Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We know that yesterday.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
There were varied opinions yesterday as that vision had emerged
to protesters following the Chief Minister setting up amateur social
media opportunities as they protested fracking. Well, the Chief Minister
was attempting to run the west Max Monster on the weekend. Now,
the Chief Minister joins me in the studio right now,
Good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Good morning, Katie, Good morning listeners.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now, Chief Minister, you seem pretty shaken by that incident
from the vision that I've seen. Do you feel it
was appropriate for those protesters to follow you around the
course while you took part in that event.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
No, Katie, harassment is never okay, And I felt really
terrible for the event organizers. They put on such a
professional event. There was other competitors that were impacted. And
I think, Katie, I make myself really accessible. I love
being a part of the community. I love attending community events.
I chose in my own time to train for that event.
I absolutely get I'm the Chief Minister. I'm always on Judy,
(00:55):
but I just think it went too far and it
was harassment.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Look, I can see that it is still something that
has affected you, and I think the part that I
didn't like about it is I understand that if they
are at the finish line and wanted to protest, I
think that that's fair game. You know, that is something
that they're well and truly entitled to do. But what
people may not sort of understand about the West Max
Monster is that you're quite often in different areas totally
(01:19):
on your own. It's not like a normal fun run
where there are other people around you. So to then
feel as I will actually be getting followed, I just
sort of crossed the line. And I know that when
you're in the public eye, you have to be prepared
that not everybody's going to agree with what you do.
They're going to be angry at you at different times,
but there is a time and a place, Katie.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I take that. I make myself very accessible.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
I don't mind people stopping me when I'm out and
about in the community, and I can then direct them best,
you know how, we can try and help them with
their concern or for me to hear their feedback. But
on the West Max you have no phone range, you
are going up and down hills, you are on a trail,
and I just think it was inappropriate and I was
you know, felt terrible that it took away from the event.
(02:03):
It was unsportsmanlike and I think quite frankly unterritorian.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Look. I know that there are a lot of concerns
this morning still when you talk about crime, so I
want to move along to that because that is something
that a lot of people are very worried about. And
there was an attack on a cab driver in broad
daylight on Temple Terrace on Monday, was just after midday.
This driver Will had a knife thrown at him, shattering
the window of that taxi. The attack and others have
(02:29):
left industry members feeling very worried about their safety. Blue
taxis Helen Patchoor saying to nine News Darwin last night
that they feel like no one's there to protect drivers
and no one's looking out for them, that it is
not safe at work. What is the government doing to
keep people like Dave, that victim safe.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Katie, And that was a terrible incident, and we're doing
everything we can to make sure that we keep our
community safe. And we're working right across government, not just
you know, waiting for the police. We're trying to stop
the behaviors before they happen. We're working on that knife strategy.
I think having a strategy is really important, making sure
that we have a whole of government response to stamp
out knife crime in our community with involvement from police, education,
(03:12):
mental health and others.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Now on that, the Acting Police Commissioner last week flag
those changes when it comes to knife crime. We know
that officers have been sent into state to look at
what Queensland are doing.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
When can we expect to.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Actually see some movement on that because I think a
lot of people feeling right now that the government's looking
at a lot of things or reviewing different things, but
not actually taking the action that's needed.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
No, Katie, I get that sense of urgency, and so
we're looking at around the knife crime and what changes
were made in Queensland and what we would do here
in the territory because that's quite specifics around precincts, but
I think it is certainly in the feedback I've had
from our police is that they feel it may be
something useful in the territory. The second part, Katie, is
that Bow review and that work is happening with a
sense of urgency. We've got Parliament at the end of July,
(03:56):
which I know is still some weeks away, but I'm
hoping that that work can start to give us some information,
start to wrap up so that if we did need
to make legislative changes, we could potentially. We've got July
and August sittings very close together, so there's a real
sense of urgency from us.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So end of July, hopefully we're going to see some
legislative changes when it comes to that review into bail laws.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
So Katie, we're doing a full review into the bail
weapons offenses, And for me, I think that that end
of July sittings is a timeframe if we need to
make those changes, and the review will showcase to us.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I mean, surely what has happened over recent months does
demonstrate to you that we need to make some changes.
Like I know that you are somebody who is out
there that cares about the community, Like surely from what
you are seeing, based on the terrible, terrible situations that
we are seeing, particularly with knife crime, that you feel
this needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
I just want to make it clear to the listeners, Katie,
in terms of bail, both police and the courts cannot
issue bail, so there's absolutely protections there right now, but
it's looking into these intricacies around the presumption and around
which offenses and which types of behavior. So we have
strong laws already, but if we need to do more,
we will.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
So what specifically do you think there could be some
strengthening on.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
So, Katie, when you look at the offenses around weapons,
you've got controlled prohibited, and so it's looking at where
the different classifications set and also making sure that we
don't inadvertently make changes because unfortunately, people that perpetrate these
crimes can use any type of objects, So we need
to make sure that it's practical. And that's where I
(05:35):
come back to that point that police and the courts,
if they feel someone is a danger to the community,
they cannot issue bail.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I mean there are situations though we're in a lot
of normal people's eyes, there are people that are out
on bail that simply shouldn't be, Like, it doesn't meet
the public's expectations.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So how do you measure up the.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Changes the review that you're looking into to make sure
that it actually meets the expectations of the community, because
people are pretty broken.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I think Katie, that police absolutely work extremely hard. They
understand the community's expectation and.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
We're giving them more resourcing that and it really irks
me actually when the government says that, you know, the
block that go you fall back on that because everybody
knows the police are working very hard.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
No one's disputing that.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
What they're wondering is if they have got all of
the measures and all of the tools in their belt
that they need to do their jobs. But also the
offenders that shouldn't be out on bail aren't let out
on bail by the courts.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
And Katie, sorry, that was the point that I was
getting to. For me, it's about making sure that police
have all the tools to do their job. And in
the budget there was significant money in there for justice,
domestic and family violence. We know that that sadly is
a large part of this, but making sure there's the
money there for corrections to make sure that people are
in prison, they're being held on remand but they're also
(06:54):
going through the programs so that they don't just come
back out and continue the same behaviors which make our
community unsafe.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
All right, So just to go back to that reviewing
to the bar laws, you are hoping that it will
be complete and that by the July the end of
July sittings that if there needs to be legislative changes,
that's when they'll be introduced.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Katie, correct, it's not something that's going to drag on
to the end of the year. We absolutely get that
sense of urgency from the community.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Now let me ask you about that the knife You
know the different measures, then with the knife crime, how
soon can we expect some changes there?
Speaker 4 (07:28):
So in terms of knife crime, this is something we've
seen as an emerging issue around the world and different jurisdictions,
different cities have taken a knife crime strategy and so
it's looking at a number of factors. So the Attorney
General is undertaking that work. So that's separate to the
bail review.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But would it be something because when I spoke to
the Acting Police Commissioner last week he had said that
body of work is happening, but there may need to
be legislative changes.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
So Katie, there's two parts to that.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
There's a knife crime strategy work, but there's also Queensland
have made changes and Northern Territory police have been across
to Queensland meeting with counterparts looking at those changes that
they made. Around preventing knife crime and so we're also
looking into that and that's quite down.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
The path that work. What's the timeframe.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
I'd have to get advice from police on that, Katie,
But that work is around precincts and so you'd have
an area, so the Darwin CBD, for example, the Casarina
Bus Interchange Square area, maybe the Palmerston CBD. So it's
focusing on a precinct where you do see higher rates
of this type of behavior and how we can support
police to give them the tools to stop the behaviors
(08:35):
before it ends up being a crime committed.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Now, yesterday on the show, the Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling,
said he wants to see more done when it comes
to youth diversion.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
He said that people are.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Asking him why we don't have somewhere like Wildman River
and he's having discussions with the Federal Attorney General about
something like this. Has he had discussions with you about
this and are we going to see some additional youth
diversion facilities?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
So, Katie, we have been talking to the Commonwealth, including
Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
We've got the Barkley Youth.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Work camp, and that's a facility that we've been building
down in the Barkley. So it is a facility where
young people will be held, but they can participate in
meaningful activities and be out there repaying back to the community.
So that facility, I anticipate will open in the next
couple of months. I'd have to get you a specific timeframe.
So that's something that provides that. Obviously, we're building a
(09:24):
new Dondale Youth detention facility. Obviously we've got a range
of diversion programs with different providers, but that's a physical
facility that young people can either be held on remand
or be sent to.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I took from the discussion with Luke Goslin yesterday that
he's talking about something additional, so he's talking about something
up here in the top end.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
Absolutely open to more locations, Katie. And when you look
at the diversion programs that we've got that can be
the court ordered diversion or police diversion, we do have
a number of providers that utilize different facilities and we'd
be very open to more.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Are you still planning to raise the age of criminal responsibility?
Because I know that that's something that gets usked all
the time. And are those programs actually in place to
support that happening, because again a lot of people are
feeling like they can't see it.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
The programs have to be in place before we can
make that change, Katie. We are working towards that, and
this is around making sure because what we see as
young people are charged with the courts, it goes through
the process of police getting all the evidence and it
gets to court and they're found to be dollar incapac
so not having a cognitive understanding of what has happened,
and it gets thrown out. We want to make sure
that young people, if they commit an offense, that they
(10:29):
understand the consequences of their behavior immediately.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Now another question that I've got obviously, this twenty thousand
dollars relocation announced by the acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy
last week.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
How's that going to be funded?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
So, Katie, we're really focused on retention. We've got amazing
police officers. We want to retain them. We want to
make sure that we've got a professional, flexible EBA and
workforce that supports them. We also want to get back
some offices that we may have recently had leave the
force and we want to attract people to the territory
and so the commissioner has the ability, the acting commissioner
to provide, you know, making sure that he can help
(11:05):
people relocate and provide some cash bonuses to get them here.
So he's got that ability, So current or new funding, Katie,
there was new funding for police in the budget, but
my understanding is he currently has that ability and there's
funding there.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Okay, so not needing additional funding from the Northern Territory
government at this point.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
If we need to provide police with more funding because
they are recruiting more police officers and retaining more police officers,
we will do that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
But he's got that power within his existing budget.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Now where are things that with the recruitment of a
new police commissioner, So.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Katie, I think it's not far off from being advertised.
It'll go through an independent recruitment process.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And so when do you anticipate that we will know
who the police commission is going to be like by
the end of the year or sooner.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I would hope sooner, Katie. I think it's important that
we do provide that certainty for our police force.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
But as I said, it'll go through an independent recruitment process.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Now.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
A massive issue that we spoke about last week is
school counselors. There's been moves to have a more which
sees those really important school counselors covering a number of
different schools sort of roving I guess you might say,
moved out of locations like Casuarina Senior College. It's a
real concern for the students. They actually came on the
show last week a couple of them and spoke to
(12:15):
me and spoke about the concerns that they've got, as
did nt Cogzo.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And I've got to tell you we had.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
A lot of parents in contact with us saying Katie,
those school counselor jobs are so incredibly important. You know
that they have helped out enormously with their children. So
where are we moving to with this? Has the department
made a wrong step?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
So, Katie, as a former teacher, I've seen firsthand how
a school counselor based in a school can support young
people and a really important role. So the Minister for
Education is watching this very closely. I think part of
the issues there's a national shortage of qualified professionals to
support the mental health of young people, and that's a
separate issue that's being addressed. What the Department have done
(12:59):
is that trying to make sure that more young people
have access to these counselors. But Katie, we are watching
this very closely because it has to work for our schools,
our young people, and their families. The concern that I've
got is that we're going, Okay, we want more young
people to have access to the school counselors, but there's
not actually enough of them.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
So what we're doing is making it a.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Half assed job for one of a better word, where
you've sort of got one school counselor trying to cover
too many schools to be able to af ford your
relationship with students.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
So, Katie, my understanding is some schools have got counselors
themselves that because schools have additional budget that they can
utilize to different things. Other schools have got well being programs,
and so making sure that we're broadly providing that mental
health support and then those young people that do need
to see a qualified counselor that those counselors are available
(13:47):
to them whilst they're recruiting more people to the position.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
So are these changes definitely going to go ahead or
do you realistically think that you know that there does
need to be some further discussion here to make sure
the model actually suits our kids, to ensure that our
kids well being is paramount.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Correct, Katie.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
And the Department, as I understand, is undertaking ongoing consultations,
so they are trying to recruit so that we've got
more resources, but they do need to listen to those
schools and the parents and the young people themselves. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Look, I mean thirty odd school counselors for one hundred
and fifty schools I think we've got around the Northern Territory.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
To me, it just does not seem enough. Katie.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I think that it's around making sure that there is
well being and mental health support programs across all of
our schools, and then we also have school counselors coming
in that's an important role. So it's making sure that
there's a range of resources to support young people. It's
not easy being a teenager.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Now I want to move on because this situation involving
Colleen Guinn, it's an interesting one and in a report
by Matt Cunningham from Sky News, it was reported that
police said the whole job is gone, but kept investigating
her for over sixteen months after now four to ten dives,
cased her home, tapped her phone, bugged her office all
(15:04):
over an employment matter.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Do you have any idea how much that cost?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Katie?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Any questions in relationship that would have to be directed
to police? I mean, do you think that it's appropriate, Katie?
I'm very restricted in what I can say. Miss Gwen
is a public servant, she's on a period of leave
of absence to consider her next steps, and there's an
acting Children's commissioner, But questions around that matter should be
directed to police.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I mean, why do you think, though police were putting
so much effort into this when we know across the
board we have got so much, so many issues with crime.
It seems as though it is a you know, if
it's been a mass amount of work and we've you know,
then got situations where different other crimes are going uninvestigated.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Katie, it is from a few years ago, but that
would be questions better place to police.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
From your perspective. Do you think it's appropriate though, Katie?
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I need to be very careful with my comments here,
as Miss Gwen is a public servant. Who is on
a leave of absence and Lease would be able to
answer those questions.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
What is going to be the situation then with the
Children's Commissioner role.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
So she's taking that extended leave of absence to consider
her next steps.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
And as I said, there's an acting commissioner.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
But so she could step back into that role.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
So Katie, that would be questions for her and the
relevant agency.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Would you be happy enough to welcome her back though.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Katie, I think that she's taking the time to consider
her steps and we need to support her with that.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
All right, I want to ask you.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I believe that there's going to be a funding announcement
shortly this morning around the KNAFE, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund.
What can we expect or are you able to give
us any detail at this point?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Katie always liked to give you a little bit of
breaking news. But we're working with the Commwalth government. So
the North Australia Infrastructure Fund will contribute up to fifty
million dollars through the Territory Infrastructure Loans and the Antique
government through our Local Jobs Fund, is going to put
in over sixteen million dollars for two years. So local
businesses can apply for these loans to help them. And
this is around getting these unique projects Katie off the
(16:59):
ground jobs for Territorians. And so they might not be
able to get a loan through a bank or normal
lending practices because it is innovative, it's different, it might
have a higher risk where this provides them without ability
to get quite a contribution so that we can see
these projects come off the ground in the territory.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
All right, I think we're all.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Looking forward to and certainly hoping some of those further
projects do get off the ground. Chief Medicinatasha Files will
leave it there, thank you, Take care,
We know that yesterday.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
There were varied opinions yesterday as that vision had emerged
to protesters following the Chief Minister setting up amateur social
media opportunities as they protested fracking. Well, the Chief Minister
was attempting to run the west Max Monster on the weekend. Now,
the Chief Minister joins me in the studio right now,
Good morning to you.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Good morning, Katie, Good morning listeners.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now, Chief Minister, you seem pretty shaken by that incident
from the vision that I've seen. Do you feel it
was appropriate for those protesters to follow you around the
course while you took part in that event.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
No, Katie, harassment is never okay, And I felt really
terrible for the event organizers. They put on such a
professional event. There was other competitors that were impacted. And
I think, Katie, I make myself really accessible. I love
being a part of the community. I love attending community events.
I chose in my own time to train for that event.
I absolutely get I'm the Chief Minister. I'm always on Judy,
(00:55):
but I just think it went too far and it
was harassment.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Look, I can see that it is still something that
has affected you, and I think the part that I
didn't like about it is I understand that if they
are at the finish line and wanted to protest, I
think that that's fair game. You know, that is something
that they're well and truly entitled to do. But what
people may not sort of understand about the West Max
Monster is that you're quite often in different areas totally
(01:19):
on your own. It's not like a normal fun run
where there are other people around you. So to then
feel as I will actually be getting followed, I just
sort of crossed the line. And I know that when
you're in the public eye, you have to be prepared
that not everybody's going to agree with what you do.
They're going to be angry at you at different times,
but there is a time and a place, Katie.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I take that. I make myself very accessible.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
I don't mind people stopping me when I'm out and
about in the community, and I can then direct them best,
you know how, we can try and help them with
their concern or for me to hear their feedback. But
on the West Max you have no phone range, you
are going up and down hills, you are on a trail,
and I just think it was inappropriate and I was
you know, felt terrible that it took away from the event.
(02:03):
It was unsportsmanlike and I think quite frankly unterritorian.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Look. I know that there are a lot of concerns
this morning still when you talk about crime, so I
want to move along to that because that is something
that a lot of people are very worried about. And
there was an attack on a cab driver in broad
daylight on Temple Terrace on Monday, was just after midday.
This driver Will had a knife thrown at him, shattering
the window of that taxi. The attack and others have
(02:29):
left industry members feeling very worried about their safety. Blue
taxis Helen Patchoor saying to nine News Darwin last night
that they feel like no one's there to protect drivers
and no one's looking out for them, that it is
not safe at work. What is the government doing to
keep people like Dave, that victim safe.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Katie, And that was a terrible incident, and we're doing
everything we can to make sure that we keep our
community safe. And we're working right across government, not just
you know, waiting for the police. We're trying to stop
the behaviors before they happen. We're working on that knife strategy.
I think having a strategy is really important, making sure
that we have a whole of government response to stamp
out knife crime in our community with involvement from police, education,
(03:12):
mental health and others.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Now on that, the Acting Police Commissioner last week flag
those changes when it comes to knife crime. We know
that officers have been sent into state to look at
what Queensland are doing.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
When can we expect to.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Actually see some movement on that because I think a
lot of people feeling right now that the government's looking
at a lot of things or reviewing different things, but
not actually taking the action that's needed.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
No, Katie, I get that sense of urgency, and so
we're looking at around the knife crime and what changes
were made in Queensland and what we would do here
in the territory because that's quite specifics around precincts, but
I think it is certainly in the feedback I've had
from our police is that they feel it may be
something useful in the territory. The second part, Katie, is
that Bow review and that work is happening with a
sense of urgency. We've got Parliament at the end of July,
(03:56):
which I know is still some weeks away, but I'm
hoping that that work can start to give us some information,
start to wrap up so that if we did need
to make legislative changes, we could potentially. We've got July
and August sittings very close together, so there's a real
sense of urgency from us.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So end of July, hopefully we're going to see some
legislative changes when it comes to that review into bail laws.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
So Katie, we're doing a full review into the bail
weapons offenses, And for me, I think that that end
of July sittings is a timeframe if we need to
make those changes, and the review will showcase to us.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I mean, surely what has happened over recent months does
demonstrate to you that we need to make some changes.
Like I know that you are somebody who is out
there that cares about the community, Like surely from what
you are seeing, based on the terrible, terrible situations that
we are seeing, particularly with knife crime, that you feel
this needs to happen sooner rather than later.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
I just want to make it clear to the listeners, Katie,
in terms of bail, both police and the courts cannot
issue bail, so there's absolutely protections there right now, but
it's looking into these intricacies around the presumption and around
which offenses and which types of behavior. So we have
strong laws already, but if we need to do more,
we will.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
So what specifically do you think there could be some
strengthening on.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
So, Katie, when you look at the offenses around weapons,
you've got controlled prohibited, and so it's looking at where
the different classifications set and also making sure that we
don't inadvertently make changes because unfortunately, people that perpetrate these
crimes can use any type of objects, So we need
to make sure that it's practical. And that's where I
(05:35):
come back to that point that police and the courts,
if they feel someone is a danger to the community,
they cannot issue bail.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I mean there are situations though we're in a lot
of normal people's eyes, there are people that are out
on bail that simply shouldn't be, Like, it doesn't meet
the public's expectations.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So how do you measure up the.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Changes the review that you're looking into to make sure
that it actually meets the expectations of the community, because
people are pretty broken.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
I think Katie, that police absolutely work extremely hard. They
understand the community's expectation and.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
We're giving them more resourcing that and it really irks
me actually when the government says that, you know, the
block that go you fall back on that because everybody
knows the police are working very hard.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
No one's disputing that.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
What they're wondering is if they have got all of
the measures and all of the tools in their belt
that they need to do their jobs. But also the
offenders that shouldn't be out on bail aren't let out
on bail by the courts.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
And Katie, sorry, that was the point that I was
getting to. For me, it's about making sure that police
have all the tools to do their job. And in
the budget there was significant money in there for justice,
domestic and family violence. We know that that sadly is
a large part of this, but making sure there's the
money there for corrections to make sure that people are
in prison, they're being held on remand but they're also
(06:54):
going through the programs so that they don't just come
back out and continue the same behaviors which make our
community unsafe.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
All right, So just to go back to that reviewing
to the bar laws, you are hoping that it will
be complete and that by the July the end of
July sittings that if there needs to be legislative changes,
that's when they'll be introduced.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Katie, correct, it's not something that's going to drag on
to the end of the year. We absolutely get that
sense of urgency from the community.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Now let me ask you about that the knife You
know the different measures, then with the knife crime, how
soon can we expect some changes there?
Speaker 4 (07:28):
So in terms of knife crime, this is something we've
seen as an emerging issue around the world and different jurisdictions,
different cities have taken a knife crime strategy and so
it's looking at a number of factors. So the Attorney
General is undertaking that work. So that's separate to the
bail review.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
But would it be something because when I spoke to
the Acting Police Commissioner last week he had said that
body of work is happening, but there may need to
be legislative changes.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
So Katie, there's two parts to that.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
There's a knife crime strategy work, but there's also Queensland
have made changes and Northern Territory police have been across
to Queensland meeting with counterparts looking at those changes that
they made. Around preventing knife crime and so we're also
looking into that and that's quite down.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
The path that work. What's the timeframe.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
I'd have to get advice from police on that, Katie,
But that work is around precincts and so you'd have
an area, so the Darwin CBD, for example, the Casarina
Bus Interchange Square area, maybe the Palmerston CBD. So it's
focusing on a precinct where you do see higher rates
of this type of behavior and how we can support
police to give them the tools to stop the behaviors
(08:35):
before it ends up being a crime committed.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Now, yesterday on the show, the Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling,
said he wants to see more done when it comes
to youth diversion.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
He said that people are.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Asking him why we don't have somewhere like Wildman River
and he's having discussions with the Federal Attorney General about
something like this. Has he had discussions with you about
this and are we going to see some additional youth
diversion facilities?
Speaker 4 (08:58):
So, Katie, we have been talking to the Commonwealth, including
Luke Gosling, the Member for Solomon.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
We've got the Barkley Youth.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
Work camp, and that's a facility that we've been building
down in the Barkley. So it is a facility where
young people will be held, but they can participate in
meaningful activities and be out there repaying back to the community.
So that facility, I anticipate will open in the next
couple of months. I'd have to get you a specific timeframe.
So that's something that provides that. Obviously, we're building a
(09:24):
new Dondale Youth detention facility. Obviously we've got a range
of diversion programs with different providers, but that's a physical
facility that young people can either be held on remand
or be sent to.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I took from the discussion with Luke Goslin yesterday that
he's talking about something additional, so he's talking about something
up here in the top end.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
Absolutely open to more locations, Katie. And when you look
at the diversion programs that we've got that can be
the court ordered diversion or police diversion, we do have
a number of providers that utilize different facilities and we'd
be very open to more.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Are you still planning to raise the age of criminal responsibility?
Because I know that that's something that gets usked all
the time. And are those programs actually in place to
support that happening, because again a lot of people are
feeling like they can't see it.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
The programs have to be in place before we can
make that change, Katie. We are working towards that, and
this is around making sure because what we see as
young people are charged with the courts, it goes through
the process of police getting all the evidence and it
gets to court and they're found to be dollar incapac
so not having a cognitive understanding of what has happened,
and it gets thrown out. We want to make sure
that young people, if they commit an offense, that they
(10:29):
understand the consequences of their behavior immediately.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Now another question that I've got obviously, this twenty thousand
dollars relocation announced by the acting Police Commissioner Michael Murphy
last week.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
How's that going to be funded?
Speaker 4 (10:43):
So, Katie, we're really focused on retention. We've got amazing
police officers. We want to retain them. We want to
make sure that we've got a professional, flexible EBA and
workforce that supports them. We also want to get back
some offices that we may have recently had leave the
force and we want to attract people to the territory
and so the commissioner has the ability, the acting commissioner
to provide, you know, making sure that he can help
(11:05):
people relocate and provide some cash bonuses to get them here.
So he's got that ability, So current or new funding, Katie,
there was new funding for police in the budget, but
my understanding is he currently has that ability and there's
funding there.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Okay, so not needing additional funding from the Northern Territory
government at this point.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
If we need to provide police with more funding because
they are recruiting more police officers and retaining more police officers,
we will do that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
But he's got that power within his existing budget.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Now where are things that with the recruitment of a
new police commissioner, So.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
Katie, I think it's not far off from being advertised.
It'll go through an independent recruitment process.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
And so when do you anticipate that we will know
who the police commission is going to be like by
the end of the year or sooner.
Speaker 4 (11:46):
I would hope sooner, Katie. I think it's important that
we do provide that certainty for our police force.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
But as I said, it'll go through an independent recruitment process.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Now.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
A massive issue that we spoke about last week is
school counselors. There's been moves to have a more which
sees those really important school counselors covering a number of
different schools sort of roving I guess you might say,
moved out of locations like Casuarina Senior College. It's a
real concern for the students. They actually came on the
show last week a couple of them and spoke to
(12:15):
me and spoke about the concerns that they've got, as
did nt Cogzo.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And I've got to tell you we had.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
A lot of parents in contact with us saying Katie,
those school counselor jobs are so incredibly important. You know
that they have helped out enormously with their children. So
where are we moving to with this? Has the department
made a wrong step?
Speaker 4 (12:38):
So, Katie, as a former teacher, I've seen firsthand how
a school counselor based in a school can support young
people and a really important role. So the Minister for
Education is watching this very closely. I think part of
the issues there's a national shortage of qualified professionals to
support the mental health of young people, and that's a
separate issue that's being addressed. What the Department have done
(12:59):
is that trying to make sure that more young people
have access to these counselors. But Katie, we are watching
this very closely because it has to work for our schools,
our young people, and their families. The concern that I've
got is that we're going, Okay, we want more young
people to have access to the school counselors, but there's
not actually enough of them.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
So what we're doing is making it a.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Half assed job for one of a better word, where
you've sort of got one school counselor trying to cover
too many schools to be able to af ford your
relationship with students.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
So, Katie, my understanding is some schools have got counselors
themselves that because schools have additional budget that they can
utilize to different things. Other schools have got well being programs,
and so making sure that we're broadly providing that mental
health support and then those young people that do need
to see a qualified counselor that those counselors are available
(13:47):
to them whilst they're recruiting more people to the position.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
So are these changes definitely going to go ahead or
do you realistically think that you know that there does
need to be some further discussion here to make sure
the model actually suits our kids, to ensure that our
kids well being is paramount.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Correct, Katie.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
And the Department, as I understand, is undertaking ongoing consultations,
so they are trying to recruit so that we've got
more resources, but they do need to listen to those
schools and the parents and the young people themselves. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Look, I mean thirty odd school counselors for one hundred
and fifty schools I think we've got around the Northern Territory.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
To me, it just does not seem enough. Katie.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
I think that it's around making sure that there is
well being and mental health support programs across all of
our schools, and then we also have school counselors coming
in that's an important role. So it's making sure that
there's a range of resources to support young people. It's
not easy being a teenager.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Now I want to move on because this situation involving
Colleen Guinn, it's an interesting one and in a report
by Matt Cunningham from Sky News, it was reported that
police said the whole job is gone, but kept investigating
her for over sixteen months after now four to ten dives,
cased her home, tapped her phone, bugged her office all
(15:04):
over an employment matter.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
Do you have any idea how much that cost?
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Katie?
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Any questions in relationship that would have to be directed
to police? I mean, do you think that it's appropriate, Katie?
I'm very restricted in what I can say. Miss Gwen
is a public servant, she's on a period of leave
of absence to consider her next steps, and there's an
acting Children's commissioner, But questions around that matter should be
directed to police.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I mean, why do you think, though police were putting
so much effort into this when we know across the
board we have got so much, so many issues with crime.
It seems as though it is a you know, if
it's been a mass amount of work and we've you know,
then got situations where different other crimes are going uninvestigated.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
Katie, it is from a few years ago, but that
would be questions better place to police.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
From your perspective. Do you think it's appropriate though, Katie?
Speaker 4 (15:54):
I need to be very careful with my comments here,
as Miss Gwen is a public servant. Who is on
a leave of absence and Lease would be able to
answer those questions.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
What is going to be the situation then with the
Children's Commissioner role.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
So she's taking that extended leave of absence to consider
her next steps.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
And as I said, there's an acting commissioner.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
But so she could step back into that role.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
So Katie, that would be questions for her and the
relevant agency.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Would you be happy enough to welcome her back though.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
Katie, I think that she's taking the time to consider
her steps and we need to support her with that.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
All right, I want to ask you.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I believe that there's going to be a funding announcement
shortly this morning around the KNAFE, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund.
What can we expect or are you able to give
us any detail at this point?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
Katie always liked to give you a little bit of
breaking news. But we're working with the Commwalth government. So
the North Australia Infrastructure Fund will contribute up to fifty
million dollars through the Territory Infrastructure Loans and the Antique
government through our Local Jobs Fund, is going to put
in over sixteen million dollars for two years. So local
businesses can apply for these loans to help them. And
this is around getting these unique projects Katie off the
(16:59):
ground jobs for Territorians. And so they might not be
able to get a loan through a bank or normal
lending practices because it is innovative, it's different, it might
have a higher risk where this provides them without ability
to get quite a contribution so that we can see
these projects come off the ground in the territory.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
All right, I think we're all.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Looking forward to and certainly hoping some of those further
projects do get off the ground. Chief Medicinatasha Files will
leave it there, thank you, Take care,
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