months worth of data, potentially you can
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  Speaker 3: start to look at that and that ties into that
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  Speaker 3: police resourcing piece. So at the moment it would not
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  Speaker 3: be possible to have that concise overview territory wide. The
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  Speaker 3: electronic rostering piece needs to come into play, and then
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  Speaker 3: when we have a basis of data, we will start
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: to review those police resources.
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  Speaker 1: So you're not committing to an independent review, Katie, happy
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  Speaker 1: to work.
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  Speaker 3: With the Police Minister and the Police Association around what
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  Speaker 3: that shape of that review is. But we've absolutely said
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  Speaker 3: that we will review those police resources because we'll have
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  Speaker 3: important information that will help us drive change and so
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  Speaker 3: that review will be independent. So Katie, that's a question
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  Speaker 3: that I'll take on notice and work with the Police
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  Speaker 3: Association and the Police Minister. I think you need to
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  Speaker 3: have a level of understanding of police complexities.
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  Speaker 1: Have got a message that had come through saying it
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  Speaker 1: sounds as though it's going to be an internal review
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  Speaker 1: from what the Chief Minister is saying around police numbers.
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  Speaker 2: Is that your case.
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  Speaker 3: I've said that just in responding to what I said
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  Speaker 3: before that we do need to review this and understand
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  Speaker 3: structurally what's going on. We need people to have confidence
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  Speaker 3: in that. So I'll work through that with the police.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: So that was the Chief Minister on the show yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me in the studio this morning is the
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  Speaker 1: Independent Member for god At Kezia Puric.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Keezier morning Katie. Kisia.
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  Speaker 1: What did you make of the Chief Minister's comments on
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  Speaker 1: the show yesterday about this police review it's something we
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  Speaker 1: spoke about on the week that was on Friday as well.
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  Speaker 4: What I'm hearing from the Chief Minister is there is
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  Speaker 4: some kind of review underway, because she said the electronic
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  Speaker 4: rostering was part of the review. What review, Because in
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  Speaker 4: the next breath the Chief Minster's saying she can't commit
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  Speaker 4: where there is a review. Now it just sounds all
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  Speaker 4: very strange. We sat here in the studio last Friday
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  Speaker 4: when the member for Fanny Bay Labor member said there
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  Speaker 4: was going to be an inquiry, not a review, an inquiry.
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  Speaker 4: So we all put darriers up and he said, so
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  Speaker 4: there is going to be an inquiry. I understand that's
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  Speaker 4: part of what the Police Association wants to have happened,
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  Speaker 4: an independent, outside, external inquiry or review, call it what
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  Speaker 4: you want, because all of us know that if you
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  Speaker 4: have an internal review, you will get a predetermined outcome. Now,
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  Speaker 4: if the Chief Minister's suggesting that police undertake an internal review,
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  Speaker 4: then we're not going to get the outcomes that people
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  Speaker 4: in the Northern Territory deserve. They'll be a reviewing themselves,
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  Speaker 4: they'll be doing their naval gazing. And it also seems
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  Speaker 4: you know that the Chief Minister looking just at rostering
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  Speaker 4: and starving. That's not what it's all about. There's been
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  Speaker 4: two Police Association surveys of their members and predominantly it's
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  Speaker 4: been about the toxic culture. It's been about the poor culture.
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  Speaker 4: It's been about lack of leadership, poor leadership from the
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  Speaker 4: executive from mister Chalk and mister Smallpage and others, no doubt.
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  Speaker 4: So it's not just about resourcing. Sure, get an electronic
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  Speaker 4: rostering system in. If it makes operations go more efficiently
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  Speaker 4: and effectively, that's great, everyone would agree with that. But
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  Speaker 4: an inquiry in review is more than that. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: we've had only in the last couple of weeks mister
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  Speaker 4: small Page saying at the Coronial down in Alla Springs
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  Speaker 4: we need three hundred more police officers. Where how does
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  Speaker 4: that number come from? So how does he know he
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  Speaker 4: needs three more hundred if he hasn't done an inquiry
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  Speaker 4: into actual resourcing.
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  Speaker 2: So, Kezia, what do you think needs to happen here?
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  Speaker 1: Because it does seem as though from the documentation that
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  Speaker 1: I have seen, this seems to be a sticking point
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to the EBA negotiations as well. For
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Police Association for the rank and file
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  Speaker 1: of those officers, no doubt, what do you reckon needs
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  Speaker 1: to happen?
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  Speaker 4: Well, the Police Association is doing what they need to
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  Speaker 4: do and they do that well, and that is to
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  Speaker 4: act on behalf of their members and to leverage to
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  Speaker 4: leverage the best deal possible for their members and the
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  Speaker 4: police force generally. And I think they're doing that to
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  Speaker 4: the best of their ability. Now that means lots of things.
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  Speaker 4: That means more police on the ground. Let me take
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  Speaker 4: you back to twenty twelve when there was a previous
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  Speaker 4: reviewing inquiry. In that report they said we need one
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  Speaker 4: hundred and twenty more police officers on the ground in
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  Speaker 4: the high profile areas. Now, why are we still talking
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  Speaker 4: about needing more police officers when they should have done
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  Speaker 4: that twenty twelve. The other thing, Katie is last year
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  Speaker 4: during estimates, the Police Minister provided a report which was
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  Speaker 4: as a result of an inquiry into the health and
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  Speaker 4: well being of the police force of the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 4: I got the distinct impression, because I was there in
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  Speaker 4: the room that the police management didn't want that report
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  Speaker 4: to go out and good on the minister. She gave
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  Speaker 4: it to myself and to other members on the Estimates Committee,
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  Speaker 4: what's happened with the recommendations in that report? Because that
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  Speaker 4: report was about the health and well being, mental health
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  Speaker 4: and wellbeing, job satisfaction, job dissatisfaction, et cetera, exit interviews.
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  Speaker 4: Should you have them, should you haven't? What's happened to
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  Speaker 4: that report? I haven't seen anything anything anywhere, and clearly
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  Speaker 4: nothing from that report's been implemented because we wouldn't have
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  Speaker 4: the results in the survey that we've now got from
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  Speaker 4: the Police Association.
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  Speaker 1: So standing is that the police were working through some
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  Speaker 1: of those recommendations.
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  Speaker 2: But I could be wrong on that.
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  Speaker 4: They could be but jeez, I mean, we're going to
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  Speaker 4: have the next Christmas by the time they get through it.
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  Speaker 4: Like this is, as we've said on your shows, Katie,
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  Speaker 4: this is at a critical point in our community.
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  Speaker 2: Police are leaving.
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  Speaker 4: We've got one hundred or so on stress health, mental leave, whatever,
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  Speaker 4: we've got attrition. I think it's eleven percent year. We're
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  Speaker 4: not seen as a desirable place for career move as
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  Speaker 4: a police officer. And we've got people chucking figures around
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  Speaker 4: like three hundred new police officers needed, five hundred million
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  Speaker 4: more needed for resources, with no evidence, well, no substantiation
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  Speaker 4: of that's not.
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  Speaker 1: For GeTe as well that the public. You know, I
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  Speaker 1: want the police to actually feel supported. They want there
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: to be enough police for them to be able to
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  Speaker 1: do what's.
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  Speaker 2: Being asked of them.
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  Speaker 1: And if the government's not prepared to change any of
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  Speaker 1: their policy settings to support the police or to ensure that,
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  Speaker 1: you know that the.
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  Speaker 4: Public will start to lose confidence. I have people come
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  Speaker 4: in from time to time and they've had an issue
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  Speaker 4: on their property and I've said, did you bring police?
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  Speaker 4: And I said, no, it's no point. And they're not
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  Speaker 4: attacking the police at all. No, they're saying there's no
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  Speaker 4: point because we can't get them because it's not a rape,
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  Speaker 4: pillage plunder kind of incident. But it does need police
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  Speaker 4: attention because I always recommend to members to constituents go
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  Speaker 4: and talk to police about the incident. Please let them
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  Speaker 4: know that something's happened, because it might form a bigger picture.
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  Speaker 4: But they're just saying there's no point. So there's a
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  Speaker 4: whole lot of stuff out there. OK, it might be
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  Speaker 4: small that's going unreported therefore unrecognized as an issue in
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  Speaker 4: our society. Now people are wanting to support police, and
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  Speaker 4: they do support police, but they're just saying there's no
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  Speaker 4: hope because the government's not supporting them.
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  Speaker 1: Kezia, can I ask I know that Leafanocchio said that
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  Speaker 1: she's going to for a sixth time in Parliament next
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  Speaker 1: week call for there to be an inquiry.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, do you think that that's going to get up.
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  Speaker 4: No, the government will just smash it down like they
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  Speaker 4: normally do. The member, the leader or perhaps Jared Mayley
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  Speaker 4: will get up and move it for an inquiry or
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  Speaker 4: set up a select committee for example. Have there, say
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: for about five to two seconds, and then the lead
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  Speaker 4: of gun Business probably shut it down. So that Sealpie's
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  Speaker 4: got to come up with a different strategy if they
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  Speaker 4: want to get the attention of the government and the
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  Speaker 4: attention of the community, and maybe someone like myself is
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  Speaker 4: an independent you know, giving up my work with the
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  Speaker 4: police out the humpty dew wayh and elsewhere, is to
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  Speaker 4: come up with something where we can get it onto
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  Speaker 4: the agenda. So we're giving some serious thinking as to
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  Speaker 4: how we can do that. That's myself and me and Hi. Yeah,
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  Speaker 4: we're talking to each other and all three of the
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  Speaker 4: all three of me, but it is a serious matter
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  Speaker 4: and you know, like so if they're going to have
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  Speaker 4: an inquiry, which obviously that's on the table because it's
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  Speaker 4: been leaked out, leaked by Brent Potter, the Member for
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  Speaker 4: Fanny Bay said it bite the bullet, do the inquiry.
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  Speaker 4: The other thing that concerns me, Katie is I think
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  Speaker 4: there seems to be a more than a more than
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  Speaker 4: needed focus on the coronial happening in Alla Springs at
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  Speaker 4: the moment. And the Member for Fanny Bay also said,
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  Speaker 4: oh well, we can't do X y Z because they've
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  Speaker 4: got to wait for the end of the coronial. Now
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  Speaker 4: what does that mean?
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  Speaker 1: Does that mean the gun should be able to review
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  Speaker 1: the Police center in terms of the numbers without.
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  Speaker 2: Critical critical to.
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  Speaker 4: The well being of our society and community. And I
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  Speaker 4: think the government is hiding from something. I haven't worked
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  Speaker 4: out what it is yet, but yes, definitely the police
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  Speaker 4: executive should be held to account because they are the
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  Speaker 4: executive at the top of the tree and they're responsible
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  Speaker 4: for a huge, huge lot of things to do with
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  Speaker 4: the police. And of course it's complex, you know, of
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  Speaker 4: course it's maybe different, but it's just that it's different.
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  Speaker 4: It's a different thing to tackle. I mean, the military's
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  Speaker 4: complex as well, for example, and they're difficult, but they
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  Speaker 4: can undertake inquiries pretty quickly when they have to, whereas
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  Speaker 4: the government's dragging their feet on this, and I think
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  Speaker 4: they just don't want to do it because they know
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  Speaker 4: what the outcomes going to be. They know it's not
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: going to be good and positive.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: And do you think that that's potentially why they don't
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: want to do it before the next general election?
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  Speaker 4: Yes, because I mean, law and lord is always key
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  Speaker 4: in any election, and people will go where they get
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: the best policy and best feel in regards to supporting
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  Speaker 4: our law enforcement agencies. But I query why mister small
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  Speaker 4: Page came out in a coronial. A coronial is about
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  Speaker 4: what happened, where it happened, and why it happened, the
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  Speaker 4: shooting of that mister Walker. Why did small Page come
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: out and say we need these extra police.
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I don't know, but was it to
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: point out the fact that they're under resource.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: Well, that is.
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  Speaker 4: Under resourcing one of the contributing factors to the shooting
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  Speaker 4: at univer I don't know. Let's see what the coroner
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  Speaker 4: says at the end of the day. But if there
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: was three hundred short and they're five hundred million short.
• 9:46
  Speaker 4: Why hasn't the Police Executive been lobbing the government and
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: their minister to put it before budget this year. I
• 9:51
  Speaker 4: just find it a bit like shinishing shiny thing. Look
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: over here, don't look at the coronial key.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: See we are going to have to wrap up. But
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: just very very quickly.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: What do you make of the COLP situation right now
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: with the President standing down over the voice and the
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: party's decision around the voice, but also the parliamentary wings
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: still sort of not determining exactly what they're going to do,
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: and they're wanting more info at this point.
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  Speaker 4: I don't blame them for wanting more information, Katie, because
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: I've downloaded the document, the Karma and Langton report in
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: the old language. It's over an inch thick, and that's
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: double sided. It's a massive report. It's had a massive
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: amount of work put into it by presumably an army
• 10:31
  Speaker 4: of people. What I'm reading into that report is it's
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: going to be another at sick. There's going to be
• 10:36
  Speaker 4: layers and layers of bureaucracy, not only nationally but across
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: the States and into the Northern Territory. And whether we
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: get a fair representation on regional committees, anti committees' national committees.
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: I don't think we will if it was to get up.
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: I don't blame the opposition for asking for more information.
• 10:53
  Speaker 4: I can tell you now, Kadie. No one comes into
• 10:55
  Speaker 4: my office and talks about the Voice, and I've got
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: various different types of constitution, so I've got lots of
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: Aboriginal families that live in my area. No one comes
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: in to talk about the Voice except to say they're
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: not going to support it if it does come up.
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: And the reason they don't support it is because they
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: find it divisive, whether it's real or not so side issue.
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: And of course that I mean. Parties don't have to
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: take a position on this document. It's an individual referendum
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: and they will let their members do whatever their members do,
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: as I'm sure the Labor Party people willusy.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: We are going to have to leave it there. I
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. Thank you so much for coming in,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: and we'll see you Friday for the week.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: That sounds good. Thank you,