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Katie Woolf spoke with Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Nicole Manison · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We've been out of lockdown for a few days and
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  Speaker 1: it seems as though everything's going quite well at this
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  Speaker 1: point in time. No new COVID cases as far as
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  Speaker 1: we know, and the majority seem to actually be doing
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  Speaker 1: the right thing. Joining me on the line though right now,
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  Speaker 1: to speak further about this is the Deputy Chief Minister
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  Speaker 1: and also the Police Minister, Nicole Madison. Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners. Man I.
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  Speaker 1: Firstly, where are we at with the cases, new cases,
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  Speaker 1: anything we should know about from overnight?
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  Speaker 2: Well, great news from overnight, no new cases. We had
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  Speaker 2: one three hundred tests done yesterday, so the numbers have
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  Speaker 2: gone down into testing, but again no new cases. And
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  Speaker 2: then the day before that we're talking about two three
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  Speaker 2: hundred tests, no new cases. So thank you everybody for
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  Speaker 2: going in getting their testing done. Good news overnight, but
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  Speaker 2: you know we're still on our toes. We've still still
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  Speaker 2: got a bit to get through this first replication cycle
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  Speaker 2: to next Friday, so we're keeping a close eige on it. Now.
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  Speaker 1: Do we know with all those close contacts and that testing,
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  Speaker 1: has all of that happened now or are there any
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  Speaker 1: of those tests that still remain outstanding?
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  Speaker 2: So the last advice I had is that we've got
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  Speaker 2: everybody tested, everybody is isolated. They were the main parts
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  Speaker 2: of our decision making last week. It was a pretty
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  Speaker 2: interesting world this time last week, Katie, when we were
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  Speaker 2: trying to track down every single person that we thought
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  Speaker 2: was a possible exposure, and so police were doing a
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  Speaker 2: huge amount of work. The center of a disease control
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  Speaker 2: we're doing a huge amount of work because we literally
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  Speaker 2: went to track down every single individual.
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  Speaker 1: And minister it does seem like the majority have been
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  Speaker 1: doing the right thing and complying. There have been a
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  Speaker 1: few situations so where they haven't. Firstly, someone spitting on
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  Speaker 1: a security guard as I understand it, over the weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that particular incident just made me feel absolutely sick.
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  Speaker 2: It is disgusting. How can anybody do that in this environment.
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  Speaker 2: I get that they were on Mitchell Street, but know what,
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  Speaker 2: the only reason why we can go out to Mitchell
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  Speaker 2: Street is because everybody has been doing the right thing,
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  Speaker 2: and just to do that to a hospow worker after
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  Speaker 2: the week that they've just had. Most of those people
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  Speaker 2: are casual workers. They've had a bloody rough trot. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: so appalling. They're going to face some pretty hefty fines
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  Speaker 2: there and they'll be going to court. So that was horrendous.
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  Speaker 2: And we've also had overnight an issue with one of
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  Speaker 2: the Tanami workers down on the Mind, an individual who
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  Speaker 2: did not comply with the restrictions that they're meant to
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  Speaker 2: be working too to adhering to. So they've been moved
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  Speaker 2: to the Center for National Resilience Minister.
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  Speaker 1: I know last week the Chief Minister said at a
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  Speaker 1: press conference late on Thursday that one of those close
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  Speaker 1: contacts of case zero and minor who went to the
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  Speaker 1: buff Club did the wrong thing and stopped at the
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  Speaker 1: Stuart Park shops and lied to authorities. Now on Friday,
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  Speaker 1: that miner called us and said that he didn't lie,
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  Speaker 1: he'd tried his best to provide accurate information. Is that
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  Speaker 1: the fifty six year old who was last night issued
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  Speaker 1: or late yesterday issued with a five thousand dollar fine
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  Speaker 1: for not following those Chow directions, I.
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  Speaker 2: Believe, so I'd have to double check, but I just
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  Speaker 2: put that media release with that together, Katie. I haven't
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  Speaker 2: been able to get updated on that this morning, but
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  Speaker 2: I made the assumption that that is the same person,
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  Speaker 2: and certainly in the last briefings that I'd had with police.
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  Speaker 2: They were having further conversations with that individual and had
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  Speaker 2: believed that they had not complied with their order around isolation.
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  Speaker 1: So was there a miscommunication or did he not tell
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  Speaker 1: the truth?
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  Speaker 2: So police we're having further conversations with that individual. But
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  Speaker 2: if they have been fined, then that goes to show
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  Speaker 2: that they have not complied with the order and we're
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  Speaker 2: not satisfied.
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  Speaker 1: All right, And I do want to ask there is
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  Speaker 1: some businesses now it is being reported and certainly we've
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  Speaker 1: seen on social media that there is some businesses who
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  Speaker 1: aren't doing the right thing when it comes to this
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  Speaker 1: mask wearing. What's going to happen with them? Do? I mean?
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  Speaker 1: Obviously they're going to face a pretty hefty fine. I
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  Speaker 1: would think, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So if you're not doing the right thing when it
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  Speaker 2: comes to complying with the orders from the Chief Health officer,
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  Speaker 2: an individual can face a five thousand dollar fine, a
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  Speaker 2: business can face a twenty five thousand dollar fine. But
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  Speaker 2: we do try to work with businesses. Our preference would
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  Speaker 2: be that if somebody is doing the wrong thing, that
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  Speaker 2: we go in we make sure that we have a
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  Speaker 2: chat to them in the first instance, to make sure
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  Speaker 2: that they understand that they're doing the wrong thing. We'd
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  Speaker 2: rather take an education approach first and foremost to get
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  Speaker 2: people to comply. But if a business is outright not
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  Speaker 2: doing the right thing and they're not clearly choosing to
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  Speaker 2: follow the rules, then they will get fined.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we will catch up with We are going to
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  Speaker 1: be catching up with both hospitality and also the Chamber
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  Speaker 1: of Commerce in a little while, so we'll talk further
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  Speaker 1: about that now. Another issue which we're hoping to speak
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  Speaker 1: to the Chief Minister about but we haven't had the
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  Speaker 1: opportunity yet is the IKAC report into the Grand st
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  Speaker 1: and the Darwin Turf Club is set to find a
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  Speaker 1: new board after members called for the opportunity to select
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  Speaker 1: new representatives. Following the release of that damning report, club
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  Speaker 1: members called for a special general meeting, which as I understand,
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  Speaker 1: is going to be advertised today and it will take
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  Speaker 1: place in three weeks. Minister, does this really go far
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  Speaker 1: enough in terms of trying to rectify this situation?
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  Speaker 2: So we've said very clearly that we expect that the
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  Speaker 2: board members do resign, and if they don't resign, we'll
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  Speaker 2: move legislation. So we'll be able to remove them so
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  Speaker 2: they can have that fresh start moving forward, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Now a lot of territorials are continuing to ask, how
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  Speaker 1: on earth the Chief Minister can say that he didn't
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  Speaker 1: know that his chief of staff was helping the turf
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  Speaker 1: club to lobby for this money without his knowledge. Do
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  Speaker 1: you really reckon that that's plausible?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think what I'd like to make really clear, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: is that the report by the IKAQ was extensive. There
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  Speaker 2: were no finding against the ministers of the government here, but.
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  Speaker 1: The OCTA didn't have the opportunity to look into the
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  Speaker 1: cabinet documents, did they.
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  Speaker 2: The IKAC did a very extensive body of work and
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  Speaker 2: I'm under the impression this was done well and truly
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  Speaker 2: over a year where they went through they were clearly
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  Speaker 2: able to talk to a lot of people, obtain a
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  Speaker 2: lot of documents. So I thought that the report was very,
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  Speaker 2: very thorough and detailed, Katie. Because the IKAK has information,
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  Speaker 2: for example, text messages, emails they get to look at absolutely, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: no doubt about that. Then most people ever get to
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  Speaker 2: look at I thought it was very thorough and detail.
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  Speaker 1: No doubt about that. But they didn't get the chance
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  Speaker 1: to look at those cabinet documents. So does that really
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  Speaker 1: mean that realistically it doesn't give you a clear view
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  Speaker 1: of exactly what has gone on.
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  Speaker 2: I think it's a very clear view the report, Katie,
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  Speaker 2: I thought it was incredibly extensive, and like I said,
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  Speaker 2: an ICAC gets more access than pretty much through anybody
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  Speaker 2: else to information.
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  Speaker 1: All right. Brett Dixon's legal team wrote to the Chief Minister,
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  Speaker 1: Michael Gunner last weeks saying that his former chief of
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  Speaker 1: staff actively encouraged the application for the twelve million dollar
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory government grant for the construction of a grandstand
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  Speaker 1: because it was enthusiastically supported by mister Gunner personally. Did
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  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister push for this to happen amongst the
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  Speaker 1: cabinet because he wanted a good news story for his electorate.
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  Speaker 2: No, it was about construction jobs. He answered this question
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  Speaker 2: at the press conference on Friday when he was asked
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  Speaker 2: about that, and at the time it was about economic stimulus,
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  Speaker 2: supporting jobs and way to bring more money into the economy.
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  Speaker 1: The report states that alf Leonardi was discussing this proposal
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  Speaker 1: though with the Turf Club chair over a number of years.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, taking into account how you run your office.
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  Speaker 1: Do you expect people to believe that the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 1: had no knowledge of this whatsoever.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there were lots of conversations at the time. I
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  Speaker 2: think the Turf Club was certainly actively engaging with the
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  Speaker 2: rafter different people Katie, So there was.
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  Speaker 1: But not the Chief Minister.
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  Speaker 2: They had spoken. They did say that it's quite clear
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  Speaker 2: that they'd spoken to a raft of different individuals.
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  Speaker 1: So the COLP right now has challenged the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 1: to clear the air and release all the cabinet docupents
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  Speaker 1: upon which ministers decided to grant this twelve million dollar
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  Speaker 1: grant to the darh And Turf Club to build a
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  Speaker 1: new grand stand. I mean, should the government just do
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  Speaker 1: this and clear the air so that it's done and
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  Speaker 1: dost it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'd say the COLP that they should probably just
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  Speaker 2: read the Kak report because it's pretty extensive.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but there is a whole lock you can't deny that,
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  Speaker 1: the fact that they've not been able to look into
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  Speaker 1: the cabinet decision itself, that does take out a whole
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  Speaker 1: heck of information.
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  Speaker 2: Well, again, I think that there is a hugely extensive
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  Speaker 2: amount of information there within the Ikak report and again
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  Speaker 2: in what other organizations do They get access to text messages, emails,
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  Speaker 2: all that raft of information when they do their investigation.
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  Speaker 2: So I think it's very thorough, very detailed, and they've
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  Speaker 2: got all the information there.
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  Speaker 1: The opposition says that for Michael Gunner to claim that
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  Speaker 1: he had no knowledge of the inner workings of the
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  Speaker 1: deal when his then chief of staff and closest advisor
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  Speaker 1: had been orchestrating the proposal is absolutely farcical. Is it farcical?
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  Speaker 2: Well? I think the Ikak report goes into a raft
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  Speaker 2: of different areas there, Katie, And again I remind people
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  Speaker 2: that there were no findings against the cabinet, against the ministers,
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  Speaker 2: and so I think it's all there for people to
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  Speaker 2: plainly see.
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  Speaker 1: I know that there has been much said about the
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  Speaker 1: fact that your brother in law was on the turf
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  Speaker 1: Club board when that decision was made. Do you feel
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  Speaker 1: as though you adequately managed that conflict of interest? Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: From the moment I got into government, I had declared
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  Speaker 2: that my brother in law was sitting on the turf
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  Speaker 2: club board. So I'd always actively declared that and again
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  Speaker 2: through this process also actively declared it.
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  Speaker 1: Now you are obviously the deputy Chief Minister, if you
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  Speaker 1: and the team had your time again, would you still
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  Speaker 1: support this Grandstand?
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  Speaker 2: Well? I think it was a good project. I think
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  Speaker 2: what we will clearly very much so let down in
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  Speaker 2: this process was around the tendering process there, and we
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  Speaker 2: did go back, we did try to further investigate it,
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  Speaker 2: which was very clear in the report and clearly the
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  Speaker 2: Duin Turf Club were not fulsome with their processes which
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  Speaker 2: was found through the IKA.
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  Speaker 1: So if you took out and you know, if that
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  Speaker 1: tendering process had have happened differently, would you still support
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  Speaker 1: this grand Stand?
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  Speaker 2: Well? I think I've been very public Katie and saying
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  Speaker 2: that I can see that it would have been good
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  Speaker 2: for jobs, that it was about diversifying the economy, about
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  Speaker 2: trying to bring more big events and more high spending
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  Speaker 2: tourists into the Northern Territory economy. And it's about to
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: go into its second year of being an active grand
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  Speaker 2: stand and we're seeing more demand than ever for the
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Darn Cup Carnival. So we know people spend big when
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: they go, and they spend Biggert restaurants, they spend Biggert close,
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  Speaker 2: they spend big at hotels and tours. That good thing
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  Speaker 2: for the economy.
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  Speaker 1: I mean right from the get go though, Territorians just
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  Speaker 1: did not think that this was a good idea. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: even if you take out this Ikach report and you know,
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  Speaker 1: and don't look at the tendering side of things. It
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  Speaker 1: was on the same week when we had a code
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  Speaker 1: yellow at the hospital where we were struggling to have
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  Speaker 1: enough beds at the hospital. I just can't wrap my
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  Speaker 1: head around how the government's still defending it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you have to be able to provide services, and
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  Speaker 2: you have to be able to drive the economy forward
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  Speaker 2: and diversify Katie so and at the time it was
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  Speaker 2: a time when we needed construction stimulus and economic stimulus too.
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  Speaker 1: Nicole Madison. We will leave it there. I appreciate your
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  Speaker 1: time this morning. Thank you.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Katie, had a great week you too.
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  Speaker 1: It is twenty two minutes after nine o'clock eight nine
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  Speaker 1: four one one oh four nine is the number if
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  Speaker 1: you'd like to call through, if you want to send
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: us a message. I'm very keen to hear your thoughts
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: on this situation with the Grandstand. I know, right from
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: the morning after it happened. You know, the announcement was
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  Speaker 1: made on a Thursday at the I think it was
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: at the launch of the Cup Carnival, and right from
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  Speaker 1: the morning after it happened, we were inundated with people
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  Speaker 1: contacting this show saying that they did not think it
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  Speaker 1: was the right use of taxpayers dollars. You know, for
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: me at this point in time, for you know, the
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  Speaker 1: Chief Minister to not really be taking responsibility for it,
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  Speaker 1: I find it quite astronomical for his chief of staff
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: to be thrown under the bus. So I find it
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  Speaker 1: quite astronomical that you know that he did not well
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: he says that, you know, he's not he didn't have
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: a full understanding of exactly what had gone on behind
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: the scenes. I just find it quite astonishing, and I
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  Speaker 1: do agree that with what the CLP has said, where
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: you know, we should actually be in a situation where
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  Speaker 1: if the government really wants to clear the air on this,
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  Speaker 1: then they should just release all of those cabinet documents
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: upon which those ministers decided to grant that twelve million
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  Speaker 1: dollars to the Darwin Turf Club. But keen to hear
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  Speaker 1: your thoughts this morning. You can give us a call
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: or you can send us a text message zero four
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  Speaker 1: one A nine five seven three six nine