Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'll tell you what's a bit odd being back in
here listening to everything through my headphones again, But it
is wonderful to beat back. And it's been a busy
start to the year for the newly appointed Chief Minister,
with crime rampant in Alice Springs, ongoing unrest in Whatever,
severe weather and record breaking flooding which did put the
Brakes on her trip to Japan to meet with impects.
(00:20):
But we also now know that Paul Kirby and Nicole
Madison have announced that they're not going to be recontesting
in the August election. And this morning, then the COLP
has obtained figures revealing that wait times for elective surgery
in the Northern Territory have blown out to an average
of three hundred and sixteen days. There is no doubt
there's plenty happening. And the Chief Minister, Evil Laula, joins
(00:41):
me in the studio. Good morning to you, morning Katie,
and welcome back. Yeah, thank you, thanks thanks for being
here and we welcome you back to the show. Now, Chief,
let's talk about the election. First up, Nicole Madison and
Paul Kirby are out members abandoning a sinking ship.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
No no, no, not at all, Katie. So I've got
fourteen members and you'll see people leave obviously after well,
Nicole's been their ten years and Paul Kirby eight, and
I think they've been very open around that the impact
on their families. Both have got young children and Paul
Kirby is about to have a grandchild. But it is
it is a I know people out there don't think
(01:18):
politicians work hard, but it is a very demanding job.
You do a lot of weekend work, a lot of
night work as well, so hard on if you have
young children, you know you're not home to put them
to bed, to hear them read and things like that.
So you know, to me and you know, change is good.
Really you have that revitalization. We saw that with Paul
Kirby and Lauren Moss moving out as ministers and Brent
(01:41):
Potter and Joel coming in. And that's what you need
to do at times. I call them, you know, internal
flushing out or internal change. And I think anybody who
in a leadership position in any business or any organization
will say that that you do need to have some change,
you know, every now and again.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
So it could be a good thing.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I think it's a great thing that you have changed.
There's the opportunity for some new people to come in,
people with some new ideas, some people with you know,
some ye different different ways of doing things, and that's
worked really well with Brent and Joel and so I'm
really happy to see that. Plus we've got the seats
that we don't hold, and we'll be nominations closed tonight
(02:20):
and we'll be chasing some really good people for those
seats too.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Before I get to those seats, are you concerned about
losing that kind of experience, because there is It is
going to mean that you do lose that depth of experience.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Absolutely, you know, that's always an issue. And as I said,
for any organization, when you lose, you people who retire,
people who move on. But we've now got people like
you know, Duran, who's been there a number of years.
So you then Mark Monahan has stepped up also into
the ministry. Mark Stent hit the ground running and has
been doing an amazing job with the mining as well
(02:52):
as the ag area as well as education. So you know,
when you bring new people in, and that's the whole
idea is you can't keep people, particularly in politics, forever.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So you do have to have new idea. Yes, you
do have to have that fresh stuff coming in.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And then people with some new energy. And as I said,
we've got that with Mark as well coming in. He's
really been great. So you know, it's fine, you do
need that. And I should just point out the cop
in twenty sixteen and twenty twenty lost fifty percent of
their members because they lost one.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
So are you I mean, are you worried that could
happen to you guys? Because I guess there is a
bit of a sense at the moment that you know
that there are people jumping off the ship. You know
that they're worried about what's going to happen because of
those issues of crime. And I guess what I'm getting
to is, I like, are you concerned that that's what's happening?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
He absolutely nothing to do with any of those things,
both of them. It's around their personal lives, their family lives,
the commitments that they've done. As say, Nicole's done ten
years and you know, ten years in politics is a
long time and Paul will have done eight. And as
I said, he's been very open around that. You know,
he sat down with his wife life and made those decisions.
(04:01):
So that's the reality really of these jobs. And you know,
I think we see that more anyway generally in society now.
You know, I still give out awards for people who
have done thirty forty years in the public sector in education,
and pretty much at every one of those I say,
we won't be seeing that into the future. People change
jobs more often now, and any employer out there will
(04:23):
tell you that.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So Schlock Shama and Andrea Moriarty, I'm hearing of set well,
they have put their hands up for wan Guri.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Who do you reckon? I keep out of those process.
It's you know, that's done through the Labor Party. So
Anthony Venus, our president, will work through that, work with
their MoU secretary as well. At some stage, I'm on admin,
I'll I'll have a say around that, but at this
stage we'll let them. Will let them sort and it's
up to the branches.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
We should be looking at people though, with real life experience,
rather than maybe what the community might see as people
that you know that have just sort of worked for
the party or just worked for unions.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, as I said, that's also there are opportunities for
people who choose that career option around unions. Absolutely, that's
one of the bedrocks of the Labor Party, that's how
labor formed. But Andrea comes with a breadth of skill.
She's also the president of Master Builders in the Northern Territory.
So yeah, two really good people, great people, and the
(05:24):
branch out there at Casarina will have a say.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, we will wait and see exactly what happens there,
and I know you won't reveal any names, so we'll
move along. Now let's talk about well, it does seem
like almost every day over the summer period there's been
weapon assaults. Unfortunately, cars stolen or damaged, break ins. Alice
Springs has again suffered. Did the extra police make a
(05:47):
difference in Alice Springs?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
You know, as we all know, Katie, and you know
the frustration around crime, and you can probably hear the
frustration in my voice around that. You know, one crime
is one crime too many. I spent a couple of days,
with three days in Alice Springs in the middle of January.
I went to you met with a police executive. I
did a walk through the police station there. Police have
(06:09):
done an amazing job. I also then went to a
range of places where we've had re engagement activities or
engagement activities for kids. So the pool for example, was packed,
so you're seeing lots of young people in those activities,
ice skating and you know, people going oh ice skating. Well,
you know, we have to do something for the good
(06:30):
kids as well. Let's not forget the kids that are
always that live in Alice, that spend do the right
thing always. You've got to have activities for those kids
and for those families too. So we've had a lot
of engagement in a range of school holiday activities, which
is good as well.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Has it made a difference, I mean, has it made
a difference to the people living in Alice and the
crime and the issues that they've been experienced.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So we did see and I think you've got brent
on next week and he can go through the data
week by week. So in December it was reasonably you know,
still crime obviously, but there were some good patches there.
Then we saw some a peak around I think it
was Christmas New Year and then things have been a
little quieter. But as I said, one car stall in
(07:12):
his one car too many and you know, but the
work also with territory families has been good, the aureos,
the people on the street as well. That coresponder model
has been great. The UNCHIMPA camp. They've taken about nineteen
kids that have been wandering the streets into that camp,
and that's funded by the federal government, and I've heard
good reports around that. So to me, it is a constant,
(07:36):
literally a battle. You're in the trenches fighting to address crime.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And so I guess the problem is it's that, you know,
Labor has now been in for seven years and that
issue of crime has been you know, it has plagued
the party for the last you know, for the last
seven years, and there are some that really feel that
it's just not in Labour's DNA to do what is
required now to turn things around when it comes to crime.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That's totally incorrect, you know, And I've already said that
when I first came in, that we'll look at any
of our policy positions, any of our platforms, any of
the work that we're doing, and that works underway. We've
got a relatively new police Commissioner, Michael Murphy's doing an
amazing job. He's really getting stuck into the issue of
antisocial behavior. We've also got Brent Potter, who's now got
(08:24):
alcohol policy. So I made that decision when I came
in to join the police and alcohol portfolios because they
are interwoven so heavily. In the Northern Territory, probably behind
the large majority of crime is alcohol. And whether that's
a kid with fas D or whether that's a kid
who's escaping home or a kid who hasn't been brought
up in a good home, the impact of alcohol. So
(08:48):
you know, there is a constant work and it wouldn't
matter if the colp was in, Like if anybody out
there thinks that you Leah coming in, she'll be able
to click her fingers and we'll have no crime in
the Northern Territory is absolutely kidding themselves.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
So it is a constant battle Territorians this morning, What
can you tell them, because it's something we've spoken about
so much on this show. To be bluntly honest with you,
I'm so over talking about it. I think territorians are
so over it. What can you tell them this morning
that you plan to do throughout this year to really
try to change the way that things are going in
(09:21):
this space.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
So one of the things that we've seen that's working
is the Territory Community Safety Division. So that was initiative
by the Commission of Police, which is you know, a
group of police that really can go out and hit
the hit the target areas. And so we've seen them
in Allas Springs, we've seen them out in what I,
We've seen them in Darwin as well, and so you
(09:43):
know that Territory Safety Division is a very agile unit
and that is a really positive thing. The work as
well around this correspondent model is showing results. So those
those young people who are on the street, getting those kids,
identifying those kids and putting things in place for those
young people. So the corresponder has the Territory Family Territory
(10:05):
Families people there in the police station or on the
street who then work with those kids and identify, you know,
do they need to be put in care, do they
need to be you know, what are they doing around education.
We've got a big push at the moment to get
families back back to their community. So we've had literally
people door knocking in Alice Springs around the social housing
(10:27):
reminding families that they need to go back. We've got
the free bus service to get people back at the
bushbus to their communities.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Is it being taken up that much service?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
So.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Education are really in there as well, so pushing to
get kids back school tomorrow. So the last week or so,
it's been a really big assertive push, a strong push
to get families back out of town. So, you know,
there's always work to do around crime, and you know,
my heart goes out to anybody who's been impacted by crime.
It's a terrible thing.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
There's two groups that we've been contacted by over the
Christmas break that have got some really serious concerns. One
of those is is those working in service stations at
night who say that they are dealing with some really
terribly dangerous situations at nighttime. I've also been contacted by
emergency workers at the hospital saying that they have they
(11:17):
have really seen some terrible assaults, some terrible situations that
are very dangerous unfold they're in the emergency ward. Are
those kinds of incidents being passed on to you?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, I literally know, particularly around the service stations. I've
got a service station at the back of my electorate
office there as you go into the backside of gateway,
and I hear often from those you know the owners there,
but you know, and the service station one is I
mean all of that. It's terrible that there are people
(11:51):
who think that this is what they should be doing.
And as I said, it gets back off into alcoholism.
Some of its mental health or drug use, but most
of it's alcohol. And we know the measures that service
stations put in place. Anybody who fills up late at night, no,
you have to go to the know, the counter there
with the window and the doors are locked. Around hospitals,
(12:12):
that again is a shocking situation when people you know
they're they're there to help you, and yet we see
people who are obviously a very drunk or very drugged,
or you know, mental health or a whole heap of
reasons why people are aggressive in hospitals. We have security
guards in there as well, but.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Confident there's enough being done in that hospital system to
keep our nurses and doctors safe and everybody that's working there.
Or is it something that we need to have a
closer look at.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
You know, that's the responsibility of you know, all of
us to do that. And I'm sure health you know,
and we've got an amazing CEO, Marco would be in
there making sure that they are safe. Nobody wants to
see any violent behavior in the in in any setting,
you know, whether that's classrooms, you know, retail, wherever it is.
(13:00):
And you know, as I said, people do need to
actually check themselves. But the people in that hospital setting,
I would say, were people that really are beyond you know,
being able to check and look at their own behaviors. Really,
as said, they're there because they're you know, usually very
very unwell or very drunk or very drugged. But that's
(13:20):
where security need to be in the place.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
We will move along on that topic. Just on the
alcohol and we know that that trial of midday trading
hours at bottle shops ended last Friday, reverting back to
ten am. How did that trial go from your perspective?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
So from my perspective, it was it gave police extra
time and that was the positive thing. So the police
had that you know, that time in the morning where
people weren't actually drunk. But what we've also now done
is the work around the band drink orders. And we've
seen huge numbers of increases of people on the band
drink orders and so whether that's seven days, thirty days,
(13:55):
or three months. But we're also really looking closely and
working around the secondary supply, So looking at the data
around who's purchasing alcohol, you know, who's making someone's making
fourteen purchases in a day or why why or large amounts.
We all understand you've got a twenty first or a party,
but looking at the data to be able to identify
(14:17):
those people and then stamp that out. So it's you know,
it is that analogy of continuing to squeeze the balloon
around alcohol. So instead of the broad brush measure that
we had in place around changing the hours, what we've
gone to now is really focusing sharply on those people
who are the ones that are going in to buy alcohol.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
It's like a good idea. How come we didn't look
at that sooner? Like it does seem like a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Sometimes it is around having the technology to be able
to do that, So having the BDR to be able
to provide that data and you know, surpro and things
like that. So it's sometimes it is around technological solutions,
but it is a me you know, alcohol people are
there are chronic alcoholics and we know they are, you know,
in terrible places who will do whatever it takes to
(15:04):
get alcohol and so it is working with police, it
is working with hospitality to tighten up around those.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
The legitimate residence clause is set to be bought in
as well. It really takes us back to COVID era
restrictions for territories. How's that going to work? I think
that there's some in the community who think this sounds
like a really good idea. Obviously, others thinking, hang on
a second, is this going to mean that if you know,
my friends come from Queensland and you know they can't
prove where they're staying, they're not going to be able
to get a bottle of wine.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
So yeah, as you said, they all, I'm sure there
will be Well, there is things in place around you know,
you're in a hotel, you're in a caravan park, wherever
else it is. But you know there are people who
there's public housing which are supposed to have no alcohol
in that. In those, you know there's pink signs, there's
signs up around those, and you know, I know in
my electorate sometimes I'm outdoor knocking and there'll be a
(15:51):
no alcohol sign and there'll be people drinking there and
holdering the public safety housing offices around that. So it
is about as I said, joining the dot around that
data to really tighten up around people who are coming
to town and just drinking in public places.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Do you reckon it's going to put any pressure though
on those bottle shop staff in terms of having to
refuse people who for example, they maybe do live in
a public housing residence.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yes, yeah, there will be that. But you know what
happens is word gets out. You know, the grapevine's good,
I'm sure with people who are drinking, so word will
get out and they'll have to adjust their behaviors. And
as I said, it is that analogy of continuing to
tighten you know, the issues around alcoholism and the supply
of alcohol, and.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So will there be some support from the police for that,
you know for that period of time I guess as
we sort of go through the transition.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, so as of this morning at ten o'clock, that's
a change. And we've got additional licensing, so licensing will
be out more out and about for the next few
weeks as well as police. So we've increasing that. As
I said, while word gets out on the street around that,
so there'll be you'll see or you may not see
the license. People mightn't be as obvious as the police.
(17:02):
But you'll see an increase in licensing out checking as
well as police do you reckon, we'll.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
See a visible reduction in people sort of drinking on
the streets as a result.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well that's the goal. So hopefully we do.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I hope so, because it is something that's been you know,
it has been a real stress I think on a
lot of business owners, a lot of locals. I mean,
it must be frustrating for you even you know, walk
into work. Oh, I have seen people drunk in the
in the park.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Oh, I mean I you know, my electric officer is
at Gateway and I see that in the morning. You
people with water bottles that don't have water in them.
And as I said, it is really frustrating. And you know,
I ring or you know, get onto the app and
let Larikie Nation know around those things.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Now, I want to ask you. Figures have been obtained
by the COLP. They've revealed that patients are waiting on
average three hundred and sixteen days for elective surgery in
the Northern Territory since twenty sixteen, with medium weight times
for procedures at Royal dal And Hospital up one hundred
and thirteen percent and thirty two percent at part Armiston Hospital.
Is this acceptable in your eyes?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
No, it isn't acceptable, you know, and when you know,
I've had a lot to do with the health system
over the years. You know, people know that I've had
your very very ill husband that passed away, and I
know those issues around surgery times and things like that,
and so my heart goes out to anybody, even elective surgery.
You're wanting to have something fixed, and I can understand
(18:23):
how difficult that is for people. I mean, let's have
a look. That data came from twenty sixteen. We've had
those COVID years through there. But also since COVID, this
is a fact, you know, it has been really all
professions are finding it hard to recruit staff and so
you know, we're doing the work around nursing staff and doctors,
(18:44):
specialist staff. So the hospital's very much aware of this issue.
The health Department of Health is very much aware of it.
They have plans in place to address it, so around
recruiting specialist staff, bringing on, you know, more operating theaters.
In the budget, we put in another ward. So a
thirty two bed ward is money in the budget for
(19:04):
a new Module Award, so very much aware of how
can we provide more for the hospital system. But you know,
it's age care as well, it's childcare. It's a lot
of those helping professions. Even education, we're seeing that with teachers,
people are choosing, you know, to be a YouTuber or
you know, an influencer. There's a whole group of people
(19:25):
that aren't choosing to go into the caring professions, which
is why we're having to look for overseas migration around that.
So but then again is also those really you know,
the top level specialist staff when you're talking about surgeons.
So you know, I think the CLP are just pretty
much jumping on something that you know and using some
data that is is.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Their figures that have come from the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare. And I guess, you know, while they are,
you know, they can make it a political issue, as
the Labor Party does, but the fact is it's territory
and is waiting to have that surgery and I think
it's really important that they're able to.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah, I think if you look at the report, there
was also data that showed that Ales was better than
other states in certain places and things like that. So
it's not an issue just in the Northern Territory. It
is an issue around Australia. And as I said, it
gets back to more people wanting to do medicine, more
people going to go into specialist roles, hospitals being able
to have those specialist nurses and it is a difficulty.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We are very fast, running out of time, but I
want to ask you a couple of real quick ones now.
The latest COMSEPT State of the State Report it's been
released and the Northern Territory has again come in last
in the report, which looks at those eight key indicators.
It's a bit of a mixed bag though biggest strength
was relative population growth where we're ranked second, while the
biggest weakness was retail spending. Have you had a look
(20:42):
at the report and are you taking it more seriously
than your predecessors.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Well, I've been the Treasurer for the last couple of years,
so I'm very much across the COMSEXT report and COMSEPT
were on your opposition radio station this morning and they
were very clear about it. COMSECT does cover those years
of impects, which was sixty big dollar project, so that
is an absolute fact around that data. But you know,
the decision last week around or the week before around
(21:08):
Barossa is a really good decision because that's a six
point three billion dollar underpinning of our economy, along with defense,
which is another six point two billion dollars. So you know,
the news about our economy is really positive. The news
around population is good. The one around retail that go
you know they are it does go up and down
around and you know it does need to be seasonally adjusted,
(21:30):
so yes, com Sec is com Sex. We've also had
Deloitte that came out in the third quarter last year
that said our growth was about two point five percent
I think into the future and was really positive.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
So you're so happy with the way things are tracking,
I think, do you think that more needs to be done?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
The Bossa project was a really good project than that
was one I was holding my breath around. So that's
fantastic news for the Northern Territory. I've met with our
a fewer resources in the last week. They're getting close
to FID, so there's really good news store is there.
But then there's things like the fence that are really
solid that underpin the economy. So there's good news around
the around that. But we also know the cost of
(22:09):
living is an issue. And you know that was a
lovely announcement that I've made in the last month, which
was around an additional fifty dollars for back to school vouchers.
And I literally have had mums, you know, stopping me
in Big w and Woolworth some places like that going
you know, thanks for the extra fifty dollars. That's a
great help for us. So cost of living is biting
in Australia and that's a fact.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Before I let you go, I know you've got to
get to this announcement. So the free fee free tape
program announcement you're off to this morning. What exactly is
happening there today?
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, So the good news sorry, so federal government so
fees for TAFE, which is what we need to see.
I was talking about childcare and age care not having
enough people. So if you can do those those sorts
of certificate level courses and have your fees paid, it's
a good thing. So there's about two thousand I think
it's about twenty two hundred fee free that's hard to
(23:00):
say fee free places that are available. So good news.
So if you're thinking about going to do some study.
You want to up skill, this is the time to
do it because it's going to be paid for.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Well, Chief Minister Evil, Lula really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for joining us for the first time
in twenty twenty four and we look forward to having
you on every fortnite.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Thank you.
I'll tell you what's a bit odd being back in
here listening to everything through my headphones again, But it
is wonderful to beat back. And it's been a busy
start to the year for the newly appointed Chief Minister,
with crime rampant in Alice Springs, ongoing unrest in Whatever,
severe weather and record breaking flooding which did put the
Brakes on her trip to Japan to meet with impects.
(00:20):
But we also now know that Paul Kirby and Nicole
Madison have announced that they're not going to be recontesting
in the August election. And this morning, then the COLP
has obtained figures revealing that wait times for elective surgery
in the Northern Territory have blown out to an average
of three hundred and sixteen days. There is no doubt
there's plenty happening. And the Chief Minister, Evil Laula, joins
(00:41):
me in the studio. Good morning to you, morning Katie,
and welcome back. Yeah, thank you, thanks thanks for being
here and we welcome you back to the show. Now, Chief,
let's talk about the election. First up, Nicole Madison and
Paul Kirby are out members abandoning a sinking ship.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
No no, no, not at all, Katie. So I've got
fourteen members and you'll see people leave obviously after well,
Nicole's been their ten years and Paul Kirby eight, and
I think they've been very open around that the impact
on their families. Both have got young children and Paul
Kirby is about to have a grandchild. But it is
it is a I know people out there don't think
(01:18):
politicians work hard, but it is a very demanding job.
You do a lot of weekend work, a lot of
night work as well, so hard on if you have
young children, you know you're not home to put them
to bed, to hear them read and things like that.
So you know, to me and you know, change is good.
Really you have that revitalization. We saw that with Paul
Kirby and Lauren Moss moving out as ministers and Brent
(01:41):
Potter and Joel coming in. And that's what you need
to do at times. I call them, you know, internal
flushing out or internal change. And I think anybody who
in a leadership position in any business or any organization
will say that that you do need to have some change,
you know, every now and again.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
So it could be a good thing.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I think it's a great thing that you have changed.
There's the opportunity for some new people to come in,
people with some new ideas, some people with you know,
some ye different different ways of doing things, and that's
worked really well with Brent and Joel and so I'm
really happy to see that. Plus we've got the seats
that we don't hold, and we'll be nominations closed tonight
(02:20):
and we'll be chasing some really good people for those
seats too.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Before I get to those seats, are you concerned about
losing that kind of experience, because there is It is
going to mean that you do lose that depth of experience.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Absolutely, you know, that's always an issue. And as I said,
for any organization, when you lose, you people who retire,
people who move on. But we've now got people like
you know, Duran, who's been there a number of years.
So you then Mark Monahan has stepped up also into
the ministry. Mark Stent hit the ground running and has
been doing an amazing job with the mining as well
(02:52):
as the ag area as well as education. So you know,
when you bring new people in, and that's the whole
idea is you can't keep people, particularly in politics, forever.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
So you do have to have new idea. Yes, you
do have to have that fresh stuff coming in.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
And then people with some new energy. And as I said,
we've got that with Mark as well coming in. He's
really been great. So you know, it's fine, you do
need that. And I should just point out the cop
in twenty sixteen and twenty twenty lost fifty percent of
their members because they lost one.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
So are you I mean, are you worried that could
happen to you guys? Because I guess there is a
bit of a sense at the moment that you know
that there are people jumping off the ship. You know
that they're worried about what's going to happen because of
those issues of crime. And I guess what I'm getting
to is, I like, are you concerned that that's what's happening?
Speaker 2 (03:40):
He absolutely nothing to do with any of those things,
both of them. It's around their personal lives, their family lives,
the commitments that they've done. As say, Nicole's done ten
years and you know, ten years in politics is a
long time and Paul will have done eight. And as
I said, he's been very open around that. You know,
he sat down with his wife life and made those decisions.
(04:01):
So that's the reality really of these jobs. And you know,
I think we see that more anyway generally in society now.
You know, I still give out awards for people who
have done thirty forty years in the public sector in education,
and pretty much at every one of those I say,
we won't be seeing that into the future. People change
jobs more often now, and any employer out there will
(04:23):
tell you that.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
So Schlock Shama and Andrea Moriarty, I'm hearing of set well,
they have put their hands up for wan Guri.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Who do you reckon? I keep out of those process.
It's you know, that's done through the Labor Party. So
Anthony Venus, our president, will work through that, work with
their MoU secretary as well. At some stage, I'm on admin,
I'll I'll have a say around that, but at this
stage we'll let them. Will let them sort and it's
up to the branches.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
We should be looking at people though, with real life experience,
rather than maybe what the community might see as people
that you know that have just sort of worked for
the party or just worked for unions.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, as I said, that's also there are opportunities for
people who choose that career option around unions. Absolutely, that's
one of the bedrocks of the Labor Party, that's how
labor formed. But Andrea comes with a breadth of skill.
She's also the president of Master Builders in the Northern Territory.
So yeah, two really good people, great people, and the
(05:24):
branch out there at Casarina will have a say.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, we will wait and see exactly what happens there,
and I know you won't reveal any names, so we'll
move along. Now let's talk about well, it does seem
like almost every day over the summer period there's been
weapon assaults. Unfortunately, cars stolen or damaged, break ins. Alice
Springs has again suffered. Did the extra police make a
(05:47):
difference in Alice Springs?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
You know, as we all know, Katie, and you know
the frustration around crime, and you can probably hear the
frustration in my voice around that. You know, one crime
is one crime too many. I spent a couple of days,
with three days in Alice Springs in the middle of January.
I went to you met with a police executive. I
did a walk through the police station there. Police have
(06:09):
done an amazing job. I also then went to a
range of places where we've had re engagement activities or
engagement activities for kids. So the pool for example, was packed,
so you're seeing lots of young people in those activities,
ice skating and you know, people going oh ice skating. Well,
you know, we have to do something for the good
(06:30):
kids as well. Let's not forget the kids that are
always that live in Alice, that spend do the right
thing always. You've got to have activities for those kids
and for those families too. So we've had a lot
of engagement in a range of school holiday activities, which
is good as well.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Has it made a difference, I mean, has it made
a difference to the people living in Alice and the
crime and the issues that they've been experienced.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So we did see and I think you've got brent
on next week and he can go through the data
week by week. So in December it was reasonably you know,
still crime obviously, but there were some good patches there.
Then we saw some a peak around I think it
was Christmas New Year and then things have been a
little quieter. But as I said, one car stall in
(07:12):
his one car too many and you know, but the
work also with territory families has been good, the aureos,
the people on the street as well. That coresponder model
has been great. The UNCHIMPA camp. They've taken about nineteen
kids that have been wandering the streets into that camp,
and that's funded by the federal government, and I've heard
good reports around that. So to me, it is a constant,
(07:36):
literally a battle. You're in the trenches fighting to address crime.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
And so I guess the problem is it's that, you know,
Labor has now been in for seven years and that
issue of crime has been you know, it has plagued
the party for the last you know, for the last
seven years, and there are some that really feel that
it's just not in Labour's DNA to do what is
required now to turn things around when it comes to crime.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That's totally incorrect, you know, And I've already said that
when I first came in, that we'll look at any
of our policy positions, any of our platforms, any of
the work that we're doing, and that works underway. We've
got a relatively new police Commissioner, Michael Murphy's doing an
amazing job. He's really getting stuck into the issue of
antisocial behavior. We've also got Brent Potter, who's now got
(08:24):
alcohol policy. So I made that decision when I came
in to join the police and alcohol portfolios because they
are interwoven so heavily. In the Northern Territory, probably behind
the large majority of crime is alcohol. And whether that's
a kid with fas D or whether that's a kid
who's escaping home or a kid who hasn't been brought
up in a good home, the impact of alcohol. So
(08:48):
you know, there is a constant work and it wouldn't
matter if the colp was in, Like if anybody out
there thinks that you Leah coming in, she'll be able
to click her fingers and we'll have no crime in
the Northern Territory is absolutely kidding themselves.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
So it is a constant battle Territorians this morning, What
can you tell them, because it's something we've spoken about
so much on this show. To be bluntly honest with you,
I'm so over talking about it. I think territorians are
so over it. What can you tell them this morning
that you plan to do throughout this year to really
try to change the way that things are going in
(09:21):
this space.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
So one of the things that we've seen that's working
is the Territory Community Safety Division. So that was initiative
by the Commission of Police, which is you know, a
group of police that really can go out and hit
the hit the target areas. And so we've seen them
in Allas Springs, we've seen them out in what I,
We've seen them in Darwin as well, and so you
(09:43):
know that Territory Safety Division is a very agile unit
and that is a really positive thing. The work as
well around this correspondent model is showing results. So those
those young people who are on the street, getting those kids,
identifying those kids and putting things in place for those
young people. So the corresponder has the Territory Family Territory
(10:05):
Families people there in the police station or on the
street who then work with those kids and identify, you know,
do they need to be put in care, do they
need to be you know, what are they doing around education.
We've got a big push at the moment to get
families back back to their community. So we've had literally
people door knocking in Alice Springs around the social housing
(10:27):
reminding families that they need to go back. We've got
the free bus service to get people back at the
bushbus to their communities.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Is it being taken up that much service?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
So.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Education are really in there as well, so pushing to
get kids back school tomorrow. So the last week or so,
it's been a really big assertive push, a strong push
to get families back out of town. So, you know,
there's always work to do around crime, and you know,
my heart goes out to anybody who's been impacted by crime.
It's a terrible thing.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
There's two groups that we've been contacted by over the
Christmas break that have got some really serious concerns. One
of those is is those working in service stations at
night who say that they are dealing with some really
terribly dangerous situations at nighttime. I've also been contacted by
emergency workers at the hospital saying that they have they
(11:17):
have really seen some terrible assaults, some terrible situations that
are very dangerous unfold they're in the emergency ward. Are
those kinds of incidents being passed on to you?
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, I literally know, particularly around the service stations. I've
got a service station at the back of my electorate
office there as you go into the backside of gateway,
and I hear often from those you know the owners there,
but you know, and the service station one is I
mean all of that. It's terrible that there are people
(11:51):
who think that this is what they should be doing.
And as I said, it gets back off into alcoholism.
Some of its mental health or drug use, but most
of it's alcohol. And we know the measures that service
stations put in place. Anybody who fills up late at night, no,
you have to go to the know, the counter there
with the window and the doors are locked. Around hospitals,
(12:12):
that again is a shocking situation when people you know
they're they're there to help you, and yet we see
people who are obviously a very drunk or very drugged,
or you know, mental health or a whole heap of
reasons why people are aggressive in hospitals. We have security
guards in there as well, but.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
Confident there's enough being done in that hospital system to
keep our nurses and doctors safe and everybody that's working there.
Or is it something that we need to have a
closer look at.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
You know, that's the responsibility of you know, all of
us to do that. And I'm sure health you know,
and we've got an amazing CEO, Marco would be in
there making sure that they are safe. Nobody wants to
see any violent behavior in the in in any setting,
you know, whether that's classrooms, you know, retail, wherever it is.
(13:00):
And you know, as I said, people do need to
actually check themselves. But the people in that hospital setting,
I would say, were people that really are beyond you know,
being able to check and look at their own behaviors. Really,
as said, they're there because they're you know, usually very
very unwell or very drunk or very drugged. But that's
(13:20):
where security need to be in the place.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
We will move along on that topic. Just on the
alcohol and we know that that trial of midday trading
hours at bottle shops ended last Friday, reverting back to
ten am. How did that trial go from your perspective?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
So from my perspective, it was it gave police extra
time and that was the positive thing. So the police
had that you know, that time in the morning where
people weren't actually drunk. But what we've also now done
is the work around the band drink orders. And we've
seen huge numbers of increases of people on the band
drink orders and so whether that's seven days, thirty days,
(13:55):
or three months. But we're also really looking closely and
working around the secondary supply, So looking at the data
around who's purchasing alcohol, you know, who's making someone's making
fourteen purchases in a day or why why or large amounts.
We all understand you've got a twenty first or a party,
but looking at the data to be able to identify
(14:17):
those people and then stamp that out. So it's you know,
it is that analogy of continuing to squeeze the balloon
around alcohol. So instead of the broad brush measure that
we had in place around changing the hours, what we've
gone to now is really focusing sharply on those people
who are the ones that are going in to buy alcohol.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
It's like a good idea. How come we didn't look
at that sooner? Like it does seem like a no brainer.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Sometimes it is around having the technology to be able
to do that, So having the BDR to be able
to provide that data and you know, surpro and things
like that. So it's sometimes it is around technological solutions,
but it is a me you know, alcohol people are
there are chronic alcoholics and we know they are, you know,
in terrible places who will do whatever it takes to
(15:04):
get alcohol and so it is working with police, it
is working with hospitality to tighten up around those.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
The legitimate residence clause is set to be bought in
as well. It really takes us back to COVID era
restrictions for territories. How's that going to work? I think
that there's some in the community who think this sounds
like a really good idea. Obviously, others thinking, hang on
a second, is this going to mean that if you know,
my friends come from Queensland and you know they can't
prove where they're staying, they're not going to be able
to get a bottle of wine.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
So yeah, as you said, they all, I'm sure there
will be Well, there is things in place around you know,
you're in a hotel, you're in a caravan park, wherever
else it is. But you know there are people who
there's public housing which are supposed to have no alcohol
in that. In those, you know there's pink signs, there's
signs up around those, and you know, I know in
my electorate sometimes I'm outdoor knocking and there'll be a
(15:51):
no alcohol sign and there'll be people drinking there and
holdering the public safety housing offices around that. So it
is about as I said, joining the dot around that
data to really tighten up around people who are coming
to town and just drinking in public places.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Do you reckon it's going to put any pressure though
on those bottle shop staff in terms of having to
refuse people who for example, they maybe do live in
a public housing residence.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yes, yeah, there will be that. But you know what
happens is word gets out. You know, the grapevine's good,
I'm sure with people who are drinking, so word will
get out and they'll have to adjust their behaviors. And
as I said, it is that analogy of continuing to
tighten you know, the issues around alcoholism and the supply
of alcohol, and.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So will there be some support from the police for that,
you know for that period of time I guess as
we sort of go through the transition.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Yeah, so as of this morning at ten o'clock, that's
a change. And we've got additional licensing, so licensing will
be out more out and about for the next few
weeks as well as police. So we've increasing that. As
I said, while word gets out on the street around that,
so there'll be you'll see or you may not see
the license. People mightn't be as obvious as the police.
(17:02):
But you'll see an increase in licensing out checking as
well as police do you reckon, we'll.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
See a visible reduction in people sort of drinking on
the streets as a result.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Well that's the goal. So hopefully we do.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I hope so, because it is something that's been you know,
it has been a real stress I think on a
lot of business owners, a lot of locals. I mean,
it must be frustrating for you even you know, walk
into work. Oh, I have seen people drunk in the
in the park.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Oh, I mean I you know, my electric officer is
at Gateway and I see that in the morning. You
people with water bottles that don't have water in them.
And as I said, it is really frustrating. And you know,
I ring or you know, get onto the app and
let Larikie Nation know around those things.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Now, I want to ask you. Figures have been obtained
by the COLP. They've revealed that patients are waiting on
average three hundred and sixteen days for elective surgery in
the Northern Territory since twenty sixteen, with medium weight times
for procedures at Royal dal And Hospital up one hundred
and thirteen percent and thirty two percent at part Armiston Hospital.
Is this acceptable in your eyes?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
No, it isn't acceptable, you know, and when you know,
I've had a lot to do with the health system
over the years. You know, people know that I've had
your very very ill husband that passed away, and I
know those issues around surgery times and things like that,
and so my heart goes out to anybody, even elective surgery.
You're wanting to have something fixed, and I can understand
(18:23):
how difficult that is for people. I mean, let's have
a look. That data came from twenty sixteen. We've had
those COVID years through there. But also since COVID, this
is a fact, you know, it has been really all
professions are finding it hard to recruit staff and so
you know, we're doing the work around nursing staff and doctors,
(18:44):
specialist staff. So the hospital's very much aware of this issue.
The health Department of Health is very much aware of it.
They have plans in place to address it, so around
recruiting specialist staff, bringing on, you know, more operating theaters.
In the budget, we put in another ward. So a
thirty two bed ward is money in the budget for
(19:04):
a new Module Award, so very much aware of how
can we provide more for the hospital system. But you know,
it's age care as well, it's childcare. It's a lot
of those helping professions. Even education, we're seeing that with teachers,
people are choosing, you know, to be a YouTuber or
you know, an influencer. There's a whole group of people
(19:25):
that aren't choosing to go into the caring professions, which
is why we're having to look for overseas migration around that.
So but then again is also those really you know,
the top level specialist staff when you're talking about surgeons.
So you know, I think the CLP are just pretty
much jumping on something that you know and using some
data that is is.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Their figures that have come from the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare. And I guess, you know, while they are,
you know, they can make it a political issue, as
the Labor Party does, but the fact is it's territory
and is waiting to have that surgery and I think
it's really important that they're able to.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Yeah, I think if you look at the report, there
was also data that showed that Ales was better than
other states in certain places and things like that. So
it's not an issue just in the Northern Territory. It
is an issue around Australia. And as I said, it
gets back to more people wanting to do medicine, more
people going to go into specialist roles, hospitals being able
to have those specialist nurses and it is a difficulty.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
We are very fast, running out of time, but I
want to ask you a couple of real quick ones now.
The latest COMSEPT State of the State Report it's been
released and the Northern Territory has again come in last
in the report, which looks at those eight key indicators.
It's a bit of a mixed bag though biggest strength
was relative population growth where we're ranked second, while the
biggest weakness was retail spending. Have you had a look
(20:42):
at the report and are you taking it more seriously
than your predecessors.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Well, I've been the Treasurer for the last couple of years,
so I'm very much across the COMSEXT report and COMSEPT
were on your opposition radio station this morning and they
were very clear about it. COMSECT does cover those years
of impects, which was sixty big dollar project, so that
is an absolute fact around that data. But you know,
the decision last week around or the week before around
(21:08):
Barossa is a really good decision because that's a six
point three billion dollar underpinning of our economy, along with defense,
which is another six point two billion dollars. So you know,
the news about our economy is really positive. The news
around population is good. The one around retail that go
you know they are it does go up and down
around and you know it does need to be seasonally adjusted,
(21:30):
so yes, com Sec is com Sex. We've also had
Deloitte that came out in the third quarter last year
that said our growth was about two point five percent
I think into the future and was really positive.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
So you're so happy with the way things are tracking,
I think, do you think that more needs to be done?
Speaker 2 (21:46):
The Bossa project was a really good project than that
was one I was holding my breath around. So that's
fantastic news for the Northern Territory. I've met with our
a fewer resources in the last week. They're getting close
to FID, so there's really good news store is there.
But then there's things like the fence that are really
solid that underpin the economy. So there's good news around
the around that. But we also know the cost of
(22:09):
living is an issue. And you know that was a
lovely announcement that I've made in the last month, which
was around an additional fifty dollars for back to school vouchers.
And I literally have had mums, you know, stopping me
in Big w and Woolworth some places like that going
you know, thanks for the extra fifty dollars. That's a
great help for us. So cost of living is biting
in Australia and that's a fact.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Before I let you go, I know you've got to
get to this announcement. So the free fee free tape
program announcement you're off to this morning. What exactly is
happening there today?
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, So the good news sorry, so federal government so
fees for TAFE, which is what we need to see.
I was talking about childcare and age care not having
enough people. So if you can do those those sorts
of certificate level courses and have your fees paid, it's
a good thing. So there's about two thousand I think
it's about twenty two hundred fee free that's hard to
(23:00):
say fee free places that are available. So good news.
So if you're thinking about going to do some study.
You want to up skill, this is the time to
do it because it's going to be paid for.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
Well, Chief Minister Evil, Lula really appreciate your time this morning.
Thanks so much for joining us for the first time
in twenty twenty four and we look forward to having
you on every fortnite.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Thank you.
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