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Katie Woolf spoke with Chief Minister Michael Gunner · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me live in the studio is the Chief Minister,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Michael Gunner.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Good morning, goody, how you going?
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah? Really well now, Chief Minister, there had been some
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: concern that well you may not have the opportunity to
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: meet with the Prime Minister on Friday after had issues
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: with his plane. You got there though, That meeting did
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: happen and it was determined that a number of stranded
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Aussies would fly into and to quarantine at the Howard
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Springs facility. How many Aussies are we talking because there's
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: been a few conflicting reports to that.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: All happened in the air.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: I landed to a flurry of text message and a
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: TV camera waiting for me. But thankfully one of the
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: messages I've got was from the Prime Minister saying I
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: can't make it to National Cabinet but dartmorrow.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Michael, still my attention to get to Sitney and meet
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: with you. So that was great, very.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Nice, pretty nice Scott to provide that reassurance. So the
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: deal with the Australian government is for five hundred spaces
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: to be available every fortnight, so on thousand a month,
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: and with the aim being five thousand upfront and the
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: initial deal. The Australian government is organizing the Australians in
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: different parts. That's actually, as you can imagine, quite complicated exercise.
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: So not everyone's just sitting around in London or a
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: South Africa or whever in the one spot. They've got
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: to make sure they identify them, they get them together
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: and they get them on the plane. That's the work
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: of the Australian government talking to the Prime Minister. Obviously
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: they've made a lot of offers out to people and
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: those peop needed to say yes, I know now these
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: are people who who wanted to.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Come home, who said that they're vulnerable.
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: Is trade governments agreed that they're vulnerable, and they're being
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: contests where they actually make themselves available and get on
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: that plane. So if the numbers aren't at five hundred,
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: it's not because of massive effort on behalf of the
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Australian government, because of some people who've been given the
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: letter of offer or whatever have just said they can't
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: make it on that first flight.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: So but so potentially to begin with, it'll be five
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: hundred every fortnight, and that'll be up to five thousand,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: but that could continue on for longer if required.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: Australian Government's very keen and obviously we'd be happy to
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: do this too as Victoria comes off. We've got a
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: date for regional Victoria, but not a date for Melbourne.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Obviously at this stage, both Victoria comes off, the PM's
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: very keen to expand what we're doing on site to
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: more Australians. Obviously we're happy to work with them on that.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: So essentially become that portal in for vulnerable Australians, high
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: risk Australians the onesh Australian Government identifies as needing that
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: kind of care.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: And so where exactly are they going to be coming from?
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Is it London and Delhi? Is it anywhere else?
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: At this point so it looks like it's going to
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: be a variety of places. It may tell down eventually
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: to be regular exit ports, but at this stage it's
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: going to be two or three different posts. So I've
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: heard Deli, Singapore, London and out South Africa as initial
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: initial exit ports.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: They will settle down.
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: Obviously as istraie Gunment organizes those flights, they're inside of that.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: They're in charge of that bit.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: We're in charge of working with them about caring for
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: them here when they land in the territory.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and a lot of people are still concerned about
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: that side of things and that it could pose a
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: safety threat to territorians. The example would be what happened
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: in Melbourne obviously in hotel quarantine. I understand that people
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: will be screened before they depart internationally and they'll then
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: be screened once they arrive in Darwin. Who's going to
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: be managing the security at the facility though, to avoid
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: any situation like what we saw in Victoria.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: I can go through a few things there. I think
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: that's worth going through. So first of all, police have
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: lead here and they've always had lead. We've always had
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: that certainty through the Security and Management Emergency Management Subcommittee
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: of Cabinet. We've always had the Police Commissioner present at
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: those meetings, and Police commission has been fully involved and
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: in charge. And obviously he's the territory controller, so I
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: should be saying in this instance, the territory control of
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: other Thanolice commission. He's got those two hats on and
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: we've been treating it as we would any other emergency,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: with those common protocols around the chain of commands. So
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: we've been very careful, and I think the church has
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: had an advantage here in some ways. You know, with
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: great regret, we have two or three emergencies a year,
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: and so we've just had very resilient, robust systems we
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: could stand up and so, to use a Victoria for example,
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: while they have awful bush fires, they're not every single
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: year the same extent that we might have those cyclones
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: and floods and other things. So I think we've had
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: an unfortunate advantage.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, that's right. We do deal with these crises
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: fairly often, but so is the situation that the police
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: are obviously going to have the lead inside that facility
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: So the Australian government's just in a review of all
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: the quarantine arrangements in all different states by a lady
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: called Jane Holton's the Autrainian government has that we've obviously
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: been doing quarantine here for a long time very well,
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: and we had an advantage that again by standing up
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: early days of Wuhand and Diamond Princess. I know there
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: was a bit of consternation at the time, but that
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: gave us very valuable experience in dealing of coronavirus and
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: our infection control principles and how we set up the
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Howard Springs facility. The Austrain guns now gone around given
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: everyone the tick ticks or crosses. You know, we're basically
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: best in class with how we run our facility. So
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: there's a reason why the Australian Government has chosen Howard
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: Springs and the Center for National Resilience to be the
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: spot for this is because we're good at it. So
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: police are in charge, we're running that show out there,
• 4:55
  Speaker 3: and the austrain Government essentially given us a huge tick
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: of confidence and how we do our quarantine arrange Prince
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: and it is you know, no disrespect to Victoria that
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: they're going through very public, very public things there at
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: the moment, how they deal their quarter generations. We've obviously
• 5:09
  Speaker 3: got very good quarant generations.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Here, so you won't be doing things the same as Victoria.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Police will be managing the security out of how It Springs.
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: That does include having private security there, but there's a
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: completely different setup to how Victoria seems to have done it.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: So there is private running things.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: We've always had privacy not running things present, We've always
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: had private security involved. So you remember when we stood
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: Howard springs back up again. This time around, we didn't
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: rush straight into it. I said, even though we've never
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: made a mistake, off the back of what's happened to Victoria,
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: I want to make sure everybody involved and standing how
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: it springs back up again. That's not just security, that's
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: even our doctors and nurses and police essentially refreshed in
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: how we want to run those things and so well.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: I think complacency is always a problem here. We've never
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: had a mistake, but ever want us to have a mistake,
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: And you've got to keep learning. Your lessons have called insurance.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Look, I guess the you know, just hearing private security
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: present will raise alarm bells for some people out there listening.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: They'll think, goodness, me, does this mean that the private
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: security are going to be managing whether people are doing
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: the right thing while they are in while they're in
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Howard Springs. So, just to really talk us through it,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: there's private security out there, But then is there police
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: overseeing those private security guards?
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: I understand based off obviously what's happening with Victoria and
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: everyone's seeing that. Yeah, one of the lessons we learn
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: in COVID is everyone seeing what gladys are saying what
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: Dan's saying, what anastage is saying, And there can be
• 6:27
  Speaker 3: differences between states, and I get that Victoria had a
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: different arrangement to us. So to give everyone absolute confidence,
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: we've always had a very robust setup system here with
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: police in charge. I think that's the most important thing.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: The Church of Controller leads this and that's every aspect
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: of our emergency response. Is the Church of Controller sits
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: on the TEMPSI, which is the Public service version of
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: the SEMPSI, which is the Cabinet Emergency Committee. So police
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: are in charge running the show, and we have a
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: number of people out there doctors, nurses, the private security,
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: the caterers, so that you know, there's no way of
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: doing this well without having a lot of people working
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: for you. What you've got to have is good training,
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: good systems and good call insurance practices.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Now I know that just over a week ago that
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: vision emerged of a party at the facility. Did the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: Prime Minister raise this with you or was he aware
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: of it?
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: No, so we obviously talked to the strain government all
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: the way through this. My understanding police went and looked
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: at all that it wasn't so much a rave as
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: a TikTok, and that there was a little different. So
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: it's a deliberate setup shop for social media. Police obviously
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: looked at it. It did not interfere with the safety
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: of territoriums. So fourteen days is forteen days. Let's be clear.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Once you've done your fourteen days, you're okay. So that
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Rave party, the TikTok, which was made to look like
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: a rave party, didn't interfere with the safety of territorians,
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: doesn't meet how we want that site to run.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: And police did that investigative work.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: So no charges or fines for that incident.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: That's my understanding.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: Will it happen again, Well, I don't believe it will,
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: but when people are in quarantine for fourteen days, they
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: like to get create. But we've obviously got plans about
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: how to control all of that, and I think what's
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: important is I rather people play guitar at the quarantine
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: facility and territories are safe than different breaches. So this
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: is on the side of the breach that I think
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: we can manage and we can make sure that please
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: others control that.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: We talk to stuff about how.
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: And so I've talked to the customers, Yeah, people in quarantine, customers,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: guests about how they.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: Behave now has everyone paid up until this point, I
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: know that there's been quite a bit of talk about
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: how people are paying, if they are paying, and how
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: this payment's going to work.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: So I think this is no, one's not paid.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: If it makes sense, The bills are going out and
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: money is coming back slowly. I think the important thing
• 8:47
  Speaker 3: to bear in mind here is twenty five hundred is
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: a steep ask, and we've obviously looked at this pricing
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: regime a few times. At the moment, the system works.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: People aren't dodging the system. They're not hiding back of
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: cars or whatever. We've got civil obedience and people who
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: received a benefit of people spending fourteen days in quarantine
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: are Territorians, And you know, coronavirus not spreading here. So
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: people choosing to spend fourteen days essentially not at their
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: own liberty and give us twenty five hundred dollars so
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: that Territorians can be safe.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: So it's working. The money's coming back in slowly.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, So that's not a concern for you at this point.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: And just to make it really clear for people out there,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: listening because I was asked, this's actually on the weekends.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Are the people that we are repatriating back here to
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory from other parts of the world, those Aussies,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: they are going to be paying themselves that two and
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: a half thousand dollars up.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: In the Australian government will be doing the charging on
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: that one. Okay, yeah, so still the twenty five hundred,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: so consistent pricing, but Australian governments can be doing that
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: charging all right now.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: I also want to ask where is the support from
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: the ADA if at this point it is due to
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: end on the borders at the end of this month
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: this night.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: So we've got an excellent relationship with Australian Defense forces.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: I want to thank them a lot for what they've
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: been doing, obviously both at the officer level, and we've
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: got some great people present here in the Northern Territory.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: But I've spoken and with the Minister.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Of Defense a number of times as well as well
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: as the Prime Minister about our defense force arrangements. Ours
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: are slightly different, I think to other states, how we've
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: used them and how many people we've got and how
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: we're asking them and they're very comfortable about understanding that
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: our border controls are there to look after the most vulnerable,
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: that we have got that hot spots policy in place.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: They also like that we've got a transition plan that
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: we've planned for the border controls we present until end
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: of next year. But we've got that police recruitment program
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: going in place, so we're not saying to the ADF
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: you're our only source of help. We've got a plan
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: in place about how we manage those borders long term.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: So as a result of all that, they've been very
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: happy to stay and support us on our border controls.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: In other places, they've had to do some relief roster arrangements,
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: you know, Defense Force need to take leave, they've got
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: exercises coming up, and they're preparing for the Southern bushfire
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: and emergency system.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: YEP, yeah, I'm saying sorry.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: So but having said that, in the territory, they've been
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: happy to stay on and help recognizing what our plans are.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: So they will stay on after Octo. After the end
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: of this.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Month, so they've got a formal monthly review process which
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: other states don't have, so we've got them staying with
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: that being reviewed at the end of each month.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: So at this stage is all good, okay, So.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: They will continue on after October, yes, yep, okay. Now
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: one of the areas obviously, where that is going to
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: help is we know that, you know, resourcing for our
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: Northern Territory police, no doubt it's having an impact being
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: on those borders and obviously the support at the airports,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: et cetera. You did, as we know, spoke with the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Prime Minister about various things on Friday. Did you get
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: a chance to talk to him about police resourcing in
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: our indigenous communities because I know that this is something
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: that's really caused quite a bit of argie bargie here
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: in the territory between Senator Sam McMahon and our police
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: minister and others.
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: Yes, thankfully, I've got good relationship with the Prime Minister.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: So we we talked about this in a couple different ways.
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: The first is we talked to talk about the straining
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: defense forces. The straining Federal police have also been very helpful,
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: and the straining Federal police are going to be involved
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: in our house springs arrangements from this point on.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: With the people.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: Quarantining from overseas, they're going to be involved on that
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: in that cohort. So we've got a good relationship not
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: just with ADF but also with the Australian Federal Police.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: And obviously the current Australian Federal Police Commissioner is our
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: former police Commissioner and Res kush Or, so Jamie and
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: Reece can talk to each other quite easily, so that's
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: a good arrangement. I spoke with the Prime Minister about
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: the fact that the Anti ray is going to be
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: ending end of next year. So that's the Remote Northern
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: Territory Remote Area Investment, which number of things hang, one
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: of which is police. So I want to talk about
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: how we work going forward with another five to ten
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: year plan. So that's the end of a ten year
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: plan essentially, So for me, it's how does the Australian
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: Government want to pivot that help into other ways or
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: to the same ways, you know, not ruling anything in
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: or out for the Australian government, so they may want
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: to look at things that are not policing going forward,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: but then we have to have to have plans in
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: place for whether the Australian Government's going to be involved
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: or not involved. Continuing they're funding and support for remote
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: police station's remote police or do we look at that
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: in a different way?
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: All right?
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: And so what did the Prime Minister.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: Say that he wants to work on that plan? All right?
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Because I know that when we did catch up with
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: our Police Commissioner, as I'm sure you would have heard,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: he has said that it's going to be a real
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: warror if we don't have that continued funding. It's going
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: to cause some real issues for us in terms of
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: the resourcing in different areas. I mean, did you convey
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: that to the Prime Minister?
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: Absolutely so, Well I talked with the Prime Minister about
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: how we step out of COVID full stop, so how
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: do we do their current rebound? But also recognizing as
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: we have during this whole crisis with the Ustralian government,
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: I thing no dispute that we've got a lot of
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: vulnerable people in the Lawn territory and how do we
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: manage our way through that as well? And Mojo of
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: them are remote and Aboriginal unfortunately, and so the police
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: are present there. And so what I talked with the
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: Prime Minister about is how do we do how do
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: we have a proper plan in place again like we
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: did last time? Round that looks at those needs of
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: which police were one of those things. And so for me,
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: I don't put all the pressure in Australian government right
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: if they withdraw that funding, Yes, it will hurt because
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: it supports it was supporting seventy police and now supporting
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: about fifty police. So we let but lest be clear,
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: we will then have to look at what we do
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: as a territory government to manage that. And I want
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: to see what the Austraian Government's doing instead of that,
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: if they are going to be here helping us or not.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: But we are obviously.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Very appreciative of the fact the Australian government is currently
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: supporting the provision location of fifty territory police in the
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: non territory have say, for about ten years it was
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: usually high seventies. Now it's down to low fifties. That's
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: that's great. I'll thank the Straan government for that. Obviously,
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: I'd love to work with Australian government going forward. I'm
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: not here to get into a fight, as I think.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: I just think it's really important that we sort of
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: you know, for you guys in terms of planning forwards
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: and for our police force in terms of planning forwards
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: that we know whether we've got funding all we don't,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: so that then obviously they can sort out their resourcing.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Yes, I one hundred percent, and I think the best
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: way of doing that with the Australian Government is having
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: constructive conversations with the Prime Minister. I think the local
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: CELP cenator hasn't hasn't helped in those conversations, and we're
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: not looking for sticks and fights and just this not
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: what we're after.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: I don't think that's a necessary way for us to
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: go through this.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: I just think all of us, whether you're wearing a
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: red tie or a blue tie ALP, let's put the best
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: case forward possible for in all the territory to the
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: Australian Government. And it's great the trained Gument's currently supporting
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: police in the territory. I think it's a good thing
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: and I think the COLP should be helping us in
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: the case for that to continue.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Do you think the Senator is stirring a bit of
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: trouble rather than helping.
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: I think she likes a good argument. But for me,
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: I'm not letting that distract from the fact I've got
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: a good relationship with the Prime Minister, the territory. Australian
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: gunments have probably never got along better than we have
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: right now. We've recognized the common need. We've basically got
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: the same policies in place for both essentially for how
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: we of coronavirus and how we deal with the economy.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: So I think things are good. Let's have a good
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: relationship with the Traine government.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Now. One of the other things that I do want
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to talk to about, it's an area which always concerns people,
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: is obviously crime. Now, the latest crime statistics show that
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: things are going okay here in Darwin and also Palmestan,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: but it seems that there are some pretty serious concerns
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: in Olie Springs.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: You and I have spoken about this on a few
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: occasions and found out over the weekend or late last
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: week that a motorcyclist had to be airlifted to Adelaide
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: in Icee You on Friday afternoon. Initial investigations indicate that
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: a vehicle believed to be stolen, breached a red light
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: and struck that motorcyclist traveling west towards Lara Pint to drive.
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: A number of teenagers have now been charged, including a
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: thirteen year old has Alice Springs reached crisis point.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: So that is a shocking and outrageous incident. I've gotta
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: a little bit careful by I say, because all five
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: have had charges pressed against them, and quite serious chargers.
• 16:32
  Speaker 3: There was definitely a spike in Alice Springs and we've
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: launched a strike force down there targeting youth crime and
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: property offenses, and we've got twelve experienced police heading there.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: This week we had an accelerated recruit squad of sixteen,
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: of which twelve are going to go to al Springs
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: the week after. We've got eleven Abaginal Liaison officers graduating,
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: Four going to go to Alice and seven are going
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: to go to the remote communities around.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Alis in the south.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: Which I think it's important we going to look at
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: this not just as an al Springs issue, but essential
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: Australian issue. So often the public bits and sometimes the
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: worst incidents happen in Alice, but usually it's a reflection
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: what's happening in the region. We've got a lot of
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: mobility at the moment, We've got a lot of money
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: and people are moving around and we're seeing that an
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: absolute spike and police and the church of government full stop.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: But police obviously very much at the forefront of this,
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: are leading a pivot against what's happening in our springs.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Are you worried about the impact that this is
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: having on those good law abiding citizens of Alice.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, you should always feel safe. I think they're people
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: in our springs right now who do not feel safe.
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: That's not good. We never want that. Please take that seriously.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: I take that seriously.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: One of the things that we see is our responsibility,
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: and police are the usually the front of this is
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: how do we have a visible presence that leads to
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: public confidence in safety. I don't think everyone else Springs
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: feel safe right now. I want them to feel safe.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: That's absolutely our job. And so you know what we're
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: got to do right now, through the strike force, through
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: the aureos and other presences we have in our springs,
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: is to make sure people feel safe in Alice.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: All right, Chief Minister, One last thing I do want
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: to ask you about. It's a question that has come
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: through from the text line question for the Chief Minister.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Do you support the development of the RSL on the esperanat.
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: I personally, well personally professionally as a government, we support
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: that being parkland. So one of the things that we
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: worked on was that car park. The above ground car
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: park across the road from the other above ground car
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: parks in that area have been turned into parkland in
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: the CBD and the underground park car park being built
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: centaf is amazing. We see that area growing and expanding
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: and being a site for larger Anzac Day ceremonies. So
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: I understand hap with this. I understand the RSL putting
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: a case forward. That's absolutely their right to do that.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: They can put that case forward and there's independent processes
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: to determine the.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Viability of that case.
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Council in the past, under their mass Plan and the
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: City Deal have indicated that space for parkland. Now obviously
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: the Council can change their mind on these things. That's
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: a question for the council. But personally, I think for
• 18:47
  Speaker 3: our planning purposes that's best as green space. And there
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: are plenty of other great spots I reckon where the
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: RSL could go. But RSL has the right to put
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: the case to go that site.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: What about when it comes to development more generally not
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: buildings or anything on the espanard, but you know, a
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: cafe or anything else. Do you think that should happen.
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: I'm not opposed to green space being activated with Espanad
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: or other spots, but I think there's a huge opportunity
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: going begging right now along the Esplanade. So before we
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: get into how do we how do we not activate
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: that green space? Look at all the commercial real estate
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: along the Esplanard that's already there, most of its hotels,
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: char shows I was Club Dalen now sorry, shows that
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: a restaurant on that side works, But we're not seeing
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: any of those other retail stage commercial ships ever. Take
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: that up that advantage. I'd love to see bars and
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: restaurants down the esplanade. And when you see that side
• 19:33
  Speaker 3: of the road activated where there is genuinely the opportunity
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: to do that, how do you then work that into
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: the green space and across what has across the road?
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: How does council look at traffic management through there to
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: make it those two areas work well together. I think
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: at the moment, we've got a lot of real estate
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: along there that is designed for this purpose, not being
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: used for this purpose.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what about then, I mean the Council's obviously looking
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: at and they've put forward some proposals to obviously develop
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: the Lamarou baths or to revent the Lamarou baths. Do
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: you think that's something like that? I mean, is that
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: what we should be doing down there? And do you
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: think that realistically then when we talk about Larakia people
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: that that should all be incorporated as part of that story.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: I think Lamary baths are good. I've got nothing wrong
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: with the Lamarue barns. I think we need to develop
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: the waterfront area further more first probably then move around
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: into the Lamaru barns. So it might be a sequential thing.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: So what do we need to do at the waterfront
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: first to really get that space working? Always worry about
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: when you stretch things, do you know, do you you
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: do break the thread that's there? But not post Lamari
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: baths at all. I could be wrong about the sequencing
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: of things, right, So you've got to you gotta have
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: other conversations around this. But I think the waterfront can
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: still have further investment in it that will make it
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: a better, more vibrant tourist attraction, which will then build
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: an even stronger case for Lamaruy baths afterwards.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: As our way look at it.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Well, Chief Minister Michael Gunner, we better leave it there.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Good to catch up with you this morning. Thanks so
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: much for your time.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: Thank you,