Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Chief Minister Natasha Fyles confirms plans to get prisoners cleaning up Darwin CBD

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Chief Minister Natasha Fyles confirms plans to get prisoners cleaning up Darwin CBD · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: We don't usually speak to the Chief Minister on a Thursday,
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  Speaker 1: but we were keen to speak to about the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Mayor convat Scalas yesterday revealing on the show that he'd
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  Speaker 1: met with the Northern Territories leader about the issues of
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  Speaker 1: antisocial behavior. Chief Minister Natasha Fhiles joins me on the
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  Speaker 1: line now for a quick update.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to your Chief Minister.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Chief Minister.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord Mayor said yesterday that he'd met with you
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  Speaker 1: about the issues of antisocial behavior and the CBD.
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  Speaker 2: He said that you've got.
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  Speaker 1: Plans to get low risk prisoners out into the community
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  Speaker 1: to clean up our city.
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  Speaker 2: Where are these plans at?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, I met with the Lord Mayor, as I
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  Speaker 3: do meet with all of the mayors across the territory,
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  Speaker 3: and we discussed a range of measures and ideas. We
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  Speaker 3: currently have prisoner work parties that provide services into our community.
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  Speaker 3: So these are low risk prisoners. There are a safety
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  Speaker 3: process around it, but they go in and they do
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  Speaker 3: things such as mowing lawns. But they also do provide
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  Speaker 3: cleanup after major events. So the Mayor and I discussed
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  Speaker 3: the possibility of utilizing them to help the council deal
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  Speaker 3: with some of the issues that we do find arout
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  Speaker 3: and rubbish. So I'm certainly going to progress this with
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  Speaker 3: the Department of Corrections so that we can ensure that
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  Speaker 3: we have people giving back to the community but also
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  Speaker 3: providing that important service.
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  Speaker 1: How far off are you do you think from this
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  Speaker 1: actually coming to fruition and happening.
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, it was discussed with the mayor this week
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  Speaker 3: and I love the man's enthusiasm to let you know.
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  Speaker 3: But we'll just work through it. But I think it's
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  Speaker 3: something that practical that can be rolled out rather efficiently
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  Speaker 3: because we do have, as I said, work parties in place.
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  Speaker 3: They do go in and clean up after major events.
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  Speaker 3: So we just need to work through the processes around
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  Speaker 3: it and how it would work. But I would like
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  Speaker 3: to see it done efficiently.
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  Speaker 2: So a few weeks away hopefully might.
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  Speaker 3: Be a little bit longer than that, Katie, but I'll
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  Speaker 3: certainly keep your listeners updated. And this is just one measure.
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  Speaker 3: And as I keep saying, it's not one thing that
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  Speaker 3: will solve these issues. It's lots of ideas and putting
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  Speaker 3: them into action.
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  Speaker 1: Now I know some listening will be thinking how are
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  Speaker 1: you going to do this when there are serious issues
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  Speaker 1: in the prison and at the moment in terms of
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  Speaker 1: staffing levels and high numbers of prisoners.
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  Speaker 3: So Katie, these are people that are assessed, they go
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  Speaker 3: through a process. They are are low and open rated prisoners.
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  Speaker 3: Everyone in the facility gets the rating and so we
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  Speaker 3: have these work parties already established. There is a cost
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  Speaker 3: around them, but I think it is important because it
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  Speaker 3: allows them to engage and you know, potentially give back
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  Speaker 3: to the community. So it's something that can be worked through.
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  Speaker 1: All right. We also had a lengthy discussion at you
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  Speaker 1: and I did obviously on Monday about the situation with
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  Speaker 1: the police survey. So I'm not going to cover off
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  Speaker 1: on old ground. But the Lord Mayor did say yesterday,
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  Speaker 1: well he reckons that police graduates are no longer going
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  Speaker 1: to have to hit out Bush. He's been told that
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  Speaker 1: there will be graduates deployed for Darwin so that we
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  Speaker 1: have more police on the beat, which is something that
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  Speaker 1: a lot in the community are calling for.
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  Speaker 2: Is that the case?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, as we did discuss in great detail, and
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  Speaker 3: I won't go back over old ground. Our police force
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  Speaker 3: work incredibly hard. We do have a number of members
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  Speaker 3: that are entitled leave after working during COVID, but police
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  Speaker 3: decides where the graduates go, and we do have vast
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  Speaker 3: regions in the territory to cover that. Absolutely. We know
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  Speaker 3: that police will place them operationally where they're needed. So
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  Speaker 3: that would be a question for the Police commissioner.
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  Speaker 1: From your perspective, though, are they needed in Darwin right now?
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  Speaker 3: It's a balance, Katie. So we need them in the
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  Speaker 3: regions we send them there, and then we certainly do
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  Speaker 3: need them in our urban areas Darwin Alice Springs for example.
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  Speaker 3: So police work very intensively to ensure that those graduates
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  Speaker 3: go where they're needed, but also they're provided with the
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  Speaker 3: operational support and making sure that we have a spread
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  Speaker 3: of different levels of police across the territory.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you must think to yourself, though I guess
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  Speaker 1: like the rest of the community does at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: that it would you know, it would certainly help with
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  Speaker 1: things if we had a greater police presence around the
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  Speaker 1: CBD and those visual areas.
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  Speaker 3: We're certainly raised with police that we want to see them,
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  Speaker 3: you know, across our community. But they have operrational parameters
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  Speaker 3: and I've touched upon them earlier in the week. But
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  Speaker 3: certainly the Commissioner worked through with the graduates and we've
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  Speaker 3: provided record police graduate numbers and also ensuring that they've
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  Speaker 3: got that budget to deliver services.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, we are going to talk further about this
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  Speaker 1: next week. We know that that annual conference is happening tomorrow,
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  Speaker 1: so there is no doubt that there's going to need
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  Speaker 1: to be further discussion in that space. But something that
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  Speaker 1: is happening as a matter of urgency is the teachers
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  Speaker 1: going on.
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  Speaker 2: Strike tomorrow morning.
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  Speaker 1: Has a new offer been put on the table yet
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  Speaker 1: for those teachers?
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  Speaker 3: So the Minister for Public Employment, Paul Kirby, has been
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  Speaker 3: working in this space around the EBA and the bargaining
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  Speaker 3: and the negotiations that are taking place and working with
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  Speaker 3: the union. They have the right to take that protected
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  Speaker 3: industrial action. As I said to Ukati earlier in the week,
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  Speaker 3: I was a little surprised that it escalated to the
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  Speaker 3: point of a strike so quickly, but will continue to negotiate.
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure exactly what's been offered, but there's certainly
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  Speaker 3: been meetings this week between the Minister for Public Employment
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  Speaker 3: and the Australian Education Union.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, look, we spoke to the Australian Education Union's Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory Secretary Adam Lampey earlier in the week and he said, Katie,
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  Speaker 1: we're at crisis point. You know, we're talking about teachers
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  Speaker 1: that they didn't get that bonus. We're trying to retain
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  Speaker 1: them in what is a really competitive market at the
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  Speaker 1: moment the cost of living is going up. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: surely the government must be going to come to the
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  Speaker 1: table here and and come forward with a really fair
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  Speaker 1: offer for our teachers.
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  Speaker 3: Katie, what I can say is before these EBA processes,
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  Speaker 3: Territory teachers were the highest paid. They have slipped down
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  Speaker 3: because we're in the current negotiation. We value the work
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  Speaker 3: of our teachers and we will continue to negotiate in
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  Speaker 3: good faith to ensure they have spoken resources and the
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  Speaker 3: pay recognition they deserve.
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  Speaker 1: You mentioned on Monday that you know that you are
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  Speaker 1: looking to review this pay freeze.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I'll ask you again.
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  Speaker 1: I know I asked you on Monday, but how long
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  Speaker 1: can you keep this in place given this cost of
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  Speaker 1: living that continues to go up?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, it's complicated. It's not straightforward to just click
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  Speaker 3: us and make a decision. We have a huge responsibility
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  Speaker 3: to balance the Northern Churchard government budget and we've done
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  Speaker 3: an enormous amount of work. But as I said on Monday, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: we absolutely acknowledge that there's been some unprecedented even in
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  Speaker 3: terms of that the RBA, they did not predict interest
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  Speaker 3: rates to jump so quickly, inflation CPI. So we're working
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  Speaker 3: through all of those factors all right.
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  Speaker 1: Just finally this morning, this application for additional pogies in
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  Speaker 1: Alice Springs, it continues to be raised as an issue.
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  Speaker 1: Hospitality group Iris Capital has applications in for sixty new
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  Speaker 1: pokies to be installed in four of its newly purchased
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  Speaker 1: Alice Springs venues, including several where there are currently none.
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  Speaker 1: Now I understand that a decision is days away. We
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  Speaker 1: know that Anti Pokey's campaigners have said that the timing
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  Speaker 1: of that application or those applications makes for the perfect storm.
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  Speaker 1: Now in July, obviously long term alcohol bands introduced during
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory Intervention, well they were lifted in dozens
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  Speaker 1: of remote communities. We also know, though you know that
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  Speaker 1: the Basics car card or you know, the Basics card
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  Speaker 1: is due to have some changes as well.
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  Speaker 2: I mean should this be going ahead?
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  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we set a cap back in two thousand
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  Speaker 3: and eight. It was lifted and went from twelve hundred
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  Speaker 3: too close to nineteen hundred under the CLP. We have
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  Speaker 3: reduced that cap three times. But I am concerned about
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  Speaker 3: this and what the process is that the Director of
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  Speaker 3: Gaming Machines, he's got the legislative responsibility. There has been
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  Speaker 3: submissions and they will be taken into consideration as a
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  Speaker 3: part of the assessment process.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So it's it is something that you're you're
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  Speaker 1: pretty worried about.
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  Speaker 2: You're keeping a close eye on obviously.
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  Speaker 3: So Katie, I when I was a Minister for Racing,
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  Speaker 3: Gaming and Licensing reduced that cap three times. It is
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  Speaker 3: something that is going through a process around with the
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  Speaker 3: Director of Gaming Machines. But yes, it does concern me.
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  Speaker 3: Sixty more posty machines going into that small community.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it will be interesting how far away is that decision.
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  Speaker 3: That would be a question for the Director of Life.
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  Speaker 3: He's got that legislative responsibility. But there was a process
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  Speaker 3: where community could put in submissions. That closed I think
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  Speaker 3: about a week and a half two weeks ago, Katie,
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  Speaker 3: So he will take all of that into consideration.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Chief Minister Natasha Files will leave it there.
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  Speaker 1: I know it's a busy day. We appreciate you taking
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  Speaker 1: the time to have a quick chat with us this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Take care, thank you.