Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it's understood that the Northern Territory government is this
morning set to announce an increase to the police budget
by ninety million dollars for the twenty twenty four twenty
five financial year in an effort to deal with the
high levels of crime we're experiencing right across the territory. Now,
the government's expected to announce that the budget's going to
(00:20):
increase from four hundred and seventy two million dollars to
five hundred and sixty one million. The Police Minister, Brent
Potter joins me on the line. Good morning to your minister.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning, Katie Minister.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
We are hearing that there is going to be a
massive increase to the police budget ninety million dollars. Is
that correct?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
That's correct, The rumors are correct and is a huge investment.
Like you said, over ninety million dollars to the baseline
police budget. That takes it to about five hundred and
sixty one million dollars for police standlan, What does that mean.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
For the Northern Territory Police based off the discussions that
you've had over the last sort of twelve months, given
the huge increases that we've seen in the volume of crime.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, it means we can stop saying the words do
more with less, means police are going to have all
the money that they need to go and deal with
as we see spikes in community or spikes in town.
Target recruitment overseas, purchasing new capabiliing technology so that we
can smarter policing. Everyone talks about numbers, but sometimes there's
an inefficiency. We're just having raw boots on the ground.
We need to have smart technology and that's what it does.
(01:22):
I mean, this is still separate to that five hundred
and seventy million over five years, which works out to
be one hundred and ten, and that goes to the
two hundred extra officers that we've committed to, the Territory
Safety Division, the twenty five extra call takers, and the
infrastructure plan as per the Police Review. So it's a
huge investment this budget for police, and that ninety million
dollar baseline is ongoing.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Does it sort of go against the lines that you
guys have been delivering though, where you're saying you can't
police your way out of these issues?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
No, I think it goes to exactly to that point
that we need and I've said this from day dot.
We need more police to get out there to create
a safe environment. We look at daily as an example.
You need police to bring law and order back. And
then it's about the other government agencies, the other organizations,
and the other policies like education and how can. We've
seen a huge investment by the federal government into those.
But first and foremost, you need police on the ground
to go and deal with the immediate response. And this
(02:10):
is what that budget does.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
All right. So from a real practical sense, from a
real day to day policing sense, what are territorians going
to see as a result of this additional ninety million
dollars yep.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So they're going to see more police on the road,
They're going to see more vans, they're going to see
more foot patrols through the cbedd as an example. And
that's outcome the commissioners seeking as well. And we see
in June the sixty eight officers graduating the Police Academy
and they'll be going to dal on A n Alla Springs.
So you'll start to see more visible high visibility policing,
both on foot, are both mounted or in their vehicles.
(02:44):
And we know that when people see police officers it
brings a level of assurance and safety, but it also
deters crime as the best way to police community policing.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Why did Territorians have to get to the point though,
where we're experiencing some absolute heartache in different ways when
it comes to crime and that community safety before we
reach this point of a huge budget increase.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, I think there's two things to understand. We've gone
through a really rough sort of past two to three
years with a mixture of COVID and other events and
coronials and police leaving, and that's being seen across Australia
and everyone is trying to recruit more police officers. We
get to a point now though there's no point giving
money to an agency that can't deliver or recruit those
officers or deliver them to the front line. You're just
giving them a budget with an excess, Whereas now they're
(03:28):
in a position where they can recruit those officers, they
can train them, and the money needs to flow so
they can hire them.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Minister. What's it going to mean though, in terms of
services cut to other areas or budgets changed to other departments,
Because I mean that's a criticism that you guys always
have of the COLP when they make promises where's the
money coming from?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Well, I can absolutely tell you that our budget is
fully costed, it'll be completely transparent, it's gone through treasury
and we'll deliver a budget that is under the budget cap.
So we obviously have a ceiling that we can't go over,
the debt ceiling. We're not going over that, but we
know we have to invest. Right now, what I can
assure territories that a Lawler labor government will not cut
any frontline services, whereas a COLP they did that, they
(04:09):
cut over five hundred teachers. They didn't deliver on the one
hundred and twenty police officers. When they are in government,
I'm going to deliver on it. I think I've been
pretty clear and when I make a commitment, I deliver
on it. And we saw the Territory Safety Division at
commitment in December that went from ten to over twenty
and by June will be fifty two. And then we
saw a Territory Safety Division in our springs that I
announce which is going to be over eighteen. So when
we talk police and my departments will be no cards.
(04:30):
We'll continue investing, protecting Territory.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All right, let's move along. The Northern Territory government is
also this week set to announce an additional twenty million
dollars to bring digital driver's licenses to the Northern Territory,
offering a nationally recognized, trusted option for territorians looking to
well leave your wallets at home. I suppose how quickly
is this going to be implemented?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
As fast as it can be, Katie, and I was
one of those people on the weekend that rocked up
to a bottle shop and realized I left my driver's
license at home, but I have all my bank cards
on phone. This brings us in line with other jurisdictions.
It helps tourism operators, but also when we talk about
the prevention of say secondary supply and early access to alcohol,
this is another measure that helps in that space around data.
And we're looking for a late commendments in twenty twenty five,
(05:13):
so fairly fast.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So what exactly is the process to make this happen now?
I'm assuming that there's behind the scenes work that needs
to happen.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, centralized system. So we've been did DCDD, You've been
working on this for a while. We're not a first
of kind. This will be something we learned from other jurisdictions.
But it's basically a system based process and we'll roll
that out fairly quickly, and we're going to a one
central system anyway across government around identification applications, et cetera.
For those people that still want a hard driver's license
and you are concerned with the digital driver's license, they
(05:41):
can still go and get one. But this brings us
in line with the twenty first century and other jurisdictions.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
All right, we are going to catch up with Ole Expruce,
THECA of Hospitality on this topic in a few minutes time. Now, Minister,
how are things going out in Daily River in that
region following what's been pretty tumultuous week or so, But
then also, I mean issues out that way for quite
some time really.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, So the com police commissioners out there Friday too
with the communities out in the West Daily and the
intention is still high. They've done some fantastic arrests. The
last I got was for but I think that's increased
now or if not, there's still a few outstanding and
we will get them and put them before the court.
The behavior is concerning They're not just a ragtag group
of people. They are a gang that are working out there,
and police will continue to target them. But as I've said,
(06:28):
you know, this money that we're putting into police, it
isn't they can only do one part, that is restoring
law and order or preventing crime when we're out doing
proactive policing. But post that event, we really need all
government agencies and community organizations to come together and resolve
these issues.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So from your perspective, this isn't warring families. This is
a gang that's running a mark.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Oh listen, I think there's long standing issues out in
the West daily. Let's be really clear. These are a
gang of people. Yet they may be associated with family ties.
But I don't want to give them the satisfaction of
naming them or downplay what they've done. They are a gang.
They will be targeted by police like any gang, and
I hope they feel the full weight of the Northern
Territory Police Force.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I mean, that's one of the things that listeners ask
all the time, Katie. If we're talking about an organized
gang here, why don't we treat them like we do
a biker gang.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
There is a difference between outloor motorcycle gangs and this
particular group of people and the sophistication they use for
their network and that sort of that is how you
distinguish between the difference. This group is violent. They are
targeting people that are going about their daily life. They
are targeting people not just in the West daily And
we're going to do everything we can with police, and
this baseline budget of ninety million dollars every year goes
to helping that so that we don't have to ask
(07:36):
them to do more with less, so police have every
resource to deliver a safer community.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I mean, just on that budget announcement. Though, this is
like we are talking about this being boots on the ground,
aren't we, Like, it's not an infrastructure announcement. It is
literally No.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
It's a separate infrastructure increase of twenty five million dollars
which we spoke about from the Police review. No, this
is boots on the ground. This is additional technology and
capability that the Commissioner is looking at to do SMA policing.
So for example, you know, we want to know where
the closest police fan is when a call comes in,
so we can send the fastest fan there and sometimes
we've got smartphones now, so why can't we be delivering
that to the front line. We saw with the serpro
(08:12):
roll out when we want to get tablets and laptops
in the cars. We're doing that at the moment, but
this gives him the money to go and purchase more
and roll that out faster.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
All right. We know that the Lord Mayor of Darwin
Conbat Scaralus has been quite critical in the sense that
he's saying that the council is not going to continue
to provide that funding support for security guards. Now. He
says police should be doing that job, that it is
actually the job of the police to keep the community safe,
to keep people safe in our CBD. What do you
(08:39):
say to that.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Well, listen, cons entitled to his opinions. I've made my
views very clear to con that he has a part
to play in his council as bylaws. And I've been
on your show many times talking about this. It starts
at the very start when we talk about rough sleeping
and excessive consumption of alcohol which leads to any social
behavior which leads to crime. Police absolutely has a part
to play in government is funding police to do that.
(09:01):
And I've said to you by June, territories are going
to see a very different CBD and Darwin with the
Territory Safety Division of full strength, but he has an
obligation to fund into this security. If he's not going
to do it, that's fine. We'll continue to fund security.
In fact, we put an additional patrol on as of
now going through to June to cover off on the
gallery around John John's and some of the parks in
and around council buildings.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
So there's an a there's an additional patrol that's started.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, it's part of the common sense plan. Because I
know we're getting sixty eight graduates in June. I can't
speed that up. We've got a gap between now and then,
so we'll do everything we can to keep business owning
and safe in the city. And it'd be good to
see CON come in and co fund that because if
there's additional funding from Council we can do more.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
How much is it costing for that extra patrol.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I'm not familiar with the specific month by month, but
it's not part of our standing panel contract, so it'll
be cost effective for government. But what I would say
is that CON's released a budget and he's trying to
penny pinch five hundred thousand dollars. Surely for the benefit
of the territory and the economy. By making people feel
safe and spending more money, we can do a lot more.
But I mean, this budget is going to announce over
five point four million dollars from the territory labor government
(10:05):
to doing security private security patrols across Dwen as well,
so you know that additional increase of security in the
city will fall out of our five point four million dollars.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I mean, I do get his argument though, that he's saying, well,
why should the council, why should like, why should territory
rate payers, you know, be sort of having to double
dip here, I guess, or having to pay twice in
the sense that we're we're funding through our taxes to
pay for the police force and to pay for the
budget increase that you're talking about this morning, but we're
(10:34):
also paying through our rates then to fund security when
it is the government's job to keep territory and safe.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I think everyone, every city retailer would say how good
the security is and how much they want to see
it continue. And the initial agreement when they started way
back during the city deal was a co shared model
with council. They're the ones walking away from it. I've
been very clear on your shape before. I don't think
that council enforces their bylaws enough. If by laws were
actively in Yeah, and you're doing the stuff, the preventative
stuff early, and police are getting out and doing foot patrols,
(11:04):
which I'm telling you will happen very surely when we
in that next round of graduation, Well, we probably wouldn't
need the additional security.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Some people are going to be listening to that this
morning and going, well, hang on a seck. We're meant
to have a two kilometer law as well in place
for people public drinking, and they'll be kind of going,
if you know, and I'm not criticizing the police, but
they'll be saying, well, if the police were going and
picking people up when they're publicly drinking, you wouldn't have
to worry about this either.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, it doesn't have to be police. We have Larakia
Nation patrols that take them to the sobering up shelter,
which is important. What I would say, is there anyone
that listening we have greater than two kilometer all you
cannot have an open container in the Darwin area. You
cannot have an open container in Parmestan, or in Catherine
or in our Springs.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So your perspective, why do you reckon that keeps happening.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Well, I think we've got substance addiction right across the
territory and it's the biggest challenge that we face, at
least to domestic family violence. If you want to talk
about the long term solution, it's dealing with domestic violence.
And I'm not going to take another minister stand up
that there is there is definitely a focus from us
in this budget on that. We brought into seven day
band drinker orders and we're seeing over two hundred and
fifty people on average per week being added to that,
(12:09):
and that is the first identification and mechanism to stop
people getting al cohol in public places, but also referring
them to a service provider to help them. And if
they continue and get caught within the seven days, well
they're back on again. And if they get caught a
third time, they're on for three months. So you know,
we aren't taking every measure we can, but it's got
to be sensible because if you push one part of
the balloon, it goes somewhere else, and we need to
know that when we make a policy, what the outcomes
(12:30):
are going to be. And I'm fairly confident that we've
got it right now. With the additional baseline budget increase
for police, the seven day band drink or Order, the
roll out of the OC spray, the establishment of the
Territory Safety Division in Daar and Nawa Springs, and over
twenty five extra call takers, Darwin is going to. The
territory is going to be a very different place come
the graduation in June and then into July with more
ofsters on the ground.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well, look, I hope so, I truly do, because we've
really experienced a terrible time for quite a while. So
I really really hope. So in us to for police,
Brent Potter, I know that you are under the pump
this morning. Appreciate your time. Thanks for chatting with us.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That's that's right time for you and your listeners.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Thank you, Thanks so much,
Now it's understood that the Northern Territory government is this
morning set to announce an increase to the police budget
by ninety million dollars for the twenty twenty four twenty
five financial year in an effort to deal with the
high levels of crime we're experiencing right across the territory. Now,
the government's expected to announce that the budget's going to
(00:20):
increase from four hundred and seventy two million dollars to
five hundred and sixty one million. The Police Minister, Brent
Potter joins me on the line. Good morning to your minister.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning, Katie Minister.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
We are hearing that there is going to be a
massive increase to the police budget ninety million dollars. Is
that correct?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
That's correct, The rumors are correct and is a huge investment.
Like you said, over ninety million dollars to the baseline
police budget. That takes it to about five hundred and
sixty one million dollars for police standlan, What does that mean.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
For the Northern Territory Police based off the discussions that
you've had over the last sort of twelve months, given
the huge increases that we've seen in the volume of crime.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Well, it means we can stop saying the words do
more with less, means police are going to have all
the money that they need to go and deal with
as we see spikes in community or spikes in town.
Target recruitment overseas, purchasing new capabiliing technology so that we
can smarter policing. Everyone talks about numbers, but sometimes there's
an inefficiency. We're just having raw boots on the ground.
We need to have smart technology and that's what it does.
(01:22):
I mean, this is still separate to that five hundred
and seventy million over five years, which works out to
be one hundred and ten, and that goes to the
two hundred extra officers that we've committed to, the Territory
Safety Division, the twenty five extra call takers, and the
infrastructure plan as per the Police Review. So it's a
huge investment this budget for police, and that ninety million
dollar baseline is ongoing.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Does it sort of go against the lines that you
guys have been delivering though, where you're saying you can't
police your way out of these issues?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
No, I think it goes to exactly to that point
that we need and I've said this from day dot.
We need more police to get out there to create
a safe environment. We look at daily as an example.
You need police to bring law and order back. And
then it's about the other government agencies, the other organizations,
and the other policies like education and how can. We've
seen a huge investment by the federal government into those.
But first and foremost, you need police on the ground
to go and deal with the immediate response. And this
(02:10):
is what that budget does.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
All right. So from a real practical sense, from a
real day to day policing sense, what are territorians going
to see as a result of this additional ninety million
dollars yep.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So they're going to see more police on the road,
They're going to see more vans, they're going to see
more foot patrols through the cbedd as an example. And
that's outcome the commissioners seeking as well. And we see
in June the sixty eight officers graduating the Police Academy
and they'll be going to dal on A n Alla Springs.
So you'll start to see more visible high visibility policing,
both on foot, are both mounted or in their vehicles.
(02:44):
And we know that when people see police officers it
brings a level of assurance and safety, but it also
deters crime as the best way to police community policing.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Why did Territorians have to get to the point though,
where we're experiencing some absolute heartache in different ways when
it comes to crime and that community safety before we
reach this point of a huge budget increase.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Well, I think there's two things to understand. We've gone
through a really rough sort of past two to three
years with a mixture of COVID and other events and
coronials and police leaving, and that's being seen across Australia
and everyone is trying to recruit more police officers. We
get to a point now though there's no point giving
money to an agency that can't deliver or recruit those
officers or deliver them to the front line. You're just
giving them a budget with an excess, Whereas now they're
(03:28):
in a position where they can recruit those officers, they
can train them, and the money needs to flow so
they can hire them.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Minister. What's it going to mean though, in terms of
services cut to other areas or budgets changed to other departments,
Because I mean that's a criticism that you guys always
have of the COLP when they make promises where's the
money coming from?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
Well, I can absolutely tell you that our budget is
fully costed, it'll be completely transparent, it's gone through treasury
and we'll deliver a budget that is under the budget cap.
So we obviously have a ceiling that we can't go over,
the debt ceiling. We're not going over that, but we
know we have to invest. Right now, what I can
assure territories that a Lawler labor government will not cut
any frontline services, whereas a COLP they did that, they
(04:09):
cut over five hundred teachers. They didn't deliver on the one
hundred and twenty police officers. When they are in government,
I'm going to deliver on it. I think I've been
pretty clear and when I make a commitment, I deliver
on it. And we saw the Territory Safety Division at
commitment in December that went from ten to over twenty
and by June will be fifty two. And then we
saw a Territory Safety Division in our springs that I
announce which is going to be over eighteen. So when
we talk police and my departments will be no cards.
(04:30):
We'll continue investing, protecting Territory.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
All right, let's move along. The Northern Territory government is
also this week set to announce an additional twenty million
dollars to bring digital driver's licenses to the Northern Territory,
offering a nationally recognized, trusted option for territorians looking to
well leave your wallets at home. I suppose how quickly
is this going to be implemented?
Speaker 2 (04:52):
As fast as it can be, Katie, and I was
one of those people on the weekend that rocked up
to a bottle shop and realized I left my driver's
license at home, but I have all my bank cards
on phone. This brings us in line with other jurisdictions.
It helps tourism operators, but also when we talk about
the prevention of say secondary supply and early access to alcohol,
this is another measure that helps in that space around data.
And we're looking for a late commendments in twenty twenty five,
(05:13):
so fairly fast.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So what exactly is the process to make this happen now?
I'm assuming that there's behind the scenes work that needs
to happen.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, centralized system. So we've been did DCDD, You've been
working on this for a while. We're not a first
of kind. This will be something we learned from other jurisdictions.
But it's basically a system based process and we'll roll
that out fairly quickly, and we're going to a one
central system anyway across government around identification applications, et cetera.
For those people that still want a hard driver's license
and you are concerned with the digital driver's license, they
(05:41):
can still go and get one. But this brings us
in line with the twenty first century and other jurisdictions.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
All right, we are going to catch up with Ole Expruce,
THECA of Hospitality on this topic in a few minutes time. Now, Minister,
how are things going out in Daily River in that
region following what's been pretty tumultuous week or so, But
then also, I mean issues out that way for quite
some time really.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, So the com police commissioners out there Friday too
with the communities out in the West Daily and the
intention is still high. They've done some fantastic arrests. The
last I got was for but I think that's increased
now or if not, there's still a few outstanding and
we will get them and put them before the court.
The behavior is concerning They're not just a ragtag group
of people. They are a gang that are working out there,
and police will continue to target them. But as I've said,
(06:28):
you know, this money that we're putting into police, it
isn't they can only do one part, that is restoring
law and order or preventing crime when we're out doing
proactive policing. But post that event, we really need all
government agencies and community organizations to come together and resolve
these issues.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
So from your perspective, this isn't warring families. This is
a gang that's running a mark.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Oh listen, I think there's long standing issues out in
the West daily. Let's be really clear. These are a
gang of people. Yet they may be associated with family ties.
But I don't want to give them the satisfaction of
naming them or downplay what they've done. They are a gang.
They will be targeted by police like any gang, and
I hope they feel the full weight of the Northern
Territory Police Force.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I mean, that's one of the things that listeners ask
all the time, Katie. If we're talking about an organized
gang here, why don't we treat them like we do
a biker gang.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
There is a difference between outloor motorcycle gangs and this
particular group of people and the sophistication they use for
their network and that sort of that is how you
distinguish between the difference. This group is violent. They are
targeting people that are going about their daily life. They
are targeting people not just in the West daily And
we're going to do everything we can with police, and
this baseline budget of ninety million dollars every year goes
to helping that so that we don't have to ask
(07:36):
them to do more with less, so police have every
resource to deliver a safer community.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I mean, just on that budget announcement. Though, this is
like we are talking about this being boots on the ground,
aren't we, Like, it's not an infrastructure announcement. It is
literally No.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
It's a separate infrastructure increase of twenty five million dollars
which we spoke about from the Police review. No, this
is boots on the ground. This is additional technology and
capability that the Commissioner is looking at to do SMA policing.
So for example, you know, we want to know where
the closest police fan is when a call comes in,
so we can send the fastest fan there and sometimes
we've got smartphones now, so why can't we be delivering
that to the front line. We saw with the serpro
(08:12):
roll out when we want to get tablets and laptops
in the cars. We're doing that at the moment, but
this gives him the money to go and purchase more
and roll that out faster.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
All right. We know that the Lord Mayor of Darwin
Conbat Scaralus has been quite critical in the sense that
he's saying that the council is not going to continue
to provide that funding support for security guards. Now. He
says police should be doing that job, that it is
actually the job of the police to keep the community safe,
to keep people safe in our CBD. What do you
(08:39):
say to that.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Well, listen, cons entitled to his opinions. I've made my
views very clear to con that he has a part
to play in his council as bylaws. And I've been
on your show many times talking about this. It starts
at the very start when we talk about rough sleeping
and excessive consumption of alcohol which leads to any social
behavior which leads to crime. Police absolutely has a part
to play in government is funding police to do that.
(09:01):
And I've said to you by June, territories are going
to see a very different CBD and Darwin with the
Territory Safety Division of full strength, but he has an
obligation to fund into this security. If he's not going
to do it, that's fine. We'll continue to fund security.
In fact, we put an additional patrol on as of
now going through to June to cover off on the
gallery around John John's and some of the parks in
and around council buildings.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
So there's an a there's an additional patrol that's started.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Yeah, it's part of the common sense plan. Because I
know we're getting sixty eight graduates in June. I can't
speed that up. We've got a gap between now and then,
so we'll do everything we can to keep business owning
and safe in the city. And it'd be good to
see CON come in and co fund that because if
there's additional funding from Council we can do more.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
How much is it costing for that extra patrol.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
I'm not familiar with the specific month by month, but
it's not part of our standing panel contract, so it'll
be cost effective for government. But what I would say
is that CON's released a budget and he's trying to
penny pinch five hundred thousand dollars. Surely for the benefit
of the territory and the economy. By making people feel
safe and spending more money, we can do a lot more.
But I mean, this budget is going to announce over
five point four million dollars from the territory labor government
(10:05):
to doing security private security patrols across Dwen as well,
so you know that additional increase of security in the
city will fall out of our five point four million dollars.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I mean, I do get his argument though, that he's saying, well,
why should the council, why should like, why should territory
rate payers, you know, be sort of having to double
dip here, I guess, or having to pay twice in
the sense that we're we're funding through our taxes to
pay for the police force and to pay for the
budget increase that you're talking about this morning, but we're
(10:34):
also paying through our rates then to fund security when
it is the government's job to keep territory and safe.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
I think everyone, every city retailer would say how good
the security is and how much they want to see
it continue. And the initial agreement when they started way
back during the city deal was a co shared model
with council. They're the ones walking away from it. I've
been very clear on your shape before. I don't think
that council enforces their bylaws enough. If by laws were
actively in Yeah, and you're doing the stuff, the preventative
stuff early, and police are getting out and doing foot patrols,
(11:04):
which I'm telling you will happen very surely when we
in that next round of graduation, Well, we probably wouldn't
need the additional security.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Some people are going to be listening to that this
morning and going, well, hang on a seck. We're meant
to have a two kilometer law as well in place
for people public drinking, and they'll be kind of going,
if you know, and I'm not criticizing the police, but
they'll be saying, well, if the police were going and
picking people up when they're publicly drinking, you wouldn't have
to worry about this either.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Well, it doesn't have to be police. We have Larakia
Nation patrols that take them to the sobering up shelter,
which is important. What I would say, is there anyone
that listening we have greater than two kilometer all you
cannot have an open container in the Darwin area. You
cannot have an open container in Parmestan, or in Catherine
or in our Springs.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So your perspective, why do you reckon that keeps happening.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Well, I think we've got substance addiction right across the
territory and it's the biggest challenge that we face, at
least to domestic family violence. If you want to talk
about the long term solution, it's dealing with domestic violence.
And I'm not going to take another minister stand up
that there is there is definitely a focus from us
in this budget on that. We brought into seven day
band drinker orders and we're seeing over two hundred and
fifty people on average per week being added to that,
(12:09):
and that is the first identification and mechanism to stop
people getting al cohol in public places, but also referring
them to a service provider to help them. And if
they continue and get caught within the seven days, well
they're back on again. And if they get caught a
third time, they're on for three months. So you know,
we aren't taking every measure we can, but it's got
to be sensible because if you push one part of
the balloon, it goes somewhere else, and we need to
know that when we make a policy, what the outcomes
(12:30):
are going to be. And I'm fairly confident that we've
got it right now. With the additional baseline budget increase
for police, the seven day band drink or Order, the
roll out of the OC spray, the establishment of the
Territory Safety Division in Daar and Nawa Springs, and over
twenty five extra call takers, Darwin is going to. The
territory is going to be a very different place come
the graduation in June and then into July with more
ofsters on the ground.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well, look, I hope so, I truly do, because we've
really experienced a terrible time for quite a while. So
I really really hope. So in us to for police,
Brent Potter, I know that you are under the pump
this morning. Appreciate your time. Thanks for chatting with us.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
That's that's right time for you and your listeners.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Thank you, Thanks so much,
Popular Podcasts
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.