Senator Malarndirri McCarthy says comments from Senator Lidia Thorpe during estimates shows she is out of touch with the NT

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh, I mentioned this a little bit earlier this morning,
but I want to just take you back to it
because we are going to be catching up with Senator
Melandery McCarthy in a few minutes time now. We know
that Parliament is sitting in Canberra, so I'm just trying
to juggle those timeframes with the very.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Busy senator this morning.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
But a fiery debate in the Senate yesterday which saw
Melanderie McCarthy take on Lydia Thorpe. The Labor Front bencher
called Thorpe a disgrace to your people in a fiery
exchange about funding for First Nations people. Now, according to
this report by the ABC Independent, Senator Lydia Thorpe used
the Senate estimates to push government officials about how much

(00:39):
money was being spent in the Northern Territory to support
Indigenous communities, particularly younger people. And I know that Rachel
Jackson from the National Indigenous well the National Indigenous Australians Agency,
outlined how some of that cash had been assigned to
the Northern Territory Police Force to help address safety and

(01:01):
security concerns.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
And I think for most of us here in the
Northern Territory.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
We can understand why that money has been invested into
the Northern Territory Police Force. The police do a bloody
good job under what can be really difficult circumstances at
different times. But some of the comments that followed from
Lydia Thorpe I thought were disgraceful. But joining me on
the line right now is Senator for the Northern Territory

(01:26):
Malandariye McCarthy.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Good morning to you, Mallandiie.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Hey, good morning Katie, and good morning to your listener.
It's nice to be on your program.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
It is great to have you on the show now, Mellandiary.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
I understand that both you and Senator Thorpe have since
withdrawn those comments following on from that fiery debate in
the Senate, but honestly, I've never heard you so fired up.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Very very important to always stand up for the Northern Territory, Katie,
especially when people don't really understand what it is that
we deal with, and I'll always do that. It was
not correct what we were being accused of in trying
to assist with the issues of crime in the Northern Territory,

(02:10):
trying to assist our organizations, our police, our young people.
And yes, it made me very passionate. And you know,
sometimes you've just got to say what needs to be.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Said, you really do. And I take my hat off
to you.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
I thought, go Melan, Dearie, tell her how it is
in the territory, because honestly, it made me really really
angry to hear what she was saying. And I thought,
when you think about all the bloody, hard working people
in the territory that are trying to work on these
issues of crime and anti social behavior and the work
that our police do, it just made me really angry

(02:45):
to hear what she was saying.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
Well, it certainly made a lot of people feel that way,
and certainly myself included in terms of the complete disregard
that we've we are working hard on this. You know,
we're not a perfect place, but we had terrific people
right across the territory trying to do the best so
they can to improve circumstances. And this is both black

(03:10):
and white people. I don't care what color you are,
or how old you are, or where you live, so
long as we try and work out a way to
make it a better place. And that's where I'm always
coming from. So that kind of focus, so I had
to correct and you know, it became what it was
and obviously was quite confronting for many people on the

(03:31):
committee and for those watching. But I think for Territorians,
we know that. You know, you've just got to call
a spade a spabe.

Speaker 1 (03:40):
You truly do, I mean, were you disappointed in the
way that she was talking about our Northern Territory Police Force.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Look, I just felt we had to correct the record, Katie.
It was wrong and it doesn't do anything in terms
of trying to help bring communities together. We have our problems,
there is no two ways about it, but that kind
of commentary was completely unhelpful and I had to point
that out and keep going until it stopped. And you know,

(04:13):
and I certainly have no regrets about that. I mean,
I certainly don't enjoy it, but you know, you've got
to call things out for what they are, and you know,
the chair then rightly ask both of us to pretty
much settle down and withdraw, which we both did in
the instance of trying to continue with the committee. I mean,
just to tell your listeners, I was sitting in that

(04:35):
chair from nine am till nine point thirty pm last night,
answering all questions, every question that I could to the
best of my ability, and then I just had enough. Yeah,
he said, listen, you cannot keep talking about people like that.
You know, you cannot do that.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
And there's a respectful way to ask those questions, and
the way that she was asking them. I didn't think
we're overully respectful at all from the vision that I
have seen, But I think that a lot of territories
take quite a bit of offense to some of what
she was saying. Melandery, it sounds like it was a
long day yesterday as well. Talk us through some of

(05:10):
really what was discussed, and you know, I guess what
it's going to mean for the territory.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Look, it was an important day Senate estimates. Just for
your listeners, Katie is a really vital part of our
democratic system and ministers need to be held accountable and
I'm very aware of that and I take my responsibilities
very seriously. So we sit there at different committee meetings.
The one I was at was in Indigenous Affairs and

(05:38):
I had to answer questions from nine am till nine
pm about how moneys were being spent across Australia, not
just the Northern Territory, and I did speak very passionately
about Central Australia, of course, and you do have a
number of senators who are from the territory as well
on their senator little Senator man Perjinka Price. So everyone's

(05:59):
screwed it and as they should. This aspect of the
debate got out of hand. And you know, we've we've
said what we had to say, but I've certainly spoken
about the money's the Center Australia Kadias. We know two
fifty million identified. We still have ninety four million to

(06:22):
spend in terms of continually working with organizations in our
springs and surrounds, and we want to do it with
the people, not just impose it. And so that's you know,
that's what I was explaining to the committee.

Speaker 1 (06:37):
And the thing is, you know, anybody that's spent a
bit of time in the Northern Territory at the moment
would know that the majority of Territorians are more than
happy for money to be invested into our Northern Territory
Police Force to really try to help with some of
the issues that we are facing.

Speaker 3 (06:56):
Well, that's right, but it's also about how we ensure
that we reduce the issues that we've been facing, especially
in Alice Springs, Katie, and we've seen some very visible
reductions in crime in assults. We know that it's impacting
in terms of good work as being done by organizations
like lu Tepper as well. You know, we have Philip Bellis,

(07:18):
who's a former police officer himself, who is actually heading
the ranger group that walks the streets of Alice Springs
and they do it in two groups, one in the
morning till late in the afternoon, and the second group
starts late in the afternoon till two or three in
the morning, and that's local people with local solutions. And
he's a former police officer. So you know, I guess

(07:41):
I was just trying to get all of that on
the record and just say, look, yeah, sure we might
have it a bit rough in the territory, but we're
damn we're good at trying to get it better too.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, Melandarie McCarthy, I always appreciate your time. I know
that you pressed for time this morning, so thanks so
much for having a quick chat with us.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
No worries, Katie. Thanks you m