Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Alice Springs Councillor Michael Liddle responds to the NT Government’s plan to address the crime crisis in the town

Transcript

Alice Springs Councillor Michael Liddle responds to the NT Government’s plan to address the crime crisis in the town · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we know that yesterday's announcement it had been well,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: we'd all been wondering exactly when it was going to
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: happen and what it would see. Joining me on the
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: line right now is Michael Little, who is a counselor
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: in Alice Springs and also an Indigenous leader. Good morning
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: to you, Michael.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Good morning. How are you?
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Really good. Great to have you on the show again. Michael,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: what was your reaction to yesterday's announcement?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Well, I just listened to Biddy what you're going to
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: talking about on the radio. Then what's interesting is kids
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: are breaking into school, but they're not attending school. So
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: did they all tie together with these student and the
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: release of these restrictions that are kind of coming in.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: And I think it's a really good turning point that
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: didn't have to happen. It just where we're at now
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: should not have happened had the anti government had in
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: place something before the restrictions were lifted. And we're in
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: this position because of that.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Michael, I'm going to be really.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: We got to retract all our steps and do the
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: hard work again.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm going to be really blunt here. I mean,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: are you pissed off that it got to that point.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Are you Are you annoyed that it got to the
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: point where, you know, where the government was seemingly dragged
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: kicking and screaming before they you know, before they sort
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: of announced these restrictions would go back into place, when
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: you and other strong Indigenous leaders in the community had
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: been saying for a long time that they needed to
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: be some action.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: It was a big voat collecting and it was to
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: get to beigion of people and said okay, we're going
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: to lift these restrictions and opens ladder. But there was
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: no information getting getting to the people the communities about
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: what's going to happen regarding alcohol. Now. The one community
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: that's missing out and that's tell the Springs community because
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: this is the place where people come and get their
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: al goal. So these people's voices haven't been heard about
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: all this restriction and the best way to go forward.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Michael, do the restrictions that have now been put
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: in place, which are set to be put in place
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: by the Northern Territory government that they announced yesterday, do
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: you feel as though they go far enough?
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Well, it's a start, and places like tallengera they're on notice.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: Now organizations are unnotice and especially then because they are
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: the more or less the managers of the town camps
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: and a majority of people that come in from communities
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: spend and reside on town camps, and that's where the
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: most the most domestic violences, assault and all the other
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: bad behaviors starts happening and begins happening.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Michael. We know as well that the federal government have
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: announced as part of the announcement yesterday, a significant amount
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: of funding two hundred and fifty million dollars. Are you
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: confident that that's going to help with the issues of
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: domestic violence and also you know the issues that we're saying,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: like you touched on right and start of kids not
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: going to school.
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it it reverts back that there's many service
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: providers in other springs and looking at the circumstances and
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: the issues happening, well, they've all failed. So they're all
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: on notice. All these service providers, they're all unnotice. I mean,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: you get a service provider from everything from time issue
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: that has to wipen a bum. So they're all on
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: notice about doing something. But what's going to be more
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: effective we can do the physical things, But it's the
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: brain work that has to be done, the listening, engaging
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: in the conversation about good behavior, bad behavior, what's acceptable,
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: what's inappropriate, appropriate living in the municipal term of Ella
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: Springs and Catherine and the whole territory is under this
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: problem because of ineffective services that happened back here, and
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: we're trying to drag it up to happen tomorrow. It's
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: almost impossible.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Michael, is you know, do you feel as though at
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: the moment, by the sounds of it, like you've said,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: you know that those service providers, realistically, they are on notice.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: You know, they need to be delivering. They need to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: make sure that they are delivering the services that they're
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: you know that they're funded to do, and they need
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: to make sure that there are results. Do you feel like,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: based on the announcement that was made yesterday, do you
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: feel as though that two hundred and fifty million dollars
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: is going to go into the right areas?
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: Well? I can't really say that, And like I say
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: that the worker has to start tiny's bootless up and
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: doing a lot more walking and talking and engaging with
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the client. And I do think that we've failed in
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: that area where we only work forty five percent of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: our capacity. We need to lift it over fifty percent
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: because these issues that we're dealing with, You pull one
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: string and another string pops up in ceneral that you're
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: at renal through all these troubles. You know, it's just
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: so much issue and it's so complex the life of
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: an Aboriginal person. Michael.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: In terms of the kids that we're seeing out on
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the streets, I mean, has that calmed down it all
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: over the last couple of days? And do you think
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: that we're going to see kids re engage going back
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: to school. I mean it's not going to change overnight,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: but do you think that these announcements are going to
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: go some of the way.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, in time. We just hope that they can. One
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: thing that is missing from this whole movie theater is
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: the man. Where is the man? And I asked this question,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: where are the men, the fathers of these children? Where
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: are they? Well a seven percent of the answer, ninety
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: percent will tell me they're in gale, or they're in
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: the pubble, or they're drunk somewhere. So you know, it's
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: very sad what's happening.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Michael, I really appreciate your time. I always do,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: and I appreciate your insight. Mate. I want to ask you,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: do you still like do you feel as though there
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: is hope for Alice Springs and things turn around?
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Well, look Alice Springs, Tennant, Catherine and now down, they're
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: all having the same issues with inequality in levels of
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: education and around purpose and structures, the haves and the
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: haves not so if I haven't, I don't know any
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: other boundyboy except to pinch it or to hurt someone
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: or do something that's in appropriate by the way that
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: rules and appropriateness of behaviors and respecting people are carried out.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: So I think that you know, we've got to live
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: on hope, and we've got to maintain a good effective
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: way of looking after our fellow worker because the work
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: is under pressure here because we have to deliver more people,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: more outcomes, more KPIs for as supervisors. So we're in
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: the immense pressure. But we also have a life, and
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: we also have a family life, and if it's an
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: aboriginal life like I, it's even more complex because we
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: can't just switch the life switch off at four twenty one.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Our life still continues as an abridging man. Yeah, something
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: like that. You know, Michael, what do you think look together? Absolutely?
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I one hundred percent agree with you, whether
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: you're in Alice, whether you're in Catherine, no matter where
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: you are. Michael, what do you think about you know,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the broader discussion that's happening around Australia at the moment
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: with the Voice And you know, there's been a lot
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: said about the Voice, and I guess the situation in
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Alice Springs has really then been brought into the discussion
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: and people saying, well, how can we expect that Aboriginal
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: people are going to be listened to if they weren't
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: being listened to in Alice Springs around the alcohol restrictions
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: and around what's going on in Alice.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, the Voice and there's some wonderful people working
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: on it, and I've spoken to a lot of those
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: people and they're fine. I trust them with the direction
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: that they're taking this, this idea of the Voice in Parliament,
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: and I wish them well, but I'm not going to
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: stand up in the front row and scream out for
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: it because I got some other had work to do
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: and it requires getting on the ground and doing the footwork,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: and I trust them. People who can understand the complexities
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: of the voice will work out better for people like
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: me in my conversations towards working towards the abut of
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: people to become more effective.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Michael Little. Like I said earlier, I always appreciate your time, mate.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate you having a chat with me this morning,
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: and also, you know, for the leadership that you've shown
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: over recent months out of Alice Springs. Sometimes, you know,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I know that it's probably been hard to have that
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: really strong opinion that you've had, but look, I appreciate
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: that leadership that you've shown and for chatting with me
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: this morning.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Katie, thank you.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Thanks mate. We'll talk again soon. See