Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
But let's get straight into it because there is so
much on the agenda this morning. And as I said,
there is no doubt that the way in which the
Northern territories two major political parties want to deal with
crime are very different. And the Northern Territory government yesterday
will they release their domestic violence strategy Phase two. There's
no funding attached to it, but there is that call
(00:20):
for needs based funding from the federal government. This follows
their knife crime strategy which we'll see de escalation training
as well as education. Two reviews now, one into bail
and one into knife crime, have shown that the government, well,
they say that they do not need to make legislative changes,
that their evidence based and the government feels that there
(00:42):
needs to be will generational change and we need to
tackle these issues from the root cause. Meanwhile, the COLP
says we need to get a bit tougher on crime.
They attempted to introduce their own legislation yesterday in an
effort to strengthen those bail laws. They didn't have the
numbers and the changes were outed down by Labour's majority.
Now joining me on the line is the Opposition leader
(01:04):
Leah Finocchio Good morning, Leah.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Good morning Katie, and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Now, Leah, what exactly would this bill have seen if
it passed yesterday?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So bail is a really important issue. What we know
in the territory is that lots of people who are
bailed so they've committed a crime, they are then released
back into the community awaiting their court date, and during
that period that they are released back into the community,
they go on to reoffend. And just to give people
an idea, for example, in today's court list, there are
(01:36):
thirty people in there for breaching their bail. We know
that fifty five percent of youths who are bowed by
police go on to commit multiple offenses while on bail,
So bail counts for a significant portion of crime on territories.
In order to fix that and address that issue of
people committing offenses while they're out on bail, we try
(01:59):
to pass ledgius that would put these criminals on the
back foot. It means when they're going to get bail
in the first instance, that they start on the back foot,
that they have a presumption against bail, and that ultimately
it means their starting point is of no bail instead
of what it is under the current law, which is
a starting point of them getting bail.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Leah. Will it mean though that we end up with
more people in jail clogging up the system when they
maybe haven't done something that's as you know, like that's
bad enough to actually keep them in Remand No.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Because this targeted serious violent offenders. So what we wanted
is all serious violent offenders to start with a position
of no bail because they are the people causing physical
harm to Territorians who are becoming victims of crime. And
just this week alone we've seen that horrendous attack on
the women in the CBD. Of course there was the
(02:57):
knife attack in Parmesan with the mother putting the child
in the car. These are daily occurrences happening in people's
lives that are absolutely traumatizing people and making them too
afraid to do the basics like going to the shop
or putting peel in the car, Katie. So crime is
a very significant issue. We felt that by addressing bail
we stopped that revolving door, which will also better support
(03:19):
our police because they won't be out chasing the same
criminal they caught the night before. And ultimately it puts
the rights of people to be safe above the rights
of criminals. But Labor, did.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You consult with the police. Did you consult with the
police on this legislation.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yet we have been consulting with police for years on
bail and this isn't our first bowel legislation to come
into Parliament. The Police Association support our legislation going forward,
but Labor feel that they literally, here's the words, Katie.
It was amazing. They said, it's not crime prevention. But
if you stop someone from being out on the street
who shouldn't be on the street, from committing further crimes,
(03:58):
then that absolutely is crime prevention. So we're very disappointed.
We heard the calls of the thousands of people who've
rallied at Parliament House, the twenty six thousand people who
signed the petition for Samara Lavity, every victim, and the
government literally said that we were acting on perception and gossip,
that the calls for our community for greater action on
(04:21):
crime is nothing more than perception and gossip, which shows
just how out of touch they are. Lea.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I listened to some of the debate yesterday and the
independent Member of Formulka Yinya, Mark Giola, who obviously is
out in a Bush electorate says tough on crime. The
tough on crime slogan is no longer what we need.
We need programs and tough on crime doesn't work. Is
he right?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
There is no question that we need programs, But ultimately
we have to stop people becoming victims right now, and
the only way to deal with that is through strengthening
the laws and empowering our police. Programs take a long
time to come into effect, and I think your listeners, Katie,
know that we don't have any time to lose on
this issue. It is totally out of control right across
(05:09):
the territory and so we need to address Unfortunately that
point end, which is the offending that's happening now.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Inside now, Leah. I mean this legislation or the bill
that you guys had put forward rightly or wrongly's been
voted down. Obviously, the government's got the numbers. They are
going through with what they're saying is an evidenced based
approach based on their knife crime strategy and also based
on their bail review. They say it's evidence based.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, they say a lot of things, Katie that just
aren't true. And I think the reality is we are
all living a nightmare that labour thing doesn't exist. I mean,
this is a bail review that has no funding and
no legislative change, a knife crime strategy that has no
funding and no legislative change, and a DV review that
has no funding and no legislative change attached to it.
(06:02):
It is quite literally all talk and glossy brochures. And
in the meantime, people can't even go to the shop
without being worried that their car will be broken into
or they'll be assaulted.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
As we're too from here, you know, because the fact
is twenty six thousand people have signed that petition, The
petition's now been debated, the COLP has tried to enforce
those bail changes and they've not been voted up, they've
been voted down. So where to from here, Leah, Well.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
We will keep finding for territories to be safe. It
is a number one issue. And just like with Gella
at Stomp yesterday whose staff member was attacked, crime is
not just a personal safety issue or a safer community
safety issue anymore. It is now a major economic issue.
Our shopping centers are spending millions of dollars on security,
(06:53):
which is being passed onto retailers, affecting small business and
passed on to us the consumers. We having insurance premiums
going through the roof people leaving the territory, which means
it's difficult to find staff. It goes on and on
and on. The price we are paying for crime is
now even so much more than our own safety and
the safety of our children and our family. And so
(07:15):
this is that breaking point. If the government wants to
continue to ignore our community who are desperately crying out
for change, then Territorians will have to vote for change
next year so we can get the territory back on track.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Lea. I listened well, as I said, I listened to
that debate yesterday, and I know that a lot of
Territori ins did. I know that there's a lot of
people who are incredibly frustrated. At this point. We're actually
going to be catching up with the victim of that
terrible assault on Tuesday afternoon. She's going to be joining
us this morning at nine forty five. So I know
a lot of people are going to be really interested
(07:49):
and probably quite sad when they hear that interview. But
I do want to move along because there are calls
again this morning for spithoods to be banned. We know
that the Ombudsman well has really quite an extensive report
one hundred and forty pages on the use of those
devices in police custody, and the report recommends Northern Territory
(08:09):
Police extend a ban on spit hoods to people of
all ages, as well as a recommendation prohibiting spit hoods
and emergency restraint chairs being used all together. As I said,
that report tabled in Parliament yesterday makes a number of recommendations. Leah,
Should they be banned?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Absolutely not. This is I honestly sometimes wonder what kind
of world we live in where we have people calling
for a disempowerment of our police to be able to
protect themselves from people who spit it them. I have
a very good recommendation for criminals. Don't bite your tongue
and then split spit blood and saliva in the face
(08:50):
of cops. Then you won't have to wear a spit hood.
This is just craziness at its best, Katie. We need
to be making sure our police are protected vile and
disgusting acts and stop putting the rights of criminals to
destroy other people's lives above the rights of people to
be safe.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Lea. I think that advice is very good advice, and
I reckon there's a lot of people that would agree
with you. You know, if you don't want to have a
spi hood, don't spit on somebody. It's pretty simple, pretty
simple now it is. Now, I do just want it
for me. It makes sense to me as well. Now
I do just want to ask you the voice. We
know that it's now that vote is happening on October sixteen.
(09:30):
Are you going to be campaigning for the no vote?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
No. I've been very clear right from the start that
either way, I wouldn't be campaigning. I will be voting
no personally because I don't believe that there's adequate information
that I'm really concerned about the territory being pushed around
by the big states who will have much bigger representation
on a Voice than the territory, and I think that's
(09:53):
going to slow down progress for us and just delay
things that need to be done. So that's why I'm
voting no, and I encourage everyone to get as much
information as they can and make their own informed decision.
But it's good to see a date is set and
what will be will be.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Leah Finocchio, the opposition leader, appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for speaking with us.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Take care everyone, Thank you,
But let's get straight into it because there is so
much on the agenda this morning. And as I said,
there is no doubt that the way in which the
Northern territories two major political parties want to deal with
crime are very different. And the Northern Territory government yesterday
will they release their domestic violence strategy Phase two. There's
no funding attached to it, but there is that call
(00:20):
for needs based funding from the federal government. This follows
their knife crime strategy which we'll see de escalation training
as well as education. Two reviews now, one into bail
and one into knife crime, have shown that the government, well,
they say that they do not need to make legislative changes,
that their evidence based and the government feels that there
(00:42):
needs to be will generational change and we need to
tackle these issues from the root cause. Meanwhile, the COLP
says we need to get a bit tougher on crime.
They attempted to introduce their own legislation yesterday in an
effort to strengthen those bail laws. They didn't have the
numbers and the changes were outed down by Labour's majority.
Now joining me on the line is the Opposition leader
(01:04):
Leah Finocchio Good morning, Leah.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Good morning Katie, and to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Now, Leah, what exactly would this bill have seen if
it passed yesterday?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So bail is a really important issue. What we know
in the territory is that lots of people who are
bailed so they've committed a crime, they are then released
back into the community awaiting their court date, and during
that period that they are released back into the community,
they go on to reoffend. And just to give people
an idea, for example, in today's court list, there are
(01:36):
thirty people in there for breaching their bail. We know
that fifty five percent of youths who are bowed by
police go on to commit multiple offenses while on bail,
So bail counts for a significant portion of crime on territories.
In order to fix that and address that issue of
people committing offenses while they're out on bail, we try
(01:59):
to pass ledgius that would put these criminals on the
back foot. It means when they're going to get bail
in the first instance, that they start on the back foot,
that they have a presumption against bail, and that ultimately
it means their starting point is of no bail instead
of what it is under the current law, which is
a starting point of them getting bail.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Leah. Will it mean though that we end up with
more people in jail clogging up the system when they
maybe haven't done something that's as you know, like that's
bad enough to actually keep them in Remand No.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Because this targeted serious violent offenders. So what we wanted
is all serious violent offenders to start with a position
of no bail because they are the people causing physical
harm to Territorians who are becoming victims of crime. And
just this week alone we've seen that horrendous attack on
the women in the CBD. Of course there was the
(02:57):
knife attack in Parmesan with the mother putting the child
in the car. These are daily occurrences happening in people's
lives that are absolutely traumatizing people and making them too
afraid to do the basics like going to the shop
or putting peel in the car, Katie. So crime is
a very significant issue. We felt that by addressing bail
we stopped that revolving door, which will also better support
(03:19):
our police because they won't be out chasing the same
criminal they caught the night before. And ultimately it puts
the rights of people to be safe above the rights
of criminals. But Labor, did.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
You consult with the police. Did you consult with the
police on this legislation.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yet we have been consulting with police for years on
bail and this isn't our first bowel legislation to come
into Parliament. The Police Association support our legislation going forward,
but Labor feel that they literally, here's the words, Katie.
It was amazing. They said, it's not crime prevention. But
if you stop someone from being out on the street
who shouldn't be on the street, from committing further crimes,
(03:58):
then that absolutely is crime prevention. So we're very disappointed.
We heard the calls of the thousands of people who've
rallied at Parliament House, the twenty six thousand people who
signed the petition for Samara Lavity, every victim, and the
government literally said that we were acting on perception and gossip,
that the calls for our community for greater action on
(04:21):
crime is nothing more than perception and gossip, which shows
just how out of touch they are. Lea.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I listened to some of the debate yesterday and the
independent Member of Formulka Yinya, Mark Giola, who obviously is
out in a Bush electorate says tough on crime. The
tough on crime slogan is no longer what we need.
We need programs and tough on crime doesn't work. Is
he right?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
There is no question that we need programs, But ultimately
we have to stop people becoming victims right now, and
the only way to deal with that is through strengthening
the laws and empowering our police. Programs take a long
time to come into effect, and I think your listeners, Katie,
know that we don't have any time to lose on
this issue. It is totally out of control right across
(05:09):
the territory and so we need to address Unfortunately that
point end, which is the offending that's happening now.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Inside now, Leah. I mean this legislation or the bill
that you guys had put forward rightly or wrongly's been
voted down. Obviously, the government's got the numbers. They are
going through with what they're saying is an evidenced based
approach based on their knife crime strategy and also based
on their bail review. They say it's evidence based.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, they say a lot of things, Katie that just
aren't true. And I think the reality is we are
all living a nightmare that labour thing doesn't exist. I mean,
this is a bail review that has no funding and
no legislative change, a knife crime strategy that has no
funding and no legislative change, and a DV review that
has no funding and no legislative change attached to it.
(06:02):
It is quite literally all talk and glossy brochures. And
in the meantime, people can't even go to the shop
without being worried that their car will be broken into
or they'll be assaulted.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
As we're too from here, you know, because the fact
is twenty six thousand people have signed that petition, The
petition's now been debated, the COLP has tried to enforce
those bail changes and they've not been voted up, they've
been voted down. So where to from here, Leah, Well.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
We will keep finding for territories to be safe. It
is a number one issue. And just like with Gella
at Stomp yesterday whose staff member was attacked, crime is
not just a personal safety issue or a safer community
safety issue anymore. It is now a major economic issue.
Our shopping centers are spending millions of dollars on security,
(06:53):
which is being passed onto retailers, affecting small business and
passed on to us the consumers. We having insurance premiums
going through the roof people leaving the territory, which means
it's difficult to find staff. It goes on and on
and on. The price we are paying for crime is
now even so much more than our own safety and
the safety of our children and our family. And so
(07:15):
this is that breaking point. If the government wants to
continue to ignore our community who are desperately crying out
for change, then Territorians will have to vote for change
next year so we can get the territory back on track.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Lea. I listened well, as I said, I listened to
that debate yesterday, and I know that a lot of
Territori ins did. I know that there's a lot of
people who are incredibly frustrated. At this point. We're actually
going to be catching up with the victim of that
terrible assault on Tuesday afternoon. She's going to be joining
us this morning at nine forty five. So I know
a lot of people are going to be really interested
(07:49):
and probably quite sad when they hear that interview. But
I do want to move along because there are calls
again this morning for spithoods to be banned. We know
that the Ombudsman well has really quite an extensive report
one hundred and forty pages on the use of those
devices in police custody, and the report recommends Northern Territory
(08:09):
Police extend a ban on spit hoods to people of
all ages, as well as a recommendation prohibiting spit hoods
and emergency restraint chairs being used all together. As I said,
that report tabled in Parliament yesterday makes a number of recommendations. Leah,
Should they be banned?
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Absolutely not. This is I honestly sometimes wonder what kind
of world we live in where we have people calling
for a disempowerment of our police to be able to
protect themselves from people who spit it them. I have
a very good recommendation for criminals. Don't bite your tongue
and then split spit blood and saliva in the face
(08:50):
of cops. Then you won't have to wear a spit hood.
This is just craziness at its best, Katie. We need
to be making sure our police are protected vile and
disgusting acts and stop putting the rights of criminals to
destroy other people's lives above the rights of people to
be safe.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Lea. I think that advice is very good advice, and
I reckon there's a lot of people that would agree
with you. You know, if you don't want to have a
spi hood, don't spit on somebody. It's pretty simple, pretty
simple now it is. Now, I do just want it
for me. It makes sense to me as well. Now
I do just want to ask you the voice. We
know that it's now that vote is happening on October sixteen.
(09:30):
Are you going to be campaigning for the no vote?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
No. I've been very clear right from the start that
either way, I wouldn't be campaigning. I will be voting
no personally because I don't believe that there's adequate information
that I'm really concerned about the territory being pushed around
by the big states who will have much bigger representation
on a Voice than the territory, and I think that's
(09:53):
going to slow down progress for us and just delay
things that need to be done. So that's why I'm
voting no, and I encourage everyone to get as much
information as they can and make their own informed decision.
But it's good to see a date is set and
what will be will be.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Leah Finocchio, the opposition leader, appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for speaking with us.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Take care everyone, Thank you,
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