Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Police Minister Nicole Manison says they're working with communities on the logistics of having alcohol back in regional communities, along with record funding being put into the force in this year's budget

Transcript

Police Minister Nicole Manison says they're working with communities on the logistics of having alcohol back in regional communities, along with record funding being put into the force in this year's budget · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The issues of crime and public drunkenness have been a
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: big concern in recent months, so many of you in
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: contact with us on the show to raise those issues
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: that are impacting your lives. Now this morning some movement
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: in this space. The Police Minister to Cole Madison announcing
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Government's going to be investing an extra
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  Speaker 1: ten point one million dollars into remote and regional policing
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  Speaker 1: in next week's budget. The funding for the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: Police Force is going to be increased by six point
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  Speaker 1: four million dollars in the twenty twenty two twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: three financial year to five hundred and ten million dollars.
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  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line is the Minister for Police,
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  Speaker 1: Fire and Emergency Services, Nicole Madison.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Minister, what are.
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  Speaker 1: We going to see as a result of this additional funding?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, What I'm really pleased to say is that
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  Speaker 3: since twenty sixteen when we came to government, we've increased
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  Speaker 3: the budget the police from four hundred million dollars to
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  Speaker 3: five hundred ten million dollars. And that's meant that we've
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  Speaker 3: continued to increase the numbers of police on the ground
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  Speaker 3: across the Northern Territory. And one thing that we've also
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  Speaker 3: been looking at doing is making sure we've got the
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  Speaker 3: right remote footprints, because we know that if we get
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  Speaker 3: it right in the remote communities, it also has a
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  Speaker 3: positive flow and effects through to our urban community. So
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  Speaker 3: we're making sure that we're going to be having moving
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  Speaker 3: stations from two to three person stations and making sure
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  Speaker 3: that stays in place. We are going to have more
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  Speaker 3: Aboriginal liaison officers who are really important, particularly in our
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  Speaker 3: remote communities, because they've got great language skills, know the families,
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  Speaker 3: understand culture, and they help our police officers on the
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  Speaker 3: ground a heap and do an amazing job. But we're
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  Speaker 3: also going to be continuing and making sure that we're
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  Speaker 3: investing in CCTV, CCTV monitors, our school based policing program.
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  Speaker 3: But overall, a five hundred and ten million dollar police
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  Speaker 3: budget is a record budget and we've increased it by
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  Speaker 3: one hundred and ten million dollars since coming to government.
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  Speaker 1: Now. I know that this is something that we spoke
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  Speaker 1: about earlier in the week with the Police Association President
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  Speaker 1: Paul McHugh when discussing some of the issues within the
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  Speaker 1: force right now. Take a listen to what it had
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  Speaker 1: to say. Are we in crisis point here?
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  Speaker 4: It's pretty difficult to tell, but certainly know the feedback
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  Speaker 4: we're getting is they're unwell. The police force is unwell.
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  Speaker 4: It's struggling to keep up with day to day requirements.
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  Speaker 4: The expectations put on them over the last couple of
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  Speaker 4: years has been more than I've ever seen over thirty years.
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  Speaker 4: And I know we still hear the government say we've
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  Speaker 4: got more budget than ever before and more resources than
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  Speaker 4: ever before. That is simply not reflecting on the front line.
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  Speaker 1: Minister, what is your response to that, given the announcement
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  Speaker 1: this morning.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I still think it's important that we keep investing
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  Speaker 3: in the police and I make no apology for that,
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  Speaker 3: so making sure that they have got those record budgets.
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  Speaker 3: But I think we have to be very frank here.
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  Speaker 3: We've had two years of a COVID environment, two years
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  Speaker 3: where our police force has been one of the busiest
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  Speaker 3: government aid agencies. In that response. We've had people out
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  Speaker 3: doing other duties, We've had people working extra shifts, we've
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  Speaker 3: had people working in some of the most remote places
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  Speaker 3: of the country, and some of the most difficult weather conditions,
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  Speaker 3: and then they've also had to do their day to
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  Speaker 3: day policing duty. I thank the police because they've worked
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  Speaker 3: their guts out for the last two years.
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  Speaker 2: Is the force in crisis point?
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  Speaker 3: When I go and talk to officers on the ground,
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  Speaker 3: I don't get that feedback. I'm always feeling really inspired
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  Speaker 3: when I go out and speak to officers, and not
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  Speaker 3: just out of water. The other day and just saw
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  Speaker 3: another amazing example of that, where you've got these officers
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  Speaker 3: who have been working incredibly hard, and yet you see
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  Speaker 3: how they go about their job, engaging with the community,
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  Speaker 3: and their professionalism and their passion for their job. Without
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  Speaker 3: a doubt, It's been a difficult time for some of
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  Speaker 3: our officers. There have been a lot of different things
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  Speaker 3: happening in the police, but overall, when I speak to members,
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  Speaker 3: I'm always left heartened by the fact that we have
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  Speaker 3: so many people that are really dedicated to that seven
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  Speaker 3: Protect a motto of police. That is what they go
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  Speaker 3: to work for, and they still have a lot of
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  Speaker 3: passion and love for their job and what they do
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  Speaker 3: every day.
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  Speaker 1: So what do you make of the Police Association's comments
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  Speaker 1: there that the force is unwell right now, and that
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  Speaker 1: while there may be record funding it a record number
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  Speaker 1: of police, they still don't have, you know, what they
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  Speaker 1: need to be able to do their jobs well.
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  Speaker 3: As we've spoken about before, we've seen different movements of
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  Speaker 3: people in the Northern Territory which have been brought on
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  Speaker 3: about by COVID. We haven't seen the usual rhythms of
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Territory for a few years. I think we
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  Speaker 3: have to be frank We've also had the ROLF Trial
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  Speaker 3: which has had an impact on some members and tragically
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  Speaker 3: recently we have had three members that have taken their
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  Speaker 3: lives and it's an absolute tragedy and we're doing a
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  Speaker 3: lot of work in that space to make sure that
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  Speaker 3: if members are struggling, that we're giving them more support
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  Speaker 3: and there will be reforms in this space as well. Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we did catch up with the Acting Police Commissioner,
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  Speaker 1: Michael Murphy a bit earlier this morning and spoke a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more extensively about that and I think that
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  Speaker 1: that is one hundred percent needed. You know, we need
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  Speaker 1: to make sure that police officers do have that support
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  Speaker 1: and it is tragic what we've seen over the last
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  Speaker 1: three months. The loss of those officers and if anybody
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  Speaker 1: out there listening at the moment is in need of help,
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  Speaker 1: you can get in contact with Lifeline and seek that support. Minister,
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  Speaker 1: we know that since twenty sixteen, so for a number
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  Speaker 1: of years now, there has obviously been that record investment
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  Speaker 1: into the Northern Territory Police, but we have seen crime
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  Speaker 1: rates rise.
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  Speaker 3: Why well, the issues in the Northern Territory of complex.
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  Speaker 3: We have got more boots on the ground that are
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  Speaker 3: working really hard to ensure that we get the arrests
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  Speaker 3: and the charge is done for people out there. But
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  Speaker 3: we have got significant issues with the flow and effects
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  Speaker 3: from COVID as I spoke about, and we're still dealing
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  Speaker 3: with issues to do with our cohol abuse in the
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  Speaker 3: Northern Territory. But again, like it's important that we just
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  Speaker 3: always put our shoulders to the will and keep up
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  Speaker 3: the work of addressing those issues as they come up.
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  Speaker 2: Now you touched on this just a moment ago.
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  Speaker 1: We've spoken this week about the situation with the veteran
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  Speaker 1: police officer who was suspended for publicly criticizing how his
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  Speaker 1: commissioners had treated Constable Zachary Rolf over the fatal shooting
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  Speaker 1: of Colemen Ji Walker that situation.
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  Speaker 2: With Mark Casey.
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  Speaker 1: He wrote this opinion piece on the weekend and was
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  Speaker 1: suspended without pay very soon after.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think it's appropriate that.
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  Speaker 1: An officer has been suspended for raising concerns which some
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  Speaker 1: in the force are clearly worried about.
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  Speaker 3: What I don't think is appropriate, Katie, is for politicians
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  Speaker 3: to get involved in internal police disproo matters. I think
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  Speaker 3: that is completely inappropriate. So that is something that police manage,
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  Speaker 3: and I will say very clearly that as a police minister,
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  Speaker 3: I do not involve myself in internal disciplinary matters. That
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  Speaker 3: is a matter for the professional standards man and the executive.
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  Speaker 1: Some are questioning the hypocrisy of this suspension, though, when
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  Speaker 1: we have seen officers charged with criminal offenses who have
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  Speaker 1: continued to be paid while stood down. What makes this
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  Speaker 1: situation more serious than someone being charged with a criminal offense?
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  Speaker 3: And again, I don't think it's my place to run
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  Speaker 3: commentary on this, Katie. I think the last people listeners
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  Speaker 3: would want to see getting involved in internal police matters
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  Speaker 3: are politicians.
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  Speaker 1: There is a situation, though, at the moment where you
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  Speaker 1: have got police that are raising you are raising concerns
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  Speaker 1: within the media and we also know that there had
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  Speaker 1: been a number of regions who'd apparently voted for the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory Police Association to hold a territory wide vote
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  Speaker 1: of no confidence in the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and
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  Speaker 1: also in the Deputy Commissioner.
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  Speaker 2: Murray small Page.
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  Speaker 1: Are you concerned that the force is losing confidence in management?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I hopefully support the executive as I fully support
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  Speaker 3: all the tree from the ground doing an amazing job
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  Speaker 3: every day, and it's a very tough job. I don't
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  Speaker 3: think I've ever seen a commissioner ever have a straightforward,
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  Speaker 3: easy run in that job because it is such a
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  Speaker 3: tough one, and I've certainly seen other commissioners face similar
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  Speaker 3: criticism before. But I fully support the Commissioner. I think
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  Speaker 3: he does an amazing job. I see firsthand that this
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  Speaker 3: is somebody who has gone through the Police College, has
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  Speaker 3: served throughout the Northern Territory as a Northern Territory Police officer,
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  Speaker 3: and I see his absolute dedication, commitment and passion for
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Territory Police Force and serving the territory. But
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  Speaker 3: it is a really tough job and you're never going
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  Speaker 3: to keep everybody happy in it.
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  Speaker 1: So you still have complete confidence in the Police commissioner.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that the force still has complete confidence
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  Speaker 1: in you as the minister?
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's up to those members. But what I'll say
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  Speaker 3: is that I'm somebody that has continued to deliver the funding,
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  Speaker 3: the resources, the legislative reform and I will always do
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  Speaker 3: what I can to support the police out there on
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  Speaker 3: the frontline.
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  Speaker 2: Where do you think we're being let down at the moment?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we spoke about, we've spoken about at length
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  Speaker 1: some of the issues that we're seeing around the community
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to alcohol issues. So I know at
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  Speaker 1: the moment we've got around three thousand people here from
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  Speaker 1: communities that are living rough and the on flow of that.
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  Speaker 1: You and I have spoke a couple of weeks ago
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  Speaker 1: at lengths about those issues. Do you think that we've
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  Speaker 1: got a situation where some of the other agencies need
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  Speaker 1: to step up?
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  Speaker 2: Where are we being let down right now?
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  Speaker 1: Because we are certainly getting that sense from the community
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  Speaker 1: that they're feeling as though things are broken and they're
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  Speaker 1: not quite sure how they need to be fixed.
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  Speaker 3: So all people and all agencies here have a role
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  Speaker 3: to play when it comes to community safety and without
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  Speaker 3: a doubt. Yes, it is not just a police response,
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  Speaker 3: because police, unfortunately often are at the end of when
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  Speaker 3: something has gone wrong in the community and so we
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  Speaker 3: want to do we can to avoid it. So we're
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  Speaker 3: going to be making some more announcements coming forward about
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  Speaker 3: the work that we're doing to tackle all the issues
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  Speaker 3: of anti social behavior and a lot of the people
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  Speaker 3: that are in town that we're still dealing with because
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  Speaker 3: of COVID. We do have other agencies work together. You know,
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  Speaker 3: we have our House Agency, our Territory Families Agency, Health Education.
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  Speaker 3: It is a multi agency response that we do put
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: in and we do continue to do that. When we
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  Speaker 3: came to government, we said that we didn't want to
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  Speaker 3: see agencies working in isolation and in silos, and we
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  Speaker 3: have worked very hard to make sure we do have
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  Speaker 3: agencies working together. And it's not just government agencies, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: it's also non government agencies who often do get a
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  Speaker 3: lot of funding to go out and do work supporting
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  Speaker 3: people that we know get involved in the criminal justice system.
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  Speaker 1: All right, when are we expecting to see those announcements?
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  Speaker 1: Are they going to be as part of the budget
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  Speaker 1: next week?
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  Speaker 3: We are just putting them together now. But you'll be
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  Speaker 3: seeing them out soon because as we know, we want
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  Speaker 3: to see more response out there underground soon to help
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  Speaker 3: those people that need to get home get home and
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  Speaker 3: also to help tackle some of that anti social behavior.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and this is the thing.
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  Speaker 1: I know that when you and I have spoken before,
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  Speaker 1: it's been around two and two and a half thousand
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  Speaker 1: people in town from communities, Michael Murphy confirming on the
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  Speaker 1: show this morning that we're looking more at the moment
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  Speaker 1: like around three thousand, and I know that that part
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: of that is due to the situation in what air
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: you were out there earlier in the week.
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  Speaker 2: I know the.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Labor Senator Melanderie McCarthy had said that there is a
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: humanitarian crisis out there. Is that.
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  Speaker 3: I went out there at the request of traditional owners
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: a few days ago so I could sit down and
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: listen to people on the ground, to listen to the
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: different family groups. I got to hear about some people's
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: concern about their personal safety and the safety of their families.
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  Speaker 3: I got to hear about the grief that some people
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: are suffering, the immense grief because of lost in their family.
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  Speaker 3: I've got to speak to our public servants, our police,
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  Speaker 3: and people who are working very hard on the ground
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  Speaker 3: out there. We do have displaced people and whatever, but
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  Speaker 3: what I want to assure your listeners of is that
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: we do have a response and we've been working on
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: that now for a few weeks. We've got our Chief
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: Minister and Cabinet Department coordinating that with other agencies and
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: non government agencies and making sure that those who have
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: been displaced or don't feel safe to go back to
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: their homes that we've got support around them. This is
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: going to be a continual body of work for a while,
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: but we are doing that work to make sure that
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: they have got the support that they need. Things are
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: still tense there and it's important that we make sure
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: we work to continue to keep the community as safe
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: as possible. So it's a challenging time there. Without a doubt,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: are you in.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: A situation where the defense force needs to be called
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: in to support police and support those other agencies.
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  Speaker 3: The community engagement that's being done by the police and
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: also our public service and non government agencies is superb
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: and they're continuing to do that.
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  Speaker 2: Minister.
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  Speaker 1: One of the other issues that we have spoken about
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: quite a bit on the show, and we caught up
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: with the Health Minister earlier, We've spoken to John Patterson,
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: We've spoken to the Doctor's Union, we've spoken to the
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Police Union about it is these changes that are going
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: to come into play when it comes to alcohol in
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: those communities. The Police Association had said to us just
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago that they're pretty worried about this.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: They are concerned that there's going to be alcohol in
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: communities and question whether they're going to have enough resources
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: in some of those communities to deal with it.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Are you worried about that? As the Minister for Police.
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: We're working very hard with the communities that this will
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: impact and making sure that people get to say on
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: what happens there. But that's where we continue to fund
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: remote policing, Katie, because it's in recognition of the workloads
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: that they've got out there and making sure that we're
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: got more resources out bush to support community.
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  Speaker 1: But are those workloads set to get higher? If you
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: know something that you haven't been able to have in
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: community for quite some time, I alcohol, whether you know
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: you're talking about a licensed venue out there or whether
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: you're talking about takeaway alcohol, there's no doubt. I mean,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: we're seeing on the streets of Darwin right now. The
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: impact that it has, there's no doubt that it's going
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: to have an impact and certainly an impact on police
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: officers jobs.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: And that's all we're working through at community by community level.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: You also get a lot of feedback from people in
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: town Katie two that say that they can see that
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: not having our COO available, particularly you know, alcoholic clubs
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: and those types available in communities also has an impact
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: on what happens in town when people drink an unregulated environment.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: So these are things that we're all working through and
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: looking at.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Police Ministernicle Madison. We are going to have to leave
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: it there. Thank you for your time this morning. Actually
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: before I let you go, can I just ask very
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: quickly sorry. We did just have We had Keysi Epuric
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: on the show. We also had Doug Barton, the mayor
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: of Lichfield. They're wondering why is the why has the
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: new fire station been named the Palmerston fire Station and
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: it doesn't have any reference to the rural area or
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: the fact that it's in Lichfield.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: Yes, there will be a reference to the regional area
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: that Katie, it's important to recognize that it is beyond
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: just Parmeston, so that is happening.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: So a name change, that is happening. All right, minister, thanks, It.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: Is the Palmeston Regional fire Station.
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: Thank you for your time this morning. We appreciate it.